Talked with Kate and Ben from Perth, Australia. They told us all about their shopping experiences in Bali and suggested some countermeasures to avoid being hoodwinked into paying too much for items and services. They also spoke of how sad it was that the economy was devasted after the bombings. People were really hurting for money.

Being on a year-long world journey is an odd balance between helping out people and countries by spending money there but also being on guard against just being taken totally advantage of and limiting the amount of time you will be able to travel. Even at our best negotiated price, we're still often paying more than any of the local people would pay. And that fine with me.

An example of trying to gouge in Fiji is that we taken a taxi for $2 to a location and coming back a driver stopped and offered a ride back for $50!!! His lowest price was $15, still absurd. We declined and got a another taxi for $3.

There are about 25-30 people at the Coral View resort as compared to less than ten when we arrived. Kind of a neat experience at both ends! Very friendly atmosphere. Pretty easy to speak to anyone you would like to.

We went snorkeling today. Saw a beautiful Emperor Angelfish flourescent blue and white on a black background. Later on played volleyball. I also rented a small sit-on-top a kayak and paddled from the other side of the island to the resort and back. There were no backstraps on these kayaks. I found that an hour holding up your own back while paddling was plenty! This was a great day!