The storm did mean quite a bumpy ride for myself and the other 28 passengers, but a bit of turbulence was nothing to worry about, particularly as the tiny plane we were currently sitting on, was in two hours time, hopefully going to land us on the tiny island nation of Tuvalu – a country recently plagued by epic water shortages, resulting in a state of national emergency, and aid being delivered from a number of neighbouring countries.
I never dreamed my first words on national radio would be in Fijian; in fact, until last week I wasn’t even sure Fijian was an actual language, but now, sat in the air-conditioned studios of Fiji Radio One, that’s exactly what I was attempting to speak. Donning the headphones I tried to explain our role as Scout ambassadors to the 60,000 (potential) listeners to the fortnightly Scout radio programme broadcast all over Fiji, and the world – although I think a hastily written Facebook message did little to boost the international audience figures.
explore v. (ɛkˈsplɔː) 1. The action of travelling through an unfamiliar area in order to learn more about it
