February 2026 – Februay took Ruth and me on an unforgettable Pacific adventure that stretched far beyond our original plans. What started as a straightforward trip — beginning with vibrant days in Singapore, followed by island-hopping through the tropical wonders of Fiji, Tonga, and Vanuatu, before landing in Sydney — turned into something even more special when our return flight via Doha was suddenly cancelled due to the escalating conflict between the US and Iran.
Three Days in Singapore – Our First Stop on a Journey into the Blue
We began our adventure with an almost three-day stopover in Singapore. We arrived on January 13th with Qatar Airways and continued a few days later with Fiji Airways on a separate ticket towards Fiji, Tonga, and Vanuatu.
Three days in Singapore – our first stop on this journey into the unknown. What an incredibly exciting, well-functioning, and impressively clean city! Already at immigration in the airport, you realize that Singapore does something very few countries manage: an extremely efficient, super-fast, and fully automated passport and arrival card validation process.
We stayed at Aun Siang Hill in central Singapore, close to Chinatown and the lively street markets, and within walking distance of Gardens by the Bay, the Flower Dome, Cloud Forest, the impressive Marina Bay Sands Hotel, and the beautiful Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade with the iconic Helix Bridge. We also visited The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands – a mall where you’ll find not only numerous Rolex boutiques, but also stores selling custom-made bank safes for those who have bought “a few too many” of those watches!
The MRT (Singapore’s metro system) works fantastically well. We used it both to and from the airport, as well as to Sentosa Island and the Singapore Zoo. Sentosa itself is quite touristy, including what is claimed to be the southernmost point of mainland Asia (though the actual spot sits on a small sandy islet just south of Sentosa Island, which is itself south of Singapore).
Interestingly, Sentosa also hides four of Thomas Dambo’s impressive troll sculptures – and we managed to find them all!
On our final day, we visited the Singapore Zoo before flying onward into the blue.
A Week on Fiji – Road Trip, Orchids & Shark Encounters
After almost three days in Singapore we continued to Fiji after a short stop in Sydney. We rented a car and drove all the way around the main island (a total of about ten hours of driving) with plenty of stops along the way.
We visited the beautiful Garden of the Sleeping Giant, a botanical garden home to more than 2,000 different orchids. We also made a stop at Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park to see the impressive sand dunes in southern Fiji.
We spent three nights in Rakiraki at Ring Gold Divers, a small homestay and dive centre run by Joji and his wife. The days were filled with diving, and in the evenings we enjoyed communal dinners with the other guests. But first, we had to pay a visit to the village chief and present four bundles of kava (dried and powdered roots of the Piper methysticum plant) as a traditional sevusevu offering.
From Pacific Harbour we dived with Beqa Adventure Divers. On the first day we did two dives among the stunning soft corals that Fiji is world-famous for. The second day was extra special – we joined their Shark Dive Adventure in the Shark Reef Marine Reserve. Here we did two dives where we watched shark feeding from depths of 5, 10, 15, and 30 metres. Up close, we saw Bull Sharks, Blacktip Reef Sharks, Grey Reef Sharks, Indo-Pacific Lemon Sharks, and Tawny Nurse Sharks.
Tonga – Two Islands in One Week
After Fiji, we continued to Tonga for another week. We decided to split our time between two very different islands: the main island of Tongatapu (home to the capital and the international airport) and the beautiful, exotic island of Vava’u, just a short one-hour flight north of Tongatapu.
Tongatapu
There’s not a huge amount going on in Tongatapu, so we kept our stay short. We spent our first night in a charming treehouse cabin just north of the airport. We used the day to explore the northeastern part of the island, including the lovely Niutao Beach and the ancient stone trilithon Ha’amonga ‘a Maui – Tonga’s impressive prehistoric stone monument.
Vava’u
We spent the majority of our week on Vava’u, which turned out to be a real highlight. This exotic island offers fantastic diving, lush scenery, and a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere.
We stayed at the lovely family-run Tongan Beach Resort, and for most of our stay we had the entire place to ourselves. We enjoyed peaceful days at the resort, fantastic diving, pleasant visits to the main town, and drives around the island’s scenic roads.
On Sunday during our stay we experienced the unique Tongan way of life – everything (literally everything) is closed on Sundays, so we ended up joining the locals at church for Sunday school!
On our last day, before flying back to Tongatapu in the afternoon, our taxi driver kindly took us on a full island tour to see all the main sights.
Vanuatu
Vanuatu is yet another wonderful country in Oceania, blessed with a fantastic climate, stunning nature, great diving, and beautiful beaches. We decided to split our week between two very different islands: the main island of Efate and the volcanic island of Tanna.
Efate
Efate is the central island with the international airport and the capital, Port Vila. We spent three days here with a small rental car before flying on to Tanna. We used the time to explore the island at our own pace.
Tanna
Tanna was by far the highlight of our week in Vanuatu. The island offers incredibly beautiful beaches, surprisingly good diving, lush green mountains, and – most impressively – one of the world’s most active volcanoes, which is also very easy to climb.
We spent our first night near the airport, enjoying the beach, a couple of dives, and some excellent food. For the next two nights we stayed in the small mountain village of Isaka. Our very basic hut had the most spectacular view straight across to the volcano – a sight we’ll never forget.
Mt. Yasur (from our balcony in the jungle)
Here are some photos of Mount Yasur taken straight from the balcony of our simple little hut in the mountain village of Isaka.
The night shots, with that incredible red glow lighting up the volcano’s two craters, were captured under faint moonlight with shutter speeds of up to 30 seconds.
Mt. Yasur (from climbing the rim)
At just 361 metres high, and with our starting point already at around 300 metres, the crater rim was reached surprisingly quickly. Standing on the edge of such an active volcano was an absolutely unforgettable experience.
Every few minutes, the volcano would erupt with powerful explosions, shooting glowing fountains of lava high into the air accompanied by thunderous booms. As darkness fell, the spectacle became even more magical and otherworldly.
Sydney
We had originally planned to spend just two days in Sydney before catching our long flight home via Doha in Qatar. However, due to the ongoing war between the US and Iran, Hamad International Airport in Doha was closed and our original return flight was cancelled.
During our first two days in Australia, we walked all the highlights in Sydney while spending quite a bit of time in cafés searching for new flights home. Once we finally managed to rebook our tickets — with a new departure five days later than planned — we suddenly had extra time to explore the stunning area south of Sydney.
We made the most of it with stops at:
- Bondi Beach
- Royal National Park
- Kangaroo Valley
- Belmore Falls in Budderoo National Park (note: it’s commonly spelled Belmore Falls)
- Fitzroy Falls
- Illawarra Fly Treetop Adventures
- Jervis Bay National Park
- Gosangs Tunnel
- and Hyams Beach, home to some of the whitest sand in Australia.
We also took full advantage of the slightly more runner-friendly climate and completed five 10 km morning runs during our extended stay.
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