Seattle is a great city but...

it's shit in the winter. I wish I could sugar coat it and talk about all the "good" things about winter in the emerald city but don't like lying. It's cold enough to be miserable but not quite cold enough to snow. So it rains. It rains all the time and when it's not raining it's overcast and grey.

In order to keep my sanity I dusted off my pass port and headed of to LAX where I to caught an Air Pacific flt to Nadi, Fiji for six nights and seven days of relaxation in the Yasawa Islands.

The Yasawa Islands are decidedly NOT shit in the winter... actually, being located in the tropics, winter doesn't really exist for Fiji. Sure they get more rain some months than others, but a little sun shower here and there to break up the sun is hardly something to pout about. To better relay my point I've included a couple of jealousy-inspiring photos for your viewing pleasure.

As I said, hardly depressing. It can't all be great though... right?

Well, if you think of the harsh and (frequently) dreary landscapes of places like Britain, and Belgium, and then consider all of the great beers that come from those regions, you might hypothesize that there is an inverse relationship between the natural beauty of the landscape and the quality of the beers they produce.

If that were a theory that you had, well than Fiji would certainly reaffirm that assumption with an explanation point!

In Fiji, two beers (or "Fiji Babies" as the locals call them) own the landscape in a way so completely that they make Pepsi and Coke appear to be just two cola options among many.

The babies are; Fiji Gold, and Fiji Bitter.

Fiji Gold wouldn't even out shine "the silver bullet" during an Olympic medal ceremony... and that does not say much! To use a over used phrase, it was like sex in a canoe... fucking close to water. That said, Fiji is hot, real hot. and when you tucker yourself out all morning kicking about in the crystal clear waters of the South Pacific in a snorkel and flippers, the thing you probably need most with your lunch isn't a beer at all but a water. With the potability of the tap water "questionable" at best, having a safe and "trustworthy" hydrant at arms reach may not have been a bad thing at all!

Fiji Biter photographs much better than Fiji Gold... unfortunately, I can't say a whole lot else good about it. It didn't taste like water as did Fiji Gold, no it tasted far worse...

My girlfriend, with whom I quaffed many a Fiji Baby during our week in the Yasawas, would probably be a bit taken aback by my less-than-generous review of these brews.

Honestly, they weren't thaaaat bad... Wading in temped waters at sunset raising an ice cold bottle over gentle waves, feeling the sand between my toes, and my worries melt away, I don't remember pausing to critique the absence of structure in Fiji's national brews. Hell, floating in the water at sunset with a beer in hand and the company of good friends I don't think I was able to find fault in anything in the world.

And were I offered a Green Flash IPA during happy hour, would I have taken it? Much of me thinks I'd have said, no thanks, I'll have a Fiji Bitter! Why? well, because it just made sense. And when everything seems to make sense, my experience tells me you don't question it, you just sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Prost,
D-Lux

PS It feels good to be writing again. I'll have to do this more often.