This past spring the Nunavut Sivuniksavut students cancelled their class trip to Fiji due to some kind of local unrest down there.

It's too bad that they did since the revolt fizzled out quickly.

My buddy Beaver Bob of Nunavut was, and still is, flying around the islands of Fiji.

He has been there "challenging gravity" as he puts it, ever since the recession knocked the stuffing out of mining exploration in Nunavut.

The money may not be as good as flying in the North, but the perks make up for it, like drinking coconut juice fresh from the trees in his front yard or puttering around in his herb garden growing cilantro, onions, basil, etc.

He tells me coconut juice was used as a substitute for blood transfusions in the islands during the last World War. His first tomatoes appeared the other day and it's touch and go to see if the wind will break the plants. Another drawback is the rats, but he adopted an old dog from the last pilot. The dog is a professional ratter and keeps them out of his garden and bungalow.

Then there are the trips overnighting at the resorts, gourmet food and snorkelling in the reef that make putting up with a few rats more than worthwhile.

Speaking of winds, they are quite common and kick up spray during landings and take offs. This coats the windshield of the beaver with salt, forcing Beaver Bob to fly looking out the side window. As the staff at the resorts fondly refer to Bob,"He's one of the last of the old cowboys left."

Bob on the other hand doesn't know how some of the younger pilots are ever going make it in the flying game.This gig in the Pacific Islands is a breeze compared to flying in an arctic blizzard at -40 C.

OK, faithful readers, I'm off to consort with the lemmings and bears while mucking around on the tundra, prospecting. Have a good summer. Talk to you in the fall.