After visiting 19 countries across the world, the South Pacific island of Fiji was the final country I went to before returning to New Zealand, where the year, and 366 pictures began 12 months earlier.

I arrived in Fiji just hours after cyclone Evan ravaged the country, wiping out homes and causing widespread damage across the island. The 300 mile (480 kilometre) wide cyclone had claimed the lives of fishermen in Samoa and was the worst storm to hit Fiji in more than 20 years.

Fortunately, thanks to early warnings, there was no loss of life in Fiji, and while damage was widespread, the island actually withstood natures fury quite well given the severe pounding it took.

After such a storm the last thing I expected to see was white sandy beaches reaching into clear blue tropical warm waters, but when I went for a drive along the Coral Coast that’s exactly what I got.

I love beaches, and tropical ones like this are always a treat. I hadn’t really expected to find myself on a South Pacific island in late 2012 so it was a thrill to look out at a scene like this and the one which I featured on 366 pictures for that December day.