Getting Home

We awoke to another beautiful day in Fiji.  We arranged with the hotel to have a late check-out time of 12 noon.  So we essentially packed up and then went and sat by the pool for a couple of hours.



We had arranged our clothes for our flying-home stuff to be on top of our suitcases.  We were able to leave our luggage with the hotel until about 5 pm.  The rest of the afternoon at the pool was partitioned with relaxing, talking of such topics as:  a)  How fair is the Queen?  (We were looking at fair-skinned people.)  b)  How do British-heritage Australians deal with the sun in their country?  c)  What colour are the Queen's eyes?  d)  Why do some Fijians seem to have finer features than others?

We really didn't conclude anything.

These birds are everywhere - kind of like our starlings.  I'm sure they are rewarded.  We saw one trying to drag off a pastry someone had just bought.  You can't turn your back on your food, that's for sure.

 Christmas tree.  it turns red this time of year.

We also chatted with a couple of Kiwis.  He was quite the talker and killed most of the time we had left!

At 5 pm, we collected the luggage, went downstairs to shower and change, then wait for our shuttle to the airport.



The Fijian flag.

Everything went just tickety-boo.  Our shuttle driver showed up right on time, and off we went.

The whole process moved fairly quickly, but it was hot and humid inside the terminal in Fiji, all while we're wearing our jeans and long sleeve shirts.

The flight from Fiji on Fiji Airways went quite well, even if it was cold on the plane.  I certainly didn't sleep as well as on the way down.  But hey, I'm looking forward to my own bed at home tonight!

So when we landed in Los Angeles, the pilot said, "wake up to a beautifully pleasant Sunday Nov 29th...the 2nd Sunday Nov 29th you've had."  That's so true, and weird.  We did cross the international date line and the equator, around approximately the same place...very close to Christmas Island.

In any case, I'm writing most of this while sitting in LAX, waiting for our flight to Toronto.  Yippee!  It's always fun to travel, but once it's time to come home, it's time to come home, and we're relieved to be on the last stretch...

And, we're home!  All was on schedule, and Dave was waiting for us at the airport.  All in all, a terrific, memorable trip.

Done.

Fiji Islands

There are 322 islands in Fiji that are "habitable", and we've now been to 2 of them...the main island of Viti Levu, and Bounty Island, the focus of our day today.

We had a great day with PJ's Bounty Island tour.  It was a leisurely hour out to Bounty Island this morning.  We were even entertained by the crew.



We were outfitted for our flippers.



When we got there, we snorkelled for pretty much as long as we wanted.  A blue starfish.

We fed some zebrafish, and others.  One bit me!  He thought I was bread.

This was a sea cucumber.



We then carried on to snorkel over a reef, which appears to be making a comeback.  It was obviously destroyed at one time.  Not the best snorkelling I've done, but we saw lots of different fish and some coral.

Everything was off the shore of the island, so there was no restriction.

Lunch sounded with the beating of the drum.  In fact, the beginning of most activities started with the beating of the drum.

This was part of the lunch buffet.  I've never had this before.

Gerard and I walked completely around the island after lunch.  It only took about 25 minutes.

They're protecting and trying to save these Hawksbill Sea turtles.  These are babies where survival rates are very small.  So they keep them in this pond for a couple of years until they're able to make it on their own in the sea.

I was trying out the panorama on the iPhone.  The South Pacific doesn't really have a hill in the middle.

The end of a great day back at our resort.  Having a drink while the sun is setting.  Nothing better.

So tomorrow we're heading home!  We're here until about 6 pm, then off to the airport for a 9:40 pm flight on Sun, Nov 29.  We'll be home in 10 minutes!  We arrive in Toronto at 9:50 pm, Sun, Nov 29.  Figure that one out!

Sigatoka

Today was our Sigatoka River Cruise.  Sigatoka is the name of the river, town, and village at its mouth.

It was about an hour's drive from our resort down to the town of Sigatoka.  They picked us up, and
brought us back.  We first went on a boat out to the mouth of the Sigatoka River.  This is our boat.  Honestly, we weren't sure we were getting back.  The motor wasn't behaving very well.  And it was getting choppy near the mouth of the river.  Yikes!



The ocean was packing a punch along the beach.



We then went back and visited a school in the village.  The kids are just out of school as of yesterday for the summer.  7 weeks off.  We talked with a teacher of Grade 8 students as well as the Schoolmaster.


They do a great job educating their kids.  Everything is taught in English except for some science, spoken in Fijian.



We then went to the village of Sigatoka, where our guide is from.  We went to his Uncle's house, who owns the business.  This is him.  Uh huh...hanging out in the kitchen.

And this is our guide...a great talker.  A little immature.  But this is what they do here.

 

He gave us a demonstration of how to prepare coconuts, then we went inside for a traditional Fijian lunch.

After lunch, we headed off to the church where they were preparing for a wedding.  Our guide was going to the wedding later.

A little guy in town.

Next was the community centre where the Fijian women sang and danced for us, and we danced too!

 They had some wares to sell to us, and of course we bought something.  All in all, it was a great experience and we're so glad we did it.  Otherwise, we'd have no idea how these people lived.

We went back to our resort and just hung out for the rest of the day.  There was a traditional Fijian night presented here, which was fun to watch.

Arrived in Fiji

Bula from Fiji!

We arrived at our hotel in Fiji around 6 pm after a 3-hour flight from Auckland.  Travelling takes so long.  We left the hotel around 10:30, so it's been an all-day ordeal.  Oh well, it's something you have to put up with, as most of you know.

I found this old boot on the road on our walk back to the hotel last night.  I meant to show you this interesting item last night.  Just one.



Before we left our hotel, I got this snap from across the street from our hotel - Andrea.

Saw this at the Auckland airport.

Our plane to Fiji - Boeing 737.  It was full, but a much smoother flight than the last one!

Radisson Blu Resort in Fiji - enjoying the views

- and a Fijian beer

- watching the sunset in Fiji

Torches lit as the sun sets.

Dining in the pool at sunset?  Ok, that's different.

We sit down for some dinner around 8 pm.  So nice to dine outside.  Average 30C temperatures year round here in Fiji.

Retiring early tonight!  Did I tell you I hate the flying/airport part?

Foodie Tour

Today was our scheduled foodie tour with The Big Foody Food Tours.  Dan & Joanne - you would be happy with us!

It was a fabulous morning with Colleen, our guide, not just with the food sampling we did, but also with the sites of the city of Auckland we experienced.

So first we set off for coffee at Miller's.  This little shop imports and roasts their own coffee beans for sale.  They're one of the first in NZ to do so, and they've got quite a market to ship to.  They import from Papua New Guinea, Colombia, and Kenya.  Then they create blends they like, and so it goes.

Here's the roasting oven.

They determine when it's done by look and smell, not by machine.  Of course we tasted some of the coffee and it was delicious.

Just across this little street was a very unique building - like shipping containers all stacked willie-nillie.  The space is available for renting out for a small office, or meetings, or whatever.  At street level is this little chocolate shop which is a spin-off of a very thriving one in another location.  It was convenient to have opened here.

It's called Newport chocolates.  This lovely lady, Lorena, was the chocolate-maker, and she had some beautiful creations to show us and let us taste.  These were Christmas balls.

Here she is.  She's Argentinian and has a family chocolate recipe.  Needless to say, we bought some.  I don't know if it will make it home, or not.

After this, we stopped at a little bakery place where they make absolutely awesome food -- not just baked goods.  Our hostess grabbed us a box of sausage rolls and a feta/herb roll which we took along with us.  It was such a unique place as it shared its space with a fabric shop!

We took that food up Mount Eden and ate it there.  There are 20-some volcanoes in the Auckland area.  This is one of them.  From here, you get a fabulous view of Auckland and the surrounding area.  No need to go up the tower now!

This couple was there.  I've seen them before.

We then went to a local market - Sabato - where they have all kinds of fine gourmet foods.  We tried some of the local (NZ) specialties, including NZ honey (3 different varieties), oyster pate, wasabi, hazelnut oil, and these awesome smoked mushrooms that I would have loved to take back to Canada, but I couldn't get them in a transportable fashion.  I'm not a mushroom lover, but they were absolutely delicious.  Everything we tried was made here in NZ, and rather unique to NZ.

We also tried several different kinds of NZ cheeses.  Fabulous!

After Sabato, we went on to the harbour, through their large park and war memorial.  Our final destination was the fish market.

Every day, all the fish caught ends up here at the market where it's purchased by auction.  This photo is the fish that was left from the auction, still boxed in a refrigerated area.

This is the auction room.  They do a reverse auction, starting at a high price and going down.

After touring around the market, we ended up having a seafood lunch.  Sorry, I forgot to take the picture before I ate most of it.  I know, I know...you get to see the dregs.  NZ mussels, squid, fish done a couple of different ways, prawns.  Really delicious.

So that was it.  It was a fabulous 5 hours or so spent with Colleen.

Tonight we headed out for a brewski and some light dinner, returning by 8:45.  Ready for new adventure tomorrow!