Feb 7, 2013 - Last Days in Fiji

We had a Tsunami Warning on our last day in Fiji, following a 8.2 earthquake east of the Solomon Islands. It was a little unnerving, since we were not sure about the proper procedure. Needless to say that nothing happened, but it was good to see the warning system working and followed by most of the population. For our last two days we stayed at the Raintree Lodge, just outside of Suva, the capitol of Fiji. The Raintree Lodge was situated on a former Quarry. It was a beautiful setting with 97 identified local plants and with a surrounding...

Feb 4, 2013 - Fiji

One week in Fiji, with the plan to add some beach and snorkel and possibly some hiking time. Fijians are an interesting people. They are one of the happiest people on earth and like to laugh a lot. Fijians seem to be happy with very little. Apparently the British have failed for more than 100 years to make them see why they should work for money. Much addicted to walkabouts the Fijians would disappear from the fields, retired to the mountains and let the Indians do the work. He grew his own food and let the Chinese run the stores. Even...

Jan 14, 2013 - Fly to USA/Return Home

What would a flight be without drama? Our flight from Sydney was delayed by about an hour. We were able to spend the time in the Air New Zealand lounge. Free food, drinks and wi-fi. Our plane had two levels for business/first class. We were in the upper level. We had flat-bed seats again. Great food on the menu to choose from. When we landed in San Francisco, we found we had missed our connection. We had to wait until the next flight, which was no big deal. We did, however, lose our first class seats. We were able to sit in exit row seats,...

Dec 2, 2012 - Bula, Fiji

Friday 30th November We are up early, check out and are at breakfast soon after 6am. We are offered a wonderful full buffet breakfast. We recognise a few faces from last night, but there is no sign of Adam and Nicole yet. We wonder where they have got to, but have not got their room number, we just know they are on the 13th floor (and at that time didn’t know what their last name was). We are taking our time with breakfast until we look up and see a huge queue for the airport shuttle bus. We hadn’t thought about the delay getting back there...

Nov 21, 2012 - Captain's log - Fiji mission complete - signing off...........

We woke to another beautiful sunny and hot morning. Donna claimed she was up to witness the sunrise about 6:00amish but it wasn't that spectacular so climbed back into bed, reaffirming her belief that sunrises are overrated and she is going to commit her photography skills to sunsets instead!!! Our full schedule for the day includes swimming, reading, eating and lazing around - the Wayne and Donna version of a quadathlon!!! The days have all dawned with blue skies and by about 2:00pm it clouds over and we have a burst for a few minutes of...

Nov 20, 2012 - tough job but somebody`s gotta do it

I was up early to try and get a jog in before it got too hot. I headed off to see a resort just up the way Donna had learned about from the travel agents touring yesterday. About 3 k's down the road I find a much bigger and busier resort but a possible dinner place as their menu was quite extensive. Across the street was a pub with a big deck and the music was pumping out with 3 customers and it was 930am!! After a look at the menu and convincing the bartender I didn't have money with me he agreed it would be ok if I came back later. I...

Nov 19, 2012 - beachfront livin`

Our first morning in Fiji was very humid and more than a little warm - not that we are complaining, mind you! Loaded down with our packs we set off for the bus stop to find a bus to Nadi and then on to Tambua Sands Resort (another Lonely Planet suggestions which made us a little nervous based on what we had stayed in last night!). A bus came by as we hit the stop and it was busy but we squeezed in and we were off. This bus had no glass in the windows which actually worked as the wind coming in kept us cool although I don't know what...

Nov 18, 2012 - tropical paradise!

Easy trip to the Christchurch airport after surprisingly good sleep in our classy abode. We caught the local bus at a stop couple of blocks away and were settled in at the airport using their internet to update our sadly neglected blog. We had tried to get online with frustrating results at several locations in Christchurch but at the airport there was very good wifi and a couple of hours flew past before it was time to clear security and go to our gate. The attitude of the people working security is totally different from the states as...

Nov 8, 2012 - Fiji Vacation; Day 6 & 7

I took a nap the rest of the rainy day 5… then got up for dinner. There are three new couples who arrived today. One couple is from the UK and Germany (the girl is from Germany, he is from the UK). There is a couple from Italy who currently live in Aussie… and a couple from England who live in Hamilton, NZ. They are all rather nice and actually engage in conversation! We had a great dinner with homemade vegetable soup, bread, free range chicken, cooked veggies, potatoes, and fruit for dessert. The girls and I sat up and talked for a bed.....

Nov 6, 2012 - Fiji Vacation; Day 5

I can’t believe it is already day 5! AH! This morning I woke up.. headed to breakfast.. and then.. out to the caves!! I must include.. today is really cloudy and rainy.. but the caves are… well they’re caves.. so you aren’t really outdoors! The water taxi picked us up and took us around to where the caves are. They are about 20 minutes or so away! We took a small little fishing boat.. and off we went! The caves are gorgeous!! You pull up to this huge, cliffy, green island and get out on the beach where we met a big Fijian guy who told us a...

Nov 5, 2012 - Fiji Vacation; Day 4

I will start where I ended my night last night.. dinner and kava! I did not get to do the kava ceremony.. but was promised we would do it tomorrow (today). Yesterday we got two new dorm mates.. Shane from England and Paco from Germany. Shane is 24 and has traveled through America (NY and Cali) and to here.. where he will then go to NZ and Aussie… Paco has been in about 40 different countries and has been traveling for 4 and a half years. He has incredible stories about his travels and they are so interesting to hear about!! The reason he is...

Nov 4, 2012 - Fiji Vacation; Day 3

It’s already day 3, AH! Where does the time go? I woke up this morning around 8 am. Breakfast is supposed to be at 8 am, but I learned from the others who have been here longer that Fiji runs on Fiji-time.. which is a really relaxed time schedule. SO.. they may say breakfast is at 8… but you may not get it until 8:30 or 9. So you just wait till they beat the Fijian drum.. which signals that food is ready! Breakfast was WONDERFUL! There was hot coffee, fresh fruit (pineapple, papaya, watermelon), freshly baked raisin bread, cereal (I ate...