Clif and I had a wonderful time in Fiji a couple of weeks ago. Clif work hard over last year and earned this trip and we were so lucky to have Coco take off 10 days and come live in our house with the children. Also, a big thanks to the Barnes for getting the children around to day care and their other activities. Without y'all we wouldn't have been able to go on the trip and definitely wouldn't have been able to extend it to Sydney (pictures to come) for three nights. Below is a sunset from the infinity pool over looking the ocean. BULA! This word is one that you will hear repeatedly in Fiji and with much emotion. It has many meanings from Hi, Welcome, What's up?, etc. It means "life" in Fijian and is a way of wishing good health and fortune to the recipients. Below are a few of the pictures that are in the slide show on the left with some comments.
We had some stormy weather during many of the evenings but had wonderful weather during the days.
This is a view of the family pool that was right outside our room back door. It was crescent shaped and was really shallow on each end with fountains. Fiji is a frequent vacation destination for Australians so there were a handful of families at the resort.
We were greeted with a rainbow one morning during breakfast.
One of the days we took a boat ride through a river out to Robinson Crusoe Island. On the island you can lounge, snorkel, scuba or paddleboat. We had some rough weather so the water activities were out but there was plenty of time to lounge and take in the fire walkers and dancers. There was lots of dancing. I will post a video soon. The island is also a hotel and would probably be a very interesting place to stay a night or two.
http://www.robinsoncrusoeislandfiji.com/?gclid=CJz8gIu0tKkCFZBS2godom5jKw
Below are some Fijian dancers from the Robinson Crusoe excursion.
Lounging areas on Robinson Crusoe Island
This is the view from the hotel's front desk. As you can see, the water comes all the way up to the walkway in the morning with the tide and then it retreats out very far and you can walk out.
Clif and I at the traditional Fiji dinner night. We had hula dancing and fire throwing and wonderful food and drinks. The floral necklace that I'm wearing was put around my neck as we entered and Clif was given a shell necklace. We received similar floral arrangements when we arrived in the airport. They were beautiful and very delicately made. I wish I was able to bring them home!
We went on a waterfall tour for our first excursion and hiked about 45 minutes into the wilderness to a beautiful waterfall. We had a great guide who climb about a third of the way up and dove off. It was crazy!
Clif at the village Kava ceremony. Kava is an herbal drink that is derived from the Kava root. It is not very appetizing to look at or even drink (it numbs your lips) but it is know for it calming effects and ability to reduce stress. Check out this website if you would like to know more facts about Kava http://kavaroot.com/aboutkava_frames.htm
The first night we were on the resort they had a wonderful dinner for all of us at the main pool overlooking the ocean. It was beautiful and very welcoming to all of the weary travelers!
This is a picture of us on the first day we arrived. The tide has gone out and as you can see you can walk quite a ways out. There were beautiful shells and coral of all colors. The blue/purple coral was amazing. They also had blue starfish (I didn't get a picture but I will share one when I get it).
I will post pictures of Sydney soon!