On the Seventh Day of Christmas: it was also New Year's Eve! - Fiji, Dec. 31, 2016

It was a slow day, since it was Mom, Dad, and Valerie's last. We had a cooking class planned for 11am right near the entrance to Denarau Island, so we had a small, lazy breakfast and some packing in the morning before walking over at 10:30. 

Flavours of Fiji has been in operation for three years, owned by "two white ladies", with four staff that were there with us. We had a Fijian cook, an Indian cook, and a helper who would whisk our dirty dishes away. (I wish I could cook like that at home!)

The start of the lesson was a demostration of how to crack a coconut (find one of the three seams) then how to scrape the insides (women sit side-saddle on the wood handle of a metal disk-shaped scraper). 

Once we tried it, it was time to go to the stations. Everyone had two burners, and a collection of pots and dishes underneath their station. The burners were gas with a high and a "low" that was still pretty nuclear. Things cooked fast!

Our first dish was our Fijian dessert - plantains stuffed with coconut in coconut milk. We made it first so it would have a chance to cool before we started eating. The plantains were already cut and the middles scooped out, so it was stuffing then cutting then covering with the milk to simmer. 

Before most dishes, we would walk over to the "market" table to grab the fresh food we'd be cooking with. Our next dish was stewed taro leaves - we got to use a mortar and pestle to crush up our garlic. Now I want one so I can pound it all the time! That was mixed with tomato, onion, some chilies, and some salt as the spinach-like greens boiled. While we waited, our lead cook told us about how if you under cook the taro leaves, they make your throat itchy, and then some long story about her sister-in-law feeding itchy greens to her nieces and nephews. 

The last Fijian dish was by far my favorite - fresh-water mussels. We chopped up the pre-cooked mussels, stuffed them into shells, then covered them with a similar garlic-tomato-onion-chili mixture before pouring hot coconut cream over them.

It was time to take a break and eat our first culture's food. It was served with some fruit juice (could never quite figure out the name, but it was white-ish, and delicious) and taro to go with the mussels and cassava to go with the taro leaves. The greens were good, the plantain wasn't carmelized like I was expecting, but the mussels were amazing. 

After the break, it was time for four more recipes - chicken-potato curry, okra curry, roti, and coconut with cardamom as dessert. 

Everything was pre-measured, and the chicken was even pre-cut, so it was dumping the "three seed" combo or the "three powders" into the pot at the right time. We definitely used mustard seed and curry leaves (and curry and chili powder), but not sure what all the other ingredients were. We'll be getting an email with all of them eventually. 

We got lots of help with toasting our coconut, but my favorite part was learning how to make roti. It is really easy, especially when our Indian cook demonstrated. Just flour, a little oil, some water, and knead until it becomes a dough. 

We rolled it out, put it on the hot roti pan (though they said you could use a electric frying pan - I've got a skillet at home!) and flipped it when it started to bubble. Brush on some oil, and you have your Indian pancake, nice and fresh to eat your curries with. 

The Indian food was in general more to my taste, but those mussels are what I'll dream about. We got fruit to go with our toasted coconut, more of the yummy juice, and sat and chatted with the family from Australia and the travelers from Hong Kong and Canada. 

There was a certificate presentation (I'm now a "master cook"!) and then we dawdled for a bit to check out their Fijian products. 

We walked back, just full enough and just barely getting dripped on once or twice. It was a nice enough day, but not super sunny - which was fine, since we were inside for much of it. 

It was five hours until Joss came to take Mom, Dad, and Valerie to the airport, so we whiled away with board games, chatting, and a few final walks on the beach. 

We went down to say goodbye and Deanne and Maria and Chris asked Joss to drive them to the airport in the morning. I'll be headed out diving while they are headed to the airport at 8:30 and 11:30 in the morning. 

We finished up the evening with some pineapple fried rice (thanks Maria for making it and Deanne and Chris for cleaning). As the rice was finishing but hadn't gotten stir fried yet, we trotted down to the beach for the most gorgeous sunset yet - oranges and violets shadowing the sky. It looked like a desktop background. 

After coming inside, we juryrigged Chris' laptop with my hard drive to watch "The Usual Suspects."

Well, watch is a strong word for me. I made it ten minutes in before passing out in my chair. I woke up as the lights turned on, shocked that the movie was over. I was barely awake while eating my chocolate ice cream, but we had decided to beckon in the new year with a dip in the Pacific, so I mustered enough energy to change into my suit and go down to the beach with Maria and Deanne. 

It was extra exciting as the fireworks started going off and some were kind of pointed in our direction! We found a break in the 

On the Sixth Day of Christmas: Near Nadi sights - Fiji, Dec. 30, 2015

It was another day with Joss in the car to do a half day exploring around Nadi. We are slowly finishing up the food we brought - the last of the Bisquick turned into pancakes (some with banana) this morning. We had packed some of the staples along in our suitcases to have for meals, such as spaghetti and pasta sauce and rice and oatmeal. And the Bisquick. We've supplemented that with the tropical produce we've found on the island. Some had been great (the bananas and pineapple), and some didn't win over everyone (the cassava - which apparently is poisonous if you don't cook it. We learned this after we cooked it.)

There are still good amounts of nice fresh fruit. We'll see what everyone leaves me with after everyone leaves by the 1st. Mom, Dad, and Valerie actually leave tomorrow!

Joss was his typical 15 minutes late, but we headed first to the Hindu temple on the other side of Nadi. It was finished in 1994, and is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. No shorts were allowed, so even the guys had to have wraps for their legs.

The temple is dedicated to Kritik, Ganeesh's brother. There are bold paintings on the ceiling detailing different stories, and smaller altars within the main temple. There are three smaller temples in the back for milk offerings, weddings, and horoscope readings. 

It was a colorful and interesting start to the day, but I was more excited for the orchid garden at the Sleeping Giant, which was next!

We bumped down a gravel road to a second gravel road that led to the shady patio that was reception for the garden. We got there right as a tour was leaving, so caught up to them after paying the entry fee. The guide was rattling off names of the orchids we were passing. All of the orchids were under netting to filter out the sun, and then in pots with rocks, because they prefer rocky soil. 

There were ones that looked like birds, and faces, and dancing ladies, and even an antelope! The actor Raymond Burr had started this as a private garden in the 70s before it was opened to the public as the largest collection of orchids.

Past the draped walkway was the "jungle path." I'm glad I put on bugspray, but it wasn't enough... The mosquitos enjoyed their snack as we walked through lily ponds. The wooden steps wound up through jungle with ferns as big as trees, vines winding everywhere, and birdsong raining down on us. 

Near the lily ponds was a slope leading up to the wedding chapel, entirely made of vines, and a pair of swings that kept the mosquitos at bay better than the bugspray!

We walked back along the orchid walkway to find a cat sunning itself on the top of the netting. 

We relaxed in the shaded porch of the reception area and enjoyed our free tropical juice as the mosquitos were driven away by the cool breeze through the wicker chairs. Mynah birds were disappearing into the thatched roof - perhaps there were nests up there!

We hopped back into the car for a ride to First Village. According to lore, the first Fijians landed nearby at 1500 BC, then made their village on this same site that now houses a thousand villagers, a hundred spokesmen, and a chief. We had Leah show us around, but her voice was suffering because she was sick, so I missed a quarter of the tour between that and her accent. 

We passed two different area with tables of trinkets, then were in a central area with the chief's house and his reception area, as well as the Methodist church. 

Inside the church was - well, firstly a dog just sleeping - but also sections for the women and men and the choir and elders and chief. 

Leah was very complimentary of the missionaries that came and stopped the cannabalism and taught them the "better" ways. She said they were making progress towards being Western - Dad said make sure to keep your culture as well. 

It led to a interesting conversation at lunch (at the harbor nearby - best service we've had yet!) about why people spread from island to island (resource depletion) and why island people were often warrior races instead of settled races with different occupations (couldn't handle that high of a population).

We next went to the First Landing Resort, where the first landing of the new Fijians was in 1500 BC. There was a geocache there, which we found by a shed next to a turtle tank!

We'd been wanting to go to a lookout that was advertised, but Joss just took us up the nearest hill. He pointed out his island, then told us we should go there next time we were in Fiji. 

We got back to the resort around 3 - time for some pool, some reading, and (for some) some naps. 

Dinner was a tortilla soup mix with the remainder of our mechanically chopped chicken. I wanted to make coconut sticky rice to go with the mango for dessert, and it mostly worked. It wasn't warm and I needed more sugar, but it was over halfway decent. 

We played a round of Chrononauts, changing history to win, but I was pretty tired after not getting a nap today. Bed at 10, and looking forward to a final great day together tomorrow!

On the Fifth Day of Christmas: diving and sun - Fiji, Dec. 29, 2015

After a flurry of emails last night, I finally just decided to take the plunge and commit to a morning of diving with Scuba Bula, who dives a bit south of here on the outer reef of the west side of Viti Levu (this big island). I got picked up at 7:30, then a car swap (since my driver actual driver was running late, a coworker of his took me to a meeting spot in Nadi and I switched cars).

It was the same beautiful drive down the coast, all farmlands and grazing cattle, goats, and horses. On the way down, James (the driver) mentioned that he'd visited a lot of the Polynesian islands, and that Fiji was his favorite - also his native one, so maybe a bit of bias. He was very accepting of British rule of Fiji, and thought they weren't corrupt while the local government might be. 

We arrived at a pretty dumpy looking resort, and he dropped me off at the gate, since it was closed. 

I walked through the grass toward the water and was pointed to the scuba shop. The paperwork was super efficient, and we were on a boat heading to our first dive site by 8:45, less than 30 minutes after I got there. (Oh, and I got my detailed logbook praised by the office manager.)

The first site was the Bat Cave and we drifted to the Wreck, where Scuba Sam, my guide and the founder of the company, sank a wooden-hulled boat ten years before. It had gotten torn up by the cyclones, so all that was left was one long timber. 

It was vaguely a pinnacle dive to start, as we stayed pretty near the top of the outer reef wall at 30 meters. After poking around there, with a ton of fishes, including a goatfish, we cruised over some sand to the inner reef wall at 18 meters. In the sand between the two, I was hoping for a nurse shark, but I got a midnight snapper instead. 

At the second reef wall, Scuba Sam looked in every nook and cranny, but "all" we saw were fish, soft coral, sea anemones, hard coral such as fan and whip corals, and the random sea lice that stung me. 

We were up for a surface interval (during which I ate half a small pineapple). Alan/Adam (I forget the name of the other guy I was diving with - it was a very small group with just the two of us!) lives in the area so was talking about the shops that have come and gone and the resorts. The resort that the shop was on was apparently closed as of a few days ago for renovations for a few years, but one was being built next door that they might be moving to. 

I did my second backward roll off the boat into the Nursery. I got down a little faster and with a little less ear pressure than the first time, but still slowly. The first wall I found the antennae waving of a spiny lobster, then Scuba Sam pointed out the first of four moray eels we saw that dive! Both he and I found some giant sea slugs, then he found a flatworm and made it swim in its beautiful undulating way. 

I found a moray peeping out from under a coral bump as we continued along the sloping wall. 

At the sandy bottom next to us was a reef shark! The little guy didn't move at all while we drifted by (the current was a bit stronger, so staying off the wall was a little trickier in some cases). Sam and I went through a swim-through. Right at the end, at what was called Fish Wonders, we saw a giant clam and a giant moray chilling back in a cave (like, its neck was as big as a football). As we were doing our safety stop along the top of the reef, a free-swimming moray (number four!) darted about the coral below. 

It was a quick ride back to the shop, where I got the details for my logbook, changed, and was back in James' car for the ride back. 

He saw a mango stand and asked if I wanted some. So I got some mangoes, then I got some pineapple a little further down the road. They were added to the collection of fruit that the others had gotten on their morning trip into Nadi for some shopping.

I got back for lunch, which, for me, was toast and fruit. I went to watch Valerie try scuba in the pool here, then had a conversation with Mark before changing into another dry swimsuit and laying by the pool with the rest of my family. (Except Deanne - she was feeling poorly, so the air conditioning was better for her.)

I got hot at one point, so hopped in the pool, rinsed, then started my nap. It was rudely interrupted by spits of rain, so I went inside and collapsed into my bed, still wet. 

I woke up what I thought was hours later - turns out, it was just 6:30 and the boys were making dinner. My lack of protein made me starving, and Mom found some cheese at the store to tide me over. It was... cheese. Kinda weird how mild it was. 

The fried rice and "General Tso" chicken for dinner was well needed. In fact, I stayed awake all the way through Jurassic World! Bedtime was at a healthy 11pm. Maybe I will make it to midnight by the time New Years rolls around!

On the Fourth Day of Christmas: a day cruise - Fiji, Dec. 28, 2015

It was the day of our second planned activity - a day cruise with Whale's Tales on a schooner! Our pickup time was set for 9:10... We played Head's Up in the lobby until 9:40 waiting for them. 

We were greeted and asked for our booking slip. Dad might have gotten a receipt, but didn't bring it, so thankfully they had the seven of us written down and gave us our boarding tokens. 

They also gave Maria a pink sarong, since we decided it was time to celebrate her birthday... Only four weeks early. 

The ship was a bit smaller than I expected for it to fit 50 people. The fore and aft decks were maybe 20 square feet each, then there was a large booth inside where the fruit and pastries were. I got started on that champagne part of the champagne breakfast right away. 

We "sailed" (not sure that sail was really doing any work) for about an hour and a half, getting near a couple of the other islands before anchoring in deeper water near Schooner Island. A motor boat grabbed half the passengers (including Deanne and me) and trundled to the island. It was sandy, but soon after the waves broke it turned into coral.

Deanne and I staked out a table and re-sunscreened while the boat went back to fetch the others.

First on the list was the kava ceremony. It was a large group, so the staff designated a chief to drink the first bowl of kava, then told us to try some during lunch. I forgot, so no sedating dirt water for me to try. There were three claps and a few words spoken as a group, then we were off to activities!

I was most excited about snorkeling. Our resort doesn't have any coral nearby, so I finally got to see some Pacific sea life! I recognized some fishes from Thailand last year and Belize in September, but don't remember seeing clams with the rippled mouths before. There were a lot of pearls at the gift shop we went to the other day, so perhaps that is where they come from!

Maria and Chris went in the glass-bottomed boat first, so we snorkelled out to meet them. The water was visible up to 20 feet, easily, and possibly more. 

I was so intent on snorkeling that it took me a while to realize I was one of the few still out. I came back in to find that it was lunch time. A few different kinds of BBQed meat, coleslaw, salad - not quite the ridiculous buffet I was expecting, but very pleasant. 

We talked to a lot of different folks on the cruise, from an extended family of 20 that's been doing this every other year for many, many years to a couple from San Diego that was trying the scuba diving while their mom was doing the power snorkeling. Everyone was very friendly, and at lunch, it was no different - a family with two sons in their twenties chatted about the connections to different American cities we have. 

I was ready for more snorkeling (though I should have thought to apply a bit more sunscreen to my backside... Yes, that backside...) so hopped in with Mom and Maria. Mom was happy in the shallows close to shore, so when Deanne came out, she went in as we ventured out further. 

I heard there was a giant clam underneath a grate. After half an hour, I found a guide with some other snorkelers and asked him. He pointed me to a buoy, where I found a pretty big clam under a tripod of metal stakes - not exactly what I thought I was looking for, but still a cool find nonetheless. Turns out, I did miss the giant clam - it was closer to shore. I'll just have to go back!

The guide also gave me some fish meat, so I got a chance to handfeed the blue and yellow striped ones, who also took the opportunity to feed on my hand! (Just little nibbles - turns out I don't taste very good.)

By the time I got back to shore, they were wrapping up the afternoon with a sand volleyball game. The island was just big enough for the dozen or so picnic tables to ring a volleyball court. I grabbed another beverage before sitting in the shallow water, waiting (and kind of delaying) getting in the boat on the way back to the schooner. 

As we pulled up to the schooner, we saw a few brave souls take flying leaps from the upper deck. Not to be outdone, Valerie and I each had our moment of flying (then intense salt-water nasal cleansing). I went to the "honeymoon suite" to rinse off; it was a little dated and musty-looking, but it served its purpose for me. Just don't actually spend a honeymoon in there. 

We sat on the upper deck and chatted for the ride back. Our serenaders played some singalong classics that we knew, so we joined in for "Sweet Caroline" and "Country Road, Take Me Home" and the two lines of "Brown-Eyed Girl" that I know. 

We were back to port again - rain-free, over-sunned, and not too sleepy. I left my family to check on some of the dive booths that were at the port and booked a dive for January 1st! Many dive shops are closed, so I was happy to find one. 

I found one of the crew when I didn't find my family, and he let me know to just take the next shuttle back to the Wyndham. I didn't have a key, so was glad when I knocked on our room and the door opened. 

We hung out for a bit, then decided on dinner at the restaurant on the sand so we could watch the sunset. It was lovely, and we were just happy to not get the massive rainstorm we were witnessing across the bay! Burgers, pizza, and curry - some of the fastest service (or perhaps we weren't as hungry) and definitely a great view. 

It was clearly game time when we got back, so a few rounds of Scattergories, then a round of Seven Wonders (that I didn't win! Good job, Valerie, for an all-time high score!). It was 10:30, and I wasn't exhausted, but knew I had to be up early for a taxi to Scuba Bula, where I'm doing two dives in the morning!

On the Third Day of Christmas: the Coral Coast - Fiji, Dec. 27, 2015

Yesterday, right before we walked to the port, we met a "taxi" driver (it was actually a large van) that agreed to take us around for the day. We wanted to see the Coral Coast!

Nadi (pronounced "nan-dee", because some "d"s = "nd"s) is on the west side of Viti Levu, the biggest island of Fiji's 300-odd. It is still a bit inland, so if you go west from Nadi about 10 minutes, you hit the manmade island called Denarau with a cluster of resorts on it. 

The Coral Coast is the southern coast of Viti Levu. I had heard about the sand dunes, so, after Josh was a few minutes late (Fiji Time!), we started our drive. 

Fiji is so green and lush. And they've apparently had a drought for the last month or two as the rainy season hasn't fully kicked in yet! (We've been advised to not to to waterfalls expecting them to be gushing water.)

It was palm trees and some deciduous trees getting choked out by (or maybe just living in harmony with) vines. There were Brahma cattle and horses grazing in the tall grasses, then chickens scratching around the concrete-block houses with tin roofs. Some in a valley were on stilts for monsoon season. Almost all had brightly colored laundry flapping on a line. 

We reached the Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park at a little after 9 in the morning. It was just off the Queen's Highway, which I believe is the round-the-island road that we pretty much stayed in all day. There was a little interpretive center, which included some archeological pieces from ~2000 years ago - some of the earliest remains discovered in Fiji. 

The park ranger (with pretty short shorts and pretty hefty thighs - I forgot to ask if he was a rugby player, since that's been on a bunch of billboards around the island) handed us a laminated map and we took the 1-hour walk. 

Josh (our driver) started the hike with us, up a bunch of stairs to the top of the green hills surrounding the beach and the dunes. He took a picture for us, then headed back down as we continued up the next rolling hill. It was a final climb up a steep sand bank until a long wide sandy slope down to the beach. 

It was gray and cloudy, so it harkened back to the Pacific beaches nearer to my parents in Seattle, but with dark sand instead of rocks. They were the biggest waves we've seen, since there were no islands out further to cushion the blow, and the beach sloped steeply into the water. 

Despite the grayness, it was an isolated beach surrounded by green hills that got larger and more impressive as you looked into the distance east. We were essentially at the southwest tip of the island. 

Oh, and Dad found a floating rock. (Pumice - but count on Dad to find the interesting rock on a trip.)

We walked back, with a little bit of spitting rain, through a mahogany forest (supposedly - I don't actually know what it looks like enough to say) and back to see Josh and head to our next stop before 11am: the eco park!

I think we all had low expectations, but it was surprising informative! Very hands-on as well - we walked in and immediately were given the chance to hold iguanas and baby boas. 

The baby sea turtles (they were at least four, but still pretty small) were in the tank just ahead, and so we got a chance to hold out and toss in pieces of fish for them. They did this odd move where they'd swim with just their back flippers and fold in the front ones over their shells. I think it was defensive to prevent the other turtles from nipping at their flippers. 

Speaking of nipping, Dad had an over-eager turtle go for part of his finger as well as the fish he was holding. Ouch!

Next up were the raptors: owls, goshawks, and another hawk. After that was a few cages of large parrots, including the cockatiel that had been in "The Swiss Family Robinson" movie. We tried to get him to say hello, but he wasn't having it. 

There were a few more iguanas hanging out. Apparently, some of them came from the airport after a smuggler had attempted to get them out of the country. 

There were three sets of free-flying cages, though not a lot of flying was going on while we were in there. The final cage had a honeyeater, some ducks, and a frog that caught the attention of an ibis. 

The walk back was a canopy boardwalk. I climbed those first few stairs and was sure I was going to need a nap right then - a jetlag sucker punch. It was through will and effort that I reached the top. It was through childish exploration that I went back down to try the rope bridge. 

It hit us while we were up in the canopy, studying the various trees and shrubs they use for medicine, that we didn't need medicine, we needed food. 

We got down to the front and asked Josh what his recommendation was - a seafood place about twenty minutes down the road. Could we make it?

The other thing to understand was that all of our meals outside of the resort (so, just the one at the Fijian resort at Port Denarau) have been slow and the food has come out when each individual plate is ready, not when the entire course is ready. 

There was one waitress and probably only as many cooks, but we eventually got our prawn dishes and livened up. The restaurant was overlooking the slightly gray ocean, so we could watch the rain smatter down on the rocks below. 

We got dropped off at Maui Bay, which was a jetty or pier thrust out 100 feet into the water. The pier was at least 20 feet above the water, but it was clear enough to see the starfish and school of small fish as we walked past. I went down the set of small steep steps at the end of the dock and shuffled my way back to shore. 

We had tried convincing Dad that the snake-like things he saw in the water were just branches, but they were actually some bulbous creature that looked like an inflated snake skin. Never asked anyone what they thought it was. 

We stood at the dirt parking lot/picnic area watching a few stray dogs run around for five minutes until Josh drove back up. 

Dad was most excited for having our own driver so he could direct Josh to a geocache. We went down to another resort row and had him park. We all scampered after Dad, who figured out the location then headed for the giant tree. Before I could peer my head around the other side, he had moved a pair of rocks and was reaching into a hole in the root system. 

Out popped a pencil box, and, with that, Josh helped in finding his first geocache. 

We attempted to stop at the Intercontinental, but they didn't let day trippers in to use their beach. 

Now Mom had the request - stop by a secondary (high) school so she could take a picture to show her class. We did the hour's drive back to Nadi and then deviated for a block to a Muslim private secondary school. It was cinder block, and very well kept up, with a rugby pitch in the middle. 

Once we got home, I was ready for some pool time. We hadn't been in the water all day! And it was happy hour! Val and I started at the adult pool and were soon joined by the rest of the gang (except Dad, who was getting some alone time reading).

A banana daiquiri and a half later, it was time to go in to see what Deanne and Maria were cooking up. Dad had started without them, so it was pasta with eggplant spaghetti sauce and fruit (always fruit). I got a chance to call Mark, so was plenty occupied while they were cooking. 

It was shortly after dinner that the power went out for the first time. It had such a great whooshing noise as everything powered down. Everyone (our neighbors included) popped out to their balconies to see how everyone else was dealing. 

A few tiki torches were lighting the path, but otherwise, all was calm. Dad started a line of Silent Night, and we all were pleasantly surprised to hear the second line from the balcony next door. 

In the cover of darkness, we sang the refrain and started the first verse - and the power came back on, ruining the moment and sending everyone back inside. I learned the trick to restarting the wifi through the connected tv, and we resumed the evening with Settlers of Catan. 

There were two more brief outages before the power left us completely. We still played by iPhone flashlight, but it wasn't moving as fast as my eyelids were drooping (especially in the mostly dark) and so I traded my spot off to Mom so I could end the day in bed before 10pm. Again. 

On the Second Day of Christmas: kayaking and Port Denarau - Fiji, Dec. 26, 2015

Jet lag is kinda nice - I'm just doing my blogposts in the morning, and, since it's a 18 hours behind where most people are reading them, it's like I posted them on the right day!

The Wyndham by Worldmark where we are staying (since my parents are Worldmark point owners) has kayaks we can take out for free, but this morning was a guided tour. They didn't get our reservation, which annoyed me, but all who wanted to were soon paddling along with the activities man to a nearby island. It got a bit choppy in parts, and I got to use some muscles that I don't usually while pulling myself along.

Fiji has these gorgeous inland hills (mountains?) that just show the greenery rising out of the sea. The resort's slightly silty beach gets covered at high tide. As you continue north along it, it begins to get a bit wider. There's a rocky point the we walked to yesterday that we passed in the kayaks today. Offshore was some shallower water (maybe a meter or so) but without a lot of color. A few sponge coral, and quite a few rocks. 

Looking out from the resorts are a few more islands, but we were headed to a mangrove-made island that continued north after the resort island turned back east. The water there was chest-deep, so we jumped out on the sandy floor (with a few rocks, shells, and coral pieces) to hear a little bit about our guide's tribe. 

Theirs was the firewalkers, that also had a healing ability with just their hands. He talked of other tribes that could call to the red prawns and make them emerge from their hiding places (to become a snack). He comforted us with the fact that there are no shark attacks in Fiji. The Fijians believe that it isn't right to eat sharks; he went so far as to say if it even touched his tongue he'd start getting rashes and white spots. 

We paddled back to the resort, then hopped in the sea water for a bit. After some rinsing, it was time to walk over to the port. 

Port Denarau is on the same man-made island, and has a building for ships to pick up passengers for different cruises. It also has a little "strip mall" with different boutiques, restaurants, and a salon or two.

Walking there was mostly fine... It was the warmest part of the day (noon) since the clouds often roll in after lunch. And it was a wee bit sticky and around 90. But... Exercise?

It was time for lunch when we got to the port buildings, and we chose a traditional Fiji restaurant. Maybe we could figure out some of the foods that Mom and Valerie found in the market on Thursday!

We ordered family-style. Catch of the day, grilled (called a "coral trout" but the reddish skin and underbite made me think snapper); chicken and pork lovo (baked in an earthen oven); lamb shanks; mixed seafood kovu (steamed in banana leaves); and coconut milk sauce, toro, and stewed greens to go with everything. There were "ota", which were a wild fern buds, that were a bit crunchy like asparagus and a crowd-favorite. (I might have also had a blue banana shake drink... Very yum.)

We were at the port to make reservations for a boat tour later in the week, but as we were exiting the hotel, I'd asked a taxi driver if he knew of a driver that could hold seven people. In fact, his car was a large van! So we made plans to meet with him for a day's adventure tomorrow. 

So it was Monday we had to plan for (and Tuesday and Wednesday, but I'm sure we'll get to those). Dad and I went to the two outfitters we recognized from the Internet, and got their brochures and their prices. Valerie came in and decided our research wasn't good enough, so asked a charter fishing outfitter what he could do... We ended up back with the one that would give us a champagne breakfast and Maria a slightly early birthday cake. 

The next task for the day was to get fruit and vegetables, and lots of them. We grabbed some of the dairy and meat at the port, which Dad took with him as the bus dropped him off first. 

Mom, Maria, Chris, Deanne and I took the bus into town. (There's a timelapse for those interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGtyUcZDaU4 ) We started at a tourist shop, which delayed us a bit (but got us delicious orange juice!) so when we got to the fruit market, it was closed. 

The rain had started to fall, so we scurried around back and found some sellers on the sidewalk that could get us what we needed. The droplets were heavy, so it was a quick stop in a pretty crowded supermarket to grab a few final necessities before speed walking in the direction of a bus stop, according to a passerby. 

Turns out it was the bus terminal for the entire island, and we just found the farthest corner as our local bus was pulling away. It stopped for us (hooray!) and we hopped on, damp and in the humidity. 

We played a few rounds of Seven Wonders before dinner (all my practice with Mark has paid off - I've won all three games). Val and I were in charge of dinner.

I was definitely more sleepy than hungry by 7:30 when we finished dinner. We wanted to use up the cassava, so we ended up with "buttery curried baked cassava balls" (the fried patties didn't really work), with yogurt and chopped tomatoes, green onions, and cucumber. It was kinda Mediterranean. The roasted eggplant and pineapple were safe. The cooked spinach was past its prime, so everyone took a bitter taste then left it on the plate. 

Conversation lasted late into the night... 9pm! I pretty much called it quits after clean up. 9:15 and it's bedtime! (You see why I blog in the mornings here.)

Christmas "Eve" over Christmas Island - Fiji, Dec. 23-25, 2015

The international date line is a crazy thing. 

A few weeks before the trip, I got an email from CheapOair (the flight brokerage I used to get my tickets) that the flight from DCA to LAX was moved back by 10 minutes, reducing my layover time to less than 90 minutes, and thus, unable to be used. I could instead leave at 9am and have a nine hour layover in LAX?

I opted instead to take the risk and forfeit my plane ticket if something went wrong with my first flight. You can see how this vacation might have started out a bit more stressful than it needed to be. 

It did encourage me to apply and receive Global Entry - a $100 for 5 years of expedited passport control when entering the country as well as TSA Pre, which I was hoping would help me in LAX. 

The attendant at check-in had to manually check my bag because my connection time was so short. 

My first flight was delayed by 40 minutes. We made up about 30 in the air. I speed-walked to the international terminal, finally got a second boarding pass, then found there was no TSA Pre for the international terminal. It was 8:50pm when I got in line, and that's when our plane was scheduled to start boarding. And that's also when I got my secret weapon of a sister's text that the boarding was delayed. Maria and Chris were on the same flight, and enlisted as spies and co-conspirators to make sure I got on that plane!

Once we boarded, I traded to a seat right across the aisle from their pair of window and aisle seats. Brief chats, then watching Book of Life during a chicken curry dinner and lights out. 

I slept for five hours straight, rolled over, and got another two before being awakened from breakfast. I watched Paper Towns for the final two hours... And then, it was 6am Christmas morning in Fiji!

At some point in the night, Maria had seen a flight path display that put us over Christmas Island. Since we didn't get a Christmas Eve, that will have to do. 

Fiji dollars at worth half of American dollars - and easy and fun conversion when a $20 item is really 10USD. After being greeted by ukuleles and singers, I took out some cash (thanks, PNC!) then we taxied to the resort. 

It's the Worldmark by Wyndham, and it's lush and tropical and clean, if not the most up-to-date. It has the biggest pool on the island (source: my father reading something) and paths that lead to a gym, a spa, a Mexican restaurant, an adult's pool, a volleyball court, and more. 

The now-six Walters (we met my parents and Valerie here) swapped travel stories for an hour until the allure of the beach propelled us to take a walk along the resort row - three other hotels neighbor ours, with similar sprawling pool set-ups, tiki-hut-type bars, and restaurants advertised for sunset meals. We collected a few more shells for the mini Christmas tree, then hunger started creeping in. 

Valerie and Mom had ventured to Nadi and a fruit market, buying pawpaws (papayas), watermelon, pineapple, and bananas, as well as some tuber that ended up in their curry last night. (It was not well received by Dad.)

Deanne was expected in an hour, so we started making pancakes, eggs, cutting fruit for yogurt and granola, and generally making a Christmas morning feast. Deanne came in right as we were serving (though not hungry since the plane had given her breakfast).

It was time for some pool/beach-side fun, so a little before noon, we headed down, coated with sunscreen. 

Dip in the pool, nap, read, swim, nap, drag the chair in to the sun then out of the sun, and repeat. We were driven in by a bit of hunger and a bit of over-heating. Time for games, cookies (thanks Grandma!), and presents - just like Christmas back home!

We wandered back to the pool looking for frog racing, but had the wrong schedule, so meandered for a bit before a final game in the living room. 

Dinner was at the Mexican restaurant because they have a dancing show - Tahitian and Hawaiian dances, followed by a fire dance! Valerie and I of course got our feet wet (literally - the stage was uncovered and it had started raining) with some hip-shaking. (I saw the videos taken after - we look clueless!)

It was nearly 9pm, and there was still tomorrow yet to plan! We had kayaking in the morning, and other activities were planned by going to the port nearby, so our tentative plan was set. 

Well, I feel asleep before it was formally set. Sun and jetlag are wonderful sleep aids. Merry Christmas!