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!