Another Day In Paradise

Day something in Paradise...Just some pictures first I took off the internet.
This is a picture of the gorge we went on yesterday.

The is a picture of what zip lining over the river was like.

This is not ME, but this a picture of our shower.
This is our room and the ocean steps away.

This is a picture of where we snorkeled and the stuff we saw. Clearly a professional picture, but one none-the-less.

It is Thursday here. It is so weird to think that we lost an entire day. We will never be able to enjoy March 26th, but in that case, we get to enjoy April 3rd twice. It is thundering right now, which I am sure means that it is Lightening somewhere. It has been beautiful all day, so we sat by the ocean and read. About an hour ago, 2:00 pm it started to dump on us. That is fine because we've had enough sun today. We were going to go to Suva, but decided we just need to relax today. So Dad is reading in our cabin and I am bloggin' my favorite people.

Last night, the restaurant offered Salt and Pepper Squid, well they call it Octopus, but it was really just squid. Daddy decided he ate an entire generation of Octopi. They were delicious. In the states, we cut them up and don't eat the legs. Here, they fry the entire thing ,8 little feet and all. It look slightly scary to eat at first, but they go down in one fail swoop, so they are really good. We also discovered that they dont' have Hamburgers here. They think that means pork ground up into a burger, and they don't do that. Instead, they call them Beef Burgers. I had a dessert that was Rice Pudding. They have a thing called Black Rice that they cook in Coconut milk. They mash Mango and cinnamon and put it on the top. Their desserts are not like ours, not sweet really, but oh so good.

We discovered why the coconut milk we had a home out of the coconut was so NOT good. That is coconut juice, and not really used very often. Instead, you crack open the coconut, you take out the white stuff (the meat), and squeeze it. The milk is what comes out. Glad we know that:)

Yesterday, on the rafting trip, we got to see flying fruit bats. I didn't have my glasses on, so I thought they were just birds. Nope, bats. They were a red brown, more red than brown though. They were very fast and flew all day. The gal in our boat is from Guam, and they eat them there. The guide said that they eat them in Fiji, too. They are really good apparently. Actually, they said they taste like chicken. They are boiled in Coconut Milk and them meat is peeled off. ummmm...ick! Joe #1 also told us how they catch them. Apparently, they live in Guava trees. But, they have an amazing sense of smell, so they can smell the hunters coming. To avoid being detected, the hunters rub guava leaves all over their body. This smell keeps the bats from sensing them. The hunters crawl on their belly to the base of the guava tree and shake like mad. The bats fall out of the tree. They cannot fly away unless they crawl up on the tree, so they are helpless. The hunters pick them up quickly and throw them in a sack to carry home. They must remember not to put the bag on their back because the bats have teeth and claws. When they take the bag off their back, the hunter will be full of scratches and bites.

As we changed out of our wet clothes in the village, I realized that we must forgive Chris for his tooting because it isn't that bad. You see, a group of college boys from New Zealand went into the changing room, which is really a corrugated metal building. As we all milled around outside, around the bus, around the creek, talking to the villagers, we could hear the villagers make a sound of disgust. Then, we started looking at the bottom of our shoes and such. All of us thought that something had happened in the villages waste disposal unit, or bucket. Next, out came the New Zealander, "Sorry, Mates. I must have had something that didn't agree with me last night." Now, if an entire village can smell it and comment on it, you know it is bad. Poor Daddy, he isn't that bad:)

Yesterday, we also saw an amazing slug. It wasn't very big, but it was super fast. It was against the wall in our shower. It moved as fast as a spider. Chris and I decided that the people move super slow here, so the slugs get to move fast. The bugs here are not bad at all, but at dinner, we are attacked by something. We can't see them, but we see their marks. It seems that if we stick our feet in the light, we are ok, but the bites scratch like crazy. Last night, they actually put these bug smoke things in beer bottles and put them at the feet of the diners. It seemed to help. I have a new found appreciation for the people on survivor.

The sky was clear last night. We looked up and saw an amazing array of stars. This of course initiated a battle of star knowledge. We know that the Southern Cross is like the Northern Star, but I said that the stars are the same, just upside down in placement. Dad, wasn't so sure. We are going to look it up together and he will see that I am right.

Final story for today is a story about Thomas Baker. Thomas Baker was a missionary/explorer. He ventured high into the mountains of Fiji. He found a tribe of people and began to teach them his ways as he learned theirs. In the midst of a heated discussion, Sir Thomas Baker touched the hair of the chief. This is/was a absolute NO NO in the Fiji culture. Your hair was a sign of respect and honor; to touch it was to disrespect and dishonor. This left the chief no choice. He killed Sir Thomas Baker. The tribe happened to be cannibals, so they baked Mr. Baker and ate him. Now, the Fijians are a tough culture and rarely wear shoes. As a matter of fact, I saw a picture today of a youth track event. Most of the children ran in their bare feet. This tradition played a role in the story. You see, they didn't know what Sir Thomas Baker had on his feet. They people assumed they were part of his body. They tried to eat the sandals, but they were too tough. They boiled the sandals, and tried to eat them, but still they couldn't. These sandals are in the museum of Fiji today with the bite marks in them. That is where we are going tomorrow.

The country is working up to Easter. It is a very large holiday here. I love hearing the excitement of the people.

We are almost home, and we miss our little girls. Thank you to all who are keeping our lives in order. Much Love To ALL!

Slippery When Wet

Day #?: I have just lost count.

Last night, you are going to laugh, I walked into our bathroom and saw the biggest gecko I have seen in my life. It was 6 inches long, and as it moved, I could hear the suction cups of his feet unsuck. If it hadn't been so big, I wouldn't have screamed, but it was big and the bathroom is small. I knew he was scared of me and really the only place he had to go was on my head. I made daddy do something.

We rafted the Upper Navua River today. It is a gorge with shear cliffs on either side. As we left the Uprising at 6 am, it was a beautiful day. The sky was a beautiful peach and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We stop at a few spots to pick up a few other rafters, and then headed up to the top of the highest mountain. I must say it is more like a hill at home. The drizzle started at the middle of hill, and by the time, we got to the drop off, or put in, it was POURING. We were wet before we even got into the rafts.

The guides gave us a the obligatory pep talk about rafting, and next the obligatory talk about bathrooms. Dissolution solves pollution was his saying. Or rephrased by him #1 in the water, #2 in the poop bag. I am not sure anyone took him up on that. He also warned us not to drink the water because of the Bulmacow.

We were with another couple from Guam in our raft. Our guide was Joe #1. Here is a shocker, he played rugby, too. All three guides, Joe #1, Joe #2(whose real name is Gus?) and Moses, all came from a village in the mountains set on this river. When the owner, who also owns the rafting company through the Grand Canyon, came to start his company, he went to the village and asked who knows how to raft this river. You see, until the company built them, there were no roads. All the villages had to raft down to sell their taro or get other supplies. Then, since there were no motors at that time, they had to paddle up or find a horse. The jungle is too dense to walk and there are no paths.

He told us many stories about the river. He was a raft guide for the camera rafts for the filming of Anaconda 2. He guided Chuck Norris, Walker Texas Ranger. He even guided Bill Gates, but he didn't take the 2 hour ride up the bumpy roads. He was dropped off and picked up by helicopter. It is the rainy season, and the river gets really really high, about 20 feet higher than when we were on it today. Many guest make it to the put in, and decide they don't want to go down. Last week, there were 16 people going up. Only a boat of 10 came down. The others were too scared and didn't want to come. Joe 1 took a boat full and as the were crashing through the waves, he realized they didn't speak English. As he was yelling, forward, they were just smiling and nodding...and drinking Vodka I might add. 4 of them fell out of the boat. After he picked them up, he learned forward and reverse in Russian:)

The rapids were really exciting and the water was BLUE. You could see the bottom of the river the entire time. And if I didn't point it out, it was raining and raining. By lunch, we were so cold. Odd to say when it was really warm out, but I don't think you can be solidly wet for 2 hours and not be cold. We pulled the boats over and the guides made us lunch. We had sandwiches. I haven't had mayonnaise on anything since we got here. They had mayonnaise, so I glopped in on my sandwich. It wasn't mayonnaise. It was Miracle Whip.

As we continued on, it warmed up and stopped raining. The gorge was so beautiful. You could see the layers deposited over time. At one point, you could see the old coral reefs that had been petrified. Rock on top, rock on bottom and reef in the middle.

As we got back to the village to take the boats out, we saw these great chickens that Loren would love. They didn't have feathers on their heads. The feathers started on their middle neck. At first, I thought it was a sick bird until I saw its chicks. They had the same feather thing goin' on too. It was at this point the guides described a Bulmacow. Apparently, when the settlers came to the islands, they brought cows. The Fijians didn't know what they were, so they asked. The settlers pointed at them, a bull and a cow, and said, "Bull...Cow" The Fijians didn't understand that it was too words, so still today cows are called, "Bullmacow."

The language here is funny. An island spelled Beqa is pronounced Benga. The town Nadi is Nandi. The welcome or Hello is Bula...Mbula.

No more plans for the rest of the week. Daddy might fish. We might go to Suva, the biggest city, and shop and go to the museum. It will hopefully be a bit sunnier so that we can get a tan. Hope all is well. Love you all dearly. And we really miss our girlys! Love to all!

ZIP a deedo dah

This morning it is beautiful and clear. That makes the sun super hot. The 50 sunscreen still makes me feel like I am burning. Our first excursion today is the ZIP line in the Jungle. Very Cool! An American owns some property and created a zip line. His business actually makes them all over the world. We went way up into the mountains and spent two hours harnessing ourselves up to cables and sliding down. Twice we went over rivers. Our guides were amazing, too. Their names were Michael and Seraviu. They both were parents, so told us a lot about real life in Fiji. We also got botanical and zoological information. It was nice to talk to people who know about the land they live on.

Michael said that laws had been passed lately, which I think means a few years, that reinforced the Fijian way. It is more than a custom to be modest in public; it is the law for Fijians. No short shorts, or bikini tops, or strappy tank tops in the villages. They also are trying to keep the Fijian culture slow like it was originally. Therefore, you cannot eat and walk through a village. If you eat, you must sit and eat. When you are done, you may walk around. There really isn't crime or drugs in Fiji because people are very happy here with the way their life is. They don't need more then what the land can provide.

We began talking about politics. The are actually very politically educated. When the Iraqi War broke out, the British, being that they were a British Colony, came to recruit Fijians for the War. 12,000 Fijians went to Iraq, and so far, 6,800 have come back in body bags. In a country of 800,00 that is a lot of warriors. The Fijians believe in raising your children to be respectable and responsible. They believe that it is the parents job. A unruly child is the fault of a parent. Respect and honor are paramount in their culture. It is nice to see a culture that does what is right.

The Fijians also believe in natural remedies. "Tablets only make it better for a second." They showed us a root that Cures asthma. They had a zip liner last week that was having an attack. They mashed the root and she decided to stay in Fiji longer to see how to get more root. We saw a plant that acts as a calendar. When it blooms, the flower signifies that it is time to dig for Wild Yams or fish for Cod. The vine stretches up to the tops of trees and the flower is the size of a large basketball and bright white. You can see it from anywhere. This helps the people know that it is time. Amazing how the Earth works.

Loren will love this. We saw a bunch of millipedes. They were big and small. They ate bark off trees and left trails. They are extremely poisonous; they were really neat to look at. I took pictures. On the way home, Chris saw young boys fishing. We had to stop and look at their fish. We have been told they have trout in the river, but these didn't look like trout. We have pictures of them, too.

We have been told by the guides that the real name of Fiji is Viti, but the Samoans told Captain Cook the wrong pronunciation. So Fiji is what it has been called since then.

I am slightly disappointed because we are south of the Equator. I have always heard that toilets swirl backwards. Well, these toilets don't swirl, so I am bummed. The hot and cold water handles are backwards though.

Today, we sat by the beach when we got back. We watched the young kids Horse Board. When I saw it on the list of things to do, I thought that it meant you could keep your horses here for free. Not at all, it is a combination between surfing and water skiing as one is drug by a horse. Quite funny! People were not very successful!

Finally, we must talk about food. Last night for dessert, I had grilled pineapple soaked in sweet chili sauce. It was so interesting. We had whipped cream with it, but their whipped cream isn't sweetened.

Well, tomorrow is white water rafting all day. we must be up and out of here by 6 am. That is 3 am your time. We sure do miss our girls and love them deeply.

More tomorrow.

Gilligan, The Skipper and The Jet Ski

Day 3...
Today was quite fun. Actually, it isn't quite over yet, but I am waiting for our iPod to charge. We have been trying since we got here to download a movie. It still isn't downloaded, and it has eaten up our battery. We figure we will be able to watch it on the plane home. We are not worried; we are so tired at night that we just go to sleep after reading anyway.

Today was the Jet Ski Adventure. When we awoke, it was drizzling and looked a bit like Seattle. All I could think was, "I came all this way to Fiji; only now, I am plagued with clouds." The difference is that even with rain it is 80 and really really humid. The rain feels good. On a side note, since the shower is outside, it is quite fun standing in a warm shower with the rain falling on your head. Well, back to the jet ski adventure...I knew that we were in trouble when the Adventure Director told me the ride home would be "really exciting". To put this in perspective, we rode jet skis across the open ocean to an island about 20 miles away. For those who have been to Hawaii, it was like riding from Maui to Lani'e. Going over was not so bad. It was bumpy, similar to riding in Chris' boat, but not bad. We jumped some waves and did a few brodies to avoid big waves. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the Yaucan Island and Betiluva resort. I use that word loosely. It was beautiful, but had no guests. It was just us and our guide. On the way over, we passed many boats just anchored. I am sure they thought we were crazy.

As we got our snorkel gear on, and got the 'rules' of the preserve, we went on our way. AMAZING. Because it was overcast the colors of the coral were not as brilliant as I had hoped, but that was hardly a party ruiner. The coral was amazing. I felt like I was in the movie Shark Tale. There was Plate Coral, what our guide called it, that when Chris swam over it, it was wider than him. Large rocks of coral with stag coral, brain coral and plate coral...and a tire or two. There were these amazing little bright translucent fish that schooled around the brain coral. There were trigger fish, tangs, angel fish. They were big and small. Because the coral wasn't as bright as I'd excepted, the fish made a huge contrast. The yellows were really yellow; the blues really blue. Twice, we had millions of tiny brilliant blue fish swim as though they were following an ocean current. They didn't even try to avoid us; they just swam right around us. At that moment, I felt like Nemo in the EAC. Eventually, the sun came out and the coral began to come alive. It was like it was blooming. The tan stag coral became bright purple. The brain coral became yellow and green. It was amazing.

I began to get cold...I know that is a shock. We went in. As we sat on the white, broken coral beach, and let the wave lap against us, a white and black fish just swam between our legs. These fish do not care who we are and just go on with their day. We got out and sat with our guide on an old picnic table and ate lunch. Egg salad sandwiches, which were really scrambled egg sandwiches, were the order for the day. We had a great conversation about him, the island of Fiji and the people there in.

Pate' is a member of the Uprising Rugby team. They travel all over the world to play and win. Chris and I realized that the entire Uprising Rugby team works at Uprising in their adventure department. Not a coincidence at all, the Director hires the best players he can, gives them jobs, has a gym built for them to work out in, and has hired a trainer to work with them. Actually, they are practicing right now in a mowed horse field behind the reception area.

Pate' also pointed out the boats we passed as we were coming over. They were dive boats. They were diving with the bull head sharks. They are incredibly safe and don't bother people...hmm, really. I am just glad we didn't fall off.

After lunch, Chris and I walked along the beach and found hundreds of hermit crabs. It was so cool. They were no bigger then a knuckle, but they were everywhere. Loren will love the pictures. We also found these shells that the locals call eye balls. We are going to try and bring them home to the girls. They look like eyeballs. They are so cool. Finally, it was time to head back, and I have never been so thankful to make it back from an excursion.

The wind was about 20-25 knots. The waves were so big that when Pate' was over the crest of one, we couldn't see him. I was more wet from the ride home than I was snorkeling. My back hurt, my head hurt from jabbing into Chris' back, but my spirits were high. How much fun was that? It was like really riding a roller coaster. Chris kept screamin' yehaw! We made it home, and I kissed the sand.

We showered and I got a massage. It wasn't the greatest in the world, but it was so cool to be on a deck, over looking the ocean, with the breeze blowing, getting the kinks worked out. The ladies were very neat, too. They all have Westernized names, which I thought was strange since most name tags have authentic Fijian names. Bobbie's real name was Seatria. Fannies was Ureriria. I can see why they choose more Western names. Bobbie's family was from Nepal. Her mom and dad came over as indentured servants. When the British left, they stayed. She said that it was so bad in India that Fiji was a better choice for her family, even as servants. She was part of the Palm Sunday procession yesterday, and she gave me the scoop.

Apparently, it is an annual event. A group of church members, leave from Suva, about 1 hour away, and carry the cross all the way to Nadi about 3 hours from here. They stop at resorts and special spots along the way to share their stories and praise. At each spot, a person or persons is chosen to carry the cross to the worship site. For two years, Bobbie has been chosen. It is extra special because "Indians aren't allowed to carry the cross." I am not sure why because of her limit English. It seemed as though she was a convert to Christianity. She said at one time, "Life is hard, but God provides for all things." What a nice thought!

This brings me to my deep thought for the day. Pate' was describing villages and islands. He was saying that islands can have one village, or one family, or 9. Chris asked how they made a living. Pate' said, "There is no need for a living. The island provides them with what they want and what they need." People who don't need more than what they have and have been given. A lesson for today.

We walked to town to kill off the rest of the day. It was a nice end to a nice day.

Loren, dessert yesterday was very cool. It was a traditional Fijian dessert. It was stewed pumpkin in coconut milk. They put it in something similar to a manual crock pot and stew it in the milk. Then, they mash it and put sweetened pumpkin seeds on it. It was surprisingly delicious.

We miss our girls terribly, but know they are having the time of their lives. We love you all!
L and C

A Palm Sunday to remember

Day 2 is drawing to an end. We are about ready to go to dinner and then to bed. Since we get up with the sun, we got to bed with the sun, too. We are 18 minutes from the equator, so the days and nights are almost completely equal; 18 minutes difference actually. When the nights start, the frogs come out. I've taken pictures. I don't know how they will look. When I say frogs, I mean frogs. Seriously 10-15 in a 2 foot square. They hang out on the grass and the entire resort is connected by board walk, so we are fine. I see know why the boardwalk. When the night comes, also comes the geckos. The are so small and cute. If you look at the windows of lit rooms, like the bathrooms in the restaurant, there are 100s enjoying the light and the heat from being inside. It isn't scary or gross like in Central America. The bugs are minimal, so the frogs and geckos make it fun. Since we had a big rain last night, we found that the banks of the creek that runs through the resort have Mud Crabs. They borough in the mud like they do in the sand. Since the creek level raised a ton, the crabs were a movin' today. Higher ground I guess.

The humidity here is really kinda cool. Since it rained last night, the air was wetter than normal. Our books, although inside, had turned up pages like they had been left outside for the storm. Our bathsuits don't dry out and my hair is super curly. I am glad I will never see these people again since I look like a curly haired freak:)

Today, we borrowed their kayak and went for a row. It was much harder than it looked. We went up the beach about 5 miles and floated most of the way back. There are a ton of shells here, like the ones you see in stores. But up the beach, where there really are no people, we found the coolest stuff. Hundreds of small sand dollars, the size of pennies, nickles and quarters, sat all over the beaches. Chris even found a sharks egg case sans shark of course. One of the really big things to do here is feed bull sharks by hard while scuba diving. Loren kept telling us to be careful of the sharks, so we are going to avoid that particular activity.

Today is Palm Sunday. Although Fiji is Hindi, Muslim and Christian, it is a very big holiday. Everyone employee was telling us about what their church as doing today. I really wanted to be a part of something, but it would have been difficult. At around 3, we heard this amazing singing. We could tell it was a large group of people. I followed the sounds and found 150-200 Fijians walking down the road to Upraising. They carried a cross cloaked in purple clothes. The music was in Fijian and BEAUTIFUL. The were barefoot and had walked from their church miles away to a make shift alter on the lip of the beach. They sang and spoke. They prayed with their voices. It was seriously amazing. Chris said, 'They sure sing better than Mormons." I would agree.

The interesting part of this processional was that is what a direct statement about the driving of the people of Fiji. We knew it was bad as we were in the van for 3 hours. Road signs and road rules are optional, but it was clear that even the Fijians knew how bad it was. Almost all of the processors wore reflective vests and they had crossing guards who carried red warning flags for drivers. These people were barefoot and clearly of little means, but by gosh, they had their vests on to protect them from the cars. Chris said it is a sign that even then Fijians are scared of the drivers.

We got some scoop on the owner of this resort, too. He is a 30 year old Kiwi. The people have been calling him the director, so we just thought he was the manager. Today, we asked about ownership and they pointed to him. He owns another resort, too. Although he looks like a rich playboy, he can't be all that bad. He built this resort for his rich friends that had nothing to do but drugs. It was their job to actually build and run it at the beginning. Also, he has a policy for his employees, when it is their day off, no one contacts them. The employees really seem to relish this part. Finally, it was a Fiji Rugby match today. Chris and I were reading on our porch when we heard cheering from the patio restaurant. All of the employees and many guests were sitting down watching rugby. It was as loud a March Madness game. Cheering and Groaning abound. The best part was that the employees got to just sit and watch. Can you imagine employees at any place sitting down to enjoy the Superbowl or NCAA finals? I am not sure if it is the laid back people, the owner or a combination of both.

Finally, tomorrow we jet ski to snorkel. We can't wait. We have eaten some amazing food. Chris and I have made a deal that we can't order anything we would order at home. That makes the food fun. We had cold coconut, onion, peppers and fish soup today, Kokoda. It was actually delicious.

Well, love to all. We sure do miss our girls. Tomorrow...a new day and a new post.

It is 5:42 in Kabul

Day 2...
Since the plugs here are 120 volt, we can't plug our iPod in to charge. The nice people here put it on their computer to charge. I picked it up after my nap only to see that it was 5:42 pm. I ran back to the cabin to wake Chris. We had slept away most of the day. "Wake up Wake up" After much pondering, listing the things we did and the time we spent, there was no way that we had slept for 5 hours. I checked the time...those sneakers had changed the iPod time to the time in Kabul. It was really on 1:42. Our nap was only an hour and a half.

Last night it rained and rained and rained. That is the beauty of this place. Hot and rainy, birds still chirping, waves still crashing and raining. The drops are huge and the wind is warm. I would say that it started about 9:30 pm our time and ended at about 5 am. We had the windows open and it felt so nice.

The bure', or cabins, are amazing: hard wood floors, beautiful sitting area, sink refrigerator, and windows that look out onto the ocean. We are at the very end, so our windows open to the forest on the other side. The girls might find this part interesting: Our bathroom is on our deck. It is a slick layout. The front door opens out and the bathroom door opens in. This makes it easy to slip into the bathroom without anyone seeing. The bathrooms are complete though. They just happen to be on the deck. The shower is in the back yard. It is a enclosed area with plants in it. It has a bench and a short covered area to keep the toiletries dry when it rains. The floor is make of aggregate rock. It is beautiful. After I laid in the sun yesterday, I took a shower to cool off. The sun shined in my eyes, and I think I got more sun tan.

We have scheduled a white water rafting trip for Wednesday. We will be rafting down part of the river in Anaconda II. BIG DEAL!! On Monday, we will be taking a jet ski trip to an island for snorkeling. Today, we are just reading and napping and eating. Since it is Sunday, nothing but the resort is open. It is nice to see a place that still leaves time for what is important. One of the employees said that if we took a taxi to Suva, the next biggest city, we would only find McDonalds open.

When we go into the village, I will write about that, too. In all of the written material, they warn us to be modest in dress when off the resort as to not offend the locals. Bathing suits and short shorts are for the pool/resort areas, only. It will be fun to experience and to see what this really means.

Yesterday was their day light savings time, so I am not sure if it is 9:58 am or 8:58 am. Since there are no clocks here, we will just go with the flow. At least we know it isn't 5:41 in Kabul.

We love you all!

Pictures to Come

Fiji Day One...if that is what you can call it. My time is all screwed up and I am not sure what day it is or what time it is on that day. After a nap, I have decided to tell you about our trip. It is the easiest way for me to let my girls know what we are doing. Chris is still napping, so I can take the time to update you all.

The flight from LAX to Nadi, Fiji was long. I can totally see why they fly it over night. To be honest, I could barely handle it sleeping for the majority of it. I can't imagine doing it during our waking hours. Once we got to LAX, I convinced the nice man at the desk to give us an exit row. That made it easier for the big man. Next to us was a very nice young man from Canada, through England. When you sit next to someone for 12 hours, you learn a lot more than you should:) Needless to say, after the appropriate niceties, the conversation of our government came up. It was such an interesting conversation. Adam, our young seat mate, was clearly from a wealthy family; his holiday this time consisted of Canada, Fiji, Australia, India and back home to England. Health Care, Taxes, Education all came up, but the most interesting point he made was this, Americans and American politicians are so busy 'being' right that we, they, aren't DOING what is right. A point to ponder...

The food on Air Pacific was actually fabulous and the service the same. We landed, got through customs, hopped our transit and headed out for our 3 hour tour of the island. This was the only way to get to our week hide-a-way: Uprising Beach Resort in Pacific Harbor.

The people so far are the friendliest I have ever met. They say, Hello, to everyone everytime. The resort itself is amazing. Our driver kept pointing out the 5 start resorts we were passing. Needless to say, we knew we weren't staying at one of those. But, I would hate to see a 5 star looking at ours. Our Bure' is right on the beach. The pool is as warm as the water, or visa versa. The sun is hot, but the ocean wind and spring clouds keep it livable. We had breakfast while we waited for our room to get ready. Roasted Tomatoes...delicious. Our next stop today will be riding bikes into town. Finding a local place to eat. Planning our excursion for tomorrow, which may be sleeping and reading.

Finally, one last observation, although Fijians speak English as their 'native' tongue, they really speak a combination of languages. Fijian and Hindi are their real languages. The mixture of cultures is so interesting. Native Fijians, Fijians mixed with Indian from the influx of indian slavery, and European are the primary people here. It is kinda fun to be the outsider. But, amidst all this beauty, the Fijian's don't know what they have. As the cattle roam free here, the driver of our transport threw a plastic bottle at one to get it to move. I certainly hope in their quest for the almighty dollar, they do not 'ruin' what they have here. I realize that "We don't know what we've got 'til its gone" is true on so many levels.

Well, love to all. Day 2 will come tomorrow; whatever time or place that will be.

Some More Video's of the Donley Girls

After posting all of these, I think I am caught up. I hope anyway. Not many pictures, but the videos are classic.

Clearly doesn't quite understand the concept of hide and go seek. Loren and Cora turned the Piano Room into a kids dream. When I couldn't find Cora to eat dinner, this is what ensued. Pretty funny!



I love this one, too! Wait, I love them all. Cora and Loren were in the bath tub singing. I couldn't understand them, so I went in to check. They were putting water in their mouth, I know icky, and were singing together. Such creative, and slightly disgusting children.



I shouldn't be really proud of these next ones. Cora has clearly listened to me too much. She wouldn't just say it, so I had to coax her a bit. But, yes, when no one is watching, she says, "Ah Dang it" "Jeez" and "Oh, Gosh". I don't claim the temperament training; although, I should.




I guess Cora really really wants to ski. These next two show her fixation for Loren's ski stuff. This one is Cora found her goggles and just danced in circles. Then, of course, she slammed her fingers in the drawer.




You can't help but laugh at this one. First, because of her helmet. Second, because it is on backwards. Third, because she is so fixated on something. Fourth, because she is about ready to fall over. She looks like a weeble. Remember those my 80s friends.

Donley's Catch up Extraveganza

Cora also is starting to play and understand what she is playing. She decided she wanted to play baby, but she wanted to be the baby. It was slightly disturbing when she realized she couldn't fit in the cradle. So cute...

Cora is at that age that she understands how to do things, and she doesn't understand how cute it is. This is gross and amazing. She got the margarine, went down stairs in front of the TV, and I found her singing her abc's while eating butter by the finger full. The best part is that it is in her hair, too. It is nummies that double as hair product.