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.
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.
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.
Nadia Comaneche aka Loren
CV Gymnastics Camp is Loren's favorite. Unfortunately, she is the same size as most of the high school gymnasts. A brief stint as a gymnasts is better than no stint!
Cora Loves Vaseline
Cora got ahold of the vaseline and made sure that she used it to make her skin soft and youthful.
You can see the large quantities she used. It was quite fun....NOT
Apparently, her eye balls needed to be soft, too.
Head Bangers Ball aka Loren Writes a Song
Loren found daddies guitar and wrote us a song. Cora found her rhythm and decided to dance...or bang her head. Such rhythm these girls are blessed with and such fun we are. Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
