Been a long time coming...

Typically, this is not a great way to start a vacation. 

This picture of Fiji was taken on Monday December 17.  We were scheduled to arrive on Thursday December 20.  Naturally, we were all just a tiny bit worried, so I made sure that Gary called Expedia to insure that the Sonaisali Island Resort was still running, and in good shape.  The kind folks at Expedia assured him that the hotel had not called in with any damage, and so we should be good to go!  At the time, that seemed fine.....

However, on the ride from the airport to the hotel, we found out that all might not be as well as we had hoped, and the reason that Expedia didn't know anything about it was becase there had been no power and no internet for a few days.  Also, no pool.  So here we are, waiting for the boat to take us across to our island paradise.

I won't bore you with ALL of the horror stories from our first few days in Fiji, let me just say that the pool was drained and half-filled with silty water, the beach was decimated, the generator was sputtering, there was no A/C, and the water only worked half the time.  

 But you know what, we were in FIJI!  So we made the best of it. 

After one day of sitting around in the heat and investigating the destruction, we did what the Fijians do...



we hit the outlets!  Here there was at least some fans, an ice cream stand, lots of cold beer, dancing, and of course

PIZZA!  Mama's Pizza was the best pizza we had eaten in a LONG, LONG, LONG time.  Of course, the fans may have helped. 



The water here was beautiful, the sun was shining, the humidity was making us glisten, it was a perfect day for a walk around Denerau. 

Here the kids are with a Disney-esque genuine imitation Fijian tiki. 

There were trees knocked down every where, and the trees that were still in the ground were mostly bare.  Talking to some of the residents, they could not believe how strong the wind was during the storm. 

And somehow, this litte car survived. 

But this boat didn't.

This is how you get a backhoe to Sonaisali Island.  This, and crews and crews of military guys worked around the clock to pick up the debris and do basic clean up of the island. 

 No matter how bad the beach looks, and how hot and sticky the room is, the sunset can't be beat.



At least the hotel provided us with some excursions, since there was really nothing to do AT the hotel but swelter, sweat, and complain, and so we got to do two really amazing snorkelling trips.  The first day we took a pontoon boat out to Malololailai (yeah, I can't say it either) Island, and then to Castaway Island (where the movie with Tom Hanks was filmed) 

The water was that amazing deep blue that just seeped right into crystal turquoise and then shocking white.  The pictures don't even begin to capture the colors.

Anyway, here we are snorkelling around. 

Another fun thing to do is to jump off the roof of the boat.  R--man was the first one in.

Pooks then followed.  In addition to the sparkling water, the hundreds of fish, and the jumping, LUNCH was amazing!  Barbeque!  On a grill! 



After that sun drenched day, we decided that the next day we would head into town to get some provisions (you know that is my code word for beer, right?), and stay out of the sun.   Isn't this the cutest police post ever? 

So we hit the MH Supermarket.  Our cab guy was so cute, he gave us his rewards card to use, you know, so he could get the points.

 

On the way, he was telling us that during the last major typhoon in 2003 the water came up to the roof of the first floor.  And so while this storm was bad because of the wind and the trees, everyone was glad that there wasn't flooding.  And for people who don't really use A/C or much electricity, losing it isn't really that big of an inconvenience. 

And so we managed to stay out of the sun, thanks to the shopping and this downpour.  How is it that kids can play all day in the water? 

So we were back at our hotel, and we settled in for a long night with A/C that worked only sporadically.  Gary had to keep getting up every fifteen or twenty minutes to flip the breaker, because the fuse kept blowing.  He finally gave up, the room was quiet, and we were barely on the cusp of sleep, when I hear...

Gary:  Li?(pause) Did you bring back something alive?

me:  What?  No!  I don't think so....  Why?

Gary:  Well, there's something alive on the desk.


I mean, really, I DID learn to check each shell before putting it in my backpack after waking up to a clicking hermit crab party in our bathtub one time, so I knew (mostly) that it was not the shells...

And, on listening in the dark, and from years living in RGP's house, I knew exactly what it was....

A mouse was trying to break into our peanuts! 

Yup, this vacation just keeps getting better, doesn't it?

So we stole a boat, and Pooks drove us far, far away from the Sonaisali Island Resort .... 

Um... well, that is not exactly what happened. 

Really the next day we had another snorkelling trip, this time to Beachcomber and Treasure Islands. 

Pretty, right?

Again, the water was amazing, the fish were so, so cool, and lunch was... again... BARBEQUE!  This is the second stop, where the water was DEEP, and the main activities were beer and jumping off the boat.  I decided to take a solo snorkel and I could not even see the bottom. 

Gary only told me later about the sharks.  Thanks.

That night we let the kids play in the half-full, silty pool, because other kids were doing it, it WAS Christmas, we were leaving the next day, and what would they do really, kick us out? 

Even the band got into it... and you could almost hear them over the pool pump.   Sigh...

And so here we are, on our way to our next stop, the Warwick Hotel in Korolevu... Look at our smiling faces... it can only get better from here! 

Merry Christmas!