Last day in paradise

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Last day in Fiji - sort of a big bummer, especially because it’s the most beautiful day we have had yet. But it’s bitter sweet because we know we have a bunch more exciting places to head to next!

So, our flight out of Taveuni was at 4 - so I had all day to dread getting on that little puddle jumper. But I did it in style - long walks on the beach, yummy breakfast & lunch, lounging time in the sun, and a massage in the shade. It was damn hot out. Like, can’t sit still without sweating hot - not just me, Dan too, so that means it’s really hot (because I sweat like a cow on a normal day).

But as I sat out in the sand and played with Jimbo the dog, out of nowhere Dan comes down with life jackets and paddles and says lets go. He had been watching a pod of dolphins all morning and decided to try to kayak out to them. Well, we tried. And I have to say, past the initial reef that we snorkeled in a few days ago - it is the most clear and beautiful underwater scenery I have ever seen! It just went on and on for miles of beautiful coral and life forms I never knew existed. And lots of fish too, of course. It was pretty damn cool (wish I got that digital underwater camera I wanted…alas). But we finally got pretty close to the dolphins. I am talking groups of 15-20 of these little things just swimming along, in and out. No big acrobatic jumps, but at one point they must have got spooked and we can see them swimming around below the water. Tried to catch a video (left the biggie cam on the shore so it wouldn’t get damaged) - see what you can. It was pretty cool. But much to Dan’s dismay, they didn’t want to stay and play, so I convinced Dan to paddle back in.

At 3:15 we said our adieu to our hosts - they sang us a little song, gave us some flowers and we were driven around the corner to the airport. Only to be told our flight was delayed until 5:20. So we sat there, with the other white tourists, waiting for our plane to arrive in the sweltering heat. Too hot to move, too hot to sit still. Flight was delayed again until 6, but we did finally take off and get back to Nadi. Spent the night in the Mercure hotel near the airport, got dinner at a local restaurant called The Bounty (nothing to write home about), and went to sleep.

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