Blogs from Suva, Viti Levu, Fiji, Oceania

During this weekend we managed to get to Pacific Harbour for the weekend and stay there. The cyclone hadn’t hit the place too bad, although one of the resorts had damaged bures. Here we managed to do a dive to see sharks, such as bull, lemon and tawny nurse sharks. It was interesting to get back to Suva which took over 2 hours before we had even left. Bus after bus flew past us as they were all full, resulting in us having to get a the 45 minute ride back on a taxi to Suva. Earlier that week we decided to head to the rainforest outside Suva. There are some nice treks and rope swing to go and swing into a water pool. Since the schools were still closed, a lot of school kids were ... read more

Despite being the 'capital' and the largest city in Fiji, Suva is actually pretty small. We started our walking tour down at the harbour by the handicraft market and continued up the main road past the town hall, library and the Olympic swimming pool (size not event). We then headed through the city gardens to the Fiji museum which has a really interesting display of culture and environment. The stories of cannibalism were a little frightening but those days are long gone! Our lunch stop at Guava was delicious (well worth the return after our failed attempt at breakfast - arriving too early!). With our swimming costumes on we headed back to the pool, it was crammed full of local kids and I got some pretty funny stares in my bikini! The weather waited for us ... read more

Well, after my last entry, I decided to take a walk to the Hot Bread Company where I heard they sold these sausage roll pastry things. O...M...G!!! Yeah, they were so good I had two! Thank god I did not discover these earlier in my trip! To explain, its a lamb sausage in a croissant like pastry. Or, a little slice of heaven in a roll! I've had several since my discovery... Thursday night I went home with Teacher Shavin to her home and had dinner. It was SOOOO good! I met her 14 yr old son and played with her 4 yr old daughter, Crystal. She's also in the kindy with us, so I see her every day, but all day at school she was talking about me going to her house. Some of the ... read more

So on Friday night, my host family turned on the TV to watch the rugby league that is regional teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. It's official...I'm an addict! I was so into the game and I didn't even know which team was which! Now I want to learn how to play - don't worry mom, I won't do that while I'm traveling :-) On Saturday I woke up leisurely....well as leisurely as I could with the roaster. I really don't like that bird! I decided to spend the day in Suva seeing the sites that the city had to offer. I took the mini-bus into the city and at first tried to find a regular bus to take me across town to the museum. It was raining and I wasn't in the mood ... read more

My host father and I were talking about our families and he asked if I wanted to see the video of his youngest daughters wedding. Of course, I said yes! Its a two day affair with their extended family coming from several countries including Australia, Canada and the US. There are gifts presented and lots of music and dancing. There are special ceremonies that just involve the husband to be and the bride's father. Then special ceremonies just for the bride to be. It was all so interesting. I loved watching how involved each member of the family and extended family are involved. The wedding itself was beautiful. The bride looked amazing! She was in this beautiful red dress trimmed with jewels and gold decoration. They she had on this cool jewelry and make-up that included ... read more