The ultimate in relaxation

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We took a small boat to the island of Caqalai which is pronounced "Thangalai." We have a little "bure" with a double bed under a mosquito net and a view of the beach and ocean and the tiny island called "Snake Island." At low tide you can walk to snake island. We only spotted one of the little white and black striped, and highly poisonous snakes hanging out in a crook of the exposed island rock. I guess that's why they call it "Snake Island" and not "Island of Snakes." ;-)

We went diving with the Irish dive master and we saw several large schools of barracuda, purple nudibranchs, a tiger fish, and lots of white tip reef sharks. We didn't get any shots of the sharks as they'd have to swim up to within a foot or two of us and say cheese for us to get a clear shot in our cheap little camera. The snorkeling is great too and most of our pics are from that. Lots of colorful coral and fish everywhere.

We just got to Suva and walked the city tour described in the guide book. The Fiji museum was very interesting. At puberty women used to get their bottom half tattooed so that it looked like they were wearing a pair of shorts. Men of high status and priests had hair dressers who dyed their hair and quaffed it into elaborate head gear. Cannibalism was a daily event and widows and seriously ill people were strangled. I don't think I'd complain about being sick around the village!

The best part of the walking tour wasn't even in the guide book. We heard a marching band when we left the museum and went to see what it was. There was a changing of the guards at the presidential palance that only happens once a month and we were lucky to catch it! The guys in red shirts (army) swapped with the guys in blue shirts (police) and they all wore the white Fred Flintstone sulus and carried bayonetted rifles. Lots of foot stomping, shouted orders, inspections and marching ensued.

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Photos

Go Lakers!
I'm sure that they already lost but these fish seem to have the spirit. ;-)

We found Nemo!
And some of his friends. :)

Fish too pretty to eat at the fish market
We saw some of these when we were snorkeling/diving.

Muddy rugby match
Great fun to watch. Don't have a clue what's going on but the locals love it and so do the players.

Comments

[Sande Laskin]

I am sooo jealous!
Thank you so much for including me in your travel blogs. Really enjoyed seeing all the neat things you are doing.

[Paul Zikmanis]

Looks like fun
Hey guys Fiji looks really cool! I can't find the pics of Toby in a Fred Flintstone outfit. I wanna laugh at him! Did you eat any of those fish laid out? I guess you don't have cooking facilities. The sunset looks supernatural. Your renters are light bulb freaks. Every light on 24 hours a day inside and out! Other than that they're cool. We got married, I sent you a link to our web gallery.

[Lisa n Toby]

No problema
Hi Sande, Glad you are enjoying the blog. Take care.

[Lisa n Toby]

At an internet cafe right now
Hi Mary and Steve, Yup, we have to drop into an internet cafe to do this. I think there is sattelite available but it's expensive. Hope you guys and the girls are having a great summer. Ciao!