Tuesday April 18th

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Tuesday April 18th

Bula from Fiji!

Today we were supposed to do a snorkeling trip to Qamea Island with Maureen and Sireli. We got up fairly early, around 7 am, for an 8 am departure. Turns out if was raining a bit, and a little windy. So we waited a bit, till around 9 or so, and just as we set out in the boat the downpour happened! It really looked like we were headed to isla sorna, and if we went any further Wes would have been lost to a teradactyl. For the first time it actually felt cold here, which seemed strange, as the days have been around 90 degrees in the sun. Anyhow, we called off the trip, but will try again later. We settled for just watching the kids from our gazebo, with them building sandcastles and cracking coconuts open.

In the evening Jason and Wes went out for pizza and salads from a restaurant called tramanto, and surprisingly the pizza was good. We spent a couple of hours talking to Maureen over dinner, which was nice. We’re learning quickly that Fiji has a lot of poverty. With the majority of people living in shacks with tin roofs, no power and no running water. A lot of the locals have sold their land at bargain prices to people from New Zealand and the US. They’re regretting it now, seeing how much their land is really worth. Fijians really need to be educated a little more to show them how to manage their affairs, and to preserve their environment for future generations. They could really start with garbage cans, as I don’t think they believe in them, as you can see litter close to all the stores.

The island we’re on Taveneui is their “garden isle” very similar to Kauai, Hawaii. It’s a very pretty island, with waterfalls and nature walks that we hope to get to do in the next few days.

Tomorrow Jason, Paulina and I are going diving with Jewel divers. Kirk told us he wants to get certified so we’ve signed him up in a course starting tomorrow, which should be interesting. He’s showing a little bit of apprehension, but I’m sure once he gets in the water he’ll be fine.

That’s it for today

More tomorrow!

Lee

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