We started out the day booking our snorkel trip. It is too windy today and tomorrow so we are headed out on Saturday. The only hitch is that Saturday is the day we are checking out and flying to New Caledonia. This bit of stress was immediately relieved by lounging around the lagoon watching the tide roll in. There is a swing that has "I love Fiji Marriott Resort" on the top of the frame that supports the swing. It is a mouthful and "I Love Fiji" would have been just fine. When the tide is out the swing is like your regular swing on dry land. But as it comes in the swing is over water with less and less space between the top of the water and the bottom of the swing. Eventually the swing floats on the water and the ropes go slack. We waded in and enjoyed the water. The tide came in so far that we had to rush back to the shore and rescue Leslie's sandal that had begun floating away. Back at the room we sat on the balcony and ate the sandwiches we made at breakfast. Travel tip: always bring zip-loc baggies with you and an over the shoulder bag to stuff your sneaky sandwiches into. No need to buy lunches. We then made our way to the north point of the resort. This is on the ocean side and the villas were swanky. It was a 2 mile roundtrip but the breeze was steady and kept us cool in the Fijian sun. The resort's hop on hop off bus repeatedly tried to give us a ride but we abstained. There were some pacific reef herons fighting out at the point and we were amazed at the violence. We walked back in time to see one of the workers in his grass skirt carrying a torch and blowing the conch shell. It was time to head over to the Fijian ceremony. Various Fijian items were displayed and discussed. Although the worker assured the crowd that the Fijians are so very friendly he showed off the neck breaker club, the leg breaker club and the skull crusher mace. Even the traditional fork looked like it could do some serious damage in a fight. He did show the root system of a Kava plant. It is very labor intensive to dig up the entire root system and it takes five years for the plant to mature to the stage where it can be harvested. Apparently when visiting a village other than your own it is best to arrive with kava in hand. After the "show and tell" they had a short ceremony that can be either a welcome or a goodbye. For us it was both as we are at our halfway point.
Fish feeding at 9 AM.
Mina Bird feeding all throughout the breakfast time
It is hard to see the white letters against the white clouds. "I heart Fiji Marriott Resort"
I heart my sweet pea
Muddy mud skipper
And his buddy
This would have been enough
The tide is in
There will be no swinging
Not for lack of trying
If you look real hard you can barely see the banded sea snake. Poisonous but not deadly!
The pacific swallows are conferring with each other
A big fish seen from our balcony
A big yellow wasp had us trapped on the balcony for a bit
Heading out on our walk
Keeping the important stuff dry
Spider lilies
Frangipani
These Fiji Parrotfinches are so cute
Lovely pockets of trees offer shade and a sea view
We looked for an empty villa where we could try to become squatters
This is a two bedroom villa
A large open area at the point, perfect for weddings and group events
A hard plastic geodesic dome
100 degrees hotter on the inside
Looking back at the watersports area
A big ramp and dock
Nice place to watch the pacific reef herons battling
Over Water Bungalows
The open ocean
A white variety of Pacific reef heron
Palms in the breeze
No thanks we don't need a ride
Round one of heron vs. heron
Round two is heating up
Oh my, the savagery
The victor is chasing the loser off
The lagoon is once again at peace
Another variety of Pacific reef heron
Vanikoro Flycatcher is so tiny and cute
Berries anyone?
Swimmers
BULA is what he is yelling. We yelled BULA back across the lagoon at him
It is Show and Tell time
The leg breaker weapon
The second presenter
Kava root, fork, head smasher and conch shell
Don't leave home without one
The third presenter was a bit late
But when he arriver he got right to work
The large open hall
The skull crusher
The fork
Details on the side of the fork
The conch shell
The sun set is nice
A muscle bound man emerging from the water
Leslie gave him a high five earlier in the day. We were walking and he was driving by ion a golf cart. I gave him a hearty bula!
Ceremonial paddles
A mini seafaring canoe
More fire burning
