Life is a Journey

NOTE: There are constant greetings of bula all the time, whenever you pass or see a staff member. It really is lovely. The Fijians are a very friendly bunch.

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Some things never change and I was awake about 4.30pm and up at 5am having a cup of tea and catching up on blogs. It was dark when I got up and it didn’t get light until after 6.30am.

Quite a nice view when it does.

One by one everyone else eventually woke up but it wasn’t until 9am that everyone was up. Rather than go out to eat we decided to order room service for breakfast. We got 4 meals for the 6 of us and it was still a ridiculous amount of food. We actually kept 3 of the plates of fruit and 2 of the pastry plates to have later!

My breakfast was a poached egg, toast, some fruit and a couple of the pastries.

Love the fresh cut flowers that accompany everything – even breakfast!

Before breakfast I’d taken the girls and registered them for kids club and at 10am they went back for the their first session. We weren’t sure how Amy would be (being that it’s for 12 and unders and she’d be amongst the oldest) but when we saw her later she seemed to be having lots of fun.

On our exploration walk we ran into an childhood school friend. I knew he was here (thanks to facebook) but didn’t expect to run into him so quickly. It was lovely to have a little catch up. We saw the girls heading into the pool for some pool games and went down to have a look at the beach. It’s a rather overcast day (still warm, but not stinking hot) so I didn’t take any photos here – saving that for a blue sky day.

Kevin found the dive shop and got some info, and we headed back to our room. We got there just as the cleaners did so hung outside. It was getting rather warm and we were keen for a swim so after picking up the girls at 12pm, headed for the pool. Our room is in a great location, right beside kids club, which is right beside the pool. It really couldn’t be any better for us. The bures by the beach looked nice but there was no privacy from people walking past, they only sleep 2, and are further from the pool.

Once at the pool it was straight in for all of us. The water is a wonderful temperature, one that is lovely to be in for some time. Refreshed we got out and promptly ordered some drinks. Another cocktail for Kevin and virgin pina coladas for Amy and myself. Not quite sure why my family all cover themselves with towels. It wasn’t that hot and the sun wasn’t out!

I was sitting under an umbrella so had no worries.

We spent quite a few hours hanging out by the pool. We enjoyed lunch delivered to our sun lounges – falafel wrap…

and later an ice cream….

I must have been too relaxed to take many photos today. The kids came and went – Christy loved hanging out in the hammock outside our room – later she told me she was Santa and it was her sleigh :-). Kevin went back to the room for a sleep and later booked himself a dive for tomorrow. Even I had a little nap by the pool. Around 4pm we headed back. I showered and changed and Kevin and I went up to the shops for a few things.

Shortly after our return our talei (butler) arrived with champagne softdrinks and a plate of canapes (with chicken). We read and chatted and were still here when he returned with night caps. We hadn’t had dinner yet, but Kevin happily had his drink anyway :-).

The only problem we’ve had is that the rooms are quite dully lit. The middle lounge area is probably the brightest but as dusk fell even that proved a little dark for Mum trying to do a crossword. Kevin to the rescue. Those who know him will not be surprised….

Of course we all died laughing when Mum put the headlight on – but at least she could see. She was giving me the “don’t you dare take my photo” look. But I did and think it’s priceless :-).

The kids went off the kids club again and we finally ordered some room service for dinner. Amy had pizza, Kevin chicken wings, Dad a club sandwich.

Mum & I had veggie stirfry (hers with chicken). It was so yummy. We ordered a bowl of rice for Christy who was still at kids club (Amy had come back early).

Then more chatting and reading before everyone got tired and headed off to bed. I stayed up with Christy who was still eating her dinner and we headed to bed around 9.30pm. It’s been a near perfect day with only rain in the morning and evening, but I would like to see some blue skies tomorrow :-).

It was a  very early wake up this morning and it was lucky we had the alarm set for 4am as we were both fast asleep when it went off. After a quick cuddle with the pups we dragged ourselves out of bed to get dressed and do a final pack. We put the dogs outside ready for the puppy sitter who would be arriving later in the morning and just on 5am are limo arrived and we were on our way. It was still dark when we left so we were able to enjoy the sunrise as we arrived in Sydney.

With 6 of us in the limo is was surprisingly not very comfy but we managed. Mum, who is a nervous flyer (and hasn’t flown in over 10 years) was relaxing.

We arrived at Sydney airport… and yes I agree a limo with a trailer is not quite so glamorous 🙂

got checked in for our flight…

and went through immigration and security with little wait. Christy was sad to have missed Santa in the duty free shop but we did see him wondering around later (and only had photos taken with yesterday!).

She did, however, get to make friends with the Milka cow and ring his bell.

After a bit of shopping – Opi nailpolish and Locataine – we found a Gloria Jeans and got some breakfast.

An egg sandwich and iced chocolate for me.

Then just after 8am it was time to board our flight.

It was uneventful flight, which Mum coped with amazingly well. I used my i-pad to get caught up with Google Reader.

And I had to laugh when I saw what happened to my chip packet :-).

Roughly 3 and 3/4 hours later we were flying over Fiji…

Suddenly we weren’t complaining of being cold anymore!!! After clearing immigration and collecting our luggage we meet up with our transfer company, where we received a lei greeting.

After a short, but seemingly long wait, our mini bus departed for the 1.5 hour trip to our resort. I really loved seeing the lush landscape, the clouds rolling in, the cows beside the road, the roadside fruit stalls, the lines full of drying clothes outside each home,

the homes of the locals – both wealthy and poor,

and the vehicles FULL of pineapples!!!

Christy (and Amy) both nodded off…

but Kevin and I really enjoyed the passing view…

Then finally we were arriving at our resort and hearing “Bulla” yelled at us in greeting as we drove through the entrance.

At reception we were greeted with refreshing cold towelettes…

and iced tea….

Then we got to check out the resort. We were told where everything was and made our Christmas dinner booking…

before being taken to our family bure…

which is just gorgeous…check out that ceiling…

and the detailed touches…

which might just have come from the tree outside our bure…

We have two bures with an interconnecting lounge area – perfect for two families. Nan & Pop have the bure with a king bed and sofa (but no bath in the bathroom). After getting settled and Kevin sorting out the internet (his main priority upon arrival) we headed off for some much needed dinner. We had missed lunch (only having cheese & crackers on the plane) and with the time zone difference of two hour it wasn’t quite as bad as it sounds, but we were all ready to eat :-). It was raining, so we grabbed our complimentary umbrellas and headed off. We got to meet (and pat) a gorgeous lizard from the local wildlife park upon our entrance to the buffet resturant.

The place is beautifully decorated, with some subtle Christmas touches which I love. Yay, our first family dinner in Fiji!

The theme changed here each night but as soon as we heard it was Mexican tonight my family was rather excited. Now, I could have started with the cold selection….

but instead I headed straight to the Quesadilla bar 🙂

where a very friendly Fijian made me a delicious vegetarian quesadilla, which along with the rest of my meal was delicious. My second plate looked almost the same as the first :-).

Kevin enjoyed with first cocktail of the week and Amy enjoyed her first mocktail.

I barely had any room left for dessert but once I saw the selection I just had to give it a try.

It was all lovely but by far my favourite was the mango mousse – the blob at the front of my plate. Yummo!!!

It was dusk when we left, after handshakes and farewells from the bar man, and the torches had been lit.

The girls had left before us and were already in the pool, which they said was lovely.

Kevin headed back to the room and Nan, Pop and I went to check out the general shop, and pick up some essetials, and replace Christy’s kids band which was ripped. When we got back I looked in our window!!!

Our bure is very secluded and private and just magical at night with the lights on. I’m sure everyone will sleep well after such a long day. And tomorrow we’ll get to explore the resort some more and check out the beach.

e