Nancy and Tim's Big Adventure

Leisurely day in Sydney, exploring the beautiful Sydney Botanical gardens, walking along the shore, visiting the Rocks Markets, sampling Australian wines, visiting Wendy's Secret Garden and walking along the Harbor Bridge. We got our 10,000 steps today for sure 😊Read more

We knew it was the rainy season in Fiji but we didn't expect the onslaught of almost continuous rain (at times torrential) over the past week.

In Nadi on Christmas Eve, we joined in a kava ceremony with a local musical trio at our hotel. (Nancy and I only had one cup, but the band took multiple “ kava breaks” during their performance; their playing got better, and louder, after each).

Christmas was a rest day as strong winds and pelting rain made venturing out impossible.

Boxing day was an adventure on a biblical scale. Despite howling winds and rough seas, the catamaran to our next island stop was running. Luckily Nancy came prepared with motion sickness tablets so we were ok for the ~ 4 hr voyage - but there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth by many passengers (ok I'm exaggerating, let's just say the ships supply of seasickness bags was significantly depleted during the trip).

The catamaran couldn't drop us off at the usual spot due to rough seas so they transferred us and our luggage into a “long boat” (an open fiberglass fishing boat about 20 ft long) and we navigated ~6ft waves and swells for another 20 minute voyage that seemed like an eternity. Nancy felt confident though because the “first mate's” name was Noah (I'm not making this up) and she figured even if the voyage took 40 days we'd make it alright. I was less assured when I found out the “captain's” name was Jonah (I'm not making this up!); for a moment I wondered if we were going to draw lots to see who would be sacrificed to the sea and spend the next few days in the belly of a whale. Including passengers and crew, there were 4 souls onboard the longboat and I only counted 2 lifejackets.

Completely drenched in salt water, we made it safely to shore for 2 days rest on Naviti island.

There was only one other couple at our homestay in Naviti (and they were only there because the earthquake in Vanuatu changed their holiday plans - otherwise Nancy and I would have been the only guests). This was our first opportunity to get a feel of how real Fijians live (the homestays are family owned and operated). Our brief encounter with George, nephew of the owner, gave us an appreciation of the importance of family in their culture and some of the complexities in those familial relationships (like when an extended family member asks you for help, “no” is not an acceptable answer 🙂).

On December 28 we took another voyage (this one only ~1.5 hrs and much less harrowing) to Nanuya Lai Lai island for a 3 day stop at another homestay before our planned return voyage to Nadi on New Years Eve day.Read more