THE END IS NEAR

April 18, 2011

Our last full day on the ship began with breakfast and more beautiful scenery all around us.  Once again, we headed to another area for snorkeling.  This area actually was two islands that are connected by a sand bar at low tide.  We saw the most fish today, we found Nemo, and Linda saw a Crown of Thorns – which is a large and beautiful starfish that actually destroys the coral.  After an hour of snorkeling to the beach, we purchased more of those “medicinal” beers for an hour on the beach.  Back to the boat for lunch and a lazy afternoon.  We had an option to visit another school, but these retired educators stayed on board to read and snooze.

The evening took us once again by tender to the island for a visit to another Fiji village and dinner.  We were greeted by rows of women who had various handmade crafts for sale and children selling a variety of different and beautiful leis.  We invested our $2 for a lei so we could throw them off the ship later making a wish to return.  What fun!

We witnessed another Kava ceremony but didn’t imbibe this time.  A traditional dinner was served….fish, pork and chicken all cooked in the underground oven and lots of other salad and vegetable dishes that were prepared aboard the ship. The food was really yummy especially a dish made of rice, mushrooms and other unidentifiable veggies and spices served inside a baked pumpkin.  It tasted kind of like stuffing.

The residents then gave a very interesting performance of dance, warrior skills and ended with the Fijian traditional song of farewell, Isa Lei.  Beautiful voices and harmony made the performance very moving.

Back to the ship for dessert and drinks and fun.  We met in the Yasawa Lounge where Simone thrilled us on the piano with many American favorites to sing and dance to.  It was very exciting to have all 15 of us together having fun.  This trip extension did quite a bit to bond us together as a group.  Too bad it is all over. 

In the lounge area, a large mat was laid out and the crew assembled to invite any of the passengers to participate in a Kava ceremony.  They didn’t appear to be sad that so few of us partook.  Heck…it left a lot more for them.  Hopefully our crew will be able to function in the morning.

We had a group moment when we all threw our leis overboard and then retired for the evening.  Breakfast tomorrow at 7:30 and debarkation at 9 AM. 

We have a day to spend at a hotel in Nadi before we go to the airport.  Not sure what we will do.

Deedee’s fun fact:  For those of you who purchase Fiji Water (actually bottled in Fiji) in the fancy square bottles – be warned!  We were warned NOT to drink the water in Fiji.  HMMMMM?

April 19, 2011

We are waiting at the airport for our flights home.  We had some time at our hotel to swim and have lunch, before cleaning up and re-packing our bags for the final time. 

This has been a wonderful trip and we are sad to head home, but looking forward to our own homes and beds.  We have had 12 flights, 10 hotel rooms, and too many coach bus rides to count!  We found it a nice change to be in countries that speak our language and have decent toilets and toilet paper!  Food and drink did seem expensive and an $8.00 beer started to sound like a bargain.

Stayed tuned…the Serengeti is sounding good for our next adventure.

BUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP

April 16-17, 2011

Saturday, we left our hotel at 10.30 and boarded our small ship at 1:00.  After a light lunch and time to unpack a few things, we sunned on the deck.  There are about 80 passengers and we have a small, but adequate cabin.  All passengers can use snorkels, masks and fins for free and there are supplies for certified divers.  At 2:00, a small, glass bottomed boat and a tender left the ship for a small island.  People could either sun, swim or snorkeled off the island, or the boat would take you back out to the reef and you could work your way back to the island.   DeeDee joined the snorkelers and enjoyed the coral, zebra fish, parrot fish and beautiful bright, blue starfish.  After about an hour, the small boats brought us back on the ship and a cold beer was needed to get rid of the salt water taste (that is my story and I’m sticking with it).

 Tendering for this ship is a must in these ‘no dock’ areas but they have an easy and ingenious way to do it.  The Reef Endeavor has 2 small boats the hang from the top but the really neat one is the glass bottom boat that attaches to the back of the ship and raised or lowered by hydraulics so we literally walk on and off.

Cocktails and canapés at 6:30, with the Captain’s dinner at 7:30 rounded out the evening.  We had chicken or fish choices for dinner  followed by the introduction of  the crew who sang and danced for us.  By 10:00, the entertainment was over and we were ready to call it a night.

This ship was anchored all night and moved to another of the 300+ Fijian islands in the morning.

Sunday, the first snorkel boat went out at 9:00, and DeeDee and Linda both snorkeled along the reef.  DeeDee decided to swim back to the boat, while Linda headed for the beach, not knowing the reefs at low tide created quite the obstacle course when trying to exit the water.  She had a few scraps, which were covered with Betadine when we returned to the ship for lunch.  The corals were amazing in the sunlight and we saw lots of fish, along with a large dark blue (non-stinging) jellyfish.  From the ship, we also saw two black-tipped reef sharks, about 3 feet long.  The crew assured us they don’t bite – but we weren’t as confident about the 4 foot barracuda we also saw off the ship.  The crew kept feeding the fish, hopefully to keep them by the ship and not where we were going to snorkel.  Again, beer served a medicinal purpose after all that salt water.  We learned later this was the island that was the site of Survivor Fiji. 

Lunch was served on the top deck, nice salads and a selection of curry dishes.  After a rest in our cabin, we are ready to head out for the 2:00 beach and snorkeling trip.  This time we were at Octopus Beach, which does have a big resort.  Linda decided to enjoy her time under a palm tree with a book and DeeDee snorkeled again.  She did spot some clown fish (hey, Nemo) and angel fish, as well as more beautiful coral reefs.  The boat returned to the ship about 3:30 and a trip to a local Fijian Methodist Church was offered, but we decided to pray to a Fijian Gold Beer, get our showers and stay cool before happy hour and dinner.  Rough life…but someone has to do it!

DeeDee’s fun fact…fat floats in water making us extremely buoyant .  Finally, there is one advantage to a few extra pounds!  More of you should try it.

LAST WHOLE DAY IN FIJI

April 15, 2011

The trip is winding down as today was our last full day on the island.  We debated whether we would partake of today’s scheduled activity, a visit to Kula Eco Park and decided that since we came all this way AND had the next 3 days for some serious R &R we’d go…and a wonderful trip it was.  The Eco Park is privately owned and operated and is a nice collection of rainforest flora and fauna.  Spent the morning  trekking up and down the stairs thru the rainforest while our excellent owner/guide shared information on the native trees and how they were used by the Fijians for medicinal purposes, for crafts and tools.  The EcoPark is also a bird sanctuary for many endangered species, which they are breeding, and for non native birds that make their way to the island and would be threatened by the natural species.  The Eco Park also is an important area for the breeding and release of hawk nose sea turtles and both crested and banded iguanas, all of which are endangered.

The parks highlight (for me anyway) was the back to back aquariums.  The one was a daytime, coral reef, while the other was a nighttime, coastal shore and tide pool.  The 2 complemented each other with the water from the two being filtered back and forth to provide the right amount of nutrient and waste removal from the waters.  Very fascinating and beautiful.

While on the tour we had a chance to speak with our Indian guide about the interactions of the basically 50% Fijian and 50% Indian populations.  He said they very much keep to themselves having very different work ethics and values.  While one is a “live for today” life style, the other plans and builds for the future. 

Returning to the hotel for a free afternoon we took turns exploring and doing laundry.  Some drudgery just never goes away.  Clean and spruced up we headed to the Golden Cowrie for our farewell dinner and debriefing.(sounds kind of like a secret mission, huh?)

Had a wonderful dinner with old and new friends as Andrea shared her thoughts and perspectives on the trip.   Each traveler took a turn identifying the highlights…downside…or aha moment.  It was most interesting to hear what everyone had to say.  Lots of different ideas but all were moist positive.

Leaving now for our min icruise.  No email or phone.  See ya!

IT’S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL

April 14, 2010

Now that it is daytime we are able to view the Shangri La Resort in all its glory.  Quite a beautiful place for a family holiday.  Our busy schedule will only allow us to scratch the surface of everything it has to offer.

After a scrumptious breakfast on the terrace overlooking the lagoon we sat for a talk from Simon, an indigenous Fiji and representative of GCT.  He gave us interesting insights into the history and culture of Fiji.  His talk was spiced with humor as he explain the cannibalistic past of the people.

We headed off for a full day of ‘learning ‘ and ‘discovery’.  Our first stop was at the town market where the locals bring their farm products and other goods to sell.  Most of the market was filled with greens we didn’t recognize.  Most of the plants we had heard of but being that they are tropical not something we are used to purchasing.  Each of us was given a Fiji dollar (worth about 56 cents US) to see what we could haggle from the vendors.  Our purchases were gifts we brought to the home hosted lunch we had later.  The market was quite interesting and we were well received by all the people.  They were friendly and really didn‘t mind having their pictures taken and their produce handled.  In addition to the produce there were many stalls of spices, which we don’t really believe are grown here but our guide said they were, and freshly caught fresh water mussels  (we did spot a bag of garlic from China).

Our shopping finished with a stop at a supermarket which had a lot of product we recognized, like Oreos, and lot we didn’t.  Our goal was to get some bottled water, water here is not recommended for drinking except for the hotel, and to get ‘small bills and change’ to shop at the craft market later.

We were invited guests at a local Fijian village.  This is one of the things that CGT does very well and is most proud of.  We were welcomed into the village of 600 people, 75 residences, with a special Kava ceremony of song, dance and prayer.  After our ‘chief’ and his gifts were accepted we all were invited to sample Kava, the national drink, and what else….shop from their local craftswomen. The Kava ceremony includes a hollow clap, saying bula, drinking the kava from a coconut shell, followed by three more hollow claps.  It looked like dirty dishwater, not much flavor (a little like celery) and had a numbing affect on our throats.  Deedee still prefers a captain and diet.

We were then invited into 4 different homes to partake of a special lunch.  This was a very special treat as the food was prepared by the women hosting the lunch, our guide Mira, her mother, grandmother and her Aunt Julie, whose home we were in.  It was quite humorous to see us old and decrepit Americans attempting to sit on the floor cross legged and eat.  Our food was very representative of the food they regularly eat…vegetables, fish and fruit.  Most enjoyed the experience.  This author who doesn’t much like fish was feeling a bit challenged but the fried eggplant (aubergine) was much to her liking.  A visit to their local Methodist Church rounded out the village experience. 

CGT Foundation supports schools around the globe in locations they visit.  Our visit today was to a school that has been the recipient of GCT funds for the last 2 years.  We were WARMLY (not just temperature) by the students and teachers at the 300+ pupil school with recitation, song and dance.  The children were turned loose to take the visitors to their classrooms.  They were VERY attentive as they hauled us from one classroom to another and wanted their picture taken.  No camera shy teens here!  But the children really were delightful.  Frankly it was hard not to think that they had been prompted by their teachers but we do think their enthusiasm was real.  They wanted email addressed of us …for some unknown reason but we promised to send the pictures to their school instead.

A long, HOT day and back to the hotel.  D2 partook of the pool, LOC worked on pix and the blog, and the Gazdziaks were hold up in their room.

SURVIVOR FIJI…GUESS WHO WE ARE VOTING OFF?

April 13, 2011

Finally a more civilized wake-up and departure.  But of course the downside is that we pretty much wasted a day.  Had breakfast in the hotel and boarded a bus for the airport for our flight to Fiji.  Lots of time spent at the airport but then you never know how much time it is going to take for 40+ people to get checked in.  Luckily this group is VERY good at following directions (We are good NZ sheep responding to a well training herding dog) .  All are ready when expected and follow packing instructions to keep airport problems aat a minimum.  Flight was un eventful.

Arrived in Fiji on schedule and drove 45 minutes to our resort.  This is a beautiful place.  Can’t wait to see it in the daytime as our room and lanai (yes I know that is a Hawaiian word) looks out on either the lagoon or the ocean.  A very lovely family type resort with lots to do.  Good thing too because we are pretty far out from everything.  But as usual we will have plenty of excursions to keep us busy. 

Fiji really is a third world country as noticed on our short trip here.  But that’s not to say that the Fijians are downtrodden.  This is the life that they are accustomed to and seem to be content.  Their country is about 50/50 Fijian and Indian.  The Indians were brought here by the English colonists to work the sugar fields.  There seems to be a nice compliment of the two, the Fijians own the land and the Indians own the businesses.

A huge buffet dinner with LOADS of choices, literally from soup to nuts, was included for us tonight’s.  And thanx to the duty free shop in Auckland our liquor cabinet is stocked again.

THE QUAYS TO AUCKLAND

April 12, 2011

Started our day in Auckland with a scrumptious breakfast and headed off on a short coach ride to the Queen’s (no relation) Wharf.   We split into groups of 15 and took our turns SAILING in the Waitemata Harbor.  What fun!  We left the pier under power but soon hoisted the sails and cut the engines to enjoy the thrill of catching the wind.  Our ‘experienced’ yachtsman and woman gave each of us a turn at the wheel.  Interesting to see just how delicate these babies are.  Just a slight correction on the wheel and it responded perfectly.  It was a short and beautiful ride that we thoroughly enjoyed.  NZ is proud of i’s America’s Cup successes and the US team could be seen on one of the piers preparing for the 2013 race.

Back aboard the coach, we took a brief tour of the city, mostly identifying the homes we would buy when that lottery ticket comes in, as these homes were priced at 1.9 mil minimum.  These homes are not necessarily very large or beautiful but have absolutely gorgeous views of the harbor and downtown.  Auckland provides a very picturesque waterfront. 

The bus dropped people off in various locations and we chose to go back to the wharf and catch a ferry to Devonport.  This was a quaint area with shops and restaurants and we enjoyed lunch and some more retail therapy.  We caught the ferry back to Auckland and walked to the Sky Tower, and paid to go up to the observation deck.  The top deck is 722 feet high with breathtaking views around the city and harbor.  The lower (623 ft.) deck had glass walkways where we could look down to the ground.  There were bungee jumpers going off the tower, with guide ropes to keep them from flying into the building.  Even after stopping in the café for a beer, no one from our group volunteered to jump. 

Auckland is a city of 4 million, the largest city in New Zealand.  The city is on an isthmus, with one side great for surfing and the other for beaches and swimming.  We had perfect weather, 70 and clear skies, and a wonderful day to enjoy the harbor named “sparkling waters” by the Maori

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ZERO DARK HUNDRED IS RIGHT BEFORE THE BUTT CRACK OF DAWN…and neither one is very attractive.

April 11, 2011

Early morning ugh!  They are getting really old.  Had a 5:30 wakeup to we could fly once again.  Queenstown to Auckland.  The upside of the early wake-up was a truily magnificient sunrise.  As we were having breakfast you could see the eastern sky (we only knew it was east because the sun was coming up…that doesn’t change with the hemispheres)  change from the rich purples of night to the vivid oranges and reds.  As it peaked over the mountains we were delighted.  Even went back to our room to get a camera.

Uneventful SHORT flight to Auckland.  Full plane, small seats…loaded onto another bus and went to Mt Eden.  But we had a window seat so the views when we weren’t in a deep cloud bank was neat. 

Took a short detour to the top of Mt Eden, a volcanic rim that sits high above the entire city.  Very cool and could have spent more time there but one high altitude of Auckland will look just like another when the pictures are printed.  This whole area was built by now dormant volcanoes, so many mounds are seen dotting the landscape.  Back on the buis to our hotel.

Walking into our hotel was a WOW moment.  Very spacious and luxurious accommodations.  Not that any have been bad.  But Andrea did note that this was out one 5 star hotel treat.  We even have a make up room.

Took a short walk to navigate the neighborhood and see what is close to the hotel.  Supposedly free WIFI at the local food court so we sacrificed ourselves to drink a beer while we blog.  OOPS!  WIFI is down.  Gotta drink that beer anyway.