Bula from Fiji!

Lautoka, Fiji

Eastern Time plus 17 hours

Last night we crossed the International Dateline and Monday, February 11, 2008 did not exist.

Bula from Fiji!

We decided to do a beach day for Fiji. We had had a sailing trip booked which was cancelled due to lack of interest. I think it may have had something to do with the cost as it was more expensive than the other trips. The excursion desk rebooked us on the trip they thought was most similar.

Our new excursion was Beachcomber Island Getaway. By chance, this was the trip that Stirling and Clare were already on. We went to the Mamanuca group of Fijian Islands by high speed catamaran. They had some beautiful flowers on board and served a fruit tray during the 30 minute trip to Beachcomber Island.

There was a group playing music to welcome us.

The water was absolutely outstanding, warm and a beautiful turquoise blue. Water sports were also available, but we just stayed in the water all day jumping in the waves. I met some kids from UW Eau Claire that were on their way to a semester in Australia. There were a lot of college students there.

The man with Jeff and Stirling is Jone the bar manger. We had a table on the second deck so we looked down on the band and the native dancers.

We also had a Polynesian buffet with a ton of items on it. Everything was delicious. The items included ham, pineapple, mango, papaya, eggplant, beef curry, vegetable curry, bananas with coconut, naked fish, ceviche, passion fruit, rice, sweet potatoes, fried fish etc. I have had requests for food photos, so here they are.