SAD DAY LEAVING FIJI

Well were at Nadi Airport waiting to board the flight to Melbourne. It took a while to check in and the weather is very warm. Now looking forward to seeing Lorraine Paul and family. We have told them that we have left 5 star treatment!!! only joking we`ve been trying to get over to see Lorraine for years and can`t believe it`s getting so close. Sorry it`s a short blog will try and download more photos tomorrow. Not sure about Internet connection. love bet & bri x x x

Kava at Marys

Well this is our last day in Fiji and we are sad its been fantastic. The people are lovely and we have made a special friend in Mary. We arranged to go to Mary`s house at 4pm to try the kava, People had told us about this drink it was made with the root vegetable pounded with water ad and then drained through a muslin cloth. It`s normally drank as a friendship drink after two people have fallen out. Well when we arrived we were met by the whole family including the grandmother. They all sat round the big bowl of Kava and the family sang and welcomed us into the house. We first were offered green coconuts and we drank the milk. They weren`t the coconuts we were used to seeing like the grey ones. These apparently were the younger ones with softer flesh. We offered the Kava which was like sandy coloured water and didn`t really taste of anything! we couldn't`t really get away without drinking it as Mary and her family clapped before and after we finished it. We looked around the garden and they showed us the cow and the pig, oh and the chickens. In fact they were quite self sufficient. The children could play and they didn`t have to worry about them. They all sat round and sang us a farewell song and then we were on our way. We had a great time and wouldn`t have missed it.

This was our last night so we went to "The Wicked Hut" it`s a seafood restaurant and you feel like you are on an Island it is beautiful. The people from yesterdays wedding were there and it turned out to be a great night. Tomorrow we leave for Melbourne can`t wait to see Lorraine. Not sure if we will get chance to speak but catch up as soon as we can love bet x x x

LAZY DAY AND MARY COMES TO THE WARWICK

Ok,well we woke up to heavy rain this morning in fact it had been raining for most of the night but you know you are actually looking forward to a good rainstorm to clear the air.Needless to say it was a good excuse for Betty to get out of the early morning swim (can`t see the logic in that you get wet anyway and it`s certainly not cold).So it was down to breakfast about a quarter to eight and enjoyed it while the rain was coming down, all the doors and windows in the restaurant were open and the celing fans were going full blast just to keep you cool.Well we had a chat with our usual waitress Asanaca (Pronounced Asanatha)and said that Mary her daughter who showed us around Suva yesterday whos real name is Meresimani wanted to visit the Warwick,but the only way it is possible is if she is invited by one of the guests which is us,so we arranged to pick Mary up from her house at two o clock as she would be at church from 11 until 1pm.Well she was ready when we got there and off we set to return to the hotel,the journey is about 20 minutes,anyway just down the road was a lady with a bunch of flowers in her hand and waving down the cars as they passed(There are not many cars on this road) well Betty said i think that lady works at the hotel so we stopped and asked her if she wanted a lift which she certainly did because she had missed the warwick bus that collects the employees,anyway we got chatting and Betty said the flowers were lovely that she had in her hand,anyway she thanked us for the lift and asked what room we were in and we told her,well when we returned to our room in the bathroom was a lovely flower vase and flowers from this lady(just an indication of the nature of the Fijian people).Well we had a great afternoon ,we swam in the pool went snorkelling watched another wedding where the bride was floated across the lagoon on a flower decked raft,had ice cream ,chips and coca cola .(think Mary enjoyed herself and didn`t want to go )but we had told mum that we would return her back to the house for six,which we did but had to stop on the way back and take a photo of us at her school.Anyway we got back to her house and mum invited us in for tea and

pancakes which were delicious and we met all of the family.So we returned to the hotel and are just getting ready to go out for evening meal.goodnight speak tomorrow love Betty and Brian x

A DAY IN SUVA

Hello mom I hope your enjoying your cereals! Last night we ended up at the Italian Restaurant and just had a main course it was yummy! we then wondered down to the fish restaurant (that is the one on yesterdays photos at the end of the Pier. we havn`t eaten there yet but are booking in for tomorrow night. Well the three lads were singing and they are lovely we want to get their CD (it`s probably not going to sound the same when we get it home) just had a drink and then back to our room. It was around 7am when we got up and we went to the pool before breakfast. Brian is still giving me swimming lessons but I keep going round in circles! anyway he insists that it`s good for my arm. Well we were still at breakfast at 8am and Misa was ready with the coffee. We told her we were thinking of going in to Suva and she said her daughter would be happy to show us around, she is twelve and her name is Meresiani. Well it was arranged that she would be waiting at the side of the road in her village called Napolin. It was no trouble to find her and she was there with her little cousin and he just wanted a lift to the next village. She was a happy smiley girl and quite excited about the trip. Her father lived in Suva so she was going to get a chance to see him. Well every village we passed she had an uncle living there she Knew just about everything and everybody. She told us she was top in her class and wanted to go to University. Her brother lived with her father and he was a great Rugby player. Well we shopped and Brian bought one of those jazzy shirts, I`ll get him to wear it tomorrow to show you. Oh he`s got a bright red face he lay under a parasol and the sun found it`s way through couldn't`t believe it. He`s put the cold T Bags on his eyes and we think it`s done the trick. After the shopping we went to Meresimani`s favourite restaurant and she had a pizza and chips and guess what her aunt worked there! Well afterwards she wanted to visit her father and he lived about 10 minutes away. She was happy to see him and then he wanted a lift back. The trip to Suva is about 50 miles. Oh but on the way we had to meet up with her brother back in Suva. We finally dropped them back at the village and we had all had a very interesting day.

We have found a lovely spot near to our room where we take our drink every night and tonight we met the best man for tomorrows wedding. He joined us for a drink and went through his speech. Sounds good but I hope he won`t have a hangover. The wedding is at 4pm I`ll see if we can get photos. Goodnight x x x x

LAZY DAY AND A WEDDING

OK it`s my blog today,we`ve got to the stage where we are arguing over who`s turn it is to write this up,Betty has to vet the photographs before i upload them on to my blog,it doesn`t seem to matter when it`s her turn (such is life i know my place).So the day started off really early this morning the sun came up about 6.30 and we were both ,yes folks both in the pool at 6.45.We were the only ones in there to start but others did appear slowly,think the swimming was helping Betty`s arm she seem`s to be doing most things with it now and it only seems to ache first thing in the morning after sleeping ,so i think we can say she`s on the mend.Well we were out and showered for 8.0 and down to breakfast,they lay on a lovely buffet breakfast in the morning and the photo of the wedding garland is the view we have from the restaurant ,it really is a stunning view.Betty went on a cultural talk about the history of Fiji in the morning and said that was really interesting(can`t remember what i was doing).We had some lunch and we were told that there was a wedding at two o clock ,so decided to hang around and be nosey and take some pictures,well 2.45 came and still no bride and when we asked what time is the wedding again we were told Fiji time ,which means some time in the afternoon(There doesn`t seem to be any urgency about anything here,suits me down to the ground).Well the bride appeared some time after three and she was escorted in by two Fijian warriors and another guy was stood on the shore blowing the conch (Think that`s what they call it,it is a large shell that they seem to make a sound out of) ,anyway when they were all in position it looked fabulous with all the colour,the couple were from Australia. That was one of two weddings that was taking place today,seem`s a popular place for couples. Betty found a swinging bed to have five minutes on while i had a go with the Aussies at pool volleyball.Now we are just getting ready for the evening,might look outside the hotel for somewhere to eat tonight for a change .Speak tomorrow love Betty and Brian x.

SNORKELING

Yes, well the snorkeling was embarrassing. I picked a time when there was only a few people around and we got our flippers and they seemed huge and goggles/breathing bits. Quietly got ready and then it was the walk to the water which wasn`t far but seemed an eternity to me. I fell over twice! looked as though I`d been drinking and then wanted to take the flippers off. Well two couples came to give me encouragement and after panicking I actually did it! When I did it was fantastic and I was so pleased I didn`t go far out of my depth but and Brian was swimming beside me but we saw brigh blue star fish, beautiful grey and white stripped fish and fish worms (luckily they stayed on the bottom) Well Rome wasn`t built in a day so we will go further out tomorrow.

Everybody here is from Australia and when they did the volleyball competition it was Australia verses the rest of the world.They always want a chat I think it`s because they always know somebody from back home.

We did have trouble with our blog but Brian found a chap that was an I T expert to help us out which was great. Apparently after the storms the signal has faded. Anyway this afternoon we had a game of table tennis and I won the decider (just by two points) and watched the fire lighting ceremony. Its just started to rain but still warm. Bet & bri x x x ( not sure why the fonts changed)

HAPPY ST PATRICKS DAY

Just to wish everyone a HAPPY ST PATRICKS DAY.love betty and brian x