Swapping the Winter Blues, for the Turquoise Waters of Fiji

Tighe tasted sugar cane today.  The look of bliss on his face said it all.  “It’s sweet!”  I noticed the cane plantations on the way to the boat.  I asked the driver if there was any place I could purchase freshly squeezed cane juice.  His reply was to stop the van, wander over to the growing plant, pick a cane and bring it back.  He peeled the outer edge for Quinn.  Tighe had to wait until we were waiting at the edge of the reef surrounding Treasure Island.  The transfer boat was on Island Time, so the skipper got a decent knife out, and peeled some more cane.  A unique experience, sucking sugar cane on a coral reef.

 Fiji was stuffy hot, and Tighe managed to have an apple in the bottom of his school bag when we went through customs.  Fortunately I had declared that I had fruit, and food, so managed to avoid a FJ$400 fine.

 The 25 minute speedboat ride from the Fijian mainland was refreshing after being stuck on the aeroplane for 2 and a bit hours.  

Treasure Island

The Turquoise water, waiting for me to snorkel

 The boys spent the late afternoon exploring Treasure Island.  Apparently it takes 30mins to walk around, but we haven’t done that yet.  Turtles and crested Iguanas, and wekas!  Well, they are called Banded Rails, but Tighe yelled ”it’s a weka!”  They are smaller than a weka, and have stripes.  They are endangered, so it was awesome that one loves our bure, and hangs around in the gardens.

According to Tighe, Turtle shell is hard, but their fins are soft.  I haven't had the opportunity to touch a turtle yet.  Quinn and Tighe spent until dusk swimming in the horizon pool.  

I found some hermit crabs, and tried out my new lens. A relaxing time.

Dinner was an “international buffet”.  The teriyaki chicken was our favourite.  A selection of gateaux were for dessert.   I liked the coconut gelatine slice.  Very subtle.  

Our torch found a decent sized crab on our exploration along the shore.  Disappointed that there were no hermit crabs.  Perhaps the tide was wrong for us.  We are all tired after the day’s travel.  There is no phone, internet or TV in the rooms, so the boys have to read or occupy themselves.  Tighe has picked up coconuts in various stages of development. 

On a late gentle stroll to see the turtles by torchlight with Tighe, we happened upon fire dancers, twirling sticks with fire at each end.  On the way back to the bure, Tighe spied 2 large geckos on the walls.