Friday morning Brian fueled up his yacht, Furthur, while Jess and I checked out the store at the marina.
I used an ATM to get some Fiji dollars. Not having any idea how much to get and forgetting that the value is 2 to 1 - 1 U.S. is worth 2 Fijian. Anyway, I only got $40 Fiji dollars.
My total at the store totalled $39 something. I had to laugh.
I went back to the ATM to get more cash - since I obviously was going to need lots more than I had taken out - and the ATM was now out of service. Oops!
It was so exciting leaving the marina and heading out to sea for the first time.
It took awhile, but I finally learned a couple of things about sea sickness and being on the Furthur. I simply have to stay in the open air - in the pilot house or on the top deck in the pilot birth. My stomach has to be full - a trick I learned a long time ago on a cruise ship.
So traveling along at lunch time, me trying to put together something for all of us to eat in the galley is a bad idea. I haven't actually "lost my cookies," but boy have I come close.
The five day crossing to Australia is going to be interesting. Unless someone else handles the galley, we're going to be living on pop tarts, peanut butter sandwiches, and other uncooked, unprepared meals. Or, hopefully by then, my stomach can handle being in the galley.
As usual, it was a lovely day navigating around coral reefs, and taking photos of islands everywhere.
We arrived at Musket Cove / Plantation Island. Absolutely gorgeous!
We anchored off shore - as we do in most places.
At low tide, just off Musket Cove, a sand bar pops out of the water. A small stretch of beach only above the surface part of the day. It is surrounded by coral reefs and is a wonderful place to snorkel.
Brian took us over in the Dingy. Jess and I geared up with Brian helping us make the proper adjustments to our masks and fins. The one's I'd ordered through Amazon met with Brian's approval.
We sat off on Jess' first snorkeling adventure. Wow, beautiful coral, fish, and giant blue starfish. It was so much fun. Jess really loved it.
We were the first feet on the sand that day, so we took photos of course. It reminded me of that Christian poem of footprints in the sand where Jesus carries you in your times of trouble. That has definitely been true in my own life.
Just as we were finishing up our snorkeling fun, other boats began to arrive to do the same.
We headed in to Musket Cove in the dingy.
By now my month long date with the captain was in full swing. Funny, when I was telling my friends about the trip, I always added that it was basically a month-long date. Apparently Brian had been doing the same with his friends. Its what we both chose to call whatever this was going to be.
There are few things in life as romantic as walking hand in hand on the sand at a tropical beach resort. We had ice cream at Plantation Island. Jess played in the water for awhile and then joined us for ice cream.
Musket Cove and Plantation Island are at 2 opposite ends of a beautiful lagoon connected by a stretch of sand. When you are anchored there, you get to use all the facilities. We had a wonderful swim in the salt water pool. I had never heard of Musket Cove, but I had heard of Plantation Island.
Fiji is only a short plane ride from New Zealand and Australia. There are resorts in all price ranges everywhere.
Jess found a $20 Fijian dollar floating in the water. We realized a couple was looking for the money, so he gave it to the lady. She said there was a bunch of coins at the bottom of the pool and he could keep them for helping her.
Sunday we attended church on the island. It was half in Fijian and half in English. The topic was prosperity. I thought the guy was going to read every scripture in the whole bible related to money. English is a second language, so he read and spoke from a script the English portion. He spoke very slowly and it was almost painful getting through the service. The singing was lovely though.
All the buildings I've been to in Fiji are open air, except the one restaurant we visited in Lautoka. The air conditioning in the restaurant felt so cold in comparison with everywhere else.
Bugs, lizards, and other interesting creatures are in lots of places. Just part of the landscape of the place.
People are very friendly everywhere.
They all say "Bula," which again means hello.
Regardless of the nationality of the person having a conversation with you - a native Fijian or another tourist - after exchanging names, the typical first question is "Where are you from?"
When someone wants to know specifically where in America, Brian likes to ask if they have ever seen the Twilight movies - since he is from Seattle, a nearby city to Forks, WA.
The next is usually, "Where are you staying?"
When Brian explains that we are on a live-aboard boat anchored off-shore, and that he has driven the vessel all the way from America, many questions follow. Several people request a tour, which Brian happily gives.
Lots of fun in the tropics,
Debbie Takara Shelor
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