A Pacific Harbor day

Hello again from sunny, but sometimes rainy, Fiji.  We have learned it is best to tour in the morning and R&R in the afternoon as it typically will rain in the afternoon for a bit.  This is Fiji's rainy season and we're glad to have our collaspable umbrellas with us.

It is just after 6 pm on Monday, Feb 26. Sitting here on the deck blogging; just got back from the pool and working towards getting ready to get dressed for dinner. I know, it's a long process...Fiji time.

We had a relaxed start to the day and off we went to Pacific Harbor. We caught the Suva Express.  It is the locals transit system and very cost effective way to travel.  The trip from our resort to Pacific Harbor is about an hour one way and our total cost return was 20 FJD which is about 10 Canadian dollars.  Our first stop was to the local Post Office where we sent home via mail some stuff of ours (Carter it's coming to our address to you c/ o Dad).....we gotta keep our luggage weight down! So number one son, Carter, you can expect a parcel in about 2 weeks addressed to you but with our address on it. Thanks for picking it up, fyi it's pre-paid.


Lea-thankyou so much for the back pack - I just Love it.  Bob tried to use it for fishing the other day with his bait...I said " Not  a chance!!
We left the Post Office and walked about 4 kilometers up off the highway to our next stop, which  ended up being The Pearl golf course.  We have some great shots to share with you.

Our next stop was the SHARK Dive shop!!! Yes, Naomi and I are going to dive with the Bull sharks out near Beqa Island on Thursday (just gotta make out our last Wills and Testements...don't worry Brent Keylock they are up-to-date and lodged with Scotia Trust).

Because it was such a long walk, we stopped at the Pearl Championship Golf course for a cool drink and visited with Eugene, the manager there. Here are some pics of our trek.


We really appreciate our Contigo mugs with ice and water

In the distance is our shark dive boat heading down river to the SHARK Dive site. We can't wait for Thursday. Andrew the dive master says they average about 80% survival rate!


Face towels are a MUST due to the heat and humidity.

Since it is the low season maintainence is somewhat lacking, as seen by the green algae in the swimming pool-no cool-down in that swimming hole!

Eugene the manager took this at the clubhouse


Resuming our trek from the golf course to the shark dive shop; just had to take a shot of this beautiful valley

As a side note - Our trip to Pacific Harbour today was done via the local transport system and Naomi got to sit with Uma, a wonderful Indian Lady.  She was on her way to Suva, the Capital for her Father-in-laws funeral.  He was 90 and they are going to have an Indian celebration of his life.  She had a beautiful gold bracelet on that she wanted to give to Naomi but Naomi's hands were far too large compared to hers for the gifting to take place.  They put their palms together and Naomi's hand were significantly larger than hers so needless to say the bracelet only went to  Naomi's first knuckles (lol).
Uma runs a sugar cane operation with her 3 sons.  She has a 20 year lease.

Now back to our trek...we left the golf course and continued walking to the "Shark Dive shop to check it out...maybe another kilometers walk.  We did all the paperwork for our dive on Thursday then decided to take a cab back into Pearl Harbor (enough exercise for the day already with the walk to the shop).  

We explored The Pearl Hotel which is connected to the golf course.  Here are some pics.


And no Naomi, I'm not taking this guy home with us, he would never fit in my luggage!
Always fun to check out other hotels.


River view from ground floor room.




The beach at high tide. 


Another great looking hotel with 5 miles of sandy beach in front of it

When we got back home we headed to the pool for a cool down swim.  Met up with John and Kathy from Australia, and had a good laugh as we learned another Aussie saying.  John was talking politics and Kathy was interrupting so he told her to "wrap it up".  What a polite way of saying shut up.

Fred update: Still gone but I see his brother, Ted the Toad, has taken over his burrow. Apparently his wifey got tired of his carousing and always coming home wasted, when he came home, so she booted him out of the house( see earlier blog).

Tuesday's tour is the Sigatoka River Safari so it's bedtime and up early.
Bye for now!

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