Day Twelve: Kuata

ok, just so you know, it is so hot at night in fiji. recommendation: stay in a place with either a fan or a/c on at night. with that said, the second day we wanted to rent out the kayaks and see how long it would take to get around the whole island. we head out in the morning so we would have enough time to be back by lunch. there were only two other beaches on the island, and we were planning to take a break at each of them. we set out toward the west were the waves were calm, the water was crystal clear, and the sun was shinning. as we paddled along, we could see the stingrays and fishes swimming beneath us. the first beach was just over the rise from where our bure was. this is the best side of the island for snorkeling for sure. the reef spanned the whole side of the island.

we headed back out on toward our next pit stop. as we rounded the southern tip of the island, the waves started getting bigger and pushing us around. not being able to see the things beneath me+big waves= kelly freaking out!! im not so great in the ocean (i think a shark is going to come at from below). we got to where the next beach is and decided to keep going because battling the waves was worse than not stopping. i kept getting tired (i dont have much upper body strength) so i took breaks while my better half steadily rowed along. it only took about an hour and a half to get around the island, and we were just in time to catch a quick nap before lunch. we spent the rest of the day napping, reading, talking and swimming. tonight we got to know some of the other travelers. we met some great people from bristol, england, and amsterdam. we enjoyed learning about their travels/ future travels and trying out our best accents on them. another wonderful night of new friends and culture.

im telling you, every one sleeps through the day, even those that work there.

what a day!!

so on sunday, we woke up to about 4 inches of snow drapped over our sweet home. despite the news reporters predictions (which are usually wrong), this morning was a snowy delight. they cancelled church due to the road conditions, so we spent the morning sledding and drinking hot cocoa. ok, so by sleddign i mean boogie boarding and surfing down a snowy hill. we have a park just up the street from our house that provided a great hill for our adventures. we bundled up in our warmest/ most water-proof gear (we lack any snow clothes) and headed out. we walked up to the park to find a few other with the same idea we had. we made some runs, chased koda, stoped her from chasing the other sledders, took pictures and enjoyed an afternoon with my family.

after some hot cocoa, movie, a nap, and home teaching, i had planned a surprise birthday party for justin. i was hoping to get him out of thehouse, but with this snow, i didnt dare make him go out in it. so i broke down and told him of all the big plans, and it worked out well that he could stay and help me set up for it. we are all about the dress up parties, so this one fit right in. we had a hawaiian/beach/surf party complete with the best hawaiian get ups we could find. it turned out well and we had a great time with our wonderful friends. we are truely blessed for the wonderful people in our lives. it wouldnt have beeen the same without them.

pictures soon to come. blogger has issues at the moment.

Day Eleven: Nadi to Kuata

after getting in again at 3 am, having no where to stay, not wanting to sleep in the airport and having to catch our boat at 8am, we put up a big stink untill the airline put us up in a hotel. although we would only be getting a few hours of sleep here, we would get a bed and breakfast before our trip to the marina. by the time we were on the boat, we were so tired, we kept dosing in and out, making sure we didnt miss our get off point. it was an unreal boat ride, passing so many islands so close together while some were so tiny and there being no waves at all. it was like staying in this big lagoon protected by the islands and their reefs. our island was 2 hours from the denaru marina and the first island in the yasawas group. we got to our island only to find out that the big catameran only slows down to unload the people on the the individual islands dingy boat that takes them into the shore. the boat stops by each island twice a day, one once on its way up north, and once on its way back to the marina. its quite a good system they have set up to reach all of the resorts.

we made it to our island kuata to be greeted by singing fijians. we got checked into our cute little bure (pronounced bur-ay) complete with the mosquito net and everything. we were so exhausted, and it was so hot that to sleep through the afternoon was the best way to avoid over heating. lunch was pretty grose, spagehtti noodles and eggplant with old watermelon. justin joked that this might be survivor fiji for me (apparently im a picky eater... i think i just know what i like). back to sleep after we ate untill it cooled off around 4. we explored the island a bit (which took about 20 minutes) and went for a dip in the 75 degree water. it was comfortable and my kind of water for an ocean swim. dinner was a total 180 from lunch (they must have gotten in a shipment of food while we were asleep), the best chicken i have ever had. the electricity only came on between the hours of 5 and midnight, so we were able to retire early and watch our favorite movie, Goal! we noticed that once the fan went off at midnight, and the on shore breeze stopped around 10, it got really toasty in our little home. but it was fun all the same.

tribute

Pres. Gordon B. Hinkley

1910-2008

loved + missed

Day Ten: Auckland to Nadi, Fiji

toady was the big day that we would be leaving behind all of our adventures in new zealand and heading out to fiji for a few days. it was a sad day because we loved this city. we wanted to get on a flight at 1:30, so we packed up and headed into auckland to see the city before we went. we were told that today would be crazy because it was boxing day, which stands for "the day after christmas sale" day. and given how we know that goes down in the states (lines forming around 4am) we thought it would be a zoo of people everywhere. we drove through the down town and it was almost as deserted as it was last night. maybe because we are used to LA traffic, but in comparrison this place was a ghost town. we drove through and saw some of the big buildings, big santa, and needle before we hoped onto the freeway (in the wrong direction with no exits till the other side of the bridge) and ended up in this cute little park just outside the city. we stopped to have our own little photo shoot before going back to the airport.

nice latigra babe...

on the way back over the bridge...
Once at the airport, it turns out our flight had been delayed (no surprise!!) and would not be leaving until about half past midnight! between all the rude employees that we had to deal with, we were livid to find out this was how we would be spending our last day. had we known, we would have gone out to the beach outside auckland and enjoyed more of our time. we still had the car for another 3 hours, so we headed to a mall that we saw on the way in to kill sometime outside of the airport. This mall was so much busier than down town, we barely walked through the whole thing before calling it quits. as we were walking to our car though we passed this family standing next to their car. the lady had this frantic look on her face and i could see blood on the husband. we had brought our first aid kit just incase anything happened, so we grabbed that out of our car and headed over to see if we could help. two other people had come to help by then as well. one guy was calling the ambulance and another lady was trying to get information from this family that only spoke french. Turns out, the dad had cut off the tip of his pinky finger in the car door just as we were walking by. justin immediately went into emt mode and started to assess the guy, i ran into the mcdonalds and got a cup of ice to put the finger on. when i came back out, he was all bandaged up, the family was trying to remain calm and not understanding a single thing in english, and the ambulance was on its way. we stayed with them till everything was ok and they were all set to go get his finger stitched back on. we headed back to the airport, but this tme the wait didnt seem as bad. we just kept thinking how hard it would be to be in a differnt country and have to take a trip to the ER. we were truely watched over and blessed the whole vacation.

so long new zealand!!! until we meet again...

MLK day in florence

Justin and i went out to the coast this weekend. we had a long weekend because of MLK day and the weather was great. still a bit cold, but not a cloud in the sky. we drove out and planned a picnic lunch with our good friends the jerden's. the drive out was so pretty with all the winter trees and winding through the coastal range. a great way to spend a day off.