Our 2016 travel plans We have excitedly been pulling our 2016 travel plans together over the last couple months. Admittedly Blonde already went to Panama and Iceland this year but those were trips with friends not "official" blog business. When planning this year's travel we mainly selected places we have never been before. To the extent that we have any other common theme … [Read more...]
2015: Where we traveled, what we liked and what we didn’t
2015 Travel Looking back on where we traveled in 2015 we (meaning at least one of us) went to 12 countries; 4 for the first time. Now we can see why our friends think we travel all the time. We, oh so cleverly, tend not to travel to places we don't expect to enjoy so when we do our year-end review sometimes it can be hard to come up with a lot of things we … [Read more...]
Taveuni Fiji – #3 in Places Without Postcards
Reaching Taveuni Fiji The night before our mini-trek to Wainbau Falls on Taveuni Fiji the ship we were on was navigating the "Bligh Waters". We thought that was code for nautical ping-pong as we bounced wildly around throughout the night. But it turns out that these waters are part of the Koro Sea where Fiji is divided between north and south. Their name is from the legendary … [Read more...]
How aging, reckless blondes learn to scuba dive
The thought process behind learning to scuba dive When Blonde and Brunette excitedly planned our visit to the Jean Michel Cousteau Resort in Fiji it was not because we were planning to learn to scuba dive. Although Jacques Cousteau was (more or less) the inventor of scuba we were going there to snorkel. We had 30+ years of wonderful snorkeling experiences and this would be a … [Read more...]
Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort, Fiji
When we were young(er) we watched the documentary TV show The Underseas World of Jacques Cousteau and saw Jacques happily bubbling underwater with his sons and his scuba gear. One of those sons was Jean-Michel who, many years later, founded the Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort Fiji where we were recently thrilled to spend 3 days. We really just went there to have fun and because … [Read more...]
Chef Seeto bringing “A Taste of Paradise” to Fiji
Our recent cruise in the Lau Islands of Fiji included an unexpected opportunity to meet and observe Chef Lance Seeto, the South Pacific's answer to Jamie Oliver. Both chefs are famous (although Chef Seeto's fame hasn't yet covered the globe as Jamie Oliver's seems to have) and both work to encourage people to eat healthier diets by enjoying flavorful, whole foods. (This would … [Read more...]
The Bay of Islands, Fiji – #2 in Places Without Postcards
Where is the Bay of Islands? The Bay Islands are part of the remote northern Lau Islands which lie about 200 miles from Fiji's mainland and near the international date line. Interesting factoid: The international date line isn't straight because it was made to sort of wiggle around the Fijian Islands so they would all be on the same side. Otherwise it could have … [Read more...]
Like ceremonies? You’ll love Fiji!
Fijian ceremonies (a sampling) Before Methodist missionaries came to Fiji one of the favorite Fijian ceremonies was killing and eating people. The (perhaps vegetarian) missionaries got the Fijians to quit doing that but, as far as we can tell, that seems to be the only ceremony they have discontinued. (If they were only going to pick one that was a good choice.) It's … [Read more...]
Islands of Fiji – Vunisea, Kadavu #1 in Places Without Postcards
When we read the brochure from Captain Cook Cruises about their new itinerary to the very remote Lau Islands of Fiji we noticed them using the phrase "places without postcards". Vunisea on Kadavu (not actually one of the Lau Islands but on the itinerary) is our first choice for a series of posts about these places. Vunisea is so remote they don't have postcards, mail comes … [Read more...]
2014: Where we traveled , what we liked and what we didn’t
Our travel in 2014 2014 was the year that we went from casual travel users to wild-eyed travel addicts. And, following in the footsteps of the late Amy Winehouse we won't go to rehab. We say "no, no, no" (but we do hope for a happier outcome). So, without further reference to dead rock stars here's our 2014 travel year in review: Doha What we liked: The … [Read more...]