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...]
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...]
Our favorite destinations for snorkeling (so far)
Ever since we were little girls we have loved water and then somewhere in our early twenties we both began to try snorkeling. That minor change in our water sport interests has entailed a fortune in travel expenses and "resort wear" necessities, but we bravely snorkel on in search of the next best reef! We have a previous post which (surprisingly) has good advice for anyone … [Read more...]
Visit to Ratu Naivalu Primary School in Fiji
On our trip with Captain Cook Cruises we were offered the chance to visit the Ratu Naivalu Primary School in Fiji. At first we were hesitant. Blonde is always terrified that someone might foist a kid off on her and Brunette raised 4 boys and is SO over her maternal phase. But the trip to the school was linked to other activities we wanted to do so off we went. … [Read more...]