July 31, 2010 by jcollins.

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October 26, 2009 by jcollins.

Every morning I wake up at about 3:30, most mornings I go back to sleep, but this morning I rolled out of bed and when the sun came up, I was ready. Here is a Fijian sunrise.

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October 25, 2009 by jcollins.

The beauty of sunsets can be difficult to catch on film, but I think we have done a decent job here. Enjoy the Fijian sunsets:

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October 24, 2009 by jcollins.

Before departing the lovely Westin resort, we stopped to photograph this tree. The root structure was really neat.

We called Joe the Cabbie, a long lost relative of Joe the Plumber, and spent the balance of our day driving across the island to the Warwick Resort. During the course of the 2.5 hour drive we learned all about the history of Fiji, the culture, the politics and the their Christian beliefs.

This is just one view of the country side.

We saw houses that were fit for kings and some that showed much personal expression.

As in most under developed countries, the road is filled with many roadside stands where the farmer’s try to sell their harvest to passerbys.

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October 24, 2009 by jcollins.

At breakfast we decided we would rent a car today and drive up the to capital city of Suva.

We drove up the coast, stopping to visit an art village that was really nothing more than a tourist trap. It was quiet pretty though.

Getting a bit thirsty, we stopped at a roadside stand and picked up a coconut. Kristi loved drinking the coconut water straight from the coconut. We did find out that you don’t eat the meat of the green coconuts though. Yuck!

Rugby is HUGE here. We had no idea their team is the world champions and all the players are all major celebrities here. While it wasn’t the national team playing, there was a match today, so people decorated their vehicles and headed off to watch the match.

The coast line is filled with beautiful views, or as my spanish speaking friends like to say, linda vistas. This is just one of the lagoons that we passed.

We passed alot of various styles of homes.

Yes there are still some homes that have the traditional Fiji roofs:

Lest you think that all of the homes in Fiji are small, this one could in on Clearwater beach in Florida:

When we got downtown, we visited the Fiji Museum. Which told the interesting story of Fiji’s history. We learned about the Christian missionaries who came and how they were accepted. One of the top missionaries was meeting at a village, and he touched the chief’s head - a major taboo - the bodyguards killed the missionary and the village ate him. We saw the bowl and fork they used, along with the missionaries Bible and shoes. So if you ever get to Fiji, don’t touch anyone’s head.

By the time we finished our tour of the museum, the city was pretty well closed down, evidently they close at about 3pm on Saturdays. Who knew?

There was a youth rally going on at a local park. It was neat to see that youth rallies in Fiji aren’t that different from youth rallies in the US.

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October 22, 2009 by jcollins.

Early this morning, we grabbed our swimsuits, sunscreen and wallet and headed for our “own private island.” Yep, that’s right, us and about 50 of our closest friends. We climbed aboard the large catamaran and set sail for South Seas Island, a short 30 minute ride from the marina. When we got close to the island,

the water taxi’s pulled up to take us the rest of the way.

Upon arrival we were briefed about the days agenda, a dive trip was offered to see a sunken Viking ship, too good to pass up. We spent the next 30 minutes getting geared up to go see the ancient boat. We boarded another water taxi for the two minute ride out. Hopped off the side of the boat and started our descent. Kristi’s ears bothered her, so she had to return to the surface and take the boat back to shore. I continued the dive and saw the boat along with lots of beautiful fish.

After the dive, we relaxed on the island for a while before lunch and the Meke Show.

The show was part song

and part warrior dances. The Fijians were fierce cannibalistic warriors and they love to dance and show off the weapons of yesteryear.

When the show completed we boarded another catamaran to tour several islands. Pretty much we were playing taxi to the passengers heading to other islands, but it gave us a close up view of beautiful scenery. Enjoy!
Fiji Waters:

$2350 per night huts over the water

Very friendly people here in Fiji, they always great you with a song and a cheerful BULA!:

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October 20, 2009 by jcollins.

Bula!
When our flight left Los Angeles, it was already 2:30AM EST. So we were a bit tired. Happily we found that our seats were exit row seats with plenty of leg room, however the width of the seats were a bit smaller than the seats on typical domestic flights. As we settled in for our 10 ½ hour flight, we noticed that the crew, made up of all Fijians was delightful. Everyone really seemed to enjoy their job.

Right after takeoff they served us a snack that consisted of a sandwich, chips, fruit and orange juice. Since we weren’t really hungry yet, we set our snacks on the tray of the empty seat next to us and dozed off to sleep. A few minutes later one of the flight attendants tapped on my leg to ask permission to clear away the snacks. I asked him to leave them, and attempted to get back to sleep. This time it took me a probably an hour to get back to sleep, I looked at the entertainment center and saw that there were a couple of movies I might watch, but they had already been playing for over an hour. Luckily I was able to get back to sleep. A few minutes into my nap, I felt someone bump my leg and awoke to find another flight attendant trying to clear the snacks away. I asked her to leave them and closed my eyes. It dawned on me that the snack still being out must be an issue for them, so I removed the sandwich and drink and allowed them to take the tray. This time I was up for a couple of hours before getting back to sleep.

After a couple of short naps, breakfast, and partial movies, we landed in Fiji. It was still pitch black outside, on Monday morning. Since we crossed the international dateline, we lost a day during our travels. By the time we got through immigration and customs, the sun was up and our new day had begun.

We arrived at the lush Westin Resort,

checked into our ocean view room

went for a walk along the beach, enjoyed our breakfast buffett, took a nap and showered all before 11:45 AM. During our walk, we were discussing how our children would enjoy the black sand beach here, when we stumbled upon this….

How is it that SAM made it across the ocean, wrote his name in the sand, and travel back to America before we arrived on the beach? There must be another SAM somewhere on this island.

We visited the pool, but evidently they don’t have heater here, as the water temperature was probably about 68 degrees, just a bit too chilly for us Floridians. As it was approaching lunch time we decided to head down to their marina area to find a restaurant, we ended up at the Fiji Hard Rock Café.

Picked up a few supplies at the local grocery store and then headed back to the hotel.

Our evening consisted of a visit to the pool


(a view from the pool)

followed by a sunset dinner at a table on the beach. It was delightful experience until the sand fleas set in and started biting us. At the end of a very long day(s), we headed to bed at about 8:30pm. Tomorrow begins a new adventure.

This is an unretouched photo from our seaside table at dinner.

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October 17, 2009 by jcollins.

Time for our reward. We have been working hard for a long time now, with very little down time, as I’m sure you can tell by our blog Now it’s time for Kristi and I to get some time off. We are currently sitting at the Los Angeles airport, 1/3 of the way to Fiji. Lord willing, we will arrive in Nadi, Fiji, not tomorrow, but sometime the next day for most of you; as we will be crossing the International dateline. We have set aside a couple of weeks for nothing but: time alone, time with God and a mental vacation. Check it out: www.fijibula.com

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October 12, 2009 by jcollins.

Watch for a trip recap coming soon

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October 9, 2009 by jcollins.

As we slept last night a cold front moved through and when we awoke in Dallas it was a chilly 42 degrees. Ah yes, one more blast of cool weather before we head home. We drove through the rainy cold front for the majority of the day, stopping in Tyler at some outlet stores, it passed us. We started driving again and passed it. When we arrived in Monroe, LA and called it a night, the temperature was in the low 70’s but rainy. I think it’s going to pass us again tonight, but we’ll all cuddle up and watch Little House.

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