Life in Fiji

January 28, 2021. The goal was to get back to Suva for the start of school in January, but there had been mixed messages from the Ministry of Education regarding opening up the schools so we put the kids back in Yarmouth Schools until we had a confirmation that schools were back in person. Jonathan, the new rep for UNICEF, and his family had been subleasing our house at 252 and our car and basically our life in Suva so we became good friends. He was leading the way in pushing for the schools to open and finally was successful in getting kids back into the schools.

So, after pushing back our flights 2 times, we finally were able to pack up our temporary life in Yarmouth, Maine and fight through a big snow storm in Boston and get back to Suva!

Greetings for Ote. After being away for 7 months, it really did feel like coming home. Salote / Eseta and the kids just jumped in each others arms and wouldn’t let go….

Wanadoi. One of the first things we did upon arriving back in Suva is head to Wainadoi and our spot on the river. With it’s growing popularity, they decided to move around the rocks upstream to make a bigger and calmer swimming area which changed everything……for the worse. No swimming against the current, no more pools in the rapids where you could have a natural bubble bath, no jumping off the rocks due to it being more shallow….kind of like The Giving Tree at the very end of the story.

Oh, but the memories! Vinaka Wainadoi!

Commonwealth Games. We were invited by Weightlifting Fiji to take part in the torch relay…

Apolonia. Bad. Ass.

The Octopus canvas is becoming a masterpiece…after Rainbow was evicted from her studio, art class was moved to our pool area.

William filling in his turtle canvas…..

There was a moment when William would read and put Tui to sleep…..you wish those moments could last forever.

Another one of those moments.

The Korean ladies really….really give Tui a bowl cut like no other.

William was taking boxfit classes and going up against Winston Hill. Here he is taking a body shot from the silver medalist in Commonwealth Games!

The kids rocking’ the Nasese bus….

Lucy’s first lemonade stand with friends in the neighborhood.

Sharon’s granddaughter Becky was a lovely addition to the house when she came around.

Matanivusi. 7+ years ago, we first visited Matanivusi (see ‘Weekend Getaway’ post…and forgive the poor page set up…it was early and I was just learning WordPress). Brian and Donna became good friends in a way that we didn’t communicate between visits, but when we see them there was oodles of love there…they watched our kids grow up and it is one of many special relationships developed over the years. .

Over the past 7 years, we spent many weekends along with some Sundays when we would come for an afternoon snorkel/lunch/swim/windsurf. We have been on countless number boat rides to all the snorkels spots, islands and surf breaks in the neighborhood with the Matanivusi family.

The lagoon protecting Matanivusi was perfection…..my favorite spot in Fiji (although I might say the same for Leluevia and some others). The reef was a 1/2 mile off shore which kept the pounding of the waves off in the distance resulting in just the perfect body of relatively calm water….never more than 15′ deep at high tide…very little coral, just white sand so it made for great swims, paddleboarding, kayaking and even better windsurf sessions with Phil and oh my….the sunsets.

Back to see Bobo and Ovalau….

Back to Nangani with Edgar, Anna, Anesh and Rio!

Sunset swims at the Holiday Inn with new friends from PNG.

The start of William’s relationship with Arsenal Football Club…..his lifeless expression matches most lifelong Arsenal supporters….which makes TJ Brown and all Spurs supporter smile from ear to ear.

Nightly soccer practice with IYFA at an Albert Park that was teeming with pick up rugby games….now with Tui. Yep, those are totally shin guards and crocs.

After soccer practice….

William’s 8th Bday Party. Bobbing for apples……but with donuts tied on a string by the pool. Good times, but literally impossible to finish a donut tied to a string without it landing on the ground….need to think that one through a bit more, but it didn’t get in the way of some solid 8 year old boy fun.

Lucy practicing.

If you look closely, you can see Lucy trying desperately to organize this game of barefoot driveway footy…..and if you look even closer, you can see Will’s eyes rolling to the back of his head. It all worked out, fun was had, nobody stubbed a toe and it was yet another massively successful Bday!

Another successful bday.

Followed by more snuggles.

Fire Stick Dance at Manava. Day One. We didn’t realize that 6 months later, William would be performing in front of hundreds….

Our not so little guy anymore!

Happy Mother’s Day from Bright Little One’s!

Lucy headed out to Leleuvia on her ISS sleep away trip.

Liz Kennedy. The absolute best.

Chicken skewers at ROC market and a walk home to remember. After this picture, I wandered around the ROC market talking to friends and when it was time to go, there was no sign of William. None. Ricky walked one way, I walked the other and we met, still no sign of William. Starting to get nervous, we asked Louie if he knew where William was..nothing. Trying to find the balance between being scared out of my gord and knowing, this is Suva…where is he going to go, I decided to make sure Lucy and Tui were good and then, I jumped in the car and drove home for some reason. As I flew down Service Street, I saw Laura in a car waiving me down. When I stopped she said she saw William near our house so I exhaled and then drove home only to see Will puttering in his room at home.

Much later on (after I stopped sweating), I asked him why he decided to walk home on that day without telling me. He said it was a dream to try to walk home from the market and he saw an opening and just went for it….I could see the logic in that and let it go.

Now and then we would lend out our basement apartment to various members of Fiji Weightlifting…the kids always loved having more people in the house!

My guy and I…having a moment on the porch.

Date night. Now and then Abby and I were able to get out on the boat after work and head over to Lami, grab a buoy and have a glass of wine…..

Another fun night at Bright Little Ones.

Nasilai or Black Sand beach. Outside of Natadola, one of the few places where there was a beach break. Here is Wiliam and Louie playing in the waves.

Ote and Lucy cruising outside the Suva Harbor….Salote couldn’t understand why we would ever go out on a boat….outside the reef for fun, but she did have Lucy to hold on to. 🙂

Lucy’s dear friends from Rotuma.

Emily Miller. Where do we begin? We met Emily when we first moved to Suva….she is gold on every level. She is a tireless advocate, incredibly bright with a filthy sense of humor and a huge laugh…annoyingly big. :).

After a few years, she moved back to Melbourne.

When Tui was born she came to visit us in Noosa but ended up taking care of Lucy and Will for her holiday weekend when Abby started her battle with mastitis. Emily arrived, a few hours later we put Abby in the ambulance, I went back to the airbnb and told the kids that Emily was now in charge and then I raced down to the Sunshine Coast Hospital in Mooloolaba (about an hour away) with Tui (who was Theo at the time) for a few days. She taught the kids about crumpets and honey and everything else you need to know in life…they gave her a glimpse of challenges of parenting.

We clicked from day one and just fell in love with Emily in totality. Love love love Emily Miller!

A beautiful and peaceful run to the Sandbank with the NICNIC

The kids and the road down to the pools at Colo I Suva….and shoeless Tui.

Lucy and the boys performing at the ROC market

Lucy and Pai.

William’s battle with Covid. We picked up William after a sleepover at Samu’s and you could tell, he wasn’t feeling well….and it started with a fever and then the puffy eyelids. We had been here before..so we thought.

Knowing this wasn’t a typical fever and allergic reaction, we tested him and he was positive for Covid. We called Dr. Krupali who had us check his pulse ox and when it consistently came back at 85%, we rushed him to the hospital.

They cleared out a broom closet with an outside entrance and a young doc came over in the chaos and took over. He gave William a shot with the Epi Pen which helped as his Pulse Ox started to rise. Once stable, we took an ambulance ride to the Covid ward…

The Covid ward was a room with a bunch of beds…..a premature baby in his/her heated bed with the constant beeping noise and family. Another family of 4 and us. By this time William was stable but needed to stay the night so we hunkered down for the night.

Since we were in the Covid ward, there was no visitation, but luckily there was a busted window/screen so Abby and Lucy were able to come with Coffee and breakfast and some love…..that pretty much sums up CWM hospital and healthcare in Suva.

Sweaty Tuesday Night Footy….Luis, Rickey, Francesco, John Sachs, Steven, Massimo, Daniel…….just years of great fun and friendship.

Another Bday at Eden.

Joe. Oh god, we love you Joe. We have been through a ton with this man and he always was there sweeping, cutting….every week for 7+ years. It was always the same…”Bula Joe…howzit?”

Heads at another Bright Little One’s function.

More performances with Manava, this one at a music festival at RSYC.

Tui and Nellie….

Time to catch a fish.

The moment the engine started and we were cruising, both boys go below deck for a snooze.

Trolling outside the reef around the changing of the tide usually brought us a nice wahoo…..making for a fabulous fish fry and a very happy Salote or Eseta depending on who got to keep the head.

A windy day at Suva point….didn’t windsurf as much as I had hoped due to being alone in the murky sharks water, but now and then….

Pokemon dress up day!

Colo I Suva in the rain…the best.

Our last trip to Leluevia…..over the years I have written so much about Leleuvia that I will just let the pictures tell this last part of the story.

Api and Tui driving the boat to one of the reefs….

Honeymoon Island with a beer and Api….just so simple and perfect. From here we hit the reef where we would always see a white tip shark trolling the reef below us.

Honeymoon Island

Gearing up to snorkel.

How many sunsets on the windward side of Leluevia….maybe a hundred.

Tui Lewa and Tui Tagane. Tui boy and Tui girl growing up…..

No fear.

Taveuni – the Garden Island. We have been hearing about the waterfalls, the coral and beauty of Taveuni for years…..here we go. just the two of us!

All that and more from the moment we arrived.

When you swam past the opening, there was a pool with two waterfalls (there is another one to the left that you could climb up and slide down). Just spectacular. As I scaled up the waterfall to the left (out of this picture) I had visions of slipping and falling to a painful end of our trip…..that was the moment I felt that I was no longer young (and dumb).

We got an monster Airbnb with an amazing view….

Lot’s of rain, sun and then rainbows…..

Another hike and a slightly larger rainbow..

Here is yet another from the ocean side….

The infamous cabbage patch….

Legend says that the Tagimouci flowers were the result of the tears shed by a Fijian Princess who ran away into the forests after her father arranged her marriage. It is believed that she fell asleep while crying and her tears turned into the Tagimoucia flower. It is the official flower of Fiji and only grows on Taveuni….and only at this one lake up high up in the mountains. Naturally, we had to find it.

Taveuni is called the garden island because it is beautiful and green…because it rains a ton. As a result, the hike up the this hidden lake up in the mountains to find the elusive tagimoucia flower was muddy and rugged…and took hours…it was brutal.

We ended up at this small nondescript pond in a green field and it was raining and totally uneventful. The pond could have been in NY or WI…it was not magical and we were both tired, muddy and it started to really rain….and also, no flowers.

Our guide takes his cain knife and heads into the bush and comes back with one bundle of flowers….which I am quite sure he shouldn’t have done, but we also weren’t leaving till we saw this ridiculous flower…which is the size of a penny and pretty cool when you peal back some of the layers and look at it close up, but lets face it, the legend was far more interesting than the actual flower. But, we did it, we saw it and we have the story. :)….and I will fall in line and push the myth of the Tagimoucia flower to any and all unsuspecting visitors to Taveuni.

They actually look like a bundle of radishes…

Lucy’s first big sleepover party…such a good group of girls!

IYFA tourney in Pac Harbor….

Tui also got into the Manava dance world!

Graduation ceremony at Tui’s pre-school.

Thanksgiving ‘21. . Over the years, we shared our Thanksgiving with friends and family…near the end I do think it was a hot ticket. :). We cooked 3-4 Turkey’s at different houses in Suva and everyone came with a few dishes. Unquestionably, it was Thanksgiving at it’s best and most memorable. A few American’s had automatic invites and we always had a great group of friends. Best part was the What are we Thankful for speeches…..total ego boost as most of the speeches were thanking Abby and I and telling us how great we were. 🙂

Our dear sweet Eseta came as family…she was beautiful in every possible way. RIP Eseta. You were everything to us!

Kids included….the numbers got pretty big!

Final Party. We through an absolute bender of a going away party at our house….filled with dance performances from the Manava family and all of our friends and of course, speeches…..It was really incredible!

Obligatory speeches and thank you’s!

Our first landlord and dear dear friend Tanya…never a dull moment and a friend till the end…

Ricky cooking his famous paella!

Lucy with the Manava crew!

Awe…Henry and Della!

Abby had endless numbers of professional good byes, but this one from Shamina was special!

Tess was our landlord at 252 Ratu Sukuna. She was incredibly tough but an amazing woman with an amazing story and she loved us….she would come by 1-2 times a week to talk / complain / laugh….

Our last trip to Matanivusi started out with Jonathan / Claire, Shami and Ricky and family….and then ended with Ann and her family from Seattle! It was a magical 5 days of surfing /snorkeling and swimming……Lucy did get sick in the end which made travel over the coming days really really brutal!

Showing Sam the sites of Matanivusi!

Our family pic on the deck at Matanivusi!

Final Before / After Pic. Always hard to resist before and after shots….so here is day #1 in Fiji. October 23rd 2015.

…and hear is our last day. December 16th, 2022.

…and with that, I will end it with the following: After 7+ years in Fiji, we are out of words….we are left with a lifetime of love for the people, the land and the ocean…and 10 lifetimes of memories.

Vinaka Viti.

Tui, Lucy, William, Abby and Clancey

While the world (Australia and NZ now included) continued to grapple with COVID, day to day life in Suva continued in a very real but incredibly surreal way.

Abby headed off to Ovalau with Weightlifting Fiji to open the Levuka Satellite Training Center…..in business class.

Weightlifting Fiji Board.

Back in Suva, the kids and I headed out on the NicNic:

We tended to our garden…Lettuce!

We…err, Tui and Eseta prayed…

IYFA soccer tournament!

Front flippin’ at Matanivusi…..admittedly, Daddy got in a bit of trouble from Donna / Brian for allowing/encouraging this one….won’t happen again.

Dave and I after a sketchy boat ride back from Namuka Passage….drenched but alive and boats not at the bottom of the ocean.

Tui Boy and Tui Girl!

This shit is noise. I am plotting my escape my escape from the UN…… Have you ever thought that you are replying to a friend about a moderately offensive email not realising that you actually hit reply-all to about 3,000 staffers of the UN, World Bank, High Commision, Embassies, and ADB with the words, “This shit is noise, I am plotting your escape from the UN”, then in some quick thinking you send another reply a few minutes later to the same 3,000 people with a quick apology and a slightly self deprecating comment about being the captain of the UN cricket team which in turn went even more viral that the first reply but this time making you a hero to hundreds if not thousands for saying what they all feel and then after 6 weeks of practice as co-captain of the UN Cricket team with Hassan who sent out the initial email and then the two of you guide the UN to win a big cricket tournament in Suva? No? Well Abby did.

Not the best place in the wold to learn out to roller-skate, but Lucy gave it a go….

Right next to Tui’s pre-kindy school is Marist Primary ….just one of those buildings that you think about taking a picture of for years…and then one day, you pull over and finally take a few.

We played with dear friends…..

As did Lucy and Shiyana…

After 4 years of no relationship with the US Embassy, two things happened

The new ambassador Joseph Cella (Trump appointee via CPAC) arrived in Suva ahead of his family (7 pro gun home schooled kids) and we struck up an unlikely friendship that started in a coffee shop…..not discussing politics.

We then met Brit and Brendon via their boy Rowan who is pictured below and William’s new bestie.

The result was actually a healthy and fun relationship with the US Embassy and a string of invites to holiday parties and other functions……until Brit/Brendon moved to India and Biden became president. So long Joseph….it was actually quite fun and we will miss you and our relationship with the US Embassy has gone downhill since….

One of the absolute treasures of Fiji is walking through our garden and looking down at a flower you didn’t see the week before.

Malolo island is in the Mamanuca’s just outside of Nadi.  Because of the distance from Suva, the cost and usually the crowds, we have avoided this part of Fiji.  With the borders closed, it was time….and Richard and Kathy provided the transportation to Malolo for the weekend.

Cruisin’ the Mamanuca’s

Short shorts and coconuts on Malolo

The pool at Malolo

Our red kava bowl.…at sunset.  Nobody but Abby and I and our traditional plastic red bowl of Kava.  Not the fancy wood carved ones….but some good ol Kava from Ovalau in a $.25 red plastic bowl.  It was a tiny moment but one where we felt a bit more Fijian than not.  

Those aren’t slam balls! At an event in Pacific Harbour, Abby and her friend Seema were working out in the hotel gym. Seema on a bike, Abby weight training.  Unbeknownst to Abby, the slam ball she was about to throw down wasn’t actually a slam ball but a high performance weight ball meaning it had air in it and actually bounced like a basketball so when you threw it down, it bounced back up right into Abby’s face tossing her backwards in front of her friend Seemạ. 

Luckily, there was a ENT that afternoon at the Nasese Clinic so we were able to confirm that while Abby did some damage to her nose, it was pushed straight back and not to the side which meant her nose would continue to be straight.  🙂 

As our friend Andy would say, “it is the life we choose”….:). After a few weeks, Abby and her nose returned to every day life with a story and a healthy fear of Slam Balls.  

Ovalau – Part 1. Our relationship with Ovalau started through Weightlifting Fiji.  As an active member of the board of Weightlifting Fiji, Abby had visited Ovalau a few times as many of Fiji’s finest weightlifters came from Ovalau and in particular the Bamba settlement.

It was a few hour ride on a car ferry from a jetty outside of Suva to Ovalau.

Our first part of the trip to Ovalau was to cheer on the Suva weightlifters to a competition in Levuka. 

Group pic after the competition

As you can imagine, Tui stole the show….

Afterwards, we hiked up to the Bamba settlement to join the weightlifters and their families for a party with Tui serenading them on the walk up the hill with his version of Noqu Bebe…the butterfly song.

Of course Tui was there to help prepare/stir/serve the kava.

Introducing Bobo. We had heard about a homestay on the eastern side of the island started by a man / legend named Bobo and his German wife Karẹn. They no longer had tourists (it was Oct of 2020 so we were still within the early stages of the panedemic)  nor the energy to host families, but were open to hosting us for lunch and a hike to the nearby waterfalls.

A short hike consisted of slogging through, a river, a trail, mud and a ton of sweat…opening up to a river that over the years had forged a smooth slide from one small pool to another ending in a pool at the end.  

Tui was not quite ready

The kids loved Bobo’s stories, his energy and big laughs.  Bobo and Tui shared some good natured Fijian trash talk and the relationship was on…..

Much….much…much more to come from Bobo and Ovalau….

Back in Suva.…another fishing boat ran aground on the reef outside the main harbor entrance.

Track Practice. Lucy, Shiyana and a few other kids from ISS at track practice with Coach Bolo. Twice a week in the heat…

Wainadoi. A small pool with clear fresh water ….deep enough that you could jump off the rocks and with a current strong enough that could allow you to swim in place.  You could walk up stream for an hour if you want or just stay put and enjoy.  The time to go was Sunday morning when everyone was in church…we could have the river all to ourselves.  It was our go to spot to bring friends on a hot summer day.

Open your eyes! Fresh water!

Davey Dave hanging with Tui

Shami in one of the pools upstream

Coconut Boys.  Up the street from our house on Ratu Sakuna Road, there is a spot where the coconut boys hang out to sell their coconuts and gamble.   I told one of the boys (Vili) that I would give him $50 a week if we brought us 5 coconuts per day so we could make fresh boo in the fridge every day. 

Too many coconuts? Some days it was too much….

Some days, it was just good to be alive in Suva!

The relationship thrived until one day Vili got a job and a visa to move to Australia….and quite frankly, none of us could drink another sip of bu….

Tuesday Night Footy. A year earlier, Ben started a Tuesday night footy game at the Victoria tennis courts. Over the years, it evolved into a proper game of 5 v 5…then expanded to Thursday nights as well.

Now and then, beer was served afterwards…here is my good friends Andy and Luis. I loved the boys and the game!

Pac Harbor Air BNB with Liz and Andy. We crashed their spot so Abby and Liz could have this moment….

Andy took one for the team and took the kids on a ride up and down the river.

Lucy on the beach in Pac Harbor.

Diwali dress up.

Rock climbing in Nausori.  We tried to support Mana on his goal to bring rock climbing to Fiji…..a course bolted into the side of an apartment in Nausori.  Everyone had a great day, but the wall and future of organized rock climbing in Fiji had its limits.  

Pineapple Garden. Verea got adventurous and planted Pineapples…both in the garden and at the base of the mango tree.  Looks lovely to see the heads, but they never grew and we never picked them….:). 

Dame Meg Taylor. From Papua New Guinea, she served as Secretary General to the Pacific Islands Forum from 2014 to 2021.

Surfing Lessons at Matanivusi. We took a weekend trip with a few of the kid’s friends families….the kids took a surf lesson.

Lucy had some good experience surfing in Noosa so she was pretty confident as they hit the waves around the corner on a break called ‘Kindy’.

William caught a few waves as well.

Coco I Suva. We have spent many hot summary days hiking to the pools.

This one was different because William decided this was the day to take his turn on the rope swing. The really acrobatic swingers start from the upper platform so it is a very intimidating first swing with everyone watching…

Like a pro!

Art. We connected with a local artist named Rainbow. Slightly sketchy, but she loved to paint and pain with Lucy so we stuck with it and the result is some really wonderful work by Lucy.

The start of the Octopus canvas….

Manava Dance. Our relationship with Manava dance started with Lucy and poi and Pai…..it quickly blossomed into Poi and Modern Dance for Lucy, Fire Stick for William, and Tui started as well with the Tui dance…

Lewa. We met Lewa during our first trip to Ovalau. She was one of the bad ass weight lifters from the Bamba Settlement. After that trip, her situation became really difficult for her so she was moved to a girls home outside of Suva. It wasn’t a great situation so we took custody of her so she could have some stability. Obviously, the kids loved her.

We were able to get her into Home for Hope outside of Tamavua so she could socialize a bit more and have access to more support.

Category 5 Cyclone Yasa made landfall in Fiji on 17 December 2020, slamming into the island of Vanua Levu. As always, we were prepared but the damage to Viti Leva was nothing compared to the damage on Vanua Levu.

To protect themselves from Cyclone’s the big catamaran’s found refuge in the mangroves .

Shutters were put up making things a bit darker and gloomier…

The one upside of cyclone lockdown is more cuddle time with the boys…

We were able to have friends over for Xmas brunch, but with the destruction in Vanua Levu, it was subdued….

Bye Bye Daria. All thing

While the rest of the world was in total lockdown Fiji was still packin’ them into mega church services!

Helen giving William some tips…

Holi 2021. Over the years Holi has been one of our favorite holidays to celebrate.  I mean what’s not to love about celebrating spring, love and new life…..and color.  

With our new relationship with the US Embassy, we celebrated on the Embassy grounds this year and Brendan took some amazing pics.

Iridescent Clouds. We have been lucky to live in a place where more often than not, nature has a way of blowing your doors off….sometimes literally via cyclones, other times, the beauty of the S Pacific provides once in a lifetime moments.  

April 10, 2021 was one of those moments.  

Our friend Jim surprised Molly with a bday party at a rental house overlooking Albert Park and all of a sudden (and only for a few minutes) a cloud rainbow formed high above the hills outside of Suva.  

It just appeared high above the clouds and then went away leaving everyone speechless knowing they just say something they might not see ever again.

Ovalau 2021. Our second trip to Ovalau was by far my favorite trip in 7+ years living in Fiji.  We stayed with Bobo and Karen and planned a few mini trips around the island.

Lavonia. The first was a trip to Lovonia….and town set in the center of a crater from an old volcano.   Surrounded on all sides by steep peaks, Bobo advised the only way to visit was with someone who was known and respected…and of course that was Bobo.  We parked outside the village and hiked in (which looking back, it would have been a better idea to drive to the town itself, but these are great travel tips to pass on).  That said, the hike gave us time to hear all the stories of the fierce warriors of Lavonia and how Cakobau finally succeeded to take Lavonia through deceit. 

Naigani. The next trip was to Naigani….about a 15 min boat ride from Ovalau.  From the start, it was perfect.  75-80 degrees with enough wind to keep things lovely, but still enjoy a smooth ride on a rented long boat.  The water was clear and the sky was blue.

It was also William’s 7th Birthday……a birthday we will NEVER forget. 

Naigani once had a favorite resort, but it was destroyed by Winston by in 2015 and never rebuilt.  Everything was overgrown and the fleet of fishing, transport boats were there on the beach.    It wasn’t creepy, just a reminder to how temporary things can be.

We headed to the opposite side of the island to a deserted beach.  By far the most epic day trip once could ever imagine

We started with a snorkel.  The reef was endless, 15’-30’ deep water and full of life….and it was ours to enjoy.  While snorkeling with Lucy and William, Bobo and his friend spearfished for lunch catching some colorful coral trout and yes, they grabbed a giant claim.  

Back at the beach, we gathered coconuts for fresh bu and Coco cooked up the fish and some hot dogs and his bubu cut up the giant clam with fresh limes….again, a once in a lifetime lunch in paradise…our paradise on an island off of another island off the main island in Fiji where we lived.  

Bobo is the ultimate host.

After lunch, Tui napped under the palm frowns and Abby and I swam out past the first row of coral heads to take in the scene of kids playing on the beach

Yes, William fell for a colorful coral trout who he protected from being eaten…even though he was long passed.  🙂 

While floating in that absolutely perfect moment,  I remarked to Abby that after 6 or so years, we would never ever experience another moment in Fiji to match this one….and that it might be time to think about what comes next.  Little did we know that at that very moment,  a soldier returning from overseas and was in quarantine in Nadi, decided to venture out of quarantine after his first initial negative test…..and of course had a bowl of Kava with him mates not knowing he had Covid and that was the beginning of the end.

The next day, we had heard that there was a positive test in Nadi and we momentarily thought about just staying in Ovalau  till it all passed, but then decided to pack up and head back to Suva. Everything changed in an instant.

Lockdown Fiji. The following 2 months consisted of Fiji trying to control the outbreak…down to a police enforced 48 hour curfew.  This time we were dealing with the Delta variant and no containment measures were working You could feel the shift towards letting it rip.  

Early on my Care Fiji app alerted me that I was within the vicinity of someone who tested positive so they sent a van out to our house to give Abby and I tests…..which remains one of my favorite pics….it was early on and man, they went deeeeeeeep! 

Prior to the lockdown, our pool started to leak and literally the day before the lockdown was to start, the boys needed to put a second coat on the paint in the pool…..and didn’t have enough time so we had one less activity to enjoy during our confinement.  That would hurt a bit, but all in all, we still counted ourselves lucky to have such issues. 🙂

There were some tough goodbyes made a bit easier or more brief by Covid…..

We again convinced Salote and Eseta to move in with us for the duration of the lockdown…..on the condition that we would set up church service in our backyard 

(Am not 100%sure what is on the pink chair)

Luckily, we only had one Zoom Bday…..

Near the end of May we were advised that there was an evacuation flight to the US organized by the cast and crew of Survivor (which has been shooting almost year round in Savusavu for the past few years).  We quickly did our pros / cons list and decided that the path forward in Fiji was too dicey to risk so we got on the flight and booked another to Boston and then rented a car to drive to Franklin, Maine where we planned to take a breath, watch Fijji’s covid nightmare from afar and figure out what to do.  

See you later, not good bye. Most of the time, this is what you say when you don’t want to say good bye….this time, though, we were coming back….Abby remained working in the pacific via Maine, Salote and Eseta took turns taking care of the house and dog and we left all of our possessions behind. We were coming back, but didn’t know when and what life was going to look like so it was emotional.

Here is Tui with his ladies…truly his Fijian family….the way Eseta looks at Tui says it all. They were one.

In short, we spent 5 weeks at Georges Pond, then we rented a house in Yarmouth for the next 6 months before finally (after 3 delays) returning to Fiji in January 2022.  

March 14th. By now, the world had started to shut down. The US stopped incoming flights from Europe. Italy was about 5 days away from having its highest day of new cases and Trump had just tested negative for COVID 19.

Additionally:

• Cases topped 152,000 worldwide, with deaths at 5,700
• China has 80,824 confirmed cases, 3,189 deaths
• In the U.S., nine new deaths and 520 new cases were reported

Meanwhile in the middle of the S Pacific….

We had no idea what the next month would bring, but we knew each day would be like no other. All tourist travel to Fiji has just about stopped so we took one last weekend to enjoy the Coral Coast.

March 19th.  We all knew it would come.   Everyday we waited for the news thinking, “it must already be here and nobody is getting tested.  Where is it?”  A week earlier, our friend Andy had a colleague come down with symptoms. He called and was immediately taken away by people in scrubs to a secure site and tested…negatively so we knew there was testing going on.

Over the past two weeks we stocked up…little by little…..another carton of milk another 5 bags of pasta…some toilet paper of course.

Then it happened.  A Fiji Airways flight attendant from Lautoka (near Nadi ) tested positive after coming back from SF.  They immediately quarantined his entire family and locked down the Lautoka area and advised that Flights to / from SF/ LA, Australia and NZ would cease in a week to 10 days so people had to decide if they wanted to be in Fiji for the foreseeable future or not.

We had some tough discussions on whether to stay or leave Fiji.

The pro’s of staying is that Suva is our home and we have a house that would make life under quarantine livable.  Another pro is that Fiji has a military backed government which makes it easier to enforce rather strict measures on movement vs. the US.  With the rampant spread starting in CO and elsewhere, where would we go how would we get there….22 hours and 3 flights was frightening to think about. Additionally, we would be unable to work if we left….

The cons are simple but layered.  There are like 5 ventilators in the country so if the virus arrived and spread, there would be zero medical support if one of us contracted the virus.  Secondly and more importantly, if someone got hurt or sick and needed to be evacuated to NZ or Australia as has happened 5 times in the past 5 years, well, that couldn’t happen as the airports were about to close.

For this reason, the Australian High Commission moved all but essential staff back to Australia without any choice in the matter. Canadians were called by their embassy and recommended that they leave asap.

No call from our State Dept……..just a recommendation to sign up for the STEP program so they could be in touch.

Furthermore, the UN advised that if anyone decided to depart, they could be seen as abandoning their post, yet, there was no clarity on medical care if one of their employees got sick and needed to be evacuated.  We were very much on our own.

We decided to take it day by day knowing our window to leave was closing.  

All of our friends were in the same position.  Yes, it would be better to be closer to medical facilities, but what if those medical facilities were overrun with COVID-19 patients and unable to care for them. It just wasn’t that easy of a decision.

Things started to move quick. NZ and Australia decided to lock things down and stop air travel to and from. A few days earlier, people had a week to decide, now they had a day or less to pick up their entire life and move for an indeterminate about of time. 

The decision was made for us and we were going to stick it out in Fiji.

March 20.  On a Friday we decided to keep the kids home from school and we asked Eseta to move in with us while Salote would stay at home till things cleared up.  School moved fully to On-line by Tuesday…..thankfully, that was taken out of my hands.  My new schedule was to get up at 3am and work till 6am when the kids woke up…then, work with the kids on their activities till noon. Quiet time meant a nap for Theo, the kids played with legos and I could get in another hour of work.  The afternoons consisted of time in the pool or runs around Albert Park…then, at 4pm we started dinner and everyone was a sleep by 7pm when I would get back to work till 10pm…….Abby’s went from 3 full time jobs to about 6.  It was insane…especially since Theo would wake sometimes at 4:30, the work would demand something at 9am and the kids had zero interest in quiet time.  It quickly became grueling and work, parenting and everything else suffered.  

There were countless examples of friends who had much more difficult decisions to make due to underlying conditions or work….it was a week to remember…for the entire world.

March 29.  The US Embassy finally called and asked if we were interested in a repatriation flight back to Los Angeles.  Despite everything everything, we said, yes, we are interested, please keep us posted.  That said, paying for 5 tickets to LA where we would would need to get an Airbnb or worse stay in a hotel room for 14 days (both on our dimes), we would both most likely lose our jobs and then….where would we go?  Honestly, the chances of getting the Coronavirus in transit plus 14 day quarantine was probably 80% so we decided there was no way….and we just had to focus on getting evacuation flights sorted out with the UN.

It was at this point when I felt thankful for the timing on everything so far.  Fiji had a 4-6 week head start with real data from S Korea and Italy….…obviously, they didn’t have testing kits needed to test everyone, but they had quarantine facilities set up, contact tracing teams in place and lock down plans ready to go if needed.  Until now, the only positive tests were the Fiji Airways cluster and Lautoka had been put on a  lockdown.  Now it was Suva’s turn.

…but first one last trip out on the boat with one of our two Isolation Families….Dave/Alex and the kids:

April 1.  Rumor started to swirl that Suva had reported its first two cases.  That morning, I had stopped at Damodar (shopping mall) to get minutes for my phone and was headed out to Korean Motors in Vatawaqa when Abby called.  The 2 positive cases in Suva worked as hair dressers in MHCC and Damodar and spent time at a auto dealer in Vatawaqa.  I had pulled into Korean Motors and I pulled right back out and headed home.  

A few days later, the PM confirmed the Suva cases.  Both were from a second cluster started from a dude coming in on a flight from Singapore.  He stopped in Nadi and shook some hands, then traveled to Suva and hung out in one of the settlements and then hopped on a boat to Lambasa.  Contact Tracing on him put his numbers at well over 800 people before he started to feel sick and got tested.  The race was on to find and quarantine all those that had come in contact with this guy.    

April 4.  Suva was locked down.   You couldn’t get in or out of the city and so any thought of departing was gone as we couldn’t get to the airport even if we wanted to.  The harbor was closed so there was no taking the boat out to get out on the water. 

The lock down was swift and pretty well organized.  The curfew was 8pm-5am and the only reasons for being out was going to the store or exercise at Albert Park.  Police checkpoints were at all roundabouts where you had to state your destination.  Everyone was pretty pleasant….and we were actually grateful to live in a country with a military (backed) government.

Lockdown life:

Lockdown Hair:

Afternoon run/walks at Albert Park

Things were tense as a few new cases popped up but they were still within the two clusters…but, now, another danger was headed our way as TC Harold had just leveled the Solomon Islands and was now turning into a Category 5 cyclone as it approached Vanuatu and we were next.  For the coming days, we kept checking our weather apps to see the course of Harold which had just slammed into Vanuatu.  

April 8.  Thankfully the eye was about 60 miles from Suva so we were on the edge which meant lots of rain and wind, but power even managed to stay on till the storm passed so we were incredibly lucky to dodge that one…especially since the following day, Harold regained strength and hit Tonga as a Category 5 Cyclone.  

Here is the view off our bedroom balcony. Clean up was in order, but all in all, we dodged a bullet on that one.

Here are the boys watching the clean-up:

April 17.  The lockdown of Suva was lifted after 180,000 Fijians were ‘screened’ and no new positive test.  Nightclubs, gyms, cinemas, pools stay closed while public gatherings are still not permitted.  Thinking that people would hit the grog and stop any form of social distancing, we asked Salote to come stay with us for a few weeks…or until things really seemed to clear up.  I was dying and failing miserably in my attempts to parent, teach and work and Abby wasn’t able to work as well with all the commotion….etc.   

Ready, set….

With the lockdown lifted, life resumed and it was nice but a wee bit concerning as social distancing didn’t seem to be a concern at grocery stores…etc.  For now, Fiji seems to have done a good job, but there is such a stigma attached to a positive test, that our fear is that people are not getting tested..etc, so we just take it day by day.  We fully expect to get locked down again….and maybe a few times more as new cases occur, but the first Lockdown wasn’t too bad.

With pools still closed, we drove out to Wainadoi (about 30 minutes from Suva) and found a great little fresh water swimming hole:

We had a little barbeque:

Needless to say, the kids were stoked!

Meanwhile, our friends Ilco / Marija and their kids Kalin and Emma from Fiji who left at the end of last year have been locked down in their 31st floor apartment in NYC for 6 weeks now.  Dave, Ilco and I keep in regular touch and it is both awful, scary and crazy making.  To make things harder, Marija’s mom is with them as well…..two kids under 8, Marija working full time in one bedroom, grandma in the other and poor Ilco is dreaming of a much simpler life as a farmer back in Macedonia.

April 28th . On a walk today, Tui and Eseta ran into the PM walking along the sea wall with his bodyguards. He introduced himself to Tui and Eseta was justifiably too overwhelmed to pull out her camera and document the meeting, but it sounded lovely.

On a side note, the Grace Road Church has come out to say that God has inflicted the world with Coronavirus because their leader has been jailed for taking workers passports and performing ritual beatings and so and so forth. What is it going to take for me to stop going there for that damn jalopeno tuna sandwich? Seriously, my internal fortitude is low.

May 1. Fiji has gone 2 weeks without a new case and there are only 4 or 5 cases of COVID 19 in country with 0 deaths. If they can keep this up for another 2 weeks, they will be ready to declare Fiji Covid Free.

Okay, so nobody is celebrating, but restrictions have been lessened…there are still no gatherings over 20, no gyms, or sports being played, but most stores are back open.

Natadola is a beach about 3 hours from Suva….which is about 2 hours more than anyone wants to be in the car with 3 kids under 7, but the Intercontinental is there and were offering really good deals on beach front bure’s so we headed up there with a few friends for the weekend.

The view out of our room upon check in:

Followed by a little sunset stroll at low tide. Times like these you really deeply look at the difference between really thoughtful life decisions and massive amounts of good luck……and how the good luck can be quickly changed to bad luck……and the result is immense and silent gratitude. Resist the humble brag and just be….

On the eve of the first night, poor Bubu Eseta tripped on a rock and was out of commission for the trip….now we got to take care of her. 🙂

We finally met Phillipe and Virginia who had arrived from Yangon right before the start of Covid 19……turns out their two year old (one month younger than Theo) is also nicknamed Tui, but while our Tui comes from the Fijian word for King, their Tui comes from the bird in NZ. There was definitely a connection and we will hopefully watch these two Tui’s blossom.

Andy cold chillin….

Here is William looking forward to better days ahead…….or simply sizing up the 12″ wave that he may or may not catch….

I can’t quite decide which picture I like better so I”ll include this one as well…..is there some symbolism with William and the rainbow or just a cool pic to look at and smile…..I choose both.

William and Hugo

May 15 It has been another two weeks without a new case which puts Fiji at four weeks without a new case of Coronavirus. Testing is still pretty limited so it is only being used on potential cases so nobody is ready to start bragging. The curfew stays but life certainly looks like it is mostly normal except for pubs, gyms and schools still being closed.

That said, we were expecting the PM to announce today that Fiji was Covid Free, but that didn’t happen as he simply gave an updated that included a status on new cases (0) and that restrictions remained (ie, curfew, gyms, schools and gatherings under 20 I think).

Naively we wanted to celebrate Fiji being COVID free for no other reason than to get the schools back open so we could get our kids out of our hairs and back to the classroom. Everything about home schooling is average and that includes ISS and the home schooling instructors……ie, mostly me with some help from Salote. That said, the kids love it.

So, we headed back up to the Intercontinental with half of the people we know in Suva.

Three days of Sunsets:

Three days of playing in the waves (my feet, Abby, Lucy & William out in waves):

Not bad for a bunch of old farts

…and most fun of all, three days of Theo chasing around the golf carts….car, ca….ca….ca….ca……ca….ca….ca….ca…daddy ca…..ca….ca….(x 3 days).

May 18th. Tui’s 2nd bday. I feel like the first bday is for the parents and by the time they are 3, they start to understand the importance of one’s bday…ie, cake/presents. But, #2 is that sweet spot where almost nobody knows and makes a big deal…:) So, we had a nice dinner and a cake with the family and it was lovely. Here is our little guy at 2 years old!

• He understands Fijian and some English which makes him an absolute star to all Fijians.
• He really loves his Lucy-Ana….err Sissy-Ana and Willem….and he loves to torture them with screams and haymakers when they don’t listen to his every command.
• His snuggles are wonderful and sweet….but only last for about 2 minutes.
• He likes to be up early in the morning to torture dad.
• HIs favorite things in life: Tui’s car, keys and any type of food.

May 26 We have our health. We seem to be living in a COVID – FREE country (although you never know) where we have more freedoms of movement and activities than most places in the world (aside from the gym, travel and school). Both Abby and I have plenty work….bordering on a suffocating amount. We also have plenty of support with the kids and the house. We are incredibly grateful.

At the same time we struggled more than ever with finding a good balance with the kids now that they are home schooling. When we are out of balance, the kids tell us by their actions and we are definitely out of balance more than we are in balance and it is stressful. Yes, welcome to living in a pandemic……still it is important to be able to find the path between being grateful and being overwhelmed.

No pics with this little aside. 🙂

June 2 George Floyd has been murdered by members of the Minneapolis PD and the US has erupted in chaos. It is ironic that 2 months ago we were worried about our decision to stay in Fiji during the global pandemic. We were concerned about how the government would organize and deal with a COVID-19 outbreak along with the potential instability that could come down the road. Would we be safer back home in the US?

We find ourselves being asked to explain what is going on in the US by friends from across the Pacific. All these countries have their own issues surrounding race, but it is both challenging and necessary to explain the immense underlying tension and scope of the problem in the US. 400 years systemic racism leads to civil unrest and massive amount of distrust in our government. All it has ever needed was a match….enter Amy Cooper and George Floyd.

As someone who checks ALL the privilege boxes and thinks of himself as an open minded and responsible human being, my outrage isn’t enough. I need to look deeper into my own biases and as I tell our kids, LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN to what people are saying, ask if you don’t understand and discuss the difficult and uncomfortable issues of our times. Our family lives in a country where we in the minority, but we enjoy unspeakable privilege. That is our starting point.

June 5. Fiji is officially Covid Free……no new cases in 45+ days and the last case was cleared this week. No deaths. Nobody celebrating…curfew remains.

Everyone is pretty consumed with their own issues plus the pressing issues of the world. The main discussion now shifts to when/how to open the airport so that Fiji can safely start to see tourism return. When will NZ (who is down to 1 case) and Australia open up quarantine free travel between the countries and how soon after will they let Fiji and under what conditions…etc. Flights from the US doesn’t seem like a consideration for 2020.

That said, is is quite an accomplishment and Frank and his team need to be commended.

A quick aside as Tui and Eseta pray for Fiji, the rest of the world and pasta.

Seems like every two years, I have a good fishing day. Andy and I took the boat out to the passage by the Sand Bank….did some fishing, nothing. Then, we headed out the passage and along the outside of the reef back to the harbor and in 5 minutes caught a big Wahoo for me…

..and a Trevally for Andy.

Kids were stoked.

Side note: We kept the wahoo and gave Andy the trevally…which ended giving him a ciguatera and he was down for the count for a few days….a reminder to only eat the big fish that feed in the open ocean and not on other fish around the reef or the reef itself.

The Fish Patch. There is a great spot on the outside of the reef where Greg (scuba instructor) has a buoy (the way Flava Flav would say it) that we sometimes use. Tie up to the BUOY, tie up to each other and snorkel, play on the surfboards, picnic…..

William, Ryker and Ayan…..

Leleuvia was one of the few resorts that didn’t 100% cater to overseas travelers. While plenty of people traveled here from all over the world, there always seemed to be a healthy mix of Suva residents making the 90 minute trip….here is Tui taking over Captain duty.

There is something special about the afternoon sun on Leluevia.

…and a good afternoon sun usually turns into another sunset over Viti Levu

One of the many things we love about Leleuvia is their commitment to the ocean. We have been coming to this island off of Ovalau for 5 years and in additional to getting to know the staff over the years, it is meaningful to see where our money is being spent. Unlike most places, the coral around Leleuvia is full of life. From banning certain kinds of sunscreen, to plastic containers to coral farms to saving and resettling giant clams from neighboring reefs where they are being removed and eaten by village, to saving and releasing baby/adolescent turtles, it is truly a special place on earth.

Here is William and Jim planting coral.

The real reason that Leleuvia is one of our favorite places on earth is right here:

Another reason: We have literally watched Will go from a chunky 18th month old to this little boy on this island.

Another reason: There is never a lonely weekend at Leleuvia.

Here I am kayaking with a lifejacket and some legs and a ball of hair…..safety first.

William and Semi playing in the band….

June 28 to July 28 represents some serious milestones in the Boettcher / Erikson household

• June 28 – Lucy turns 8
• July 1 – Daddy turns 50
• July 5 – Abby and Clancey turn 8 (as an official couple)
• July 28 – Abby turns 44.

So, we started off the month long celebration with a weekend at Mantanivusi with Dave/Alex (and kiddos) and Andy/Liz (and kiddos).

It was an absolutely epic weekend of surfing, snorkeling, swimming, drinks, great food, sunsets, long swims, kayaking, turtles, Frigates…….and a magical swim with Pilot Whales…..or round nosed dolphins as Liz would say….bitterly so.

Happy Birthday Lucy!

Bday cake 1 of many.

Sunset Drinks 1 of many….

William pulling off the now illegal Triple Lindy (Back to School reference)…

Our girl poolside….

8 years and still livin’ our best life…..

My turn….

Andy, Alex, Abby and I set off with Brian and Seva to Frigates passage for a snorkel and surf. Frigates is a huge reef break about a 45 minute boat ride SW of Beqa island and is the Coral Coast’s answer to Cloudbreak. The waves coming out of seemingly nowhere in the middle of the ocean is pretty intense……and jumping over with your mask and fins comes with a jolt of fear which quickly goes away as you open your eyes under the water. Massive schools of fish and for some reason the turtles were out in force that day which felt like a gift… oh no, there was more to come.

On the way home we came upon a pod of about 30+ pilot whales. We watched for a few minutes and then jumped in to swim with them. Abby and I were swimming together and one just dove straight down in front of us…..just a slow mo effortless headfirst plunge until he/she was gone…..now we were really satisfied with the day.

Liz and Dave stayed back with the kids so we were hesitant to tell Liz about the whales. Her way to work through her resentment towards us was to explain that Pilot Whales are not technically whales which made her feel better. Aside from swimming with them, this remains the favorite part of my memory of that day.

When we first moved to Fiji, I was dead set on learning to surf. That dreamed died quickly as I had lime juice squeezed on my scrapes from the reef. 5 years later and on the eve of my 50th, getting up on a board in the same spot was my ultimate goal for the weekend.

It was not pretty and yes, I was pushed into the wave by Seva, but I did it and the following day, I actually caught a wave by myself (also not pretty) so mission accomplished.

A memorable weekend with a memorable group!

My 50th Bday week was just getting started.

On the eve of my actual 50th, I could only imagine spending it with one person (aside from Abby) and that was Henry. Henry and I share the same birthday…not just day, but year as well so we decided to share our 100th together at Eden.

It wasn’t even my birthday and my heart was full and I was physically exhausted…..a strategy I would recommend to anyone planning a big milestone as it reduces the pressure to have a world class birthday because you have a few already in the bag.

July 1 – My 50th. A day trip that I take with most visitors is to Takalana Bay resort. It is a two hour drive to the more rugged side of the island that never gets old. Takalana sits on a bluff overlooking a proper black sand beach and looking out towards Moon Reef and the 150-200 spinner dolphins that call it home during the day.

Since most resorts were 50/50 on opening back up, I kept checking to make sure we were all good…I kept reminding them that it was my 50th bday to make sure that they didn’t forget about us so when Abby and I pulled up to see the place in total disrepair with nobody in sight…I was a bit surprised but half expecting it since the pre-birthday celebrations blew away all expectations.

I called them and they nonchalantly told us to head back to the village and drive to the beach. The kids were home and taken care of so I was up for anything. Abby less so.

We finally found the ‘beach’ and Natalei Eco Lodge which was run by the same people that run Takalana, but 100% owned by the village so it was actually exactly how I was looking to celebrate the actual big 5-0….now, it would have been nice to know that Takalana was being torn down and that we were expected at the beach instead…..details, details…..the beach was 100% ours and perfect.

Here is the plush one bedroom beach front bure…..the beds were so small that we each had our own bure. 🙂

Some plastic chairs (that we had to double up so as not to break), a deck and some mixed drinks from Suva and wala, I had the 50th bday party of my dreams!

After a few drinks, we walked down the beach to a small river mouth to watch a few lady’s with nets catching dinner as the tide receded. It was just another tiny little magical moment that you hope you don’t forget.

It turns out they were indeed expecting us as they made us an amazing dinner with fresh fish, lobster and plenty of other local dishes plus a big old B-day cake……#3 in a week.

The next day we got up early and headed out to Moon Reef with this crew……a working engine and a guitar.

After a 30 minute ride out to the reef, we puttered back and forth alongside 50 or so dolphins that were swimming in the current created by the boat. I realize that dolphins are everywhere, but they are magical whenever you see them.

After some snorkeling, it was time to start the trip home…..but first a coconut, a chat and a song. This 34 seconds very much captured the vibe of the 24 hours at Natalei….

Without a doubt, my most memorable birthday to date!

Savusavu – July 5-11. With the world in total chaos, a few smaller resorts have opened back up which has allowed us to see some new parts of Fiji that we may not have been able to afford in years past. Savasavu is one of them.

Additionally, July 5th is our 8th Anniversary so how better to celebrate 8 years chock full of life.

Preparing for takeoff….not sure why the boys are going with red shorts and All Blacks gear…

We took the 30 minute flight from Nausori to Savusavu. Suva is a bustling capital city while the vibe in Savusavu is what you think of when you think of Fiji.

We arrive, get in a van and in 10 minutes we arrive at Savasi Island and our beachhouse…..like I said, we were able to stay at places that we might not have been able to afford pre-Covid.

True to its name, it was steps from our own beach….and yes, this is insane.

Our beach kiddos….

DJ was our activities guide. The kids spent more than a few hours per day with DJ as he took us around every inch of Savasi. Here we are exploring the blowholes on the reef at low tide…..when the bigger waves would come in, it would start with a mist and then….

We kayaked…..

Lept from bridges…

Visited the J Hunter pearl farm…

We hiked….

Swam to waterfalls…

….and lots and lots of downtime with the kids.

….and then back to the airport, a quick flight and taxi home….door to door, 2 freakin’ hours.

July 10th. On July 1, a repatriation flight from India arrived with 100+ Fiji citizens and residents. Those arriving have to spent 14 days at a quarantine facility in Nadi. As of July, 10th there were 8 positive cases out of the 100+ people on that flight….all in quarantine.

The new acting PS of Health is Dr. Fong who has been close with Abby over the years. One of his first press conferences was an emotional one where he discussed Fiji’s obligation to allow citizens back on these repatriation flights while also keeping the people of Fiji safe.

Those coming in from overseas must present a negative test result (within 48 hours) before boarding the flight to Fiji. Then they must stay at a quarantine facility for 14 days with daily screening and limited time outside before testing negative on the 14th day. So far, the process has been effective in preventing community transmission, but as seen in Vietnam and others, all it takes is one mistake so credit Dr. Fong and his team who are working under indescribable pressure.

July 15 – Back to School. Term 3 starts and the kids are headed back to school. My god.

With some minor changes, schools are back open and we are grateful on so many levels.

July 28 – Abby’s 44th Bday. We celebrated at home with bula shirts and kava……Cheers Mommy!

Happiest of Birthday’s Momma!

Happy Momma

Tui + Momma

August 11. After 102 days without a new case, Aukland goes under a 3 day lockdown after reports of a community transmission and all hope of a Tasman Bubble are quickly squashed.

After being away for 10 weeks, we decided to go with the Shock and Awe strategy as the only way we were going to get all of our stuff back to Fiji without paying a fortune. Arrive to the airport late and act flustered (or completely natural in our case) and drop 17 bags in front of the poor Fiji Airways ticket counter and let our kids wreak havoc on the world.

It worked as planned as Fiji Airways simply looked the other way and charged us $100FJD for the surfboard….we were home. Finally.

Now comes the part where everyone in Suva meets Tui……the king of Suva. 🙂

First came Nic & Charlie!

Then of course is Della…

Lucy’s class at ISS was pretty excited to meet the little guy!

Leba and Bubu Eseta!

Our old roomie….sweet Evi got a snuggle…:)

Of course Tahu was butter….

Such a meaningful and beautiful shot of Aunty Marigold!

These powerful ladies of the S. Pacific…Marlyn, Shamina and Ofa couldn’t resist.

Of course Ilco…mind you Theo’s first round of clothes were all from Macedonia. 🙂

Maki!

So glad that Charlie and Alice got to meet Tui before heading off to Myanmar!

My July 1, 1970 brother Henry and Tui!

Nani, Shirlyn and Lora fawn over Tui…

Jessica came from PNG to get some time with the big guy….and her best friends Abby and Della…

Everyone loves a big baby….

We miss you Trish!

Tui is looking large and in charge with Taina..

My turn!

Tui is giving some love to Liz!

Our guy can take over most rooms…even those filled with these bad ass ladies!

Lucy’s bestie Darya given Theo some love…in the form of a headlock.

Morgan and baby Maden…who is even more in charge than Theo.

Mommy’s turn…

and of course…all the way from Maine….DeeDee!

After being away for a few months, William was super stoked to be back with his boys….Darcy and Tama!

…and of course Jacky Booty!

The Boettcher / Useda’s in Fiji! After a few weeks in Australia, Lara, Dave, Turi and Andres came over for an extended visit to Suva. We immediately took them to Leleuvia and had one of the nicest weekends in memory.

It never disappoints….and every time we visit, it is a different experience. Here is Lucy and Lara snorkeling off the beach.

My favorite pic. Part of me wanted to know what is going through his head…..part of me knows exactly what goes through ones head when listening to William.

Dave enjoying a perfect day.

Some of the staff at Leleuvia have watched Will grow from a chunky little 18 month old to the little monster he is today…..and they adore him…….he responds to everything they say with an “OYE!”.

A quick trip to snorkel and explore Honeymoon Island with the cousins…

Ahhhh, the South Pacific suits Dave….

Lara and William enjoying the furniture…..

Daddy sneakin’ in a quick paddle….

Turi and Andres enjoying the ride…

Back in Suva, this one started up a daily coconut oil routine after his afternoon nap….

Kalavata. Kala means color and Kalavata means clothing of the same color…and with all the colorful fabric available is it a great tradition for the family to dress in Kalavata. We headed to the fabric shop and then found a tailor for us all in hopes of one grand pic!

Now THAT is a proper Kousin Kalavata!

Not exactly Theo’s most flattering pose….but, still super cute!

Unfortunately, we would have to wait till Theo’s first bday to have a full family Kalavata image…..but, these are beautiful and certainly will do. 🙂

So, we bought a boat! Suva is a lovely place, but weekends do start to drag especially in the heat of summer…during a school break…when the kids seem like they are awake for 23 hours a day, but I digress. Having a boat has always been a bit of a pipe dream…….but out of the blue there was an email from Nic and wala, we bought a 17′ boat named NicNic from Gareth and Amy!

Never having owned or operated a boat, Abby and I thought it would be wise to take a few test rides out with just the two of us before inviting the kids or friends.

…….I think we both agreed it was a good decision and we were ready for guests.

Our go-to spot early on is the sand bank which is about a 10 minute ride from our house…

Look at us….we own a boat!

..and boy, did we become popular. 🙂 Here we are with dear friends John and Caro! Someone brought his hair A game!

People came as far away as Maine to ride on the NicNic!

Gareth was a huge fisherman and gifted us 6 monster trolling rods and more equipment than we knew what to do with. So, we took Nic and the family out for a maiden voyage and bam, bam, bam……we caught two travally and one mackerel!

Are you kidding me?

Turns out that was the last fish caught on the Nic Nic for a few months…….until of course Nic again boarded the NicNic and wala!

Many more adventures to come with the NicNic!

Ruby’s Masterclass. Abby and I signed up for an Indian cooking class with my new best friend Ruby. 7 ladies and Clancey. Clancey was the dutiful student…always listening and following directions unlike the other students. Turns out, Ruby LOVES Clancey. During our final big dinner, Clancey brought an average at best garlic naan while the rest of the ladies cooked their brains out (Abby included). Guess who got singled out and thanked for bringing the delicious garlic naan?

Additionally, guess who got his diploma first which obviously signified the top student honor. Abby is still pissed……should rename it Clancey’s Masterclass.

Cyclone Winston hit Fiji 3 years ago and our poor mango tree in the backyard hasn’t produced another mango since….kind of felt a bit like the Giving Tree…..and the tree was happy, but not really.

Well, that all changed this year when she seemed happy again and it was mangos galore for a few weeks!

All night we could hear the bats, cats, birds and creepy crawlies battle over the ripe mangos…..we would wake up early and try to find 5-10 untouched mangos that had fallen during the night.

DeeDee and Alice got into the early morning fun….

I love my sister’s sense of adventure. She has always been game and her time in Fiji was no different. She took the boys on an extremely bumpy 1-2 hour trip to the Namosi region in the highlands in this jam packed carrier truck where they spent a few nights with Danny at the Namosi Eco Resort.

Here they are getting some help crossing the river to their bure’s…

……..what an adventure! $_&*%$@_@%* Awesome!

It was inevitable. We had to say good bye to the boys after about a month together in both Australia and Fiji. It had been a few years and was really meaningful and amazing to get to know the 10 & 12 year old versions of them. 🙂 I don’t think they will ever forget their time in Fiji. 🙂

Good bye Lara, Turi and Andres…..’til we see you again!

With everyone back to work, back to Rochester, back to school……our life returned to normal so Abby and I were able to finally take a walk along the seawall and reflect on the past year. It is impossible to describe the ups and downs, but we $*$_*%$ made it……and everyone survived….just amazing!

With love,

Abby, Clancey, Lucy, William and now Theo!

The last blog had us bidding farewell to Abby who was on her way to Brisbane and 35 weeks pregnant.    The plan was for Lucy, Will and I to finish the school term and head to meet Abby in Brisbane at 39 weeks to have one last week as a family of four before welcoming little Cosmo (his pre-birth name) to the world!

Brisbane, here we come!

Cosmo stayed put and we arrived at week 39 and got to spend one last week together.

For us, Brisbane means playgrounds, good doctors and coffee….two of the three we can get at our favorite spot…….the playground at New Farm.

Even Will can appreciate the energy of the Banyan tree….

Cool crisp mornings means a fuzzy new wardrobe….

….facepaint and inflatable whiskers…with a big belly in the background.

..and some last minute snuggles.

…and a visit from our friends from Suva.

At 40 weeks, Salote arrived (apparently without her happy face) and we decided it was time for one last museum…

…and we were off to the hospital…right on cue!

Disclaimer: All things related to the pregnancy and child birth are written by a 40 something male who is incapable of truly experiencing the highs (making life) and lows (pain and general discomfort) of child birth, but everything has been reviewed for accuracy and approved by Abby.

Lucy was born in Washington DC the night of one of the worst storms in recent memory on the east coast (the hospital shook like there was a freight train coming through)…and the day that Obamacare was upheld by the Supreme Court. 

Lucy came quickly holy shit it was intense.

William was born in Denver and while the atmosphere was toned down from DC, it almost broke the strongest human I know.  

This one was going to be different…..Australia and an epidural.

There were never more than 2 people in the room for Theo’s birth…except for maybe the crickets.  He came out quickly and was on Abby’s chest and didn’t move for hours….nobody came to measure, poke or prod…..it was surreal.  

Here he is, Theodore Nathaniel Erikson, born on May 18, 2018 at Mater Mother’s Hospital in Brisbane.

Our little Queenslander….our little Wallaby…..

Now, here is the other big difference between the US and Australia…….the baby was now ours.  Nobody was taking him away to sleep and bringing back to feed. I couldn’t walk down and look through the window and see him sleep alongside 30 of his new buddies while Abby rested in the room. 

No, the baby was in our room and we had to figure out how to keep him from crying (no clue)….so, after a peaceful and lovely birth, it turned real…..real quick vs. the US where it feels like you still have 2 days before it gets real.

My turn…

Just in case you don’t believe that we had a third baby in Australia….

Like Lucy he came out pretty quickly and was treated for TTN and placed in the NICU for a few days of observation.  Like Lucy everything turned out to be fine and after a few days, we were released. Here we are in the NICU for our first family shot..very fitting. 🙂

Much like Lucy, the NICU didn’t see to phase him one bit….

Through it all, we were lucky to have found a steady hand in Dr. Beak….Theo’s first pediatrician and a bit of an Abby whisperer….:)

Phase 1 & 2 were a success. Next we had to spend 3 weeks in an apartment in New Farm before Theo was old enough to get on a plane to Sydney to apply for his US Passport…which we needed to fly back to Fiji.

Literally our first walk as a Family of 5….to none other than our favorite park, New Farm.

While Abby and Theo slept, Lucy, Will and I explored Brisbane by day. Southbank is a stretch on the banks of the Brisbane River that has everything. Museums, theaters, restaurants, ferris wheels, markets, playgrounds of course and an amazing man made swimming beach area….

I’d like to think this moment lasted forever….or has happened again.

Since Lucy was missing the majority of her second term during her first year at school, we found a tutoring service in a random strip mall in the suburb of Indooroopilly. We had low expectations, but Lucy loved going there…and Mark and the team had a rather profound effect on her reading.

Our Airbnb in New Farm was perfect in terms of size, location…..and our host Tania is a teacher who gave Lucy a few painting lessons.

The Brisbane River snakes through the city filled with fabulous sounding neighborhoods….here we are across the river in Bulimba on a search for a new playground.

Back in New Farm, there was plenty of snuggles with Theo…

Had to go black & white for this next set…..my dad liked to always take three images at a time so this one is for you dad.

Lucy, Will and I had scoped out some grass and a spot in Bulimba for our first real outing as a family of five.

Followed by Mommy’s first glass of bubbly in almost a year…..having kids teaches you to really truly enjoy all the little moments…:)

Mission: Theo’s US Passport. Getting our little guy his US Passport was no small feat.

Step One: Passport picture. Eyes needed to be open and focused on the camera. We headed to a camera shop in Brisbane and we spent a good hour with Theo on the floor trying to wake him up, keep him from crying while the camera guys (we went through 3 of them) waited for THE moment….we finally resorted to a little photoshop work and headed to Sydney with our fingers crossed.

Step Two: Apply for a passport with the support of the US Embassy/ Consulate. There is no US Consulate in Brisbane, hence the trip to Sydney. We checked in on the 10th floor of non-descript high rise in downtown Sydney. All electronics, all bags…everything is checked in on the 10th floor and we head up to the 65th floor with a stack of papers, a baby and a change of diapers.

We are greeted by portraits of DJT and VP Pence and head into an exact replica of every DMV in the US for our scheduled interview…..much like the DMV, we took a number and waited…and waited….

We were finally called up and gave them all our paperwork and were informed that we needed an original marriage certificate to satisfy all the necessary doc’s for his Passport.

We left them all of our docs and quickly headed back to the airport to catch an evening flight back to Brisbane with a back up plan…..and after 10 days of frustration with the US Consulate, our dear friend Baker retrieved our marriage certificate from our storage facility in Denver and sent it to Sydney via Fed Ex and the countdown to our flight back to Fiji was on….

A Thank you to the many nameless people at the US Consulate in Sydney who did absolutely nothing to help us out.

Noosa !

While we waited for Theo’s passport to be processed, we headed up to the Sunshine Coast (about 3 hours north of Brisbane) and settled into our house on Sunshine Beach just outside of Noosa.

Super important to note that about 2 years ago, we came over to Brisbane to meet with an ENT about Lucy’s tonsils and decided to check out Noosa. While watching Lucy and Will run around half naked on the main beach, we decided to try for a third and that if successful, we would come back here for our maternity leave……

Here is Lucy and Will high up on the dunes by our Airbnb on Sunshine Beach….shortly after both raced down which ended in two spectacular face plants in the sand.

How could things get better? Theo is asleep and mommy gets asnuggle in the sun on our back porch. Man, it seemed like everything was falling into place…..hold that thought.

But first….the town of Noosa is set next to an absolutely endless and breathtaking beach with a fabulous beginner beach break and so learning to surf was the first order of business for Lucy.

So we headed for an early morning lesson with her teacher.

And just like that, Lucy was up….

STOKED!

Ahhhh, the beach! As I mentioned, this beach literally was the inspiration for Theo….not the name, but the baby.

Needless to say the kids enjoyed as much this year as they did last year…..

A few minutes away was the more rugged Sunshine Beach. Here we are on our nightly walk at sunset (okay, we only did it twice).

General rule of thumb with Lucy and Will: No matter how cold the air or water is, if their feet touch sand, they are going in the water.

It starts with a sand castle on a stormy windy afternoon…

..and always ends fully dressed and soaked to bone.

..and then back to the sand for more.

Mastitis disclaimer: same general idea as the pregnancy disclaimer.

Abby is very good at both enduring and describing the pain of pregnancy and child birth, but nothing prepared either of us (see disclaimer…the word us was approved) for what happened next.

It started out as a sharp pain and a high fever…..followed by a late night visit to the Noosa clinic where the doctor prescribed an extremely low dose of the wrong AB’s because of fears about breastfeeding.

Fast forward to the next day, Abby is talking to Jesus (ie, hallucinating) and we are desperately trying to control a 104 fever. We decided to stay on the course of AB’s for another day, but take Theo into see a pediatrician in Noosa who promptly said, ‘Honey, you are not well’ and sent us off to the hospital to get transported by ambulance an hour away to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital where Abby was rushed into the closest room and immediately given a massive dose of the correct AB’s to keep her from becoming septic.

How cruel is Mastitis? One of the first things they tell you is that you need to keep breastfeeding…..which is like telling someone who broke both feet and both ankles that the best thing they can do is run a marathon.

Here is Theo overseeing momma’s recovery.

Lucky for us, our dear friend Emily decided to come up to visit from Melbourne and was thrust into taking care of Lucy and Will while I commuted back and forth….

Good lord Emily how we love you!

Emily took the kids to the fabulous and Original Eumundi weekend market and tried on hats….and hat holders if your name is Will…:)

Here we are with our hero, Emily Miller!

With the Mastitis incident behind us, we decided to check out Noosa National Park. Much like the playgrounds in Australia, the national parks (sweeping generalization coming) seem well funded, clean and the gift shops all serve amazing espresso.

Packed up and ready to go….and very serious.

After about a 20-30 minute walk we came to yet another amazing and secluded beach …and yes, the Bob goes everywhere.

We found a nice little spot to stack rocks, look at the day time moon…

…and take a nap.

One is Lucy and one is Theo…..same age, same ones. At first glance they look like twins, but the green stripe onesie and the cute Boettcher button nose are all you are actually looking at. 🙂

• 

• 

Visitors! Our lovely and amazing friends Glenn and Fiona came up from Melbourne for a visit. Glenn and Abby worked together back in Suva when Glenn was consulting for the Ministry of Women. Since getting to know Uncle Glenn, our kids call every male over the age of 20 Glenn. Glenn is also the first Aussie with enough patience to sit with me and explain the games and language used in both Cricket and Aussie Rules Football…….and had I owned white pants, I would have played my first game of cricket with Glenn, but alas, there is no way in hell….:)

…and Fiona is just an all around amazing lady who the kids fell for instantly! ( Fiona, it is the only pic we have and we love you even with your eyes shut).

The obligatory 3 tiered seafood bonanza with Glenn and Fiona (eyes wide open) in Noosa……it was so lovely to spend even the briefest of moments with these two!

With Abby on the mend, we ventured back outside and took a crack at the Eumundi Market. “Renowned for its locally made artisan treasures, there’s no other market quite like it. The Original Eumundi Markets is the biggest and the best art and craft market in Australia.  Step into an ever-evolving collaboration of talented locals seeking to share their gifts with the world. ” It felt like stepping back into time when people made things…..lots of things….combined with a Renaissance Fair feel….it was unique, fun and a fantastic day out!

I think I am just happy to be outside and around German Sausages…

If there is one thing that you know you are going to find at the Eumundi Market, it is a Fairy House…..

Abby…hippie at heart.

Meanwhile, the Rochester Boettcher’s prepare for their first trip to Australia and Fiji. Here is Andres about to board in LAX…….

Wala…..cousins reunite…errr Meet Again!

This is more realistic.

Lara, Dave, Turi and Andres joined us in Noosa for a week before heading off to explore points north before meeting back up with us in Suva for a few weeks in Fiji! It has been a few years and our days (and nights) were exhausting, but we managed to have an amazing and super meaningful few weeks together that we will always remember!

From June 28 to July 28, we have a flurry of milestones……starting off with Lucy’s 6th Bday celebrated with her cousins in Noosa!

Followed by Daddy’s birthday on July 1st!

I had the perfect 48th Bday…..a long solo hike from our house on Sunshine Beach to Noosa National Park where I met up with this one…:)

Even though we stayed close to home, we did manage one lazy kayak trip starting in Noosa town. Oh how they suffered…..

After a few weeks in Noosa, we returned to Brisbane as we waited for Theo’s passport to arrive. We stayed across the river in Bulimba and passed some time on the front porch.

More visitors! While in Bulimba, we got an unexpected and amazing visit with Abby’s dear friends, Kim and Shane.

Shane and Abby go way back to her days at IRC and while Shane and I have never met, we did have a ‘who was the first lesbro’ beef ‘ and decided that we should just agree to share the title. Shane was a monster hit with William, monster hit……and yeah, Theo thought he was ayiiight.

We had time for one last stop to say good bye to the kangaroos…

Our last find in Bulimba was a coffee shop named Clancy’s….

Worn down dad of 3 young kids Clancey meet young hipster coffee shop owner Clancy….I’ll never be able rock one of those T’s.

Our flight back to Fiji was scheduled for Monday and Theo’s passport arrived on Thursday before which was cutting it close. Especially since we had a 1/2 day on Friday to have the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Fiji sign off on a letter that put Theo on our visa…otherwise, Theo would not be able to get into the country. In most circumstances this letter and signature takes weeks. So, we sat in the park in Bulimba and mapped out a few scenarios from hiding him in the Moby to simply staying in Brisbane for good. We got the call at about 2pm on Friday and the letter was sent and we were all set to go home and call it a day on our adventure in Australia.

Like everything else, the expat lifestyle is chock full of pros and cons.  Our community in Suva is amazing, but ever changing. You learn to make the most of your time with people you love and so here we are with some of our favorite people of 2017 celebrating Xmas.  See you soon to Dave, Rahda, Dale, Finny and Solly!

….then, we wake up the next morning and this is our view from our kitchen and we are reminded of the pros.  🙂

More pros…..here we go…due date:  End of May, 2018!

But, first, it is NY’ Eve at the Sofitel in Nadi with Dale, Rahda and the kiddos……

…and of course, the water slide.  We usually wait till after lunch and then, it is on…..

For the second year in a row, Abby’s parents came to visit and after another year under our belt, we put together a world class 10 day trip.

We started at one of our favorite spots about 90 minutes up the Coral Coast.  Mantanivusi.  This is the first place we visited a few years back and it never disappoints.  For this trip, it was a quick afternoon visit on our way to Sigatoka.

Enough time for Will to demand a swim in the pool.

Followed by a quick boat ride out to the reef…

Next stop was Natandola where Lucy got some braids……

..and Will and I took a horseback ride on the beach.  Somethings look like a ton of fun, but are actually slow and painful.  Slowly riding bareback in the sand with a squirmy almost 4 year old boy is a great example.

We followed up the beach day with a day at the Kula Adventure Park.

Abby and I ended the day with a date and yet another world class sunset….and a growing bump.

Next up was Beqa Island.  Beqa Island is best known for its Firewalkers…..and coincidentally, their ability to treat burns.

…and yes, the bure’s at the Beqa Lagoon Resort are a bit more plush than other places.

Our own beach with Viti Levu (our island) in the background.  Don’t worry, we will never get used to this…..

More fire…..

Not much scares Will, but I think sticking his entire hand in his mouth and squealing is code for h-e-l-p!  This will be fun to revisit in about 10 years when he is towering over me.

The next day we took a boat out to go snorkeling and yes….I can never resist a dive off a rope, cliff or top of the boat.

….and seriously, I think Lucy belongs under water.

Another spectacular Bega Sunset…

The pink hues in the sky go perfectly with Abby’s prego dress.  One of our last family of 4 shots….not quite sure why I went with the Johnny Cash outfit.

We joined our friends Aria, Janah, Joe and Tony for a day at a waterfall about 20 minutes outside Suva….and I couldn’t resist showing the kids how its done…

Thankfully, we are past the upside down clothing stage….it was fun, but exhausting.

We were certainly lucky to be able to chose between the International School and The Learning Center for Lucy’s next school.  ISS (International School Suva) is a big K-12 school about 20-30 minutes away……big school, big resources, lots of expat kids.

On the other hand, The Learning Center is a school that is near our house, much smaller with a much stronger sense of community amongst the kids and families.  We decided on TLC, but after lobbying pretty hard to the school administrators, Lucy was put on the wait list so we enrolled her at ISS.

Funny how things work.  It turns out that the class size at ISS is 12-13 with 2 teachers and it is far more diverse than we ever realized and Lucy has just blossomed, met tons of new friends and has seriously loved every day so far.

Here is Alice taking Lucy to her first day of school.

No first day jitters here…just a girl trying to hydrate and get to class on time…

After a quick trip back to CO, I had a nice visit with Pete and Brad at LAX on my way back to Fiji.  We have been close friends for over 40 years and from the looks of it, we are just entering our primes….

Okay, so a few more random shots of Life in Suva prior to our Australian Adventure!

All I can say about this one is that I can’t imagine Abby looking better and me looking worse…..:)

Okay, I lied…..and we are going to miss Warren and his family who recently left us for Madagascar.

After two years going to the pool, Will decided he was ready to start swimming without floaties which when you spend most of your time around water is a much bigger deal than ditching the diapers.  Here he is hamming it up…

Post swim wear with his recently departed bestie Gerard……

We are going to miss Gerard, but Tama is still here…:)

A year or so earlier, we went to The Outrigger resort to celebrate the historic election of our first woman president…….so, we felt the need to go back and make things right with this place.  Turns out, I still blame The Outrigger….but, somehow we managed to have fun.

…not sure how.

Back to the pools at Colo-i-Suva to watch the aerial acrobatics…..

Lucy taken a very casual approach to surfing at Nasili…..

Posing with her new umbrella…..for some reason, she wanted me to drive slowly so that she could walk besides the car the whole way home.

As we headed into the third tri-mester, we did what any rational family would do.  We decided to move from our current house of 2 1/2 years to a new house right around the corner.

When we make big decisions (like should we move to Fiji or stay in CO), we usually pull out the pro / con list….but, for this one, it was a total no brainer.  The house, the property and the owner are all amazing.

Here is our pool area.  Let’s just say the previous two tenants liked to entertain.  What we need is a Ping Pong table now.

..and of course, the backyard has a zip line.

6 days after moving into the new house, Abby hit the 35 week mark and flew to Brisbane to be closer to her Dr and the Mater Mothers Hospital.  We would join a month later.  Here we are at Nausori Airport saying good bye.  Everyone was in good spirits until Will learned why we were there….and then it all fell apart.  Not pretty, but mommy made it safely to Brisbane that night which was quite a relief.

When we look back on our time at Waldorf, I will miss their celebrations.  For William’s 4th birthday, there is the obligatory story of William by Shirlyn….

….blowing out the candles with his cape still on.

Followed by a line where the kids feed Will cake and each gave him a big hug!

Then, it was home for a more intimate birthday with Will’s boys.  Darcy, Gerard, Tama and Jack.

Happy 4th Birthday William!

Will with his prized Hammer present….

Lucy is ready for it to be April 18th as she is ‘next’…

Before heading to Brisbane to join moms and start our great Australian Adventure,  Lucy decided to try to stand up under a concrete stair case at school.    Yet another lesson learned at ISS.

Signing off as a family of 4 for the last time!

Lots of love,

Abby, Lucy, Will and Clancey…..oh, and we now have a three-legged dog named Shine as well.

Well, I am over a year behind, but the images are there and the stories remain so I will continue on as if it were still 2017……and, yes, there is a big announcement near the end….:)

So, how to follow the Summer of Dan?  Two words:  Brad Rowe.

Kiddo pick up with Uncle Brad and his UGGS (not just for the plane ride anymore).

Brad and I have been friends since 1st grade… not to give away ages, but that is 40+ years and counting….

So, back to one of our favorite spots (while I try to keep Will in the boat) and we were joined by a bunch of friends from Suva for a spectacular weekend at Leluevia.

Not only did we have Brad joining us, but a few of Lucy/Will’s besties joined us as well.

Parked at Leluevia this week was the Uto Ni Yalo a 72′ double masted traditional Polynesian sailing canoe which translates into “heart of spirit”.  The Uto Ni Yalo is one of 7 canoes that set sail in 2011 listing 15 Pacific nations reviving voyaging culture and advocating ocean conservation.  It was gifted to Fiji in 2014 and visiting Leluevia to get prepped for it’s next voyage (many of the crew members also live/work at Leluevia).

Here she is at low tide:

Aside from the Uto Ni Yalo, there was another new toy at Leluevia this weekend….a floating slip and slide…..oh yeah.  Here is Charlie, Alice and Lucy gearing up for a race….

Lucy out to an early lead!

Never fails…

We decided to take Brad out to some real snorkeling at the reef around Honeymoon island…

…and it was all that and more.  Here is me taking a pic of Charlie…

White tipped sharks are a pretty common sighting out here and harmless…

Sea Snakes!  Yikes!  Quite harmful and freaky….

Mommy taking a closer look..

Ghost Coral…

Brad’s turn…

Back at Leluevia, the kids were busy on the new water trampoline..

Good times….!

Lord of the Flies re-enactment.

….not entirely sure about this one.

And after a week of hanging out, it was time for Uncle Brad to head home……adios Bradley!

Diwali 3.0.  As I have mentioned about this time last year, Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights and one of India’s biggest festivals which for kids generally means gobs and gobs of yummy fried finger food and fireworks deep into the night.  Thankfully, the last two Diwali celebrations were marred by torrential rains that never ended bringing a good nights sleep for parents of small kids and dogs.

Additionally, Diwali is about dressing up and boy do our kids look cute on Diwali!

Lucy and Alice

Waldorf always has a lovely Rangoli….colorful rice art…to kick off the festivities.

William and Anwen…

Daddy was slightly underdressed as Ilco put him to shame…

Belated Bday with my July 1, 1970 brother Henry and Radhika.  Henry and I both love Lady Di…who is and will always be a July 1’er…..

After our last consultation trip to the ENT in Brisbane (about Lucy’s tonsil’s), we decided the time was right and so Lucy and Abby headed back to Brisbane for surgery.

Here is Lucy at New Farm Park pre-surgery…for those of you Denverites, it is literally a clone of Wash Park, but with the most amazing playground you have every seen…or played on….

The plan was to go in and remove the tonsils and also to look at the adenoids to see if they were also part of the problem.  Here we go….

Turns out the adenoids were indeed the problem and the surgery is a success!  Abby brought every flavor of ice cream to the recovery room and all Lucy wanted was toast and hummus.  🙂

Since it seems that everyone in our parents generation had their tonsils removed and as times changed, getting your tonsils out was no longer the thing to do……so all we had to work with was our parents who talked about getting to eat ice cream for 14 days.

Turns out, the recovery sucks.  During the first week, there is obviously a ton of pain, but as that goes down, there is the fear of the scab coming off and causing a bleed….in addition, Lucy was experiencing lots of referred pain in her ears so the second week was spent watching TV and taking short trips around Brisbane.

The homage to Lucy starts at the big wheel at Southbank.

.  

Every day we had a latte and muffin at our neighborhood coffee shop under the Storey Bridge..

A rainy day on Queens Street….

Lucy didn’t do much walking….yet we walked everywhere…

We rode the City Ferry….

We at french fries…

We watched Mommy on TV give out the first place medals to the Fiji Men’s squad at the Oceana 7’s in Suva……

….while the All Blacks took the gold medal on the women’s side.

Back in Suva, will dressed up as Superman, Batman and the All Blacks for the annual trick or treat on Marou Road….

Kati got a big carried away and scared everyone with her commitment…..

Meanwhile, Lucy and I went back to introduce her new friend to the Kangaroos….

We hit the Obliteration Room at the Kusama exhibit…

The Croc version of the Meg at the Steve Irwin Zoo…

Day 14 it all stopped, we went to the Dr. and not was everything healing, but her hearing was back from about 60% in one ear, her balance was improved and her voice changed…..amazing.

We decided to stay an extra week to be safe and so we continued our tour of parks / playgrounds.  Here we are at our favorite spot in Brisbane.  New Farm Park!

No more pain….and double swings that we could both ride on…

We took a ride down to Kingscliff to see where one of our dear friends grew up…..

It was mango season in Queensland and we had 3-5 of these bad boys every day.  Big, sweet, juicy (but not so juicy that you are covered in mango juice) with a tiny pit……heaven.  After two weeks of devouring them, we stopped peeling them….

All Lucy could talk about the last week was the Welcome Home party….and her invite list was all the teachers at Waldorf….and they didn’t disappoint.  🙂

Rio!

Abby and Aleta attended a conference in Rio and decided to take the absolute longest possible way to get there…..via Sydney….

……and then Dubai…….. yes Dubai, but business class on Emirates made it less painful…..then, again, if you just found out you are pregnant the last thing you want to do is going on a 45 hour travel day to Rio with all of your bad ass friends from around the world and pretend that you are drinking….:)

Priorities were work, friends, pretending to drink so as not to spill the beans and picking up Havaianas for everyone back in Fiji…

When in Rio…

One of the challenges of living abroad is having to say good bye……this time to Dominique, Lawkee and the girls…..back to Thailand!

Graduation !

Yes, life just flies by….it was time for Lucy to graduate from Waldorf…in a very typical Waldorf way…..

Here is Lucy getting her graduation flower from Miss Sai….

…followed by her graduation book!

….followed by a visit from Santa.  Random? Yes.  Watching our friend Ilco sweat more than any human has every sweated before. Fantastic!

Lucy was not going to be denied…

Up next?  Xmas, a move to a new house, then Brisbane, then Noosa and then back to Suva!

Abby, Lucy, William, Clancey and Baby X.

 

Back to Brisbane…..

Lucy had been getting more than her share of ear infections so we took a trip to Brisbane to meet with an ENT about putting tubes in her ears…..or grommets as they say on this side of the world.  What we found out was that it was part of a much bigger problem….ie, her tonsils and adenoids.  We decided not to rush it but go back to Fiji and watch her for the next few months.

In the meantime….when in Brisbane….

First stop was the Lone Tree Koala Sanctuary…the world’s oldest and largest koala sanctuary with over 130 koalas….and is located in the Brisbane suburb of Fig Tree Pocket.  Yup.  There is a city called Fig Tree Pocket.

Turns out that koala’s are kind of boring……but, not kangaroos!

We thought it would be fun if the kids got stuffed animals to remember their time with the koala’s and kangaroos……but, Will wanted a dog and Lucy wanted an owl.  Sometimes as an adult, ya gotta just let go….and by the way, don’t both kids kind of look like the Tasmanian Devil?

So, we then proceeded to taunt the real version of Lucy’s owl……and he or she was pissed.

Cuties.

Next up was New Farm park and the playgrounds of all playgrounds.  Nestled in and around the banyan trees, the playground in New Farm park was clean, safe (which made it different than the playgrounds in Suva) and magical….

Post playground Juice….boy, I do miss Will’s long curly locks….

Next stop:  Sunshine Coast.  About an hour and a half north of Brisbane lies the Sunshine Coast.  We rolled the dice on a  town called Noosa which turned out to be everything we were looking for….

A beach that went as far as you could see and was wide and super gradual with nice little waves for the kids to play in.

We hadn’t packed for the beach so off the clothes went…..and Abby and I had one of the more peaceful 2 hours of our lives watching the kids run back and forth and back and forth and around and around…..

As we sat there watching our kids have the time of their lives, we daydreamed about coming back for more……

Lobsta’s in Fiji..

At a night out with friends, we noticed some massive lobsters being displayed and so Abby bought a few….

….and we plotted for Lobster night with Sune and Nicole.

No Cape Cod chips for a proper Maine inspired lobsta fest, but we found a big pot and did it up.

…and there may or may not have been some after dinner dancing to George Michael as we talked and played music into the night….

Lucy’s 5th Birthday.

We embarrassingly blew out Will’s 1st birthday party in Denver and decided it was time to go way overboard with Lucy for her 5th.

Things started slow and magical with her birthday celebration Waldorf style….

Lora telling her Birthday story….

Speech!

Lora’s speech was so beautiful, there was a young princess and some clouds and……and I found myself just listening to Lora’s sweet voice and not really listening to the story so I am guessing there is some importance to Lucy blowing out this candle….:)

Happy Birthday Lucy!

So, Abby introduced the character Francis the octopus during one of the night time stories and he became a hit…..every night was Francis this and Francis that….so, of course, Lucy wanted a Francis birthday cake….and I was up for the challenge.

Wala…and yes, those cupcakes are Francis’ tentacle extensions.

We hired someone to organize activities for all the kids, we had Lucy’s entire school including the teachers…..and Lucy glowed!

A sign of a party in Fiji:

Dance Party upstairs…

Looks completely over the top and all about the parents, but everyone had a blast…..hip hip horaay for the birthday girl!

We had 5 cakes and 40 + cupcakes….and it was gone in seconds.  It was an amazing display of eating….

Lucy absolutely adores her Waldorf family….Shirlyn, Sai, Lora, Aunty Mere and Malisha….

About an hour after everyone left, she was still either super excited about her party or still riding the sugar high of sugar highs!

Next up?  The adults birthdays!

Love and miss you all,

William, Abby, Lucy and Clancey

 

 

Woohoo Family Visit!

Uncle Dan and Aunty Eliza made the trip down to Fiji from DC.  Dan was finishing up with the summer of all summers which we will call the Summer of Dan.  So with their girls Sonia and Evie back in DC, we decided to jam as many islands, beaches, flights, boat rides, white wine and table tennis matches as possible in 10 days.

Welcome to Leluevia….

Dan and Eliza brought with them possibly the windiest week we have every experienced in Fiji.

Eliza’s Happy Place.

We call this ‘reflective listening’…..

We call this a ‘family walk around the island’…

Leluevia is always magical….

Sunrise….

Moce Leluevia!

 

Next Stop:  Kadavu

Kadavu (pronounced Kandavu) is an amazing island located about 60 miles south of our island of Viti Levu.  It is secluded in the sense that it feels like you at the end of the world…..literally.

Here we go:

The smile before the storm…

And we are off…

The final approach….

Welcome to Kadavu!

Upon our arrival and after getting through heavy security, we headed off to the beach to our transport to Papageno’s.

Not many roads or people (10,000) on Kadavu so here is our ride…

Just a quick push (and photo op)…

…and we are off.

We often feel like we are a speck in the middle of the Pacific…but, this…this truly felt like the end of the world.  As we pulled into our beach, eagle rays flew beneath the boat (sorry no pics).

Kadavu is surrounded by the Great Astrolabe Reef which is one of the worlds largest barrier reefs…..which we hear is amazing.  🙂

We decided we had had enough travel for the day so we took a 2 minute ride out to our reef with our escorts…

One moment, you are on a little skiff with the sun on  your face enjoying the world above the water, the next minute you launch yourself overboard…….and then you open your eyes and you are transported into this colorful and vibrant new world…..and then the next minute you look over the edge of a big wall of coral to see Uncle Dan scuba’ing below…..

Summer of Dan:  Kadavu Island

Day 2 consisted of lounging without kids, paddle boarding, kayaking, snorkeling, more scuba and looking at the clouds…..which by themselves were a bit mind blowing.

Dan and Eliza out to sea….

A few shots from the island we stopped at to snorkel…

…and dig our toes in the sand.

Sunset on Kadavu after a big day…..damn, that was awesome.  Thank you Kadavu, Dan and Eliza!

And just like that, it was time to go….but, not before we received our gifts from the lovely staff at Papagenos…..and had (what felt like our senior) pics taken….

The happy couple…

The other happy couple..

Isa Lei…..Our farewell song from the staff…always beautiful.

….back to the ‘grind’…..

After an extremely full, but quick 2 days at Kadavu, we headed back to Viti Levu……before heading back to Suva, we stopped at Mantavinusi for a few more days of table tennis before having to say good bye to Dan and Eliza….:(

Moce Uncle Dan!

Hi Everyone!

The island that we live on Viti Levu is divided in half by a north south range of mountains.  99.9% of our time is spent exploring the coastline and surrounding islands, but when you head inland, you eventually will find yourself in the Highlands which is made up of dense lush rainforests, steep ranges, deep river canyons and dramatic waterfalls.  The more remote the village the more traditional the villagers are in their ways.

After about an hour of shifting back and forth between 4WH and 4WL (I have seen that dial on the car before but never imagined we would actually use it), we arrived in the village of Namosi on the edge of the Luwa River.

We were met by Danny and a few kids from the village who helped us carry our stuff across the river to the Namosi Eco Retreat.

Pretty remote and amazing, the Namosi Eco Retreat consists of 8 Bure’s and a little fenced in compound adjacent to Danny’s village.

Activities included a brief walk to the swimming hole in the river…just past the cow.

The faux fishhook smile is better than no smile…

Splashing around with the aunties in the river….

Will caught a quicker ride back to the village with Danny…

….man, nothin’ beats a cup of Tang after a swim and shower.

A traditional lovo dinner…..heat the rocks, dig a hole, wrap the chicken, cassava and other goodies in palm fronds and tin foil, cover hole with everything but the kitchen sink, wait 4 hours and then gorge.

Then climb all over cousin Dave!

Toberua is another island resort near Suva…..I think a well deserved few days for the cousins after Namosi.  🙂

Where is my 2pm massage!

Now that is some cousin Love!

Makin’ baskets…..

This little guy is not going to be happy when he needs to start actually wearing clothes….

Until then…

In case you didn’t believe us that rugby and the Rugby 7’s were pretty important to Fijians, well the government just issued a 7$ bill to commemorate the Fiji 7’s gold medal run in Rio…..

Grocery shopping is mostly a depressing experience in Suva where we don’t always get the freshest or the widest selections…….of anything.  Sometimes, though you run into a something like a dozen eggs with a hand drawn label…….and while it would be easy to be a pessimist, we choose to believe and LOVE our farm fresh eggs from the Lazy Chef!

Chiefs vs. Crusaders.  2 of the top teams in the Super Rugby League from NZ are the Chiefs and Crusaders.  Both have a ton of history with Fijian players and so we arrived at the ANZ stadium about 2 hours before kickoff to secure our seats……ahem, might not do that again.  Anyhoo, we sat with our friend Henry and his family who are big Crusader’s fans and luckily the Crusaders pulled it off in the end.

We have incredibly active kids…..

Finally…..well, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you live, loss is loss.

With Abby and I ‘advancing’ in age (more me than her) and with 2 wonderful kiddos, the last thing we were looking to do was add to the madness, but alas, what is life without adventure and in this case, that distinct pink line.   🙂

First reaction?  Holy Shit…3 Kids?   Followed quickly by:  Minivan.  Would we need to move from our house in Denver?  Another college tuition?  Fear, panic, confusion……followed by some more confusion mixed with some understandable fear and definitely a few more moments of panic. ….and that was day one.

Slowly though we started to think about names…. and slowly the magic of another little person in our life started to outweigh all fear and questions.  All those fears still existed and visited us a few times per day, but we also allowed ourselves to think other thoughts.  Lucy would be more of a momma bear than Momma Bear herself!  How would Will take to being the middle child?  Not well.

Reality started to hit as we started to visit healthcare facilities in Suva and decide where this was going to take place.  The House of Death as people referred to the main hospital in Suva didn’t seem to be an option (infant mortality rates in Fiji are 16% compared to 3% in the US).  Brisbane, Melbourne and Denver were the finalists.

We decided to check out Brisbane for our 12 week appointment, but before we went Abby felt the urge to take another look so we headed to see some ultra sound images to make sure all was fine.   All those rational emotions felt over the past 6 weeks turned to a mixture of sadness, relief, but ultimately heartbreak.

Here is Abby and Dr. Fung working on next steps in the office of easily one of the more important, accomplished and wonderful doctors/humans in Fiji.

Miscarriages are extremely common.  We have 2 beautiful kids.  We have so much to be thankful for.

I took the early shift on sadness and Abby was there to explain all the things that I already knew, but what really mattered was the sound of her voice.  Pretty quickly, it was my turn to be strong as the next steps involved surgery and leaving our kids at home to fly to Brisbane narrowly missing a Category 5 Cyclone (Donna) hammering New Caledonia….never a dull moment.  🙂

As our dear friend Tahu said, “that is a stone cold motherfucker.”…..and you know what?  I couldn’t say it any better.  Fear, heartbreak, anger and love are maybe better ways to describe the emotions but, at the end of the day, it really is a stone cold motherfucker.

***  We share because we are good….really, we are good.  We share because while it is both an emotional and private experience, most everyone reading this has most likely experienced something similar.  ….and finally, we share because sharing amongst those you love is good.  Looking back, it is rare that you feel regret from sharing important details of your life with those around you.  ***

Gobs of love from all of us to all of you,

Lucy, Will & Abby…..and who is that handsome ball of muscles behind them?  Another story for another day/blog post.  🙂