Life in Fiji

Welcome back!

So, the Greenstein / Chernacks arrived recently from SF for a 2 week adventure…..and boy did we give them an adventure…….as well as a super hero welcome!

Our dearest Bubu Eseta’s cousin is the Chief / Ratu of the village on Viwa Island and invited us out to the village for a visit.  Here are the cousins on an overcast and cool start to their Fiji adventure.

Lucy and Salote…

Will and Eseta…..who just might have the biggest laugh in the S. Pacific.

Daddy in back….

We parked on the mud flats at lowish tide and hiked up and over a small mountain to the village on a path surrounded by avocado and orange trees….both in season and delicious.

All aboard!

First stop was to meet the chief and give him the gift of kava.  I later found out I was much too casual in my meeting with the chief…..in my defense, he came out and introduced himself by his first name which was disarming…and I guess, I get overly casual when disarmed.  Wouldn’t mind a do-over on that one.

A little Viwa history for y’all.  John Hunt, often described as the Apostle of Fiji (at least on Christianity.com) was a Methodist Missionary who was the first to translate the Bible into numerous Fijian dialects back in the 1840’s….and did it all from his sanctuary on Viwa Island.  Additionally, he brought the first printing press to Fiji (which is still located in the village) to print out the newly translated New Testament which according to Christianity.com helped turn Fiji from cannibalism to Christianity.    My god.

Anyways, he is certainly revered and is buried behind the John Hunt Memorial Church.

After a brief tour of his village, we stopped and looked out over the island to see John Hunt’s house off in the distance.   Sitting on the porch, the Chief reminded us that cannibalism made life as a missionary in the 1800’s rather difficult which prompted me to ask how John Hunt met his demise at such an early age of 36.  The Chief chuckled and said, oh no….it was diarrhea.  The timing was pretty spot on so again feeling disarmed, I laughed thinking we had a moment….man, I cannot buy a break.

Evan on a stroll through the village.  Size is so relative isn’t it?

Kids and coconuts…

Cousins and coconuts….not weird at all.

We assumed we arrived at low tide…..which occurred a few hours later when we tried to leave.  That is decidedly not a smile on David’s face…and that boat is not light (I was on the other end trying to lift it out of the mud while David and Evan pushed)…..and for the record, it eventually worked.

Next stop was a quick overnight visit to Leluevia…..as I mentioned in a previous post, each time we visit Leleuvia, our kids become more and more adventurous in the water….this time was no different.

Lucy and Alice on their chariot…..

Looking for sea snakes and sea spiders at low tide…

Wait for me!!!!!!!!!!

For the record, calling it a hunt for sea spiders was not such a great idea as we found a few and ended up having to carry Lucy back to dry land.  Ever patient cousin Dave possibly explaining that they aren’t exactly sea spiders.

Which prompted a dance off from the movie Sing….or Moana….

As I mentioned the kids become more and more adventurous every time their toes hit the water.

Here is Will in the open water…..with mommy patrolling close by.

Lucy and Daddy headed out to check out the fishes….

…..in a story we tell at night (or should), this is where she turns into a mermaid.

Totally magical.

Will turns 3.  Having blown out a embarrassingly parent focused 1^st Birthday party for Will followed up with a M&M fueled trampoline fest for #2, we decided to dial back #3 and have a more intimate 3^rd birthday at home with his cousins and his best buddy in the whole wide world, Jacky Booty.

Here is the birthday boy in his sulu….which stayed on for all of this picture.

BFF Jacky Booty and William

Happy long life to you sweet boy!

Later that week, Waldorf had a birthday for Manu, Anwen and William.  In typical Waldorfian fashion, Shirlyn made it magical with candles and flower arrangements and crowns while Lora launched into a story about guardian angels playing with a crystal ball that rolled away.  Note to parents, if you talk in never ending and completely non-sensical circular tangents about angels and crystal balls, you can actually hypnotized up to 30 kids.  Still in disbelief how Lora’s tales single handedly managed to keep 30 kids focused and quiet in front of mountains of brownies and birthday cake.  Next she will teach them all to fly….

I know it might feel like blog overload, but we have been busy so next blog will have stories from our visit to the Highlands and the island of Toberua!  Stay tuned…..

As always, gobs of love from Fiji!

Abby, William, Lucy and Clancey

 

 

First of all, when I reviewed this post, I love that the title of this post reads, How to make a banana slip and slide……:)

Here we go:

So, we decided to make a serious effort with our garden this year….mind you when I say we decided to make a serious effort I mean we found our green thumb and his name is Varea.  He started a nursery under the sea turtle mural in the front yard, dug out a bigger garden by the pool in the backyard and out of nowhere we had a beautiful crop of long beans, eggplant and lettuce.

In addition we have seen an abundance of bananas, papayas, red hot chili peppers, passion fruit and oranges that we missed last year because Cyclone Winston hit in early February.

Without a banana tree in your backyard it is hard to know how a banana comes to be a banana….so, it is safe to say that I became a bit obsessed with the banana trees in our backyard and decided to document start to finish…enjoy.  🙂

Banana Buds

Banana Bread!

Holi is a Hindu spring festival known as the ‘festival of colors” or the ‘festival of love”.  I mean seriously, I didn’t think it could get better than the “the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance and hope over despair “ promised by Diwali, but the festival of color and love….come on, it’s beautiful!

How does one celebrate Holi at the kids Waldorf school in Suva?  White shirts, lots of colorful paint and one big makeshift slip & slide down the hill behind the school!

Everyone ready?

Lucy is!

Will and Saku.   Not so much.

On your marks….

Get set!

Go!

Oh man….nobody was having any fun.

More please!

Monika adding some color…

Shirlyn too……not sure how this one plays out, but am guessing he didn’t enjoy what happened next.

Will and his safety blanket / Nani.

Lora..

Nani!

Malisha going with mostly yellow….

Will’s buddy Gerrard also having 0 fun…..

….and finally, Booma and Will taking a slide together….

Nasili.  About an hour from our house…past the airport, down a dirt road and through a village you can drive out to a 2 mile stretch of black sand called Nasili.   Outside of Nasili, there is a break in the reef that surrounds our island of Viti Levu resulting in nice little waves to play in…..along with black sand (more like mud) to cover thyself in……and endless amounts of stick’s and yes, water bottles washed up on shore to play with.  Certainly not paradise for most, but a perfect place for a 3 & 5 year old to come up with endless games, build castles, cover themselves in mud and catch their first waves.

A boy and his sticks…and lobster swimsuit.

Washed up bottles make the best toys…

Pretty sure this would be a mud castle…

Let’s do this…

Magnum.

Picturesque?  Hmmmmmm.  Fun?  Oh hell yes!

….and by the way,   Nicolas (pictured below) who is widely credited with getting Lucy over her fear of water also now is credited with getting both Lucy and Will their first, second and third waves!  No pics as I was on the receiving end of their first rides…..hopefully more surfing pics to come.  In fact, the board that I bought for myself upon our arrival in Fiji might turn out to be the perfect beginner board for the kids.  Funny how things work out.

Trish, you got a little mud on your knee…

I think it is safe to say that Lucy loves to be in the water….she has swim lessons at the olympic pool near our house 3 times per week and a few weeks ago, she participated in the Friday night races at the Damodar Aquatic Center.  Generally speaking this is how she looks when at the pool…..excited and ready to go.

She entered in the 25m Freestyle/Front Crawl (she is almost 5) with a bunch of 6-7 year olds.  As the lady in end of the video remarks, ‘I love her rotation’……coolest dead last place finish of all time!

Here is Abby and our little Moana waiting for her heat to be called…

Here she is after her first race….

Will still seems to be a bit more interested in the Ice Cream shop than swimming, but he also enjoys the water and we hope to have him swimming without the floaties by end of summer.  Life would be far less stressful when this happens.

In addition to swimming, Lucy has been consistently going to tennis after school on Thursdays for much of the past year.  She really loves Junior or (JuneYA as Lucy corrects me everytime) and as you can see in the below video has become a bit of a monster on the court.  The ground strokes are great as well as the net play, but I love the ‘take that boys’ walk back to the line.

Stay tuned for more stories of a visit from the cousins, Will’s 3rd Bday Party, a trip to the Highlands, Toberua, Leleuvia and much more…..

With love,

William, Lucy, Clancey and Abby

 

Hi Everyone,

I feel like I have started the last few blogs with an apology for taking a few months in between posts.  Either time is flying by or we are settling in to year two in the S. Pacific…..or both.

Bottom line is Abby’s work remains challenging and rewarding, Will is turning into a (not so) little boy, Lucy is developing a super cute Aussie/Kiwi/Fijian accent, and Daddy is feeling more comfortable wearing tank tops.  Life in Fiji.

This year we did Xmas in style.  We bought and decorated a tree, Daddy flew home to Colorado to pick up a ton of presents and we had Papa and DeDe in from Maine for the holidays!

The kids set out a table for Santa with beer, a baguette, pineapple and a few cards and big smiles!

Abby wanted to overwhelm the kiddos with presents this year since we more or less skipped Xmas last year.  Overwhelmed and exhausted, the kids literally stopped opening presents with about 7 to go…..they had had enough.  Job well done adults!

I think my favorite present this year was from Aunty Stacey.  Little animal fingernail stickers!

We had an amazing week showing DeDe and Papa around Suva.  Here is Will and Lucy taking over a banana stand at the Suva market.

….our favorite place drinks and pizza…yes, the Holiday Inn – Suva!

Followed by a what looks like a terribly stressful trip to Leleuvia…:)

…where the kids discovered Juice Boxes.

Lucy on board and matching the artwork on a historic Fijian catamaran that was parked at Leleuvia.

This place never gets old.

We then celebrated NY Eve in Nadi before heading to New Zealand for 2 weeks!  Happy New Years!

On January 1, we met up with the San Jose Boettchers in Nadi and 14 of us all flew to Wellington, NZ.  Wellington is the capital of NZ and a mini San Francisco with the hills,  food, coffee, cable cars, museums…and  yes, the weather.  Windy Wellington…..rumor has it that out of all the international airports in the world, Wellington has the shortest runway.

Descending into Wellington amid 50 knot gusts proved too challenging for our Fiji Air pilot and at the last minute, he hit the gas and we headed back to Aukland for a 7 hour wait so that we can try again on New Zealand Air.  Apparently, NZ Air pilots are trained to land in those conditions.  It is called coming in fast and stickin’ the landing.  For those of us who have a few miles under our belt, that was easily the hairiest unsuccessful landing ever…

We began our vacation with a Thank God We Are Still Alive Celebration.

The main attraction in Wellington is the Te Papa museum…..and the much hyped Bug Lab exhibit.  Colorful, creepy, interactive…awesome.

Honestly, we spent our two days in Wellington hanging out at our Airbnb in Kelburn and Jesse/Nina’s hotel on Cuba Street drinking latte’s and wine…..and the kids were like, “we traveled halfway across the world for this?”

The sun came out for long enough to take a pic outside on our deck…

…and like that, it started to rain again.

We then hopped on the car ferry for a 3 hour ride to the town of Picton.  The skies cleared and the wind stopped as we headed across the Cook Strait which is normally a pretty raucous body of water.  It was a breathtaking and an unexpectedly relaxing ride to the South Island.

Upon arrival in sunny and warm Picton, we picked up our rental van and headed to Nelson via the picturesque Marlborough wine country.

Not to be overly dramatic, but Nelson is about as perfect a place as you can find.  It felt like Durango…or maybe Boulder 20 years ago when it was still a small town tucked up against the foothills of the Rockies…..surrounded by what feels like Napa Valley as the fertile soil produced an endless supply of orchards and vineyards……set on the turquoise Tasman Bay.  If it sounds like I am exaggerating, trust me, I am not. It gets better as Nelson is 45 minutes from Abel Tasman Natl Park.

Downtown Nelson felt like Mayberry from the Andy Griffith show….I said this to Jesse and Nina and they had no clue what I meant.  Millennials.

Here we are overlooking on the hills above Nelson with the Tasman Bay at our backs……..

While Jesse, Nina, Donna and Eric visited vineyards in the Nelson region, Abby and I decided to ease back into mountain biking after 15 months and tackle a 50 km ride right out of warm and balmy Nelson which included a 4 hour climb to an old copper mine above the wind swept treeline followed by an amazing but incredibly painful 2 hour decent through every kind of landscape NZ could throw at us and back into town where we collapsed at a bar …..and all I wanted was a donut to sit on.

Again, Wine Tasting?

…..or mountain biking.

To be fair, the ride was awesome.  Here we are cheerfully climbing out of Nelson.

4 hours later at the summit for all of about 8 seconds…

Other activities in Nelson included an afternoon at the Jester House Cafe where we had an amazing lunch listening to a Neil Young clone while watching the kids play in what felt like an enchanted forest of slightly unsafe and amazingly creative playland before heading to the stream to feed the NZ long finned eels who make their way up the creek every year for endless amounts of minced chicken and occasionally a wood stick. 🙂

Lunch for 14..

..followed by a Lord of the Rings inspired playground…

..followed by a quick tiger ride.

…followed by a dance off with their new tails.

….followed by a visit to the creek to feed the ‘tame’ long finned eels…this guy could be upwards of 80 years old.

…

….as they say, ‘when in New Zealand….’

I think Jesse and Nina had such a good time that they decided to renew their vows in Nelson………that or they visited the designer of the ring from The Lord of the Rings.

The combination of the warm days and cool water creates steady thermal winds at the Tahunanui beach which was about a 4 minute walk from our Airbnb in Nelson.  During the afternoon, the thermals made for a not so relaxing time at the beach as the water turned into a mecca for kitesurfers.   Jesse and I decided to take a crack at it so we got suited up in wetsuits, helmets, life jackets and ventured out to the water the exact moment when the wind died so we ended up talking quite a bit about how to fly a kite….that said, I ended up with quite a workout in my super tight smedium sized wetsuit.  🙂

Abel Tasman National Park is about a 45 minute drive (through orchards, hops farms and vineyards) away from Nelson.  The entire group of 14 ventured up for a day in the park so we knew we were only going to scratch the surface.  We arrived at low tide and took a 30 minute walk to the ‘beach’ and made a day out of it.

Lot’s of mini adventures as we walked to the water from the beach…..a few races were had…

I got this….

Plenty of photoshoots…

Big smiles:

Lots of surprises in the water…

CRABS!!!!.

We packed up and headed for a more proper beach in a town called Kaiteriteri.  It was another amazing scene…beautiful turquoise water but the water was so cold that you couldn’t go in…even on a dare.  🙂  Here is Lucy trying to dance up the nerves to go in…

Abby, Jesse and I would make it back to the Kaiteriteri Mountain Bike Park later in the week and go on what was easily the most amazing ride of my life.  The terrain, the views, the ferns.  Usually, a good mountain bike comes with some suffering which was the only thing missing on this day…:)

Abby lovin’ the loopty loops on Jaws….

At the summit…

We had the perfect combination of Airbnb’s in Nelson.  Ours was a 4 minute walk to the beach with a big deck for dance parties and drinking wine….

…along with some skateboard lessons.

While Jesse and Nina found a spot in an Eco Village in the woods above town….

…which was perfect for making bubbles…

Look!

Bubbles and sledding!

…’sharing’ ice cream with your cuz…

..exploring behind the house in the magical evening light.

….our guesthouse.

….big greek kiddo dinner.

…followed by a big greek adult dinner!

..and drinking some more wine…..this time with a good luck black/yellow ladybug.

The fun doesn’t stop there, there were trips to an Animal Farm…

….Bead Shops

As if things couldn’t get better, Abby, Jesse, Nina and I took in a concert one night at one of the vineyards surrounding Nelson.  Wine, beer, grapes, pizza and music combined with a 9:30pm sunset doesn’t not suck.

Oh man, we have indeed found our place…:)

Cheers and love from the South Pacific!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Everyone!

…..it has been too long I know and as a result, this blog post is way too long, but it ends strong so get comfy and enjoy.

August and September was an epic 8 week stretch of work for mommy.  Groundbreaking workshops, panel discussions and endless travel to help implement response and prevention of violence against women (VAWG) around Fiji and the Pacific. Not to speak in code, but the S. Pacific is both interconnected and independent….open to change and fiercely resistant….collaborative and chock full of strong personalities….warm and understandably distrusting.  As you can imagine finding the right path to change takes an authentic, sharp, strong, strategic, wise, patience and fierce mommy with a strong support system.

The best pic that I can find that illustrates the struggle and reward of the past year is the following image of Abby and Shamima Ali.  It is hard to introduce Shamima in a few words, but  as the head of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Center for 30+ years and recognized around the world for her work, and someone who Abby really admires, I know how much a pic like this  means to her.

Here is the Abby’s Support Team at the Road to Change Prevention Meeting in Nadi.

Didn’t take long for Lucy to take to the waterslide…

Fiji’s first ever Gold Medal!  I realize that this qualifies as old news, but I need to touch on how big of a deal the Fiji 7’ Rugby Gold Medal was here.  Fiji beat all the big powers (NZ, Argentina and even a pretty good US team) on the way to the Gold Medal game where they crushed Great Britain team 42-7.

Go Fiji Go! (Rugby ball art project at school)

Here is the scene from the cafe where I watched the game.

Aside from the size and population of Fiji versus all the other competing countries, it was the combination of strength and humility that made the team so compelling.  After winning the gold, they sang their perfect pitched hymns, kneeled before Princess Anne out of respect and simply wanted to hit McDonalds after winning the Gold.

They received a hero’s welcome back to Fiji….here is some pics from the parade through town with a few of their biggest supporters.

Sweet Leba celebrating gold!

Here is the team bus as it creeps up MacGregor Street near our house.

Kiribati (pronounced Kiri-bas) consists of 33 atolls and reef islands, a population of 100,000 people and a rather intense WW2 history (Christmas Island is part of Kiribati).  Based on its low lying profile, it has become ground zero for the climate change debate as rising sea levels have already claimed 2 of the islands.  Lastly,  UN Women has a considerable amount of programming in Kirabati….off goes mommy to a five mile stretch in the middle of the ocean to meet with government and civil society representatives!

Abby Junior.  One of our favorite guards Lewa gave birth last month and named their daughter Abigail Dorothy…..which is both a lovely tribute and well…..let’s just leave it at a lovely tribute.  We love Lewa and look forward to seeing young Abby grow up.

Another of our long time guards is Losanna.  She is an interesting lady that works the night shift and you can usually find her sawin’ logs in our tree house.  That said, the kids love heading outside at 6:30am to sit with Losanna and listen to her shark stories.  Daddy loves having a cup of coffee on the front porch watching it all unfold while his brain is booting up……

Lucy’s 1st Sleepover.  Lucy was super excited for her first sleepover which was a Waldorf organized night of pot luck dinner followed by singing and dancing by the bonfire.

Here is Lucy (with the headlamp) leading the way on her favorite Fijian song and dance…..there is some spinning, some hip shaking and lots of fun.

Fiji Day is a double anniversary for the nation.  On Oct. 10, 1874, King Cakobau ceded Fiji to the United Kingdom and on the same day in 1970, Fiji regained its independence.  On Oct. 10, 2016, Salote, Will and Lucy had matching outfits made to celebrate Fiji’s unity and religious and cultural diversity.

The Tuesday and Thursday Boys Club started with Jack and Will…and over the months everyone wanted in and it grew to 7 or so kids….eventually getting a listserve and then some parents who didn’t like kids in the house which became a problem…..especially with the boys club founders Will and Jack who liked to put all the couch cushions on the floor and go swimming in the ocean.   Long story short, we are back to just Will and Jack…and everyone is happy.  🙂

What could possibly go wrong with these two knuckleheads in your house?

Where does the time go?  Parents are always trying to find a way to control how fast the kids grow up…or at least have some significant markers in place so that time doesn’t get away from them.  For us, Leluevia seems to be the best way to watch our kids grow up.  Our first visit was amazing but super stressful and lacking sleep……as the kids get older and more independent and able to communicate (Will), our time at Leluevia becomes less stressful and more sleep is had by all…..and when I say all, I mean everyone on the island.  🙂

Who has better hair?

Will’s happy place…

A powerful nap….paci’s and ipads strewn everywhere….

Suva Take Two.  We are officially into year two in Fiji and that allows us to correct some misses from early in our stay in year one….specifically Halloween, Diwali and on a personal note, since I failed miserably at surfing, I was going to get the best of the rope swing at Colo-i-Suva.

Colo-i-Suva is a wooded area about 20 minutes from our house with some nice hikes and lots and lots of pools of water.  At the very end of the hike (or the beginning if you go backwards like you would do with a 2 & 4 year old) there is a good size pool with an awesome rope swing.  During our last visit to the park, it was about 90 and humid and I lost a stare down with the rope swing.  This time, we went on a Sunday morning while everyone else was at church and outside of a few old timers from a visiting cruise ship, we had the place to ourselves….and daddy thoroughly checked that box off the list!

Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights…certainly the biggest and brightest of all Hindu festivals.   Diwali spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance and hope over despair.  I’d say a much needed holiday for all of womankind.

For a week, the fireworks seem like they will never end.  This year we got into it and bought a few nights worth of monster fireworks….and the kids went absolutely bananas.

Some fun with sparklers to get everyone in the mood.

….seriously, what could go wrong?

Here is Lucy and her teacher Ms Shirlyn getting ready for Diwali Day at School.

Lucy and Will’s teachers….

Here is our attire…..everything seemed to fit a bit tight in the midsection and shoulders, but we had a blast at the various Diwali celebrations.

Henna hands…

William getting into the spirit.

Mommy and daddy as well…

Trick or Treat!  Much like Diwali and Colo-i-Suva, we were determined to get Trick or Treat right this year and as the only Americans in the neighborhood (with Trish out of town), we felt like we needed to show up.  We didn’t spend hours upon hours making our costumes by scratch and cooking up all sorts of yummy treats…..we went to a Costco like store and bought a couple of sweet outfits (Super girl…not bat-girl and Marshall from Paw Patrol) from a Trick or Treat display and loaded up on mini Snickers, Reeces, Smarties and more candy than the neighborhood could consume in a full year!

A boy and his bike.  Will loves his bike so much that before he gets in the car, his bike must also be loaded up…..doesn’t matter where we are going.  He also blazes through the house screeching to a halt at the top of the stairs….then he carries his bike up or down the stairs so he can rip it on the next floor.  Tricky parental moment on that one.  Either way, we are in a bit of trouble.

Lastly, I’ll end things with a few random but cute shots of the kids….I know shocking.

Lucy and Charlie.

Rockin’ it on a rainy day.

Rosanne and Lucy..

Must have an interview or something…

Make-shift cat costume for early Halloween party…

…and finally, swimming…..and swimming with your bike….naked.

We miss you all dearly and hope you are well!

Love,

William, Mommy, Lucy and Daddy.

 

 

 

 

Hi everyone!  July was a super busy month for us….we had visitors, did some traveling and had some heartfelt moments throughout the month.  I was able to take a ton of pics so this post will be heavy on the pics and light on my words.

Enjoy.

Aunty Inbal and Uncle Matt arrive in Fiji!

This past month we were lucky enough to have visits from two of Abby’s dearest friends in the world.  Uncle Matt….

…and Aunty Inbal.

Uncle Matt arrived from Thailand and Aunty Inbal from California and we took them directly to Leleuvia (Inbal didn’t get even a nap before she was on the boat again)….

We arrived in time to thoroughly enjoy a sunset:

While Will can dig in the sand for hours, Lucy loves to hang with the adults…

The kids really seem to be at home on these remote islands in the South Pacific…..

The kids getting the feel for the outrigger and windsurfing board….and holy crap, the weather was amazing.

William napping with his new bestie, Indai….

Daddy at low tide:

Jaabi’s Memorial.  Over the past few visits to Leluevia, Abby really connected with Jaabi who was an artist who ran the art studio on the island and displayed much of own work.  He was an amazing artist with a gentile soul.  Their connection was sparked by Abby’s interest and connection to the amazing piece pictured below.    Sadly he passed away,  but Abby was able to be part of the beautiful and emotional celebration of his life as all of his friends and family traveled to the island.

Jaabi’s point.

Abby’s 40^th Bday Celebration in Tonga.  Abby had spent the first part of her birthday week working with her colleagues in Nuku’alofa.

As she wrapped up her work in Tonga, Aunty Inbal, the kids and I boarded a flight to meet her the day before her Bday.

We had quite the arrival to Tonga.  Unlike the mountainous island where we live, the main island of Tongatapu is flat and as we descended to the airport,  the incredible amount of palm trees made the landscape look like a field of dandelions.  As we stepped off the plane at sunset, we were gifted this glorious ‘welcome to Tonga’ scene….

Tonga has a pace about it that makes Suva feel like New York City.  The traffic moves slow and there is a warmth to the people that is felt immediately.  Like every nation in the S. Pacific it has its very own fascinating history and culture and we couldn’t possibly scratch the surface in 3 days….but, we will do our best to come back and continue to learn.

We stayed at Holty’s Hideway about 50m up the road from Ha’atafu Beach.  Here is Will being Will at Ha’atafu Beach.  Man….this kid.

…and the rest of us:

The main attraction of Tonga this time of year is the whales.  The annual migration of humpback whales from their summer feeding grounds in Antarctica, 6,000 kms  to their winter breeding grounds is one of the largest and longest animal movements in the world.  The ‘Tonga Tribe” are part of one of 6 main humpback populations in the southern Pacific and consist of around 1,000 whales…which is down from the pre-whaling peak of about 10,000…but, up from 250 when New Zealand ended their whaling industry in 1964.

We set out at 8:30 in the morning on the boat to the left….while it looks like I am comforting Will, the reality is that I am probably trying to keep him from running down the ramp at full on Willspeed.

We ‘hung out’ with these gentile, yet frisky giants for close to 6 hours and were able to jump in the water a few times to get a closer look.

You have to quickly work through all the rational fears in the world before you jump in the first time, but we were all immediately smitten (which might sound odd, but once you jumped in the water and after a brief moment of panic, you were quickly disarmed and yes….smitten) and desperately wanted more time with these amazing creatures.

This is the view straight down above a couple of humpbacks trying to have a quiet moment…

The kids were amazing…Will slept for 3 hours in the bow of the boat and Lucy stayed with us the entire time and aside from throwing up once (daddy hurled over the side as well), she was such a trooper.

After we decided enough was enough, we stopped by Big Mamma’s Yacht Club for a end of day swim, drink, dive.  Beer of choice:  Ikale….The first beer in the world everyday.

While the kids played and mommy and Inbal enjoyed landfall, Daddy decided it was a good idea to swim out to the half sunk ship and jump off the top.  Here is what I imagined I looked like:

Unfortunately for me, those days are long gone……

Meanwhile, back at Big Mamma’s, our kids had a cute moment:

…followed by some Aunty Time.

Hopefully with Tonga as a backdrop, Abby enjoyed a memorable 40^th Birthday reading everyone’s emails, watching their video tributes, jumping in the ocean with the humpback whales and of course being around her loving family and dear friend Aunty Inbal!

Meanwhile, back in Suva. Will spends some time with Alice and Charlie’s new chicken.

Rest in peace Oosa.  Lasarusa was a kind, gentile man who was one of our original guards when we arrived.  At first he was 100% by the book…there were times where we wouldn’t let even friends in without an approval.

Slowly, Lucy and Will broke him down and soon, they would get up at 6am wanting to go see Oosa!   Regardless of the activity, you could see Oosa trying hard because he cared and loved the kids, but you could always tell that he was looking out for them.  Sadly, he passed away last week.

It was always comforting to know that Ooosa was out there looking after us…we know he still is.

Until next time, bye from rainy Suva!

Love, Lucy, Will, Abby and me.

 

Hi Friends and family!

We missed you too….hope you enjoy our May / June in Fiji.

The Mormon Church in Tamavua.    Perched high on the ridge in Tamavua next to the US Embassy sits the Mormon temple.  The church is borderline blog-worthy, but the fact that a group of dudes (no offense to my gender, but I don’t think a group of women would think that the angel perched on top of the temple was actually made of solid gold) attempted to get rich by sawing of poor Moroni’s (thank you Mormonwiki.com) leg…..which is somewhere between blog-worthy and spectacular (even if it isn’t true….considering my source:  the always reliable Nanny Gossip Network).

Joske’s Thumb. Easily my favorite part of the hills surrounding Suva, this volcanic plug about 15km from Suva stands out along the already dramatic landscape as you look out down the coast.  I usually try to keep the stories brief for fear of losing you to the lovely pics, but this one is too good so stick with me.

The first interesting piece around Joske’s Thumb is that Sir Edmund Hillary (who as you should know is the first to summit Everest with Tenzing Norgay) who was based in Suva with the Kiwi Air Force made 2….count them 2 unsuccessful attempts to climb Joske’s Thumb before summiting it (after Everest).

The second piece is the story behind the name.  Paul Joske was one of the early settlers in the late 1800’s and after a failed sugar refinery venture, he spent his later years designing and establishing Suva as the new capital of Fiji (before that is was Levuka).    Now prior to the late 1800’s Joske’s Thumb was referred to as “Rama” or Devil’s Thumb as it looked like someone trying to climb out of hell………which is so enticing.  After Joske’ was accused of incest, he committed suicide and his entire family changed their names to Brewster and Devil’s Thumb was changed to Joske’s Thumb due to his rather dark demise

I know.  Spectacular.

Suva Bowling Club.  Much like surfing, the dream of joining and competitively playing/socializing at the Suva Bowling Club might just need to stay a dream as the are both equally hard to imagine pulling off and the dream looks a helluva lot more fun and safe then actually me actually doing either activity.

QE Drive and Kadavu House. From our house, we drive about 3 blocks to the Queen Elizabeth drive which takes you into town along the water and right to Kadavu House which is where UN Women’s offices are located.   I often drive Abby to work and/or pick her up and at least every other time we make the drive we comment how crazy life can be.

Kadavu House.  Home to UN Women.

Sea Wall. If/when our kids learn to ride a bike, it will be on the Sea Wall that runs along the QE drive.

High tide along the Sea Wall…

My Suva Playground. At least 2-3 times a week, Salote, the kids and all their friends (old and new) will meet at the My Suva Playground.  For the most part, the equipment is clean and safe…..:)

Contain Yourself is a café built out of an old shipping container and the place I frequent most.  Most of the blog posts and emails that I write are from this exact spot.  I feel like Norm at my table watching the boats dock and Maureen (on the left) and everyone who works there are wonderful wonderful people.

Tennis Class.  The kids started to play tennis once a week and are off to a fashionable start.

Lucy’s first swing with Junior her teacher.

Only in Suva. Abby had a 4:45am taxi pick up to go to the airport (which is about 45 minutes away) for her trip to the Solomon Islands so she headed out the door with her bags and a steaming hot cup of coffee….at about 7:30am the taxi showed up to return the coffee cup back at the house.  ** no pics, sorry **

Any attempt to describe this one would be futile.

Working the PM’s Gardens. Across the street from our house sits the back side of the Prime Minister’s house…more specifically his gardens.  Once a week or so, a truck comes piling down Vui Vui Road and out pops a few prisoners and guards to work the prime ministers garden……and they usually come over and give us a big bag of cabbage or spinach….and like most Fijians, they are quick with a big smile and wave.

Mommies Travels.  During May and June Mommy traveled to both Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Both amazing places but deeply troubled by incredibly high rates of violence against women with PNG being often labeled as the worst in the world.  Needless to say, we were nervous prior to Abby’s trip to Port Moresby knowing that there would be an armed transport from the airport to the hotel and an armed guard for the walk across the street to the UN Headquarters.  For those of you who know Abby probably wouldn’t be surprised to hear how amazing, inspiring and ‘fierce’ she found the women who risk their lives every day just going to the store let alone being outspoken voices against violence against women and girls.

Holiday Inn Suva.  Strange at is it sounds, the best Happy Hour, the best place to take the kids for pizza and a dip in the pool, a best generator that kicks out some serious Air Con when the power is out in the middle of the summer….and I could go on and on, is the Holiday Inn- Suva!

Friends of Suva.  We have met and become dear friends with so many in the Suva community.  I’ll start with the kiddos and their amazing network of friends.

Post dance class in the magical USP campus with the core group of friends.

Our rockin and slightly illegal (sorry Aunty Erin!) ride to dance class.  This never happened.

Neighbors and dear friends, Leba, Charlie and Alice.

Will’s new friend Charlotte and Bestie Jack.

Our dear sweet BooBoo….we are going to miss you!!!!

Laisanna, Samuel and Nora

Early morning book time with Lewa.

Super Bat Boy

Will’s 2^nd Birthday. Well, we had to wait a few weeks for all his best buddies to be back in town and then we threw a party for members of the Tues/Thurs Boy’s Club which included ballons, M&M cupcakes and a trampoline.  No way that isn’t fun….or easy to clean up after.

……my personal favorite pic of Mommy and the B-day boy in all his island bling and sass.

…..stayed tuned for a July/August post that hopefully include us swimming with the humpback whales in Tonga and visits from Abby’s soul mates, Inbal and Matt.  No way it isn’t amazing.

Love to you all!

Clancey, William, Abby and Lucy

March Blog Post. 

I’ll be honest with you, not much happened.

We try to live an interesting and adventurous life, but were derailed in March by the mind numbing heat/humidity and opted for air conditioning and Netflix.  I’ll spare you the pics and move on to April.

April brings rain, trade-winds, cooler temps and big smiles. 

Scenes from Suva.

Over the past few months we have posted some pics of the house and our activities around Fiji, but not much has been said about Suva itself. Over the coming months, I’ll include some knowledge and pics to give y’all a better feel of the place we call home.

We live about a mile from the president’s home overlooking the harbor. The house and property are lovely, but what is most blog-worthy is the changing of the ‘presidential guards’.

Some of the fellas have higher kicks and crisper moves, but they are all totally committed.

Right around the corner from Will’s school is a little 24 hour bakery in an area called Nasese. The bread is about $.75 a loaf and the nutritional equivalent to Wonderbread, the cupcakes are pretty dry, but they will make a somewhat decent Multi-grain if you want and they are super sweet and oh so blog-worthy.  Our Fijian Pajama Baking Co. (Platt Park reference)….

Scuba

Daddy and Mommy started taking scuba certification classes with a quirky and somewhat inappropriate Brit named Greg.   It seemed like the best activity we could do as a couple…especially with a few world famous dives right in our backyard.

The first dive was in the local 50m pool that I used to go to swim laps…that is until I hung out on the bottom of the pool and got to see up close how disgusting it is……no wonder why I always felt sick to my stomach after swimming laps.

Day 2 was out in the Suva harbor near the Lighthouse break. Descending and pressurizing has been the biggest challenge for both of us.  Once down, we swam alongside a 100’ wall of coral and saw a 3’ reef shark…..heart didn’t even skip.

We are a few more dives away from being certified, but we are on our way……..and yes, we have a GoPro and no, it will not see the water till we master the art of relaxed breathing under water. Stay tuned…massive coral heads, lots and lots of sharks and snorkeling/diving with the whales in Tonga are on the to do list.

Beqa Island.

Over Easter, there were scheduled outages to power and water in Suva so we decided to check out the nearby Beqa (pronounced Benga) Island.

Our arrival to Beqa Lagoon Resort:

Apparently,  the folks on Beqa can work miracles with burns….so we asked about a 20-30 minute walk/hike to have someone look at a burn Lucy got at school (which has since disappeared).    Unfortunately, that request was twisted a bit in translation and turned into a 20-30 minute boat ride AND a 2-3 hour hike back along the coast which was at times treacherous….the village that we wanted to hike to was actually about a 5 minute walk and we were far to tired and hungry to inquire if they walked on hot coals.

Dropped off on a beach, Lucy prepares for the walk home…..she might be praying to the sea gods…..or just wondering how the hell we are going to get home (home is the island off in the distance)

We received a care package from Brad and Lisa consisting of DVD’s and treats.  One those treats were Pop Tarts which is all the food we had for our hike….the intense amount of sugar kept our energy up and the kids in good spirits for the entire hike…..never has a un-toasted Pop Tart tasted so good.

On the plus side, Lucy made a new friend in Teka who carried her the entire way…..and shares the same birthday as Will – April 17^th. A special day.

Once

Back in the water, this is my favorite pic of all time……..going to call this one, “pure joy”:

Croquet and Coconuts:

Tough to beat this one:

Dance.

The USP (University of the South Pacific) campus is a 2-minute drive from our house and Lucy has just completed her first dance class at the Oceanic Center for Arts…which has amazing teachers and student teachers.

Like most organized group activities, Lucy usually sits back and will not jump in until everyone is properly vetted in her mind. With kids ages 3-20 running around this was a challenge for her, but the teachers were unbelievably patient, supportive and loving.  A small part of it is that Will shows up for class with Lucy and puts on his own personal show every day.

This week was the big end of term recital and Lucy (and 2 other girls) led off the show in front of 75 people. Lucy came out on stage and was amazing in her first performance.  The next morning she asked when she could go back to dance class……which made mommy and daddy cry with joy.  🙂

On their way to the final practice…Will is being an ever supportive brother who loooooooves wearing the tutu.

Lucy and her teacher in the opening formation:

Church

Our latest Sunday tradition has been to immerse our kids in a traditional Fijian Sunday with Salote and her entire family while we go diving or something equally meditative and spiritual.

98% of the time, Will walks out the door with shorts, a t-shirt and crocs, but when he comes back after church he is always dressed in a traditional Bula shirt and Sulu skirt thanks to Salote and family.

In a weird twist of events, we had a friend of friend stay with us for 2 weeks…let’s call him Fritz, a 25 year old German carpenter, but we realized who he really was when he decided to join Will at church. …..:)

Marist 7’s Rugby tournament.

Quick definition of Rugby 7’s from a guy who knows absolutely nothing about rugby: While traditional rugby consists of 15 players on a side and games last at least 80 minutes, a Rugby 7’s match has 7 players on the pitch and the match is two 7 minute halves with like a 90 second break.  The games are non stop, physically brutal, fast and over quicker than the last 2 minutes   of an NFL game….and you think you want more, but you really can’t handle it.

In an earlier post, I casually mentioned how Rugby was THE sport in Fiji. I was wrong.  It is much much more than that.  With a population about 900,000 Fiji is a little smaller than Maine, yet their Rugby 7’s team is currently  ranked #1 in the world…..which adds a powerful element to meaning to the sport in Fiji….I would start with an immense sense of Fijian pride.

To make matters more intense, for the first time, Rugby 7’s will be an Olympic sport in Rio and while nothing is ever guaranteed, Fiji has a legit shot to win their first ever medal. Find a way to stream a game at Rio… I know most of you get into gymnastics, swimming and/or figure skating every four years so 15 minutes to watch a Rugby game isn’t asking much…seriously, I know some of you will watch rhythmic gymnastics.

Enjoying the 15 minute matches..or maybe its the strawberry applesauce planted in their laps to get them to sit still for 10 seconds.  🙂

Will’s 2^nd Bday

Will has a playgroup every Tuesday and Thursday with 4-5 other little dudes his age called Boys Club and it is one of the highlights of our time in Fiji. We decided to get Will a celebratory soft serve on his Bday and wait around for the rest of the boys to be healthy and back from Vaca to have his proper party.

Grannies in Suva

Grammy Ei Ei (Ellen) and Grammy Pat made the long trip from Wisconsin to Suva and have been eating a seemingly endless amount of home made hummus and lentils, riding the # 4 bus to and from town, lounging at the pool, weekending at the beach, jumping into an endless amount of nanny coordinated playdates and hopefully hopefully having a memorable time with the grandkids!

Lucy and her ladies!

Will and Lucy with Grammy Ellen (kids are going with Yiyi or Eee Eee):

Leleuvia 2.0

We returned to Leleuvia with the Grannies. A few things have changed since our last visit.  The kids are a few months older and a few months more adventurous and self sufficient which means more activities such as paddleboarding and walking around the island are now possible.  The other big change is the temperature which has dropped as we thankfully move from stifling hot and sweaty to just about perfect.

The turtles have grown since our last visit:

Our fearless water goddess gleefully jumping off the pier into the Pacific:

Looking for Nemo:

Watersports with the family:

The South Pacific at it’s best and daddy at his all time worst….:)

Might be the closest thing she gets to surfing in Fiji:

Will and Grammy Pat searching for hermit crabs at low tide:

River Kayaking

It is interesting how you tend to see and do much more when you have visitors.  The grannies wanted to take in the Navua River during their trip so off we went on a bus, inflatable kayak, long boat, on foot and lastly another bus.

Buckle up and stretch it out ladies!

Took a short hike to a waterfall…..you can see Joe (one of our guides) laying at the opening to the waterfall.

I could hear the music from Last of the Mohicans as I headed in….

Just one guy trying to keep his shirt dry while crossing the river…

Parting shot from Fiji….love to you all!

Clancey, Abby, Will and Lucy!

 

 

Winston.  Cyclone Winston took a circuitous route to Fiji which culminated in the second most powerful storm in recorded history with sustained winds of 185mph and gusts up to 225mph that destroyed just about everything in its path…..concrete homes and schools…gone.

I realize that storms like these are unpredictable at best, but check out the path that Winston takes to Fiji :  It is completely insane.

If the left turn on the 14^th wasn’t enough to make you shake your head, then the the fact that it went from being downgraded to a tropical storm (40mph winds) before doing a 180 and then growing to a Category 5 monster in a few short days is downright cruel.

We feel incredibly lucky and grateful that Winston did an ever so slight move north on the 19th and as a result the eye and the incredibly destructive zone moved just north of us as you can see in the below chart:

So, yes, we had a dramatic night on the 20^th, but we never felt like we were losing control.  The fear was around what could possibly happen, not what was happening outside our windows.

While we were spared of the destruction, we did loose power for 3 hot days following Winston as crews worked around the clock to rebuild power lines…etc.  It was pretty uncomfortable and crazy making, but rarely did we lose perspective and forget to balance out the frustration with how very lucky we were last Saturday.

Even being spared Winston’s full rage, look at what he did to this tree down the street from Lucy’s school.

Not going to lie, when that power came back on after 3 sweaty days, we may have had a celebratory drink and that may or may not be cold champagne.

Summer time in Fiji.  Okay so back up a few weeks.  From the moment we decided to move to Fiji, everyone has asked when is the best time to visit.  Having no clue, we replied with the standard, “it’s 75-85 year round so there really is no bad time”.  Okay, January and February (and quite possibly March) are decidedly not good months to visit Fiji.  It is balls to the wall hot and humid.  Just look at Will looking for a cool spot:

Another way to stay cool is to find some shade and some pools and a rope swing. The thought of doing a back flip off this massive rope swing somehow turned into thoughts of me slipping and bouncing off each rock on the way to the pool.  So, I passed and vowed to come back with some stick ‘um.

Another option is to FINALLY pull out my windsurfing gear and drive 2 minutes to the Suva Sailing Club and get out on the water.

Waldorf.  Lucy recently moved to a Waldorf school in our neighborhood and we absolutely LOVE It…..I mean, Lucy loves it.  🙂  Since drop off time is 30 minutes after Will’s drop off, Salote has taken to dressing Lucy in the mornings and the result are spectacular.

We have what looks like a nice spot for a garden on the side of our house with a super random bright blue wall that was just looking to be transformed into Will and Lucy’s garden….artwork inspiration needs to be given to Emily and the tortoise murals in Hawaii.

Not sure if it is the difference between Lucy and Will or between boy and girl…..make no mistake, these two are different.

Family visit.  Jesse and the San Jose Boettchers (Nina and four boys) won the award for the first visitors to Fiji.  They timed their visit perfectly with our good friend Winston.  Almost uncanny.  On Feb. 10th, Winston popped up as a rather harmless tropical storm heading south….and he kept that course as Jesse and the family boarded a plane on the 12th.  As Winston wandered around the S. Pacific, we had enjoyed some time at the beach and a 2 day visit to Leleuvia where we were (shockingly) the only people on the island.   The visit took an unexpected turn when Winston decided to hit Fiji the day of their departure……so, what was once a brief but lovely visit to Fiji  became an extended and epic trip to the S. Pacific that nobody will ever forget.  Here some pics of the good times:

Cousins enjoying a beach day at Pacific Harbour:

Cocktails and sprints at Leleuvia:

Trouble:

Family time:

As if Leleuvia isn’t magical enough, the morning we arrived about 20-30 baby sea turtles hatched somewhere on the island.  Fearing every predator in the world was going to eat these little guys for breakfast, they scooped them up to bring to a sanctuary till they are older, then they will bring them back and let them make the trek to the water when they have a chance….

Will is completely oblivious to the full rainbow forming above him as he digs in the sand.  Daddy desperately maneuvers for a ‘pot of gold’ pic.

That seems like a lovely way to end this post…..

As always, we love and miss you all!

Clancey, Abby, Will and Lucy!

 

 

 

January 2016.

As Lucy and Will now love to say, “Bula Vinaka!”.

Leleuvai.  I won’t even try to describe you.

On the dock, ready for a 45 min boat ride to Leleuvia

A 45 minute drive to the boat ramp and then 45 minutes out to sea sits Leleuvia…an island…a resort…..and she is about as lovely of a place as either of us have ever seen.  On one side, a beach that is perfectly protected from the wind and chop with the coral reef starting 15 feet out.  Paddleboarding, kite/windsurfing, scuba, hammocks, beer, a Nespresso machine (they definitely thought that Abby’ and I overreacted at the site of this little beauty)  bure’s (cabin’s) on the windward side that sit on the beach and have a nonstop breeze…..for those of you interested in visiting, we will visit here and it will amaze.  Here are some pics of our trip:

Our Bure:

On one of the rare moments where both kids were both wearing clothes:

The rest of the visit…

Another quick demographic note:  Fiji is 58 % Christian, 34 % Hindu, 7 % Muslim…and of course was colonized by the Brits.  The result is the wonderfully inclusive and long Official UN Fiji Holiday Calendar.  For the record, we are very much looking forward to celebrating the Prophet Muhammed’s B-day…..probably not a holiday we will get to celebrate in the States anytime soon.

Our neighbors and Abby’s boss Aleta have a huge sloping backyard with some big tree’s on the top and bottom.  What does Paul (Aleta’s husband) do?  You got it, he installs the perfect Zip Line.  Checkmate.

This is the extent of the toys that our kids have had to play with the past two months.  It obviously makes the hours between 6am-8am incredibly challenging, but the towers that were built and smashed were really getting quite big…….and I’ll be honest, there were a few times where I was totally bummed when they got smashed into pieces.

Our container arrived at the port in Suva on Friday, December 18^th and we decided it was going to be our singular goal to get it delivered to our house by the 24^th even though 2 weeks is a more typical turnaround.  The week was filled with amazing accounts of incompetence followed by ridiculous acts of kindness and perseverance by everyone from the shipper in the US, Fiji and everyone at UN Women and the Foreign Affairs office….and the result was that at 10am on December 24^th, we received our container….furniture, bikes, clothes, toys…..the kids were sent away for the day and we busted our asses to recreate the kids bedrooms and playrooms and when Lucy came home, she about lost her mind.   It was f—kin’ Amazing!

Kid’s room before…and after:

New back deck and oh yeah, that is a trampoline.

Surf update:  When I was 12 (keep in mind this is 1982), we moved out to San Mateo for the summer.  I rocked an OP painters hat, Van’s and used $$ from a paper route to buy a sweet Santa Cruz skateboard.  More importantly, I put a Mr. Zog’s sex wax sticker on the backside of the board.…not a clue or care to the meaning but I knew it was cool….and a little inappropriate, but not enough to get me in trouble.  With immense and unexplainable satisfaction, 30+ years later I now have my first bar of Mr. Zogs…for my surfboard that I am too scared to pull out of the bag.  🙂

As Cyclone Ula (Category 3) passed over the Solomon Islands, Fiji was next in her path and we were immediately confronted with the question:  What is the difference between a cyclone, a hurricane and a typhoon?  Yes, the answer is location, but did you know that the name hurricane is derived from ‘Hurican’, the Caribbean god of evil?  Lucky for us after 2 days being drenched by the TD117 (tropical depression), Ula decided to head south and bring us nothing but blue skies and some whitecaps.

“….just waiting on my pedi….”

Why I thought it was a good idea to go on this Ferris Wheel that resembled decaying scaffolding and being spun by a rope connected to a turn of the century motor?   Because she would not have left this spot without a fight and I wasn’t ready for battle.  Plus, what could go wrong?

It was awful.

In case our Holiday Greetings got lost in the mail:

That is all for this time…..love to you all!!

Abby, Clancey, Lucy and William!!!!

 

 

 

 

The first month at any job is going to be tough, but when there are huge expectations, what looks like an endless amount of work, limited on-boarding, limited IT support, the first time truly away from the kids and the need to travel to remote parts of the S. Pacific (with lots of delays and flight changes and 6-8 hour blocks of time spent in airports) and the regional office in Bangkok…..well, as you can imagine Abby has been pushed to new levels of exhaustion and frustration which is hopefully offset just a smidge by a spouse who is doing his best to acknowledge/support and not fix.  🙂

While Mommy was away, Will still made it out to one of her events….and yes, the camera did seem to add 15 lbs in this case.

Here is two weeks of travel in Nov/Dec.  Mommy needs some love y’all.

So, upon her return we went to the beach:

Not sure what I enjoy more, Will’s Speedo or the way he looks at Lucy.

Much of the island of the island of Viti Levu (where we live) is surrounded by reefs which provide amazing blue lagoons (and yes, for you over 45, that movie was shot here) along with consistent and world class surfing outside the lagoons. The challenge for the beginner surfer is getting to the surf (need a boat) and once you are there, well, there is a matter of the reef.

To be safe, I decided to take a lesson first.  That lesson consisted of two 18 year old Fijian’s kids taking me out on a boat in the chop with one instruction, “when you fall, act like a pancake”.  In the end, I felt bad for the poor kid who ended up having to stand on the coral and help me catch a few rides. It was decidedly not pretty, but I remain undeterred and hope to make the cut on a blog update one of these days.

Take two. Matanivusi.   I hitched a boat ride with an Australian family that had a 10 year old boy that was a beginner like me thinking his brothers would make sure to look out for little bro and not try to kill him.  Silly me, our first stop was called “Tubes” and the breaks were massive and fast and so Tom (10 year old) and I stayed far to the right so we could avoid anything resembling a wave.  We then hit another spot with much smaller waves and what looked like deeper water – both total miscalculations that saw me hit the reef and then get pummeled by 5-10 more waves before I was able to escape and head back to the boat.

My goal on each attempt to was to make incremental progress.  This last attempt not only introduced me to the reef, but it turns out we had a great time with the family and they are looking to buy a small boat to in Suva….which would be my ride to more pain and suffering.

Lice is pretty common in these parts.  In fact, many people have given up treating their kids for lice and hire someone to come by weekly to pick the lice out of their hair.  Here is Lucy at the Spa (so we told her).

Still want to visit?

Salote (our nanny) has really pushed our guards to be more involved with the kids.  The ladies (Lewa, since departed Rachel and Eva) have no issues and the more the merrier.  Here is Lewa lunching in the treehouse with Will along with one with Salote and Lucy.

The guys are sweet and a bit awkward, but their best efforts are heartwarming.  Here is Oosa helping save Daddy’s back by taking a shift on the scooter and Jim showing off the banana’s that they cut down in our yard (my man Jim cut down the tree with a steak knife!).

So, roughly speaking Fiji is made up a about 50% native Fijians, 45% Indo Fijians (Indian decent) and 5% Chinese.  It is also important to note that Fiji was a British colony from 1874 to 1970.   Not to oversimplify, but the result of the above is this:

A Chinese Fish Fry….kill me now.

Seriously, 4 weeks ago, Lucy was floating around the pool (holding one of our hands) in a Life Jacket.  Now, she is practicing diving…..okay, she is practicing her painful belly flops and Daddy is practicing with his new GoPro.

The windows in our house do an amazing job of keeping out the rain and letting the breeze in, but simply put, we have loud kids and have spent the past 4-6 weeks getting past the horror of what our neighbors must think of us.

Hope you enjoyed this one and have a wonderful holidays!

Love,

William, Abby, Lucy and Clancey