This trip has been in the works for months. We decided to take a continuing medical education/dive trip to the South Pacific. Neither of us are ready to leave Elena for that long of a stretch, so with our 13 month old in tow, we are off to Fiji!
Ryan and Elena hanging out in the Columbus airport. This is our first of 3 flights to get us to our destination.
We spent a day or so in Los Angeles as a buffer for any weather/flight mishaps and to avoid an insanely long day of flight after flight after flight. We spent some time in a little ice cream shop in Manhattan beach to get out of the rain and found these candy cigarettes. Reminds me of my childhood. How cool were we "smoking" candy cigarettes?!?
While Ryan went for a jog the next morning, Elena and I took a stroll to a local park, which happened to be closed, so we had a little picnic on the grass and went back to our hotel.
After an 11 hour overnight flight with one very good little girl, we made it! Fiji water from Fiji. It is HOT and windy here!
We happened to arrive in Fiji the same day as a cyclone (think hurricane of the Pacific). It made for a horrendously scary and nauseating boat ride to the little island of Beqa (pronounced "benga") where we spent the next week. The wind whipped and rain fell our first day and throughout our first night. There was a ton of debris on the hotel grounds when we awoke the next day, but no serious damage. The eye of the cyclone headed north and those areas had some real devastation. It was an interesting start to the trip...
The ocean was still rough, so some of the divers (including Ryan) went shore diving that next day since boat diving was canceled.
The sun starting to show through the clouds. Elena and I spent a little time on the beach.
Hanging in the main bure (building). It was a large, sturdily constructed hut where we gathered and ate our meals.
Hotel workers are busy working to clear the debris and make it look like a resort again.
The beach.
The cove where our hotel is located.
Elena getting a little sandy!
Not a bad view from our bure.
Elena playing in the rain.
A visitor on our clothesline.
A beautiful flower next to our porch.
Our tropical girl.
Not a bad way to spend my 37th birthday!
First time I've had a cake with hibiscus garnishing it!
Welcome to the bustling streets of Beqa, Fiji. There are no roads, no stoplights, no cars. They have foot trails that connect villages.
We took a short walk to the nearby village. Most of the lovely people who staff our hotel live here.
Even though the kids are out of school this week, because of the cyclone, they came over to put on a little show for us. They sang and danced and giggled a lot. It was super sweet.
Elena meeting some locals.
Elena really warmed to this little girl who was not so sure about Elena.
Hello from Fiji.
A fire walking demonstration this evening.
Another little girl Elena was all over who wasn't so sure about Elena...
Family pic.
Beautiful sunset this evening.
The colors tonight are impressive!
Walking around the resort.
Another pretty night in Fiji.
I love this pic.
Family selfie.
Its a warm one today.
Bathing beauty has her boats and her cup. We are ready for pool time!
What our bure looked like. Its pretty clean because we are packing up this morning to head back to the States!
From the outside.
The main bure where all the guests gathered and ate meals.
Hotel staff saying their goodbyes to Elena.
Getting ready for the boat ride back to the main island (Viti Levu).
Lovely Beqa Lagoon staff singing a farewell song.
Of course Elena was a part of the show.
A nice easy boat ride back. After this boat ride, we have a 2.5 hour bus ride and a 10 hour flight back to California. After a rough start to the trip, things got better. The people of Fiji are very kind and welcoming. Things were pretty stirred up under the sea with the cyclone, so the diving visibility was not ideal. That being said, we still saw some pretty cool things diving, such a huge white staghorn coral heads, a big blue starfish, some brilliantly colored fish we have not seen elsewhere, sharks feeding and more.
