Fiji Vacation 2002

Our Trip to Fiji was one of our best vacations ever. We stayed at 3 different resorts over two weeks. Here's a few pictures from the trip!

	This was our Seaplane to Vatulele - our first stop in Fiji!
Our "driver" got us there safely. Only one class on this plane.
	No need for seatbelts but we wore them anyway.
We arrive and the first thing they do is offer you a drink - our kinda place!
	Here's the beach. They play songs to you all day long.
The Seaplane takes off and leaves us behind!
	Here's a few of the new guests who came in with us. They only have 18 rooms here so we met everyone pretty fast!
Just one view from inside our villa (called a Bure in Fijian)
	Here's the ocean view from our Bure!
Joy felt quite at home!
	Mosquito netting kept the bugs at bay at night
Each Bure had a spacious living area - bedroom in the back of this photo with the mosquito net above.
	Our own private Cabana. We were too busy having fun that we forgot to use it!
Here's Joy in our front yard!
	Here's a trip we took to another beach a ways around the island.
This is a brackish pool with red shrimp in it that is considered sacred by the villagers. Anyone who disturbs the shrimp will suffer great harm!
	It was a bit muggy and buggy there but Joy was smiling the whole time!
Another rock formation on the way back from seeing the Red Shrimp.
	Here's some Hieroglyphics - the one in the middle was the inspiration for Vatulele's logo.
Just one shot of the incredibly blue water and coral reefs. Travel by boat was the the only way to get around - no cars on this island!
	Our new friends Marc and Ruth at Vatulele!
Ted and Joy having fun in the Sun!
	The Caves and Cliffs were amazing!
A pic of us leaving the Hieroglyphics. You can see Brian and Anita in front!
	More Guests arrive each day by Seaplane.
Here's the first of a few shots of a wedding we attended at Vatulele - David and Gina's! This picture is of a boat carrying the bride to the chapel.
	The local Choir blessed us with some delightful hymns.

David, waiting for Gina...
	There she is!

	My daughter's favorite part!



	An original lovesong should be part of everyone's wedding!

	Signing the official documents!
Right after they kissed (Sorry I missed that shot!)
	Let the party begin!!!
Watch out for the Sand Flies!
	Bula!
Can't get enough of that Shakey, Shakey!

Okay, back to reality... Joy's happy in her home away from home - the wine cellar at Vatulele.
	You can even have an island to yourself for a day - Nookie-Nookie Island!
Your own private lunch bure...
	To go with your own private beach.
Just relax!
	More island shots...
The water is about 80 degrees!
	There's always a way to catch fish - this one from a KayaK
This one from the Snokeling boat! click here for the next fishing picture!

	Time to leave...
Joy's co-piloting this one!
	We're gonna miss that blue water and all those new friends!
The Islands are almost all encircled with Reefs.
	Here's a pic of the lush green on the main island of Vitu Levu.
Turtle Island here we come - aboard Turtle Airways finest seaplane!
	More of the main island.
Some really cool mountains here...
	The one in the back on the left is Turtle Island.
Turtle Island is owned by Richard Evanson - he bought it for $300,000 back in '72.
	Here's an arial picture of The Blue Lagoon
And us getting a free drink after our plane ride (again!)
	This is the beautiful beach in front of the main resort area - our bure looked out onto this view.
They rescue sea turtles from the islanders who would otherwise sell them for their shells and meat. By painting our names on them, they become worthless and the turtle gets to live forever. We split this turtle in an auction with newlyweds Joel and Rocky Mafrige.
	All the guests wished the turtle well as we set him free.


Time for a hike up to the top of Turtle Island to enjoy a mountaintop dinner. Music and Dancing were standard before each meal!
	Bug repellant is prominently offered along side an open bar.
The sunsets are, as expected, to die for:
	Nothing beats a tropical sunset!
The island has a few roads - for the golf carts.
	Its one of the best ways to take in the great views. Here's one of Shell beach and Paddy's island.
The private beaches are also quite a treat.
	This one, Devil's beach treated us to coral reefs for snokeling, a lobster and champagne lunch and even some fly fishing.

Here's Joy enjoying hereself. (I know, its redundant)
	The only way to spend and afternoon on your private beach for the day.
They even give you a table for lunch - which works great, when its not raining!
	Its very secluded - they recommend you not bother with clothes.
Okay, back to the ranch, I mean Bure. Here's Joy in front of ours. Hot tub right in the room!
	Here's Joy in our front yard.
Here's Joy using the foot bath. Yes, that's a huge toad next to her left foot.
	The lagoon in front of our Bure...
When we weren't dining on a private beach, we ate at a long table with all the other guests.
	Joy walking back from a Lobster breakfast.
At the foot of the dock is the Dock Lady's hut - she coordinates everything that you do on the island and is in constant VHF radio communication with guests and the over 200 staff required to keep this show on schedule!
	Fijians are among the most friendly people on earth.
Somehow they gave me the nickname of "La Cucaracha"
	Richard pays attention to every detail - its really amazing. Those are Giant Clam shells on the right and left of this Banyan tree.
Here's a shot of Richard, the owner of Turtle Island, and his dog Michael.
	Never did try the Vegimite - maybe next trip.
Our last breakfast - lobster eggs of course!
	Here we are saying goodbye to all our new friends at Turtle Island.
Flags are flown each day for all of the various nationalities that are staying at the resort.
	They serenade you when you leave...
Rocky and Joel, our Turtle auction buddies, wearing their honeymoon smiles, wished us goodbye.
	Even the dock was beautiful. (Seriously - all hand laid using the same wood as on the floors of our Bure)
On to the next place..
	The Goodbye song is really special. Rebecca is on the left - we witnessed her wedding to Mark the evening before!
More coral reefs - must be lots of fish down there!

	More mountains as we head back to the main island for our next trip to Jean Micheal Cousteau Resort
The bures at Jean Micheal Cousteau resort were very spacious and beautifully decorated. Only 25 bures at this resort.
	One of the few resorts with a pool!
Excellent tropical island scenery here too! It rained a bit the first two days which was quite refreshing.
	Lots of palm trees here.
And excellent Scuba Diving and Snorkeling! This is a shot from the 45 foot dive boat, L'Adventure.
	A real tropical dream!
Another shot of the island as we head out for another scuba dive! In all we did 5 dives and one of them was even at night! Someday we plan to get certified.
	Scuba diving is a whole new adventure. Both Joy and I fell in love with the sport.
Diving with a pro, such as Ezra, made it easy.
	Time for lunch again - here's a shot from the main dining area. That's the dive boat at the end of the pier.
Fishing by Hobie cat is great fun. I caught a nice Trevally, lost one and could have caught more if we had more time.
	Trolling again...
The guy in the tree is cutting down coconuts!
	A view from our Bure
More beautiful scenery around the resort
	Here's a Queenie I caught while trolling with Timba behind a small skiff. Great eating! Click here for more fishing shots!
We had the chef prepare this fish as Kokonda- a fijian version of Ceviche - with coconut milk - awesome! click here for the next fishing picture
	More great views of our resort.
Joy eating Sashimi that we made out of a small Trevally I caught.
	Kokonda - a real delicacy! Fish, lime, coconute juice and peppers.
On our last dinner, we ate on the pier - steak and lobster, of course.
	Desert back with our latest group of new friends. Among them: Julian and LizAnne, Jamie and Sue.
Hayden had never caught a fish this big before. This is a Spanish Mackerel we hooked into while trolling around the bay on our last day.
	Even Julian scored a hookup to complete the matched set. We were treated to Kokonda for lunch again and the rest was left for the guests we left behind for a huge Fijian feast that evening, a Lovo.