Fiji is a wonderful place to be and to visit as a tourist. As a developing nation, not all systems are hitting on all 8 cylinders every day. So a visitor might experience some irregularities in travel, pest control, etc. With all of this in mind, we wanted to have all of our daughters come for a visit, we would have loved to see husbands and all of the grandchildren but found the logistics too stressing and cost projections to be too high. A group of that size would have been impossible to get around, and have time to be really together.
As it turned out the Five amigos, after wrangling out an actual week to schedule the trip, had a good time. It had been many years for just our nuclear family to be together.
We gathered at the Nadi airport on Sunday morning, everyone was tired but in good spirits. We had time to clean them up a bit at Toka Toka resort, then went to Church at the Nadi English ward. The highlight there was connecting with Rosalie Madden, a returned missionary we knew in the Dominican Republic, we were very happy to reunite and recall some good memories from that mission.
We made our way to Denarau Island and the Westin Resort, it was a nice place to stay. We liked the food there, and at the Sheraton. Monday we went to the Sabeto Mud Pools, near Sleeping Giant Gardens. We had lots of fun with the mud and our instructor there; the ladies also had a massage.
Tuesday we went from Port Denarau on the Coral Cat, to snorkel near Malolo Vitu and Malolo LeiLei islands, and had lunch at Musket Cove. The snorkeling was good with a fun crew.
Wednesday we travelled back to Suva, we were able then to do some side trips for shopping, and undeveloped beach, and to go to the Temple everyday. We loved being together especially in the Temple. The girls were impressed with our little Temple, the spirit of our Fijian workers and the visitors we had from Kiribati in the Patron housing. The girls were in a dorm setting, so that was an adjustment from the Westin. Thursday was time for a Suva downtown tour, and more Temple time.
On Friday, we had a special day arranged to visit two Primary schools and some make some donations to small Church units in the Natasiri area, in the highlands above Nausori. We had some books, exercise notebooks, crayons and papers for the schools. The units were given clothes and spades, forks and sprayers for farming. We also had some sports balls for the schools. The Sookhoo family donated a new lawnmower to the Toga school to help maintain their fields. Bro and Sr. Savu were our hosts for a visit to the Navatuyaba Village.
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On Sunday we were on the road to the Sabeto mud pools when a tour bus
pushed me over onto the road edge, We were hung up and had to get help
from a passing car to get off the ridge. There were seven buses from a cruise
ship so we decided to wait for the pools trip until Monday. |
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Socializing with home was a priority all week. Kids were
missed. |
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| Laura clarifying the meaning of life. |
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| Sunset on Sunday night, at the Westin Resort. |
The Sabeto Mud Pool adventure:
Monday afternoon at the Westin and Sheraton pools.
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| Monday sunset at the Westin |
Coral Cats snorkeling trip to the Mananuca islands: Malolo Viti and Musket Cove.
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| Denarau Marina |
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| Cool Coral cats |
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| Waiting for the Cat to depart |
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| Musket Cove for lunch. |
Wednesday: Travel to Suva
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| Maui Bay rest stop |
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| Hindi Temple Nadi. |
Thursday: Suva shopping and tour.
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Flower stall at market outside MH on
Meade Road |
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| Suva town |
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| Fatburger wall map |
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| Anna's Birthday cake. |
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| Damodar City shopping center |
Friday: trip to Natasiri, donations to the Church units there and to Nabukaluka Primary school. Lawnmower, books and sports balls to Toga School. Navatuyaba Village visit to Savu family and the missionary flat.
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Overlooking a small village, just across the river from
the road's end. With Bishop Savu. |
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The village schoolmaster waded across to talk with us.
We were able to give him some Friends and used books
for reading. |
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| We attracted a small fan base. |
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| Inflating the netballs, volleyballs and rugby balls. |
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| Kids assembled to greet us. |
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| Natasiri unit leaders, Friend magazines, books, farm tools and sprayers. |
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As we drove away the unit leaders began a coordinating meeting
with prayer. |
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| Bishop and Sister Savu's home, with Emy and our girls. |
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| Elder Miller at home sweet home. |
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| Future Rugby champions playing a pick up game. |
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| Navatuyaba Chapel, an oasis building. |
A marvelous week ended with Church on Sunday at the Wailoku Ward. We loved being together with our girls. We enjoyed Fiji and loved being in the Temple. The Patron house dorm experience was a little bit hard but raised appreciation for all we do have. The Suva Temple spirit is strong, our workers and patrons have a great faith in and love for the Temple.
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The Shaver girls section in
the Patron House Dorm. |
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| Forever memories at the Suva Temple. |
