Christmas Celebrations- 2009

Christmas 2009 - Christmas went for a week for us.  We had dinner with Chris and Sam while they were down from the Sunshine Coast along with the extended family.

Christmas morning was full of excitement. Christmas is all about the KIDS! We had a bike and a Slushie maker from Santa Claus and stockings full of useful nick-nacks. Santa is great, he brings may of the kids school equipment.
We spent the morning at home playing with Christmas toys and a quick visit from Lynne and Terry.

The day seemed to go very slow, probably because we weren't really busy during the day and just waiting to go and see the rest of the family at mum and dad's. Finally the afternoon arrived, we packed all the presents up, packed the car and eagerly went to mum's. It is always so HECTIC when we all get together, (there are now 18 of us), but the kids have so much fun. Present time was no different. There were presents going everywhere and what a mess at the end.
Had a lovely hot dinner with the family and lots of chatter.

 On Boxing Day we had Lynne and Terry come down for our Christmas lunch, long with more presents. I swear sometimes we all have to buy presents because of the celebrations not because the kids need anything.  The day was quick cool but we spent it on the decking and had salads and a BBQ (on Matt's new Barbie) for lunch.
Matt, Tamika and Logan enjoyed tucking into our homemade Gingerbread House after lunch. What a mess they made of it!
Christmas is always enjoyable but busy and it is always great to stop over the next couple of days, especially after the chore of finding places to put all the toy toys and craft equipment.

Leaving Fiji

Well, we knew the time would come to up and leave our holiday place. We have enjoyed some great experiences and family time together. Some scary time and new food and traditions.

The last couple of day have been a bit lousy weather wise but we still made use of the time.

I look forward to the day that I come back to Fiji and explore a different area.

The sun started to shine as we arrived at the airport and ready for take off.  Flew over New Caledonia- beautiful looking water there.

  

Day 7- Our last day

What a way to start our last day here. Wake up at call at 3am with a vomiting little boy. I was hoping that we would escape this but not so lucky.
The weather so far is constant rain, so not sure what we will get done here on our last day in Fiji.
The rain did not let up at all today. We spent most of the day locked inside the room. We went on a couple of walks around the resort and spent some money at the shops but stuck to the undercover areas. The rain and wind was extremely cold. Since being here we have not seen waves so fierce within the lagoon, but today they were crashing madly.

The one thing Tamika has wanted to do since finding out we were coming to Fiji she completed today. She got her hair braided. She only ended up getting her top half done since to do her hair it would have taken 3 and well over $100 with each plait costing 1.15 fj and she would have needed over 90 as her hair is so thick. She is happy with her 32 plaits and they look good.
Logan picked up half way through the day, but doesn't want to go home. He says the rain ruined his last day of exploring.

Look at those pouts!

Day 6

         

Not so great weather here today. It was quite miserable, actually. The morning was overcast but managed to hold off with the rain. Tamika and Matt went on a banana boat ride. Tamika loved it so much she wants to do it again. It went so fast around the lagoon that at one stage Matt was airbourne and slipped to one side ( lucky it was into the middle and not off to the side). Logan and I watched from the side. While on the ride Tamika met a lovely New Zealand girl who she talked to for the rest of the morning then she left for home.

We lazed again by the pool and went snorkeling. The water was not that clear today after the thunderstorm last night. Tamika and I were swimming in the lagoon and at one point turned around to find a school of ten huge fish ( They scared the living daylights out of both of us).

After lunch we braved it and went for a walk out of the resort, over the course way and down to a village. There were cows just sitting beside the road, they had huge horns which Logan didn't like one bit. Some of the local village kids came out just to see where we were going to. Took some photos (in the rain). We sat there and watched as they transported the staff of the resort in out trucks, buses, utes or anything that could fit multiple people to the local villages. Found a cheaper massage place across the road from resort but now I don't think I have time for it (not sure if they are open tomorrow as it is a public holiday here).

Watched the local Sunday School kids sing at sunset. They sang with enthusiasm and really believed what they were singing. They were as young as 2/3 years old all the way to teenagers.

For dinner we went to watch the Shangri-La Polynesian dancers and Fire Dancers show. Absolutely worth it! They were amazing! Logan was in his glory watching the ladies butt shaking and coconut bras. They tricked all the kids into getting up and dancing (yes, including Tamika). They had to watch either the lady or the men to perform through the whole song. Both kids had a ball, yes even Tamika. The men with the fire sticks were insane, lighting the fire from their tongues.

We tried some traditional Fijian food such as Island Pumpkin, Pineapple and Chicken Salad, Cassava Fries ( a root plant, like potatoes), Qala (dessert), Coconut cream slice (dessert). The kids nearly died when they served us up pork cut straight from the pig, head and all. :-)

Well we are nearing the end of our trip unfortunately, but lucky for us Kristy and Josh waited until now to bring another little 'Payne' into the world. Hayden Jack Payne born at 2:03am today (11/10/09). So the kids are now waiting to see him.

Oh we had our first turn down tonight. The housekeeper took advantage of the fact that we were not in the room and turned our sheets down on both the beds. She made love hearts out of our shell lei's, a bookmark with a saying and the flowers that Tamika had collected on our walk this afternoon. The kids that she was very cool!

        

                                         

Days 4-5

Our Friday was spent driving around Fiji. Since arriving at Nadi on Tuesday we have now driven around the whole bottom half of Fiji.

We hired a car and a driver (Vili) to take us to Suva - the Capital City of Fiji. It was about 165km from where the Shangri-La is located. We passed all the other hotels we looked at to stay in. On the drive we passed so many Fijian children that would just wave as you passed them and smile from ear to ear if you waved back. Friday was a day of celebration for the Fijian it was "Fiji Day" - had we known that when we booked the tour we probably wouldn't have gone. Suva was so busy.  Many Fijian live in small villages with a Chief who is in charge. These people have nothing, their houses are so small and they still hunt (wild boar and fish) for their nightly dinner and the kids usually eat seeds for lunches. Each village has their own vegetable and fruit garden which they use instead of buying food from the shops.

We stopped in at an old village (still working today) that they have made into a museum. We went through the only working temple for the Fijian's. It was all hand made with massive beams. Logan wasn't too keen here as it shows the Fijian's as cannibals which freaked him out to know that they ate people, he wanted to get out of there. There was an old skull in their cooking pot with so many bugs flying around it (disgusting!) Logan held two baby snakes here, but threw them on the floor when they started to go up his arms. Tamika and I held a turtle which hurts when its flippers flap out of the water, quite heavy too.

We stopped at Pacific Harbour which was a halfway point to Suva. Very nice gardens there. Suva was bumper to bumper traffic, we felt like we were back home. They have a guard out the front of their Presidents House which changes every 30 mins. Vili is certain he is the only unfriendly person in Fiji who NEVER smiles.

Saturday well, we did nothing much at all, except laze around the pool and beach. We woke up thinking what a lovely day it was then retracted our thoughts to the last lovely day - Tsunami Day. Thank gosh we had none of that again. We are a little bit sore tonight and yes, we did apply and reapply sunscreen. Have sooooo many photos to share later! It became so muggy with the rain that we had after dinner- it is almost hard to breathe.

Day 3- How to Avoid a Tsunami

The morning was beautiful to start with. 

Maybe this is what they mean when they say "the calm before the storm!"

Breakfast was early, followed by an early morning swim and then peaceful relaxation by the beach. Logan spent his morning socialising and swimming in the pool while Tamika and Matt went snorkeling and taking underwater photos in the lagoon and around the coral.

They had just gotten out of the water and went into the pool while I sat down to read a book and work on my tan. 11 am- Suddenly the staff members down by the beach started yelling "Tsunami Warning! You need to get to higher ground." Startled at first.... I then I grabbed our stuff and ran to the pool to yell at Matt and the kids to get out. They had no idea what was going on. We raced to our apartment on the second floor then headed straight for the Lobby. The kids were petrified!

There were kids crying everywhere. We walked fast to the highest point of the resort which was on the golf course 12m above sea level. Trying to calm the kids down and explain to them what was going on without frightening them too much was difficult.

The staff at the Shangri-La Fiji where great. They already had water up on the hill then brought left over pastries and fresh fruit from breakfast.  If they saw a distressed child they would come and and try to attend to their needs. They also provided sheets and towels for people to sit on, lucky we found a big tree to sit on but by gosh the tree roots hurt! They kept everyone updated when they found out information, which was difficult as all mobile phones were congested. At one stage the threat went from being moderate to high but the staff where all very confident that everyone would be alright up on the hill of the golf course. (12m above sea level at it's highest point and also the communications hill)

"Alfie" started a game of coconut bowling for the kids, which of course Logan was straight up to join in.

After 1.5 hours they said that the threat had gone and we could return to the lower ground. We headed straight for our room to de-stress the kids - Tamika wanted to lock ourselves away, she was quite on edge for the rest of the day (as was her mother).

Once we finally went down for lunch the resort managers of different areas were mingling amongst the guests answering any questions that they had. Apparently, they have NEVER had to evacuate before. And it had to be when WE were here...

The day all up was quite full on after that ordeal. We went for a walk to explore the Seaside chapel in the afternoon and lazed around in our room, neither kids wanted to go anywhere near the water for the rest of the day.

We have booked a local villager/driver to go to Suva tomorrow. He will take us where ever we want to go - not sure where that is yet. I am sure that Amanda won't get much sleep tonight.

Day 2 in Fiji

Up early with waves crashing and the kids dying to get out. An early swim then we watched a man climb a coconut tree.

Workcover would be on his case back home, he only had a band around his waist that went around the other side of the tree, for him to lean on. He went up with such ease
These coconut trees are huge, probably about 20 m high. He chopped down the coconuts and the leaves.

Once the man climbed down he chopped the top off the coconut and gave it to Logan. Logan tasted the coconut drink and spat it straight back out. Tamika wouldn't even taste it.



Breakfast - Ahh, food for Logan. So much choice for him to make - waffles, pancakes, cereal. Tamika no problems, a  bit more fussy- pancakes and juice. Much to the kids disgust we went for a walk to walk off breakfast.
The kids spent some time in kids club. Tamika made a grass skirt with "Alfie" and the other kids. Logan just ran wild in the outdoor play area.

Swim, swim and more swimming. Choices of - pool or beach. We did a bit of both today. The sand is white but a bit shelly. It was a bit of a shock at first when you walk out and then suddenly it drops.
There are fish swimming everywhere.
We checked out the shell markets where we of course had to buy something - the Fijian money was burning a hole in Tamika's pocket. Logan found a shark tooth necklace that he liked but we had to convince him that boys can wear those kinds of necklaces.

The afternoon was spent swimming in the lagoon and snorkelling. The kids and Matt went out in a canoe, they didn't make it very far before Logan whined to go back, he hated the feeling that he was going to fall.
We made a start on our tans!

At sunset we went and watched the Torch Lighting Ceremony which is a sample of their traditional Polynesian Fire-dancing Show. It was great! Logan's favourite part was the women with the coconut bra's and grass skirts shaking their butt's. Tamika loved the fire-dancing and "BULA". We booked into the show for Sunday night.

The night spent walking some of the resort and relaxing in our room.

Day 1 in Fiji

Our morning started extremely early, I felt like I had just gotten to sleep. Amazingly we had to wake up the kids. Logan was so excited that I was sure he would wake up as soon as we moved about. Anyway, we had NO arguments this morning about getting up, no straight away and dressed quickly. The only moaning we had was that it was cold.

We were all ready and out the door by 4:30am. Terry took us to the airport, making record time and the constant "ARE WE THERE YET?" Our first family photo at the airport to start our journey, then time to line up and check in.

Then another wait, impatiently by a certain little boy. He just wanted to get on the plane. Just as we began to board, walking across the tarmac it began to rain.

Both kids travelled extremely well. Tamika's favourite parts of the plane trip are mummy's most HATED, the landings and taking off. Logan he just loved it all. He watched the entire time during take off with great excitement and anticipation.

Finally four hours later (with the last hour having to listen to other people's screaming kids) we began to descend.  The coral around the Fijian main land is amazing. From the air it almost looks like an island around the island that just drops off into the sea.

Arrived with "BULA", men in skirts, lei's, flowers behind the ears and warm humid weather. As we drove to the Coral Coast we went through a  lot of the outskirts of Fiji, I am amazed just how hilly Fiji is. Our car trip to the resort was quiet with both kids falling asleep.

When we arrived at the Shangri-La Fijian the bags were taken, we were shown reception and the kids were taken away from us to register for kids club. They came back with blue wrist bands to wear for our entire stay.

We spent the after near the pool and trying to check out some of the resort, however we didn't make it that far from the pool.