 |
| All of our friends and family at the rehearsal dinner at Papagalo's. |
| Erinīs Fiji Journals (Coming soon) |
| Glenn's Journals 03-05-03 Fiji During breakfast we had a chance to hear stories about Whales Tales from the folks that went. They all said that they had a great time and would recommend it to anyone. It was also recommended to us by other travelers before we arrived in Fiji and by our guide books. We will have to return some day with more cash and more time. The cars arrived a little after 9:00 am and my parents, Erin, and I met with the Avis agent dropping them off. We had agreed that the four of us would be the drivers as we had all had experience driving on the other side of the road and were comfortable with it. Erin and I have been driving on the other side of the road since last November when we arrived in Australia. My parents are Australian and grew up driving on the other side of the road. We spent some time with the agent verifying everything, especially the insurance coverage, before finishing up the paperwork. We had hired one seven seater and one five seater car for the next three days. We would use them to go to dinner tonight at the Warwick hotel (20 minutes away) and to Suva on Friday. Today our plans were to visit Natadola beach which is listed as one of the most beautiful stretches of beach along the Coral Coast. We would also fit in the neaby Sand Dunes if possible. We had plans to return by 2:00 pm so the girls could have a bachelorette party before leaving for dinner at 5:30 pm tonight. We left just after 10:00 am towards Natadola but after missing the signs we finally stopped to ask for directions at a police station. Lucky for us the policeman was standing outside and walked over to our car. He introduced himself and proceeded to shake hands with everyone in the car. He also asked everyone where they were from and what they did for a living. It took us a while to actually get the directions and finish the conversation with the policeman before we were back on our way. We are definitely on Fiji time as there is no hurry to go anywhere or do anything around here. We need to slow down even more than we have. I can't imagine!!! The policeman was very nice so it was hard to be rude and just leave. We finally made it to Natadola beach around noon where we had about an hour and a half to enjoy ourselves before heading back. Jim and I tried to snorkel around the reef but the current today was way to hard so we opted to snorkel in the bay nearby. Jen and my mom joined us for a little swim before our time was up. Natadola Beach is beautiful and well worth the stop but plan on a full day to visit the island and local village, including the drive into the beach area. It is a little off the beaten path. During the ride home we took a detour back to the same restaurant that we had lunch at on Monday. Jim wanted to buy a necklace similiar to the one that my sister Jen had bought on Monday. We arrived at the stall only to find noone there. Theresa from the local restaurant rode with me to the man's home where we picked up his wife and returned to the stall only to determine that the piece that Jim wanted was at the house. A few others bought masks and other items before we returned to the ladies house for the jewelry. Once at the house we were all invited in as she went through all of her wares to find the necklace Jim wanted. She finally found it and Jim paid her the money before we finally were able to leave. By the time we arrived at the resort it was almost 3:30 pm. At that point we decided that the bachelorette party would start at 4:00 pm at Judy's bure and the guys wre invited to my bure for drinks before we left for dinner. It sounds like the girls had a good time at the bachelorette party as I was not privy to any of the happenings until much later in the week. At the so-called bachelor party we chatted about married life and such before I thanked all of the guys for joining us during such a special week for Erin and I. I then brought out the brain pickers and brain bashers as there gifts and they seemed pleased. It was definitely a Fijian gift tp represent there holiday. We all met back up at 5:30 pm at the main office where we jumped back into the cars and made our way to the Warwick. The Warwick is a more upscale hotel with at least three restaurants, a bar, shops, and a travel agent. It is a much bigger place but would seem less personable and is definitely more expensive. We ate dinner at Papagalo's where we had fantastic meals overlooking the ocean and the amazing sunset. We took quite a few photos of the beautiful sunset with many different combinations of the group. Dinner included a band playing a romantic Fijian love song for our table. We thanked everyone for joining us for our special occassion this week in Fiji and then enjoyed our dinners and deserts. After dinner we looked around the hotel before ending up in the bar upstairs. We spent the rest of the evening dancing the night away to the band playing many very American songs. We called it a night around 11:30 pm and made our way back to Crusoe's. Stefanie moved in with Erin for the night while I moved down to Tim's bure. Erin believes in us not seeing each other the day of the wedding so we will sleep apart tonight. Erin, Stef, and Judy are off to the Warwick for a Spa day before the wedding. Once they are gone I will have free reign of Crusoe's. Tim and I sat up for a while and chatted but not too late. Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!! |
 |
| The Waltons and Roberts unite!!!. At least part of the families. |