So, we arrived into Fiji a few days ago.  We had a three night passage with rain the first day, and clear, but somewhat rough seas the second day.  I wore a patch and was not seasick.  Ariana and Ryan took Stugeron and they were somewhat tired, but not sick.

Internet is so much better here than Tonga, and we even have Internet on our boat (at least at this marina mooring).  I still need to update Vava’u, Tonga (which I will do this week), but here is the update for right now in Fiji:

(1) Ariana turns 14 tomorrow!  We are surprising her with a day that includes stand-up paddleboarding down a river and horseback riding on the beach.  We have to be up and at the marina at 7 a.m. for pick-up, which pretty much is the earliest we have had to be anywhere for quite some time.  (Yes, I know.  We are spoiled.)

(2) My favorite camera was “stolen” in Tonga.  Dan and I went out one night and I accidentally left my camera in the bathroom.  Five minutes later, I realized it and it was gone.  The owner of the Bounty Bar (Laurence) was very upset and made an announcement to return it, but not surprisingly, no one did.  This was my small, waterproof camera that I used for about 95% of the photos I have taken on this trip.  It is a terrible disappointment because I can’t replace it out here.  I am hoping to get a new one in New Zealand.  In the meantime, I have the GoPro and our Sony DLSR camera, but the latter is bulky and can’t get wet.  There is one good thing though–I had JUST cleared all of the photos (about 700 of them) off of the camera only two days before it was taken.

(3) The weather in Fiji, so far, is SO much better than Tonga.  I am loving that.  It was downright chilly in Tonga and made me not want to get in the water!

(4) We are going to be doing a lot of diving as soon as we leave Savusavu.  The diving in the out-islands here is supposed to be some of the best in the world, and superior to that of the southern Fijian Islands.

(5)  We need to get Kava root.  When we go to the smaller islands, we need to bring it with us as a gift for the village chief so we can be welcomed to their village.

(6)  Right now, we are off to get some good Indian curry!  Yummy.