Fiji time – you really should experience it!! 🇫🇯

A long flight from Vancouver to LA and then to Fiji meant that we lost a whole day travelling over the date line. Our last minute Airbnb turned out to be a little piece of heaven. Our own fab bungalow on the beach with a lovely Fijian family. Their cute wild haired daughters, 6 rescue horses, 8 rescue dogs and the cutest kitten. We can see and smell the sea from our swing chair and walk to the beach for stunning sunsets in 20 seconds. The sea is so shallow at low tide we can walk the 1/2 km to the reef without wetting our shorts! Everywhere we go we hear shouts of Bula – the warm Fijian welcome. Typically – we haven’t done the touristy trips to other islands, the Cava ceremony or zip lines but have tootled around in our old jalopy hire car just exploring. We stopped in a small village of 70 people where all the kids came and walked us to their beach where we shared jokes, magic tricks and had pole balancing competitions. Next day our lovely host Saif took us to the local horse races on the beach where bareback riders race in pairs along the shore. As they were setting up we noticed flames on the dunes behind the beach, the dry hot weather starting the fire. No one seemed to bother, even when the riders and horses were surrounded by ever the encroaching flames. When we asked if the fire brigade would come Saif replied “Oh I suppose someone should ring them” – Fiji time!! Street stalls selling papaya, pineapple, mangoes and small sweet bananas have fuelled our breakfasts whilst the Coffee Planet shop next door run by a Dutch coffee importer, has kept up our caffeine intake. Meanwhile Tony has enjoyed the local Fiji Gold beer and never wants to leave! We love Fiji!