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We left Honolulu two hours late after our mandatory Boeing 767 equipment problems (well, after the 19 hour extravaganza in Denver this was nothing) but on an Air New Zealand plane for a change. This meant that our
plans to shower and sleep in at the Sandalwood hotel (see below) for a few hours on arrival were shot and we would have to go directly from the plane to the Blue Lagoon Cruise terminal. The flight was fine once they
fixed the plane, but it still was disconcerting to get on a plane late on April 2 for a 6-hour flight and arrive at breakfast time on April 4
in Fiji. That, of course, was the result of crossing the International Date Line during the flight.
 We went to the Blue Lagoon Terminal and had a wake up
coffee. After the other passengers arrived (22 in all) our tour Director Joe gave us a briefing and we took off for the boat. More on jovial Joe later. We settled into our cabin
(6'x8') and went up to the main deck for the cruise to the Yasawa islands where we would spend the next two and one half days.
 We were the only North Americans, with the balance of the
passengers from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Holland. It was a pleasant group with a surprising number of the Brits on trips similar to ours. Many had visited the
places we planned to go in the Asia Pacific region and Africa and we got lots of travel advice from them over the next two days. The ship, crew, and passengers were a good combination to enjoy while we blissfully
sailed through Fiji - as the stock market crashed unbeknownst to us!
 We were on one of the older and smaller Blue Lagoon ships, the
Lycianda, which was the right size for us. It specializes in short trips among the Fiji islands. We sailed to the Yasawas and had a pleasant lunch, which was a preview of three days of pig out
meals…breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, post dinner snacks…so much for dieting.
 We arrived after lunch at an interim location on one of the
islands and went ashore for some snorkeling. The underwater camera pictures will be added when we return, but the coral was spectacular in Fiji even though there were less fish than
we had seen in Tahiti. The weather was overcast but the snorkeling was still fun.
 We then sailed to a different location for a visit to a small
village, which was billed as a typical example of a non- urban location on one of the hundreds of Fiji islands. The islanders started with a ceremony that involved the making of Kava (a
local narcotic drink that looked liked well used dishwater). 
Some of our fellow passengers tried it but we avoided it. Joe dove in liberally and consumed a lot as the ceremony and show went on.
 The dancers then came and performed for us. Gisèle got caught up with the
audience participation while Larry took the pictures. The natives then set up a small market and Arnie bought a few things for his collection.
 Then, what a surprise, the rains came! The native men used it as an excuse to perform some group
exercises and then play a game of rugby in the driving rain. This really rubbed it in to the New Zealand passengers as their team had just lost a major international rugby match to Fiji. It's clearly
a passion with the Fijians if they will play a pick up game in a literal monsoon!
We started to realize there was a problem when the rains did not let up and we still had to get back to the main ship. We made a run for the beach but everyone was drenched to the
skin in the first 10 feet. When we got to the beach the waves had come up, fog had rolled in, and the Lycianda was nowhere in sight. We got in the small open landing craft with some
difficulty and headed off to sea in a blinding storm. Joe sat up front with his Kava fueled personal radar to guide us back to the ship. The waves were 5-8 feet and we were taking on
water so the passengers bailed out the boat with old plastic jugs. It took 15 minutes (it seemed like hours) to make it back and we docked with some difficulty, as the seas were too
rough. The other landing boat took two runs at it with over a foot of water in the boat. We all survived, but some cameras did not like the water and died. Gisèle's camera has been acting up
since then. After warm showers, we all went up on deck for some well-earned booze while the Captain found a sheltered cove to anchor in for the evening. We had an early dinner although
some of the passengers did not eat a lot for some reason. (Can you say "heavy swells"?) We went to bed after being up for a 36-hour period that had started the previous day in
Honolulu and an adventure filled introduction to Fiji.
 The second day in Fiji dawned with sunshine and (thankfully) calmer seas.
We had a full day of good old-fashioned R&R. Lots of snorkeling, swimming, and sunbathing. After Hawaii, it was tough to handle all that nice weather and pampering by the locals! We did a lot of
snorkeling, slathered ourselves liberally with sunscreen (it sort of worked as we ended up medium well done), ate like not-so-little porkers, and generally enjoyed ourselves until the evening monsoon - which
thankfully held off until after sunset.
How nice – storms and swells just as we're sitting down for dinner! A traditional barbecue and picnic had been planned on the beach but the storms were so bad that the crew had to fight
their way in the little boats to the beach to bring it back to the ship. Good thing we ate a big lunch!
 The evening entertainment started with lots of traditional
Fijian ballads – "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Stand By Your Man", "Fire and Rain", "Under the Boardwalk" etc. played and sung by our captain and crew on guitar and ukulele. We did
not know that C & W music originated in Fiji but that's why you travel, to expand your cultural horizons. Gisele was drafted to dance with the crew for a few songs, and another
passenger, Maureen, drafted Larry after he started making a show of being relieved that he wasn't dancing! The evening concluded with passengers entertaining the crew and
themselves. Sorry to say that Larry and Gisele were so brain-dead that they couldn't come up with anything to do. Oh well, next time…
 We stayed tied up at the same location for the third morning
and went ashore for more eating, sunning, and snorkeling. Joe took us out in the landing boat to see some giant clams and more great coral. The colors were unreal. We had lunch on
the boat and then lined up for the group picture. Each passenger gave his or her camera to a crewmember. He then proceeded to take the group picture for 20 or so times. It
worked as you can see. We then sailed back to the main island and arrived late afternoon. We exchanged cards with our new friends and found our waiting taxi driver who took us to our hotel for the evening.
The Sandalwood Inn is a good example of how good photography and careful cropping can enhance the look of a place. It looked great but appeared to specialize in backpacker
travelers who thought that luxury was a bed above the ground and that bugs were a part of the universe in whose presence we should celebrate. If you are of that mind, we can
unequivocally recommend this establishment. We walked down the hill to check out the place for dinner and noted that the other homes and hotels were ringed with high fences topped with
razor wire. We suspected that unlike most places with this look, they were not designed to keep the inhabitants in. Since it was getting dark we decided that we could live off the
calories we had packed in on the Cruise and forgo dinner except for a couple of beers in the room. We paid the bill, arranged for a really early pickup and went back and made sure that
all of our bags were tightly sealed for the night, as we understood that the Kiwi's have a very tight animal import policy and did not want our bags to be quarantined for 6 months. We did
enjoy the evening's entertainment – Larry has developed the habit of playing solitaire on his palmtop – the bugs in the room enjoyed dive-bombing the screen so much that he was forced to
put it away for fear that they would break through the screen. We slept fitfully and were happy when the van picked us up the next morning to take us back to the Nadi airport where
we could get ready to really go down under.
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