Day Six Fiji (Island Visit):
We had planned an “island tour” for Tuesday as it was Vicky and Dave’s last day in Fiji. I got up around 6 for my walk but decided to try the hotel gym instead since there were some dogs down on the beach that I didn’t feel up to challenging on my own. I was on the elliptical machine for about 22 minutes before I felt I might (not literally) pass out from the heat. The gym was open air and had no air moving in it. About this time, I saw my dad walk past on the beach, so I easily talked him into walking another 20 minutes with me.
We met both sets of parents for breakfast and then took a van down to the Uprising where the tour was to depart from. We arrived much earlier than we needed to, so Andy, my sister and I attempted to start copying our pictures over to Anna’s MacBook to not only share the pictures with her but also to back them up as we are not very trusting in the little PC we brought with us as it has already blue screened once. The network was too slow so we decided to do the transfer after the island tour with my little USB stick.
We boarded the boat around 9 AM and drove probably 30 minutes to Yanuca Island, which we had only seen from the distance but not visited. On the way there, we saw yet another small island that reminded me of the deserted island always pictured in the Far Side cartoons, consisting of only white sand a few palm trees. The day was clear which yielded views of even more islands far off in the distance.
When we arrived at our destination, we were all in awe of the beauty of the place. It was basically a white sandy beach with a bunch of lush green trees and palm trees in the backdrop. Looking down into the water off of the beach, you could see some coral and fish. The area houses a very small American surf resort but it felt more or less deserted to us. Perhaps the guests were out surfing on the reef that was located fairly close by.
I immediately occupied what I dubbed the pregnant lady hammock. It was a hammock similar to those I have seen at Art in the Park where you can comfortably sit upright. It was awesome and I spent almost the entire morning reading in it. Some people walked down the beach and beach combed while others also slept or read in hammocks. At some point, Derik asked the “guides” (who really didn’t do much but drive the boat and cook/serve us lunch) if there was snorkel gear. They found two masks and each couple took a turn looking at the fish swimming near the small chunks of coral on the shallow ocean floor. It was Vicky and Dave’s first time snorkeling and they were absolutely amazed. In all honesty, the snorkeling wasn’t very good at all, but it was still fun to do. If I were in a state to do more adventurous things, we would be seeking out the really good snorkeling and scuba diving here in Fiji. This area is world renowned for their reefs so it is unfortunate that we cannot do more snorkeling or scuba diving. There is a “shark dive” that a lot of guests at the Uprising have done that sounds phenomenal. I watched a video on it and maybe it is just because I know I am not going to do it this trip that I feel brave enough to do it, but I do think I would like to do it. I encouraged Andy to do the dive but he has not been able to clear one of his ears so I think is not going to be able to do it this trip either.
Around noon, the “guides” said lunch was ready and we served ourselves some bbq’d lamb and chicken along with salad and coleslaw. The guides had forgot utensils and napkins so we all looked like savages as we ate our meal. Soon after lunch we piled back on the boat and headed back to the Uprising.
Andy, Anna and I spent the afternoon transferring pictures, uploading a few to facebook, etc. Both sets of parents went back to the Pearl and then returned later for dinner. We ended the evening with wedding cake which was quite tasty and to my dad’s delight, chocolate!
Day Seven Fiji:
We debated about going on a Fijian cultural experience trip today but ultimately none of us wanted to go badly enough that it actually happened. It is hard to do the cultural experience when the weather is so nice and it is your last full day in paradise for quite awhile. Anna and Derik are planning to jet ski and play on the beach today. Andy and my dad were going to go down and join them. I opted to stay back at the Pearl as I do find it to be a more comfortable environment especially for pregnant ladies. I went for a short walk before deeming it too hot to continue and now I am finishing catching up on the blog before joining my mom by the pool. Soon I will either order a banana smoothie or cappuccino to sip while I hopefully finish Three Cups of Tea. I am not looking forward to the long haul back to the states tomorrow but it will be comforting to know that I am in a place that if little Belén decides she wants to come early, the medical facilities exist to allow that to happen safely for her. She has become quite active on this trip and it has been fun to know that she is here with us even if just in my belly. Anna even dubbed her the flower girl in her wedding. She definitely has a lot of people anxious to meet her but for her own good, I am hoping not for 12 more weeks!
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Andy returned from tubing behind a jet ski with a ruptured eardrum. Apparently it was at the very end of his ride after he had asked them to go faster numerous times, that he wiped out and hit the right side of his head first. He keeps making comments like “talk into my good ear because I cannot hear you” and unfortunately I don’t think he is kidding. The ear is draining a lot of blood and fluid. Poor guy. Hopefully the plane ride home is not too painful for him. We spent the rest of the day by the ocean reading and hanging out. I am digging my latest book, Payment in Blood by Elizabeth George, which has a lot of the same characters as her first book, A Great Deliverance, which I read earlier in the year at a friend’s recommendation.
Day Eight (Final Day) Fiji:
Our last day in Fiji was not dissimilar to many of our other relaxing days. I went for a morning walk, laid in the love shack with Andy and read my book. A cruise ship had docked in the nearby town of Suva where many of the passengers had disembarked to come on an excursion to our hotel for lunch and walking on the beach. We found ourselves protective of the place as it felt strange to share it with so many other random guests.
Later in the day we packed and prepared for our return trip and said good bye to the staff who we had become friends with, especially Sereana.
The trip home was long, of course, but relatively uneventful. At 6 PM, we all shared the Uprising van for the three-hour drive to Nadi and learned a lot more about the culture and daily lives of native Fijians from the driver. It was fascinating that he seemed to know almost every person on the road (both walkers on the side of the street and cars) and he spent time warning other cars about where the cops were located using hand signals. He is a rugby player for the Uprising resort so we heard a lot about rubgy as well.
At the airport, we tried to get emergency exit row seats on the upper deck of the plane but they said they were all taken. Supposedly Andy and I got the last two seats together in the upper deck but then once we were on the plane there were multiple seats open upstairs including the entire right side of the front row. We moved up to that row since our assigned seats were the middle and aisle. The front row was quite comfortable as I could put my feat up against the wall to elevate my legs AND we were the closest seats to the bathrooms! Score! I was actually glad that business class had been full as these seats turned out to be nearly as good at much less cost. The middle seat for ten hours would not have been fun though.
All in all, it was an amazing trip that we feel so grateful to have been on. For my health and the baby’s health I am very happy to be home and now we will start preparing ourselves for the remaining twelve weeks of pregnancy, birth and for having a new baby!
Belén grew a lot during the trip and was quite active. I think that all three of my belly’s growth spurts have been when we were on vacation, in Aruba, over Christmas and now Fiji.
I had my 28 week check up the morning after we returned from Fiji. It went well and my belly measured at 28 centimeters and the baby’s heart rate is in the 140 range. I had to drink a glucose drink and then have my blood drawn so hopefully the results of that test checking for diabetes is negative. I also had to take a RhoGAM shot since my blood type is negative. The shot apparently is a medical treatment that has nearly eliminated the risk of jaundice, hypotonia and motormental retardation from Rh incompatibility between mother and fetus. My sore arm is definitely worth the benefits of the shot.
As I type this, Andy is assembling the last piece of furniture for the nursery, a dresser/changing table. I will be posting pictures of the nursery and cleaned up/edited versions of the amazing photos Andy took in Fiji as soon as they are available. For now, I have created a Fiji album with some raw photos that are definitely not Andy’s best from the trip. They will give you a pretty good idea of how beautiful it was there though.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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