Fiji Trip, Part Four

We’re now up to Sunday, January 21, a rather significant day. It was our penultimate day in Fiji, and it was a quiet one, over all. But that doesn’t mean that nothing happened.

After breakfast that morning, I walked partway down the beach with some of the others, and then they carried on and I went toward the water to take some photos while the tide was out. Unfortunately, I quickly became overheated, so I went back to nearby family members’ room to cool down before heading back to my room. It was still only 30 (86F), but the humidity was astronomical after all the heavy rain the day before. I decided it was best too cool down, then to go back out later to join the others for lunch poolside. The photo up top shows the vew looking eastish, and here’s the view looking back toward the resort:

Both of these photos are showing what’s covered in water at high tide, so, where I wouldn’t normally be walking. The closer I got to the water’s edge, the more “squishy” the sand became. I learned to back off when I sank into the sand “too much” (which really meant more than I was comfortable with—in order to keep my shoes clean).

I walked along the beach to a spot where I could see what I presume is lava, the spot where the sea/lagoon would meet the beach at high tide. As someone who comes from the middle of a continent, and who now lives a long way from the sea, I found this endlessly fascinating.

Be that as it may, I went back to my room to further cool down, and then at lunchtime I headed toward the pool area in the older area to meet the others for lunch. I have to admit, having lunch brought to us poolside was pretty much my idea of luxury (and, as always, it was really nice).

Here’s a photo I took from my seat, where I had my lunch:

The rains moved in, as they did every afternoon, and in a break I returned to my room to relax—and cool down. From time to time, I shot video, not up to the standard of a mediocre YouTuber, but nevertheless documenting what I saw and experienced, even the, um, unusual, including video that I didn’t used for anything whatsoever—though I had great ideas at the time. I looked up at the fan above my bed, over at the view from my bed, all of which was very artsy and all that, but it didn't amount to anything (mainly because editing video is hard in an iPad… or maybe I was too lazy?). All that recording including a view from where I was laying on my bed, looking out toward the balcony and the heavy rain that was falling at the time. Here’s a still from that video:

After that, it was time for my birthday celebration.

My birthday was a good one—low key, as I’d wanted, but spent with family. My brother-in-law made a fabulous dinner for us all, and it was awesome. They even sprung a cake on me (photo at right), much to my surprise. Old graphic arts guy that I am, I was amused by the space between “birth” and “day”. We also had more kava, which went well, I suppose (I only had one—it was, um, okay…). Later on, a Canadian couple staying at the resort joined us, and then some family members went night swimming—and REM was in my ears… [See the official music video on YouTube]. I was back at my room by around 10pm.

And that was the end of my “significant birthday”, and our penultimate day in Fiji. It was a very good day.

Previously:
”Travelling gratitude” – After I was home.
Fiji Trip, Part One
Fiji Trip, Part Two
Fiji Trip, Part Three