Fiji Trip – The final post

Me at Nadi Airport.

And now, finally, is the last post in my series about my trip to Fiji. I planned on doing this last week, but life got in the way. It’s not the first time that’s happened, of course, and it certainly won’t be the last. On the positive side, the delay gave me time to fix the typos in the parts of this series I’d already published.

The day we left went reasonably well, all things considered. I say that because the rental cars we had weren’t great, and the replacement one was smaller than the original. So three of our group took a taxi to the airport, and I went in the care they would’ve gone in, something that gave me the entire back seat. The other four went in the car I had been in on the trip to the resort and on our little trips. What this meant in practice was that we were all more comfortable—less squashed—than we were on the trip to the resort.

We got to the airport in Nadi with plenty of time. I went inside with the sister-in-law I’d travelled to Auckland with so we could check our suitcases. The selfie up top is shortly after I was inside the terminal.

Our flying chariot awaits.

When we went through security, I took my devices out of my bag, of course, but I also put all my leftover Fiji coins in the tray and took off my belt, too, something that I didn’t do in Auckland. It worked: I didn’t have to go through full body scanner (aka “the porn scan”) or get a pat down. In fact, it was the fastest I’ve ever gone through security ever since “security theatre” began at airports in 2001.

We went to the gate area and had a quick lunch (I had Burger King, for the record). I bought some snacks for the plane (rather than buying anything on board), and basically waited and waited and waited. Boarding finally started, and we headed toward the plane.

In Auckland, we had to take a bus to the plane and walk up steps. In Nadi, it was a normal boarding through a skybridge. Much more civilised. I found my seat, and just as in Auckland, the screen in front of me said hello to me—here’s the evidence, along with my on board selfie:

The flight was uneventful, and we ended up landing roughly on time, despite waiting around 20 minutes after boarding to be cleared for take-off. Once in Auckland, I had to go through the “something to declare” line in customs because of the artwork the family had given me: The hook looked like it might be made from a seashell, it had a line woven from natural fibres, and it was in a wooden frame. The agent cleared me without even inspecting it.

It was a loooooooooong walk to my sister-in-law’s car (the carpark area is being totally reworked, and the complaints about it have piled so hight that planes have to fly around the stack. Sort of.

When we were on the road and close to Hamilton, I texted my cousin-in-law who’d offered to bring Leo to my house, and shortly after that we found out the motorway was closed (it’s being re-built for around the hundredth time since it opened a decade or so ago (slight exaggeration, but it has been worked on many times, allegedly because they cut too many corners when it was first built on the swampy land, and constant repairs have been necessary). By the time we found that out, my cousin-in-law was already on her way.

We needed to take a detour, and at first neither of us knew where we’d ended up—but then we reached a roundabout and I knew exactly how to get to my house from there, something that’s still a pretty unusual thing for me in Hamilton. My cousin-in-law was already at my house when we finally got there.

My sister-in-law left for home, and I rushed inside and turned on the air conditioners. My cousin-in-law and I visited for awhile, with Leo sitting right up against her on the sofa. He eventually forgave me (I shared a photo of him and me from that night in a post a few days after I got home).

In each of my posts in this series, I’ve talked about some of my impressions relating to the things I saw and did on the days I was talking about in the post. Some of what I said, like about the omnipresence of overt Christianity and religiosity in Suva, was actually true about what I saw elsewhere, too. I also saw what we’d consider poverty everywhere: The traditional lodge-style thatched homes had nearly all been replaced by simple frame houses that can be seen in any New Zealand town, but with one difference: In Fiji, they often had no doors nor glass in the window openings. Instead, the windows might have wooden louvres, or maybe just some sort of sheer net-like fabric, a bit like window screens in curtain form.

Every village along the road had speed bumps in them to slow down traffic, but those same speed bumps were sometimes in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. In general, the roads we took were pretty well maintained, with some exceptions here and there.

The road from Nadi to the resort often reminded me of New Zealand, with similar vegetation. However, the road from the resort to Suva was more what I expected Fiji to look like: Lots of palm trees of various species, and other tropical plants.

The people I dealt with were all polite and friendly, and they really do say “Bula!” when you enter a shop or whatever. I’d seen that in tourism commercials, but I didn’t know if it was real—it is (it essentially translates as “hello” or “welcome”).

Cash was still used a lot—something I’m not used to anymore—but EFTPOS (debit cards not on a credit card network) were harder to use. The resort had fairly decent wifi (I installed a VPN on my devices right before I left Hamilton so I could use their wifi safely), but there was no television, and I know Fiji has TV broadcasts. Some TVs in the resort were “smart TVs”, so they could stream Netflix (I don’t have an account), and some rooms had DVD players with a selection that could be borrowed, though some of our group tried that and found that many DVDs wouldn’t play. I never even turned the TV in my room on.

Once I was on the road to Auckland, I felt better than I’d felt in weeks, because I was beyond the stress and anxiety of my preparations to leave, especially having to leave Leo in someone else’s care for so long. Apart from the rocky “pre-trip” time, I enjoyed the experience, and had a good time with our group.

Having said all that, I have no desire to go back to Fiji, nor to go to any other tropical south Pacific island nation. They’re all different, and absolutely are not all the same, but this trip taught me that I don’t cope well with heat combined with high humidity. Also, I learned a long time ago (when Nigel and I lived in Paeroa) that I’m a city boy at heart, and a short time in a remote area is fun, but if it was too long, I’d get over it pretty fast.

The length of our trip was perfect: The day we left I was absolutely ready to go home, and looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, a decent warm shower, and, most of all, seeing Leo. I think even one more day could well have been too long for my liking.

I don’t know how many more opportunities to travel I’ll have in the years ahead, nor whether they’d be solo or a group trip (though I doubt I’d be willing to go on a long trip by myself). I know that, as I said only once at the very start, the trip would’ve been more fun for me if Nigel had been there. I was well aware that my last overseas trip was when he and I went to Australia’s state of Queensland in 2017, and my last trip away anywhere was to Queenstown in the South Island back in November of 2020. It turned out that it was good for me to get away: I didn’t realise how much I needed a complete break until I was on one.

Now, though, it’s time to push on with everyday life again.

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

Fiji Trip, Part Five

This is the penultimate post in this series, so I’ll soon have to find new things to blog about. Such a burden! Today’s post is all about Monday, January 22, our last full day in Fiji. The next morning we left to return home.

When I posted about this on my Facebook, I wrote:

Last full day in Fiji! Tomorrow morning we leave the resort to head to the airport in Nadi (pronounced “Nandy”, and rhymes with “Brandy”, the one who’s apparently a fine girl who’d make a good wife for someone whose life isn’t the sea, unless pop music lied to me? 🤔).

I was in a good mood, and it’s obvious (to me…) because of my lame joke about a 1972 pop song—a song that, by the way, went to Number 10 in Australia, Number One in Canada, 5 in New Zealand, and in the USA it was Number One on both the Billboard “Hot 100” and on Cashbox and was certified Gold. Hm, this just become a crossover post…

We had nothing planned for that day—apart from relaxing and packing for our trip home. The only thing we did was go up to a shop nine minutes drive from the resort because it sells souvenirs, clothing, and artisans’ work, etc. (and it's where my birthday gift came from, the one I showed in the photo in my ”Travelling gratitude” post. I bought a couple t-shirts. During the afternoon downpour, I just relaxed in my room where it was cooler and far less humid.

The rain meant that new photos were out of the question, so I shared a few I’d taken earlier that day and a couple from other days. I’m doing that with this post, too.

First up, a collage of photos I actually took on January 22, just before we headed to the shop that morning (before the rain). The larger photo at the top is looking toward the plants that separated the service road where the resort (and others) were accessed. There was a wall separating the service road from the busier road that connected Nadi and Suva. The photos were all taken just outside the front gateway.

From our first full day, January 19, when I was on a beach walk near the resort. 

This was on the beach, right by the resort. The back of this sign can be seen on the second and third photos in Part One (link below).

These plants were growing near a parking area next the building my room was in. I think the green fruit is bread fruit. I took this January 19, too.

This photo was actually a rejected birthday selfie. I addeed on my Facebook, "With both me and the flowers behind me, I was concerned there was too much beauty in one photo—is what I might say if the real reason wasn’t that I didn’t like the black strap of my bag being in the shot (somehow I didn’t notice when I took it).

Nevertheless, the flowers are pretty (pity about that wanker standing in front of them…). They’re growing against that same wall along the service road…"

• • • • •

That's actually it for photos I took of my trip. The final post in this series will include a couple travelling photos, but mainly it'll have my final reflections on my trip.

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

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 412 is now available

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 412, “Returning to normal mode”, is now available from the podcast website. There, you can listen, download or subscribe to the podcast episode, along with any other episode.

The five most recent episodes of the podcast are listed on the sidebar on the right side of this blog.

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

Fiji Trip, Part Three

Saturday, January 20 was our tourist day. We were only in Fiji for four full days (and parts of two others), so there really wasn’t much time to go sightseeing, not when there was photography, snorkelling, kayaking, and swimming to do—or just relaxing. Nevertheless, on Saturday we decided to drive to Suva, the capital of Fiji, on the southeastern part of Viti Levu, the main island. It was a two hour drive from the resort.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t initially all that enthused, first, because it was a long drive there and back, but also because plenty of people had told me that it was kind of run down, poor, and so, not a place to visit. I went anyway.

Suva is the country’s largest city, with around 93,000 people, and I thought it was fascinating! While it has things in common with large cities throughout the world, it’s also very different. The central business district was extremely busy, with heavy traffic—more so than some much bigger cities I’ve been in. Even so, it was easy to walk around.

Suva was also filled with mainly Fijian people, and we were clearly in the minority. It was actually the first time in my life I’ve been in a foreign city where I could clearly see I was in the minority, and I loved the new experience (obviously I’ve been in foreign cities and been in the minority, but until that day I couldn’t necessarily see that).

We did a little shopping at a mall called Tappoo, and after that we contemplated a stroll through the open air market pretty much across the road—but the fish smell was overpowering in the heat, and it was crowded, so we drove around a bit instead, especially near the harbour.

These are two decent photos I took in Suva. The tall, oddly shaped building on the photo on the right is the Tappoo mall. The photo on the left is looking in the opposite direction.

After Suva, we headed back, stopping at one supermarket to pick up some things for Sunday night’s dinner. However, it was kind of sparse, so we drove on.

Next stop was a huge supermarket I thought was really interesting, and then had a late lunch in the sort of food hall there. It turns out, the company that owns it (and the first one we went to) is in a dispute with the Fijian government, with all sorts of allegations flying around, including that the company is a religious cult. Such intriguing drama!

I noticed that many of the prices for New Zealand food products were comparable to shops in NZ (after converting currency), but some NZ things were MUCH more expensive. Fiji-made products were usually cheaper than the expensive imported NZ things, and the less expensive NZ products didn’t seem to have any local competition—which is the opposite of what I expected.

One thing I notice about Fiji is the omnipresence of Christian religiosity. The buses in Suva seemed to all have an enormous “JESUS” painted just above the windscreen, and religious slogans on cars were quite common everywhere. Nobody pushed religion at me, but it was definitely everywhere.

On the way back, the skies opened up and we drove through torrential rain. And now we can all say we’ve driven through a tropical rainstorm—another thing checked off the bucket list!

Once we were back at the resort, we rested before heading out to dinner. Fortunately, by the time we were ready to leave, the rains eased up. I shot a silly video of me out on the balcony of my room as the rain poured down (but the thunder wasn’t thundering). I also took this photo, imitating the pretend grumpy look (I wasn't actually grumpy at all):

We decided to go to a local bar/restaurant called “The Tipsy Italian” because they had live music. Several of us had pizza (mine was really nice). It was, technically, “across the road”, but it was a little far to walk, so we drove.

After dinner, it was decided that some of us would have shots of kava, a traditional Fijian drink made from a plant. It’s nonalcoholic and non-intoxicating, but may have a kind of calming, slightly sedative effect.

Traditionally, it’s drunk in a ceremony where everyone drinks from a shared wooden bowl (totally not my scene), and I had been told it tastes like dirty water (which is what it looks like…). What the bar had was a commercial version that tasted of absolutely nothing. It may have been more diluted than usual, for all I know, but in any case, I felt nothing from it.

The deliberately silly photo at the bottom of this post is me contemplating the shot of kava—and that was actually my second, because I forgot to do a selfie for the first. Oops.

The singer was awesome, singing Fijian songs and great covers of English language pop songs (including at least one New Zealand band), which was all the more remarkable because he didn’t really speak English—but he sure could sing it!

We didn’t stay late, and, like usual, I was actually ready for bed fairly early. After all, the next day would be a big day, whether I wanted it or not.

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

Fiji Trip, Part Two

On January 19, the first full day of the Fiji trip, I went and visited the newer building at the resort. These photos are all of the building and from the beach in front, and I’ve captioned each photo.

The new building was built during lockdown, so it’s still quite new. As with the older section, the rooms looked really nice—but if you looked closely, there were things that weren’t exactly perfect. I’ve heard that that in Pacific Island nations it’s common to have buildings built by labourers who aren’t necessarily professional builders, and while that doesn’t mean they got it wrong, it can mean a lack of attention to the finisihing details. Even so, the air conditioning was great—far better than in my room.

I thought that, ignoring finer details, the rooms looked really nice, and so did the pool on the beach side of the building. However, I was told that there were some rough edges in the pool, again indicating the finishing work may have been a bit lacking. Behind the building was a single tennis court, and whenever it rained (every day, in other words…) the surface bubbled up. There was only one time I saw anyone actually use it, and it surprised me: It was for far too hot and humid for me to have even contemplated such a thing.

Having said all of that, the newer building was what many people may think of when they think of a Pacific Island resort, and it really was nice. The older section was nice in its own way, too, and its pool was far more sheltered from the sun than the newer one was.

All in all, it seems to me that it comes down to a matter of personal preference. I liked my room, and the pool area in the older section, but I liked the air conditioning and views at the newer building. Fortunately, for me, I got to experience both.

The newer building as seen from the beach. The blue rectangles either side of the sign are lap pools.

A close up of the end of one of the lap pools.

Looking from the building end toward the sea. That round area in the middle of the pool is seating.

The pool at sunset. It has a soft blue glow at night. This was actually taken January 21.

Back on the beach in front, looking more or less easterly. It's raining at the horizon.

Looking the other way up the beach, back toward the older area. It's raining at that horizon, too.

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

Fiji Trip, Part One

I’ve now been back from Fiji for five full days, which is as long as I was there. This is as good a time as any to blog about the trip. The question I had was, how?

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do one long post, break them up by day, or maybe arrange them thematically. In the end, I decided to do a bit of both, and I’ll include in each one my observations and opinions related to that post.

Today, I begin with the stuff I posted to my personal Facebook on Day 1, the day we arrived in Fiji, January 18, 2024.

I’m, beginning ist as I did on Facebook, namely, by sharing some scenery photos first, even though I took the photos of my room first. As it happens, there’s more to say about my room, anyway.

The resort is located on the Coral Coast, along the southern coast of Viti Levu, Fiji’s main island. It’s on a road almost halfway between Nadi (pronounced “Nandy” and rhymes with “Brandy”) and the capital, Suva. We arrived and departed from Nadi. The beach by the resort faces a lagoon protected by a coral reef—what gives the Coral Coast its name. The waves break on the reef, but the lagoon is calm, even placid and glasslike, depending on the time of day, the tide, and the weather. Folks in our group went snorkelling and kayaking in the lagoon.

The temperatures were pretty warm—around 30-32 degrees (mid 80s F), however, the humidity was at least 90% every day. Some days it was so bad I felt like I couldn't breathe properly. It rained every afternoon, as it tends to do in the tropics. Sometimes the rain was heavy and with lightning and thunder, and other times it was just steady. Whichever we got, it stopped by evening.

The resort has two distinct sections: The older, original part (where my room and some of the others were—half of us, in fact) and the newer building where the other half of us were, and that has its own pool. I’ll talk about the newer section in a different post.

The photo up top is from the beach right by the resort, just down from where the pool in the older section of the resort is. Here are a couple more photos from the same general area:

This is looking the other way from the same area as the photo up to.

The older pool has a covered area, and we had our lunch there twice, which was really nice. The rooms—called “villas” were very similar, as near as I could tell (I only saw two). My room was on the second floor of the main building, where reception and the restaurant were. And my room is a topic in itself.

This is the view from the pool area in the older section. 

My Room

When I first saw my room, I thought it looked pretty nice, and the air conditioner made it feel especially nice. Before I went outside and took the photos above, I took some photos of my room:

The view from the front door toward the balcony.

Looking along the right wall from the door, there's what appears to be a futon-like sofa with a wardrobe beyond it. The fridge and TV (which I never used) is at the back on the left.

The photo at left is looking the other way, including the strange loft-like space above the bed. I put my phone on the selfie stick to find out what was up there: Nothing but some extra flooring for the room. The top of the bed was very high—roughly hip-height from the floor, so my feet dangled when I sat on the edge. I haven't experienced that since I was a little kid.

When I first looked at the bathroom, I thought it was stacked-stone tile work. It was only later that I realised it was a kind of 3D wall panel made to look like that, however, it was very well done and installed and grouted in such a way that it was really convincing. In the photo above, the thing on the floor by the toilet is a door stop, because the door to the bathroom swings into that space.

The bathroom was quite nice, even though I wasn't going to take a bath, nor do I like bowl-type basins. It looked really nice, which I'm sure was the point.

Aesthetics aside, the shower wasn't great. I started thinking of it as my "morning dribble" because the pressure was so low. There also wasn't any hot water, though it was a cool-warm temperature (staff suggested to others that they let the shower run for fifteen minutes to get hot water). I didn't mind the temperature because it cooled me right down before heading out into the high heat/humidity to meet the others for breakfast. Family members who originally had the room right next to mine were moved because their shower sprayed out on all directions. I didn't have that, but the valve to direct water to either the rainshower head or the handheld thing on a hose didn't work: Turning it to the hand-held one left the rain head still going, but at less power. I left it on the rain head all the time.

In the room itself, I noticed things had become a bit neglected. There was laminate flooring in the room, and it had begun to curl at the seams, possibly because of the very high humidity, but it could also have been because of people coming into the room wet from swimming. At any rate, either porcelain tile or else luxury vinyl flooring would've been a better option, in my opinion.

Despite all that, I had no real complaints about the room. I was quite removed from all the others, though, which was fine for sleeping, obviously, but it meant I had no idea if folks were at the pool or whatever. Still, when we selected rooms, we didn't have a feel for the layout of the place, so we had no way of knowing I'd be off in the edge of the resort.

The food in the restaurant was excellent—no complaints at all (well, apart from poached eggs—they were overcooked). Staff were really nice and friendly, and made an effort to learn our names.

We wanted a mostly relaxing holiday, and we got that. The place was nice enough, and even if it needed a bit of attention, we still enjoyed our time there. I could've done with less humidity, though.

Reentering normal days

The sad thing about going away on holiday is all the work we have to do when we return home. There’s washing to be done, maybe some chores to do, and possibly earning the forgiveness of furbabies. I had all of that in the second half of this past week.

We arrived back in New Zealand on Tuesday evening, January 23. My cousin-in-law brought Leo home, which was incredibly helpful, especially since I was tired from the trip. I put the first load of washing on, and sat down to watch some TV—something I hadn’t done for nearly a week. I also, of course, snuggled with Leo. I shared the photo up top on my personal Facebook, adding, “I seem to be (nearly) forgiven…”

The next day, Wednesday, I did more washing, and also went out front to do the edges and mow the grass, something I hoped to do before I left, but I ran out of time. I also continued to pay lots of attention to Leo, and I could tell he was relaxing and readjusting—he spent most of the time sleeping.

On Thursday, I did still more washing and went out back to do the edges and mow. The bank along the side of the property was particularly bad, but I managed to knock the weeds to the ground, making it possible to see the pittosporum I planted this past Spring. Here’s the after photo:

However, none of that went smoothly.

On Wednesday, the line trimmer again stopped feeding line. I opened up the bump head and saw the line had become stuck on one side, as it had before I left on the trip. Back then, I couldn’t feed line the normal way, so the week I left for the trip I wound it manually. Unfortunately, by that time I’d run out of time to mow the lawns before going on my trip.

So, this week I again opened the bump head, pulled the line out (and threw it out, since it had already been trouble), and managed to re-fill it the usual way (not winding it manually with the bump head open). After I finished trimming and mowing out front (and the side yard), I stopped for the day (the trip home the day before was surprisingly exhausting for me).

Thursday morning, I took up the job again, working out in the back of the property. I had to change batteries for the line trimmer (because I was clear-cutting the forest of weeds along the bank along the side of the property). What I didn’t know was that the weed forest had lots of biting bugs in it. I do my yard work wearing jeans to protect my legs from flying debris, and, mostly, so I don’t have to put on sunscreen. The biting bugs decided my pant legs were actually feeding tents. It was an itchy evening.

Ordinarily, mowing in summer is very hot work, but this time it was a bit different. In the days before we left for Fiji, it was around 27 degrees (around 81F) or so at my house, but when I was working outside this week it was at most 22 (around 72F), and the much cooler temperatures made it so much easier! I knew rain was headed to us by the weekend, affected by the tropical cyclone heading toward Queensland in Australia, so I was glad to get it out of the way.

When I was outside working this week, I thought to myself that it was almost chilly compared to Fiji. The temps were around 8-10 degrees Celsius cooler than in Fiji, but the dramatically lower humidity levels is what I think made it feel so mild in comparison. Because of my trip, and my mowing adventures this week, I’ve learned that I can tolerate drier heat much better than heat with high humidity—in fact, I learned that I find it hard to breathe if the humidity gets too high, as it did in Fiji.

My reaction to the weather in Fiji, and being able to directly compare it with milder weather here in Hamilton this week, has proven that, for me, it really isn’t the heat, it’s the humidity. Good to know that in case I have future travels.

There were a few oddities along the way, too. On Thursday, after my mowing adventures, I went up to the supermarket to stock up. In the past, I’d have spent the afternoon relaxing, but I wanted to get the shopping out of the way. Also, every day I did all my hand dishwashing of the stuff I don’t put in the dishwasher (which I ran on Thursday); ordinarily, I get lazy about doing that.

I’m not trying to suggest that the trip has “changed” me, but I do think that doing stuff every single day, and sometimes going places, too, just continued when I got home. Knowing myself as I do, I doubt that’ll last long term, but maybe it’ll last for a little while yet so I can get some jobs done around the house—ideally before the next time I need to mow.

While I was doing that stuff, Leo fully adjusted to being back home: Asking for snacks, jumping in my lap when I sat in my chair, and generally keeping me in his sight—except whenever he decided to take himself to bed. Overall, though, I clearly really am forgiven.

And here I am on the Saturday of a holiday weekend feeling unusually satisfied with how much I got done this week—well, just a bit more that half a week, technically. I’m looking forward to seeing how much I get done next week.

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 411 is now available

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 411, “Island idyll”, is now available from the podcast website. There, you can listen, download or subscribe to the podcast episode, along with any other episode.

The five most recent episodes of the podcast are listed on the sidebar on the right side of this blog.

Travelling gratitude

I’m going to talk about my holiday in Fiji here on my blog, possibly in one long post, or maybe several on specific subjects—dunno yet. I’m still sorting that out. In the meantime, however, I wanted to focus on gratitude, because I have a lot.

First, and most obviously, I’m grateful that I’m privileged enough to have been able to afford the trip at all. Times are tough for so many, and I was keenly aware of that. However, I was also keenly aware that Nigel wasn’t with me, and that my last overseas trip had been with him some six years ago. So, for me, it wasn’t enough to be able to afford to go, a whole lot of stars had to align to get me there—and my whānau worked to put the stars in the correct place (though I worked on it, too, of course).

I always had a policy that I don’t talk in blog posts about the people in my my life by name without their permission, something I started when I began this blog and then continued with my podcast. In addition to wanting to preserve their privacy (after all, they’re not doing public things like I am), I also believe peoples’ stories are theirs to tell, or not, and that’s entirely up to them, not me. I’m not going to break my rule now.

My brother-in-law organised the trip, and from the very beginning encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone, first by convincing me to go, then to get me to try new experiences, like visiting a tropical island in the South Pacific. He knew how hard the trip would be for me, for lots of reasons, but he never told me off or whatever, and just encouraged me to stay the course. He also subtly checked in to see how I was doing, which probably helped both of us keep me on track. I think we all need people in our lives who will gently encourage us forward, and he has always been that for me.

Second, my cousin-in-law looked after Leo while I was away—and brilliantly, too. She’s a dog person herself, and Leo knows her and her two dogs—Leo’s dog cousins—so Leo staying with her was the perfect solution. She knew how really hard it was for me to leave Leo for that long, and for him to spend a night at a kennel (well, “dog resort”, pretty much) with her two. While I was away, she sent me messages updating me, but they were also very subtle reassurances that Leo was fine and happy. She even picked him up and dropped him back home, taking a LOT of stress off me. She’s an awesome person, and everyone in the family knows that. Now you do, too.

My sister-in-law arranged to get us to Auckland for the flight and home again afterward, including booking motel rooms for Wednesday night last week. Going up to Auckland the night before our flight made things so much easier for us both, and less stressful getting to the airport. It was definitely the right choice. She, too, understood that I struggled with going away, and why, and she was kind and supportive. She, too, has always been that for me.

There were ten of us on the trip, and each in their own way was integral to making the trip so much fun. This whānau is close, but we don’t “live in each other’s pockets”, as the saying goes, and we were able to enjoy time together (like breakfast and dinner every day, when all ten of us got together) as well as time to do our own thing. Whether or not we get to have a group trip like this again (none if us knows what the future holds…), I’m grateful for the experiences and memories of this trip.

Even though my mother-in-law wasn’t on the trip, she, too, encouraged me. Her support has always been there, including in the Before Times, so she deserves to be acknowledged, too.

The photo above is me with the family’s birthday gift to me: It’s a framed replica of a traditional Fijian fish hook and line, made in the traditional way. I hung it on my wall Tuesday evening, not long after I got home because it was easy: As soon as I unwrapped it on my birthday I knew where I was going to hang it. Every time I look at it—and it’s right near my chair, so I’ll see it a lot—I’ll think of them all and the lovely trip.

So, I’m grateful for all this, but mostly for my family (including Leo, obviously). Seeing new places, doing new things, making new memories—all of that is incredibly important, but I believe it’s the people in our lives that matter the most. Some people would say I was lucky to be able to afford the trip and to be in good health to go. They’re right, as far as that goes, but they don’t see the whole truth: The greatest luck in my life was meeting Nigel and marrying into this awesome family. Nothing can ever change that.

Beyond all that gratitude is, of course, another reality: I wish Nigel had been there, too—of course! I know that, in a sense, he was. I also know he’d be proud of me for having done this, and for returning to my old mantra that impressed him years ago: Feel the fear and do it anyway. Everyone I talked about in this post, including Nigel, is part of what made it possible for me to overcome all my obstacles and go on holiday in Fiji. And that’s why it was so important to me that I acknowledge my gratitude.

There’s also a bit of trivia about that photo: The shirt I’m wearing is the only one I brought with me that I didn’t wear on the trip. As usual, this is a many-layered story, but it’s one I’m glad to be able to tell.

This is a revised and expanded version of a post I wrote on my personal Facebook.