A Special Dinner!

We've been down to Christchurch on assignment, and our special friends invited us for Sunday dinner.   We were told that crawfish is a special delicacy.  This was caught by a friend, but if purchased it would cost around $200.  I thought it might taste like lobster, but it didn't!

The Mighty Kauri Tree

The Kauri tree comes from one of the most ancient tree families ever discovered and is found in New Zealand and Australia.  It is the second largest tree in the world.  This one is just a baby at a mere 800 years old.  They can live to be several thousand years old.

Raglan, New Zealand

On another Saturday jaunt, we went to the temple in Hamilton, then drove to the west coast, which has 'wild' water.  Years ago there was a surfing movie called 'The Endless Summer' (so I'm told), where a group of surfers traveled the world chasing the sun and surf, and one of the places they stopped was Raglan.  Around the next bay from this shot we watched some surfers who were satisfied with winter water in Raglan.  It was cloudy and rainy while we were here but at sunset, the clouds parted for just a few minutes allowing the sun to sweep across this landscape.  I've lost track of how many spectacularly beautiful beaches we have seen in three months, and we still have many, many more to see!

Orchids in Fiji

Sunrise in Suva

It rained most of the time we were in Fiji.  One morning, however, I woke up very early and noticed the clouds had cleared so I quickly got dressed and walked to the pool area and took a few photos.

East Indians in Fiji

Over one third of the population of Fiji is made up of East Indians.  Originally they were brought over as indentured laborers to work in the sugar cane fields.  In some places we traveled we saw so many Indians and Indian stores that we could have been in India. 

Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple Nadi

Castaway Island

This is where Tom Hanks shot the movie 'Castaway'.  I can just see it now.....Tom trying his hardest to split open a coconut, or spear a fish to keep from starving to death, and talking to a volleyball because he was so lonely......... then, "cut, it's a wrap", (or whatever movie people say when they've finished a scene).  He then strolls a few yards down the beach to relax at this resort where he probably had lobster and an exotic cocktail for dinner.  And I bet he was enjoying his meal in the company of someone he did not call Wilson!  (Actually I have no idea if the resort was there while he was filming the movie, or if the resort was built because of the movie.)      

Fiji Island Getaway

Our trip to Fiji was totally amazing as far as our missionary activities were concerned. We had assignments and activities scheduled one after the other every day until the last 2 days. On the other hand, our trip to Fiji was totally frustrating for me as far as photography is concerned. We were driven everywhere we went and were always with other people so there was never time for me to stop to take photos, even though there were tons of photo ops.  This means that a good share of the 1430 photos I did take were either shot from a moving car, a moving plane or a moving boat!  This shot, obviously, is from a boat.  The one day we had for sightseeing was overcast and rainy.  For a brief few minutes the sun peeked through and I snapped a few.  This is a small resort island close to Nadi.

The Rest of the Story!

So the last post showed a shot of a beautiful spot outside our motel room in Taveuni, Fiji.  If one looked up,  this is what you'd see.  Yes, those are bats.....BIG bats, now look closely and you'll see lots of them hiding among the leaves.  They are fruit bats.  Ugh!!!!  Look below for another shot.

Fiji Sunrise

From one of the two larger islands we flew in a little plane to the small island of Taveuni.  It was a beautiful place.  This is the sunrise outside our motel.

Fiji's Future

I have turned into such a bad blogger!  I need to say that our missionary work is consuming almost all our waking hours, at least while we were in Fiji a few weeks ago on assignment.  I can't believe we saw and did so much.  As I have time I'll post on Our Kiwi Krossings, but I'll also post some of my favorite photos here.  And my favorite photos are the beautiful children.  Here are a few: