the tintle family blog: Fiji (Wananavu Resort)

Wednesday, May 8
We picked up Paul and Amy at 1:00 in the afternoon to begin our adventure to Fiji!
Our flights in the U.S. were from Sioux Falls, to Denver, to Los Angeles.

After flying another 11 hours and 17 minutes and 9,104 km on Fiji Airways we landed at 5:43 am local time on Friday morning! It was already 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit).

After our passports were stamped, we found our taxi driver who would drive us to the resort that we were staying at. We knew it was going to be about a 3 1/2 hour drive to the north side of the Island. It turned out to be a beautiful drive and our driver had a wealth of knowledge about the culture there! He even took us to a local market along the way!

We arrived and we were so excited to have a break from traveling! It felt good to put our bags in our room, take a nap, and eat lunch! The views were spectacular!

The ocean was just steps away from our room.

We enjoyed an afternoon of relaxing and reading in the hammocks right by the ocean!

We found some shells and sand dollars on the beach and went for a walk around the resort.

In the evening we went on a sunset cruise! There was live music and a lively group of people that made it super fun!

After sleeping in and eating a delicious breakfast, we met up with Paul and Amy to take a boat out and go snorkeling! The white sand and the clear blue water was so pretty! There were so many fish swimming in the coral reefs and my favorite were the purple starfish! So picture perfect!

I loved how our hair looked after snorkeling and a boat ride!

The food at the resort was always delicious and the setting couldn't have been any more ideal. We often enjoyed long conversations and enjoyed spending time with friends!

We enjoyed another relaxing afternoon of reading and looking for shells. It was kind of fun to find a crab, and we were thankful that we didn't step on it! We also played cards together.

We found a perfect spot to watch the sunset and then went to eat supper.

Sunday morning was another picture perfect day. This was the view from our deck while we drank a cup of coffee. The only thing we heard was birds chirping. The only thing moving was a light breeze.

The flowers and landscaping were so beautiful.

The window in the shower took a bit to get used to but I'd never seen anything like it before. Thankfully the gecko on the glass was outside!

We met up with Paul and Amy to go on a dolphin watching and snorkeling boat tour from 10:00 to 1:00.

Our experience far exceeded our expectations! There was a group of dolphins swimming and jumping right in front of our boat that was so close we could almost reach out and touch them! We were told it was an area very protected by coral reefs so it was essentially like a dolphin nursery. We watched them for at least a half an hour and it never got old.

Then we found another area to jump out and go snorkeling. Another amazing experience that far exceeded our expectations! There were tons of clear jelly fish that we could reach out and touch! There were thousands of fish! The coral was beautiful! And we spotted a black tipped reef shark! So much fun!

It had been a spectacular day so far but it was also Mother's Day and I was missing our 3 boys. So when they called I was super excited to hear from each of them! After eating lunch we went to a coconut presentation. The workers at the resort were always so friendly and welcoming and we really enjoyed learning from them about Fiji! We also took a walk and ate another delicious supper to round out our last day at the resort.

On Monday morning we woke up early enough to see the sunrise, eat breakfast, pack up and catch a ride to the hotel where we were meeting up with the Dordt students.