2 years and counting

Hi Everyone!

I am sitting here on a Sunday night "watching" the Rugby World Cup final between New Zealand and France.  A year ago I didn't even know this competition existed, but here I am - watching the last match (I saw several others too but have to report the US did not do so well, let's just say its not our sport).

Many things have happened since I last wrote, not the least of which that spring has finally come!!!  We have been opening windows almost every day and I think will leave a few open over night (hard to imagine, feels like just yesterday we had the heaters plugged in and roaring).  I have to say though the most exciting thing to happen to us the past few weeks is our 2nd wedding anniversary and the amazing weekend away we had.

Let me start with - how the heck it is already 2 years?  It feels like the wonderful and memorable night that was our wedding was only a short time ago.  For all of you who were there - thank you again for sharing that night and event with us.  For those that were not, I will happily bore you with pictures by the hundreds the next time I see you :-)

On to our trip - the weekend before our anniversary happened to be a long one here in New South Wales (the state where Sydney is located) so we took an extra day off and jetted our way to....FIJI!!!!  Yes, we were lucky enough to find a great and reasonably inexpensive way to spend an unforgettable weekend in that beautiful South Pacific island.

We took off early on Friday morning and had a super easy flight (other than the fact we didn't get to sit together).  It was right in the middle of school holidays as well so there were many, many families on board - which means uneven numbers of people sitting together.  Bill and I figure we were the last ones to check in, so we got the left overs.  Both window seats, just one in front of the other :-p

Once we landed though - it was all couple all the time :-)  The taxi got us to the hotel in under 30 mins and we were on the beach sipping drinks before sunset.  We even had time to jump in the pool for a quick cool down.  The weather was perfect, and very much reminded us of Costa Rica.  In fact the plant life, laid back lifestyle completely reminded Bill of home.  I think he is really looking forward to Christmas.  But I digress.  We enjoyed the sunset (over the water for the first time in a while) and then found dinner.  Because the Westin sits right next to 2 Sheratons, a Radisson, a Wyndham and a Sofitel - there were plenty of restaurants to choose from.  We crashed early on Friday, thanks to our early morning wake up call, and slept great!  Westin beds are the best - and it was a king too!  

Saturday we got up and had some breakfast, then off to the activities hutt to get some kayaks.  We actually haven't paddled since we arrived and I know Bill was super keen.  The weather was perfect - not too hot and the water was warm enough to swim in, so I wasn't complaining.  We ended up tootling around for more than an hour.  Then off to the pool for lunch and drinks.  

The Westin has a private island they will run you out to, which is a bit more "rustic" than the main island - but there are chairs and a bar so all the necessary survival items exist.

We spent the last 2 hours of the afternoon out there - I was reading my book while Bill made friends with one of the island kids.  Such a cutie, maybe 7 or 8, and clearly used to hanging out looking for entertainment.  They played "cricket" (not really, pseudo cricket, but without the proper equipment, its tough to do) and rugby.  I think Bill like the distraction and exercise of chasing after the wayward balls.

Back across the water to shower and find dinner - and we caught the cultural show.  It was pretty cool, fire dancers and the like.  We are geeks about that stuff and try to take it in when we travel.  We loved the ones at Sandals Antigua last year.  Some live music and people watching later - we were off to bed.  

Sunday was a bit unplanned, much to Bill's short lived frustration.  I wanted to talk a walk around all of the properties and on our way we found an activity hut that advertised a day trip out to some other Fijian islands.  Bill was really keen - however it turns out you had to sit through the whole time share presentation, etc which we just didn't have time for.  Instead we headed over to the marina and found a tour company that would take us to Beachcomber (apparently the party island) for a half day adventure.  Perfect we thought (this is where Bill's frustration comes).  The problem was we didn't have enough cash or a credit card to cover both tickets and only had about 30 mins to remedy that issue.  We had walked over from the hotel and that took 20 mins or so, and Bill wasn't keen to do it again at a faster pace.  So he jumped in a taxi while waited at the marina.  He made it back with plenty of time to spare and we even had a chance to walk around the souvenir shops while we waited.

Beachcombers was a lot of fun - though not sure we would go back.  When we planned our weekend trip, we deliberately did not look for a resort on a smaller island - there wouldn't be enough time spent there to make the travel effort worth it.  This half day trip was our compromise and let me tell you, it convinced us that the resort on a small island is the way to go.  What a beautiful place the South Pacific is - the water is perfect color and temperature and you can do any number of water sports to keep busy.  We had a chance to snorkel (after our buffet lunch) and relax on the beach away from all the bustle and it was divine!  We absolutely want to go back and figure we can split the trip into a few days on a small island and a few days on the larger one (Bill wants to see the inland areas).

(note: would you believe we forgot our camera when we went to Beachcombers?  No, really - I am being serious. We looked at each other as we pulled out of the marina and said "did you grab the camera?"  Kind of a bummer)

We were back home for a pub dinner (we went to the sport and racket club) and rugby (Bill has gotten really into this can you tell?) then off to bed.  Monday was a bit sad because we had to pack to leave - but no complaints for us.  We did get to sneak in a little pool time at the Sheraton Fiji (where we would like to stay next time we go). 

We had an amazing time and most certainly feel it was time well spent.   If you guys ever look for a place to really splurge on for an anniversary - we highly recommend Fiji.  Its perfect!!!