January 7

Spent the day on one of the many day cruises out of Denerau Island.  The one we did with Suzanne did not appeal to Kristin as she struggles with sea sickness and the last two hours of that cruise is just going from island to island dropping off and picking up guests and natives.  Many of the little islands from which one can choose were closed because of Cyclone Evan.  

We chose one that did not keep us on a moving boat for long.  We chose the one that went to         Island.  It was discounted $50F and when we got there we could see why.  The island had been really damaged by Cyclone Evan.  Siding made from woven mats had been ripped off, the trees looked really hammered, and the snorkeling was not so great.  Snorkeling, kayaking, feeding fish, watching the feeding of baby turtles were all included in our cruise as was lunch.  We had a lovely, relaxing time.

The hour ride back to Denerau was so choppy it made me nervous and Kristin sick.  We dropped Kristin and Paul off at the hotel to shower and rest while we raced the 30 minutes to a video shop in Lautoka.  We had been told by several senior couples that this was the best video shop in all of Fiji.

They have all their videos catalogued.  We had a list of 25 DVDs we wanted.  We ended up with 33 some we had not seen.  The lady in the shop told us that if we would get them the name of a movie and who starred in it, she would get it for us.  Of course, all of these DVDs are pirated.  We figure that we will need 45 clean movies to show before we go home if we show one a week except for conference weekend.  

Took Kristin and Paul to the airport at 9:30 for their 10:55 flight. When they checked in the agent told us that they did not have seats together. Kristin asked how that could be as they had made seat reservations three months ago when they had bought their tickets. The agent explained that seats were assigned when one showed up at the airport before the flight. Kristin asked if that was the case why Fiji Air allowed her to make seat reservations. He had no answer except, "Sorry if you wanted to sit together you should have been here three hours prior to your flight time. Kristin was livid, but only her mother could tell. She asked to have then seated together and the agent told her that the flight was full--sorry. I was surprised when she did not press him.  As we walked them to customs she state that she would 'discuss' the problem with the gate agent. I feel a little sorry for the gate agent. Never mess with a pregnant lawyer! Kristin will be kind; she is always kind, but when she uses her legal mind and her great ability to communicate you might as well give in immediately because you will find yourself giving in.

We hugged and kissed them good-bye.  What a blessing it has been to have them here.

All the way to the van and for most of the evening I prayed that they would be able to sit together.  Ten hours sitting between two strangers is not fun.