May 2

I will not rave about the food again.  I have decided today to cut down what I am eating.  I had a smaller breakfast and ate only half my lunch.  I intend to eat only half my dinner.  I can not, however, resist the desserts. 

We got up at about 8:00 this morning which is really late for Scott and quite late for me.  We read our scriptures out on the veranda, got dressed and at a leisurely breakfast. 

After breakfast Matt came along to see what we were going to do for the day--his job is to set up whatever we need for the day--and after we told him we wanted to see the other part of the island we got into a conversation which lead to a tour of the resort grounds.  The resort grows all its own fruit (lime, kumquat, lemon, mandarin orange, mango, avocado, pawpaw[papaya], herbs, spices, and vegetables many of which are part of the landscaping.  Ric and Do actually have a farm down the street and into the forest where they are growing not only vegetables and fruits, but have a tree farm which grows hardwood trees which are hard to get any more in Fiji.  It seems that Ric and Do's sons have all married Fijians (no surprise) and Ric and Do realize that when their sons die their grandchildren need a way to provide for themselves that does not require too much work or business acumen hence the tree farm.

Here are a few pictures of what we saw on the grounds.

Matt's Passion Fruit Arbor

Bananas in the Resort Yard

           

These are not quite ripe black peppers.

Medicinal Plant

Orchids
The greenery on this dead tree are orchids.

After lunch Tomasi was waiting to drive us to the end of the pavement going away from Bouma towards Somosomo.

This is the  Wairiki Mission

The Wairiki Mission was built in 1906 as thanks to a French priest who helped the Taveuni Fijians

Inside the Mission

defeat Tongans who were trying
to take over Fiji.  In fact, the Tongans
had been victorious in other battles
on other islands, but this defeat sent them
back to Tonga and saved Fiji for Fijians

Stations of the Cross

Looking Out the Door of the Mission
The hanging rope is the pull for the church bells

From the mission we went to the 180 longitude line that runs through Taveuni.  You can see the line in the map on the April 30th blog.  It is the 180 meridian where the day starts.  On the east side of the line is yesterday and on the west side is today.

Scott with one foot in
today and one in yesterday.

Tough to have a close companionship when Scott is
standing in Wednesday May 1st and
I am standing in Thursday May 2nd.

If you squint, you can see the 180 Meridan in relation
to the islands of Fiji.

Just as they do with time zones, when the meridian separates a country the line is moved so all the country is on the same day.

Taveuni's Hospital

Waitavala Waterslide

The Waitavala Waterslide is really a serious of short waterfalls.  It is called a waterslide because
brave, or stupid people get in at the top and let the water carry them down.

Another Part of Waitavala Waterslide

More of the Waterslide

                      

                             Me with Tomasi at the 180 Meridian

   

Tomasi at the Pump in Somosomo                               

We had interesting conversations with a couple from Switzerland who have a home outside of Brisbane, Australia where they live for four to six weeks every three months.  They are here on Taveuni to relax.  Huh?  We also learned tonight about an around the world airplane ticket from Ian and Robin who are from Sydney.  They come to Taveuni to dive and have been here six or seven times.  They tell us that it is cheaper for Australians to purchase an around the world ticket from One World or Star Alliance than it is to fly up and back.  This conversation is giving Scott all kinds of ideas.
                                                                          
I said I was not talking about food anymore, but I have to.  This morning I ordered Creamy Chicken over noodles while Scott ordered Basil Fish over noodles.  We are getting smarter.  We each choose one of the entrees and then we share.  Tonight when our meals came the noodles were homemade.  I was in absolute heaven. It reminded me of home when my mother made homemade noodles.  Nothing in the store can equal a homemade noodle.   I ate my whole meal. (no self control here)  Fabulous!!!