November 11

We drove back to Labasa this morning and along the way a big truck shot a rock into the rental car's windshield and we got a huge chip.  In fact, we got one big chip and one little chip.  Yikes!

We stopped as we were going into the city, because we had been told that there was a crematorium just of the main road.  We wanted pictures.

THE CREMATORIUM

If you look, you can see wood stacked under the roof.  What is difficult to see is that it is stacked inside what looks like an upside down table--legs in the air.  The body goes on top of the metal legs we suppose on a wooden blank.  Whoever talked to Scott said that the family keeps vigil until the fire has reduced the body to just ashes--three days.

When we got to the rental agency, I reminded Scott to show them the chip.  Bad idea.  That rock chip cost us $700 Fijian.  According to the agency there is no one in all of Vanua Levu who repairs rock chips; the entire windscreen has to be replaced.  The dealer did give us a discount of $100.  For which neither of us felt very grateful.