Isa Lei, Fiji!

"Isa, Isa you are my only treasure;
Must you leave me, so lonely and foresaken?
As the roses will miss the sun at dawning,
Every moment my heart for you is yearning.
Chorus:
Isa Lei, the purple shadow falling,
Sad the morrow will dawn upon my sorrow;
O, forget not, when you're far away,
Precious moments beside dear Suva.
Isa, Isa, my heart was filled with pleasure,
From the moment I heard your tender greeting;
'Mid the sunshine, we spent the hours together,
Now so swiftly those happy hours are fleeting.
(Chorus)
O'er the ocean your island home is calling,
Happy country where roses bloom in splendour;
O, if I could but journey there beside you,
Then forever my heart would sing in rapture."

....this is the song the locals sing to wish you well, may God bless you and happy returns to Fiji soon! Makes me tear up every time! Their voices are really like angels!

Here's a shot of the sugar cane train! Soooooo long!

Our yummy feast last night!

Taro and his mom on Sapphire Bay's beach! Yay!

Will be fun to look back on these photos in years to come when our villas have multiplied! Sapphire Bay will open three villas hopefully by March 2014! :)

The trip wouldn't be complete without the first mango of the season! Yay! I am fulfilled!!!

Baking With Nonna!

Yesterday we had fun baking scones with Nonna! Almond and date ones - yum!

Here's the Namaka Market, not as big as Lautoka, but still very nice! Fresh fruit & veggies from all the farmers DAILY! Wish they had something this size open everyday for us at home! 

My favorite Fijian flower...frangipani! And what a beautiful smell too!

The bougainvillea is in full bloom everywhere too! So beautiful! And so many colors - pink, purple, white!

Another Day In Paradise!

This mountain is called "The Sleeping Giant" - you can see the profile of his face starting on the right, then his stomach, and to his feet on the left hand side of this picture. Beneath it is a rainforest with a beautiful orchid garden! So close too...only 10 minutes away!

This is a paw-paw (pronounced po-po) tree, otherwise known as papaya. Kyla's new favorite fruit! This is how it grows. It's very healthy for you and she likes to sing, "Paw-Paw makes you poo-poo!" Hahaha!

We had another fun day of swimming at Anchorage Pool, our neighboring resort, next to the Mediterranean Villas where Taro's parents live.

This was a cool action shot! This girl has no fear! Haha!

...and me at sunset. Aahh! I'm so relaxed!

A beautiful hibiscus on our land!

I LOVE this shot! On our way to Denarau Island Marina to go to Tivua Island for a day cruise! 

Tivua Island. Words cannot describe and pictures don't even do it justice! Absolutely breathtaking! We got to travel here on a yacht, swim in the warm ocean with the tropical fish and coral, make sandcastles, play with coconuts, Mommy got a massage on the beach and just soak up the sun! Aaaaahhhhh! THIS is the life!

Happy 3rd Birthday Kyla!

Look at the goodies we found for Kyla's birthday feast?! Mud crabs! Fijian Mud Crabs are the tastiest I've ever had! You make a curry out of it! AMAZING! Funny thing about these crabs, if you buy them on a new moon or close to that time, there will be NO meat inside! Yes, it's true because they change their shell! Luckily, that didn't happen to us! They are still alive when you buy them tied together...they can actually live one week outside of the water I learned too! So overnight, one managed to get out of the rope and walked into the bathroom! My father-in-law, Joe, discovered it in there! Yikes! Hahaha! Lucky it didn't bite him! Had to get the BBQ tongs to put him back! Haha!

Taro enjoyed the crab curry VERY much! Can you tell?! Look at his plate! Geez! Haha!

Kyla was VERY excited to finally open the present from us that we've been carrying around all over the world! Rapunzel! Her favorite! And check out her sticker, "Look out world, I'm 3!" Haha!

So I decided to braid her hair just like Rapunzel...with flowers in it! So pretty!

Look at the beautiful tailored-to-fit Fijian Princess outfit they made for Kyla that Nonno & Nonna gave her! What a model!

Ending the day with a dip in the pool. Aaaahhhhh. Kyla is one happy, lucky, blessed 3 year old!!!

 

Me & My Baby Girl!

Here's me and my baby girl under the beautiful rain tree. I'm so touched that she still wants to match me! I know in a few years that will change so I'm holding onto these precious moments! Aahh...tanned and happy in paradise!

Back home, Kyla named a lizard in our backyard, Lizzy. She thought Lizzy followed us all the way to Fiji (haha), but I told her this is a gecko. She said, "So his name must be Gary." Haha! Gary the Gecko and Lizzy the Lizard - this girl cracks me up! We were watching him catch flies by the light last night. It was pretty entertaining! 

Fun Fiji Experiences!

Nonno & Kyla playing with tinker toys! Fun for all ages ;0)

Here's a beautiful hibiscus we found! Literally bigger than Kyla's face!

Time for a coconut break!

Kyla having fun in MH (the local supermarket) driving her own cart!

It's always a thrill to drive behind a sugar cane truck! They always load these babies to the brim, making them look like they are going to tip over or wack the oncoming traffic! Haha! Gotta love it!

Here's Kyla playing 'security guard' at the  Mediterranean Villas..."Ok, you can pass, Mommy!"

We're On Fiji Time!

Chillaxin' with Daddy in the hammock! 

We went to the Lautoka Agricultural Show today. Here's Nonna & Kyla checking out all of the different kinds of coconuts. Who knew?!

This is a "vesi" plant. I've never seen one before in my eleven years of coming to Fiji. Most Fijian wooden souvenirs are made from this tree. They take the wood and dye it darker by putting it in the mud in the mangrove swamps. Very cool!

We're very excited about the progress of Saphhire Bay! This is the view from one of three villas that we're building for rentals. I'm standing on the patio looking out to what will be a pristine deck with an infinity pool. These will be great additions for the Vuda area and overall tourism in Fiji! Not to mention, an awesome place for our family to stay when we come for vacations! Yay!

My Big Girl!

Look at my big girl! She wrote her name for the first time all by herself! She's not even 3 years old yet! No dots to guide her, no telling her how to make the letters, I wasn't even holding her hand! I'm such a proud Mama! Go Kyla!

...now she's doing it everywhere! Yay!

Now it's time for some sunbathing after all that hard work! ;0)

We also traveled to Suva this week to visit Maurice & Neelashmi and do some shopping! She even showed me how to make pouri (a crunchy Indian tortilla-like-bread) from scratch! So fun!

Bula! Bula!

Aaaaaaahhhhh! Back to our second home in paradise - Fiji! We've never traveled to Fiji to visit Taro's parents at this time of year before, but its absolutely perfect weather! This is our view everyday. Picturesque!

This is Oscar. The newest member of our family :) Only one month old. Sooooo cute! He loves to pat at your feet and chase little bugs! Haha.

We celebrated Maurice's birthday (Taro's other brother) and Fijian Father's Day this weekend together! It was so nice to be together! 

And look what we found just along side of the road...a Mommy horse and her foal happily eating grass. That's how trusting Fiji is. People just bring their animals to eat the grass and move them along in a few hours. Just a rope leash not tied to anything, no fence...just happily roaming :)

Excursion To The Blue Mountains

We decided to sign up for one of those group day trips to Katoomba (about 1/1/2 hrs from downtown Sydney) into the Blue Mountains. They say it's called that because of the oil the eucalyptus leaves release into the air mixes with the dust in the air, creating a blue hue over this fantastic scenery. Our bus driver, Rae, was filled with all sorts of fun facts! She was a hoot, too!

This was the railway we rode to the bottom of the valley floor today and is the worlds steepest at an amazing 52 degrees! Yes, I said 52! We had to lean back so far, we were almost standing us!...this is only the ramp to get on! Reminded me of the Royal Gourge in Colorado, but WAY steeper! In the background, you can see the famous "3 sisters" (3 individual boulders standing tall next to each other).

We then attended an aboriginal show where they did dancing, played the didgeridoo and showed us the tools they use in the outback to survive. Very cool! As you can see, they pulled Taro up for a demonstration of how they fight using their tools! Yikes! Pretty brutal! At least if one is injured, they vow to take care of the other's family for life! They got me up on stage too for a dancing bit!

We then went to a wildlife preserve and got to FEED the kangaroos/wallabies and CUDDLE a koala! Kyla was ecstatic! Who are we kidding?! I was too! This one was just a baby at 11 months old!

This little sweetie was named Austin and is 5 years old. Super duper soft! Couldn't take enough photos! We also saw emus, wombats, tasmanian devils and more! So fun!

Kyla adopted herself into this family from Kuwait. They were so sweet and instant friends! Here they are on Captain Cook Cruise into the harbor at sunset!

Goodnight Sydney! You've been so good to us! Until we meet again! Tomorrow...BULA FIJI!