February 14 - Valentines Day on Tivua Island

Today we took a short cruise around Nadi Bay, where we landed on Tivua Island for a day of fun in the sun.  The cruise company that we are using is Captain Cook and it is one the more popular cruise companies in Fiji.  In addition to day cruises, they have several multi-day cruise around some of the more remote islands.

We meet two other couples, who are going to be in our group for the New Zealand cruise.  Trudy and Jay are from Penticton and Mike and Gail are from Vancouver Island.  We had a wonderful day getting to know each other.  It bodes well for the upcoming cruise.

Our boat was a tall ship with four masts.  The crew was very efficient in getting the sails set and we made good speed to the island.  What we found strange was that youngest crew member, a young girl with not much muscle mass, was the hardest working of all the crew.  It seemed that during the entire trip she was either hanging off the boat to attached ropes to the sails or coiling up these massive heavy ropes for future use. 

The senior member of the crew, who goes by the name of Lei, took a shine to our group and went out of his way to ensure that we were comfortable and know where all the activities were.  There was snorkeling, scuba diving, kayaks and canoes.  Unfortunately, due to the oppressive heat, we pasted on the physical activities.






During the trip to the island, the Fijian crew held a welcoming ceremony in which they served Kava. Kava is a mildly narcotic drink made from mixing the powdered root of the pepper plant with water. This results in a numb feeling around the mouth, lips and tongue. My mouth felt like I had just left the dentist chair.  Other than that no other side effects were felt.

We started off by taking glass bottom boat out over the coral reef.  The marine biologist told us the coral is under extreme stress and that is why the colours are not as vibrant as the brochures would have you believe.  The three main causes are the dramatic rise in the water temperature, a category 5 cyclone that hit Fiji a couple of years ago and the oil from sun screens that inhibit the growth of the algae. 

Along the shoreline we were able to see baby sharks.  We were told that the adults inhabit the waters some distance from the island.   The rest of the day was spent in the water and at the open bar.  Lei took us for a walk through the island, and pointed some distant islands where Survivor is shot and a couple of movies have used them in location shots.