Anzac Day Parade

Things have been very quiet in Sydney the past week or so. That's because T has been in the U.S. visiting his mom and family. And I've been taking advantage of the quiet to get ready for my own trip back in just a couple weeks!

I did go out on Saturday of the weekend, though, to see the Anzac Parade in the CBD. This is a big Anzac Day because it's the 100 year anniversary of a particularly brutal battle for Australian forces in World War I. One thing that I love about Australians is their unwavering commitment to honor their vets. In Martin Place across from my office, there are memorial services often, and it's amazing how many people show up in the rain or early in the mornings for it.

Anzac Day is the biggest memorial event of the year. The city center shut down for the parade. The parade goes on for over an hour, and people line the streets and cheer for the entire time.

I was behind a lot of people, but I could see a little bit - usually when I took a picture holding my phone up high and then looking at it.

There was also some flyovers during the parade, which were pretty cool.

The parade was an amazing tribute to the Aussie spirit of patriotism, and I headed home feeling both the gravity and the celebrative spirit of the day.

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Just hanging out...

On Sunday we decided to go into the CBD, just for fun. T wanted to check out a bookstore his colleague recommended, and I was just happy to be going out and about!

T was also very happy.

Our first stop was the QVB, which is one of my favorite buildings in Sydney. Every time I go there, I am reminded how lovely it is!

There's nothing we can afford to buy in the shops in the QVB, but I love just being in the building and looking around!

The QVB clock

A staircase in the QVB

Then we walked down the street just a bit, heading toward the bookstore. I love being in the CBD because nearly every time I notice something new. This time it was the colored glass panel in this alley.

The bookstore we went to is called Kinokuniya. It's part of a Japanese-based chain. It has lots of typical bookstore sections, and also a lot of Asian texts and art supplies. It's a pretty interesting place for wandering around!

An origami display in the store

View from the children's section

On a whim, we decided to go check out a new chocolate shop that had opened in the city before we went home. On the same whim, we decided we should try the degustation plate. It was lovely and delicious, but we didn't come close to finishing it but did manage to make ourselves feel disgusting!

In a solid sugar coma, we headed home for an afternoon nap!

 

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Final days in Fiji

A lot of our time in Fiji wasn't new or different enough from previous days to document with a lot of pictures. We did do a lot of interesting things on our last day and a half.

One thing we did was to take a walk around the island. Or we tried to at least. About halfway (we think?), we encountered this pretty sizable sea snake. From my vantage point that I'd backed away to, I was guessing he was around three feet long or so.

Toby was pretty excited since he'd wanted to get a good look at one after we'd seen a small one swimming in the water. We'd been told by the people on the island that they were both "harmless and friendly" and also at the same time, more poisonous than a cobra, but their mouths were too small to bite. Just in case this was one with an extra wide mouth, I made us turn around.

But our island walk was still fun and beautiful. We ran into some local goats, who seemed just as surprised to see us as we were them.

And we saw more of the "bones" of the island than you could see at high tide.

We also spent an afternoon with one of "the ladies," as she was called, where she talked us through the way the people in her village use coconuts in their various stages of development. "The boys" on the island (typically in charge of activity equipment and such), seemed pretty happy to hang about, help with the demonstration, and generally cut up as guys who aren't working do!

The demonstration was pretty amazing - in just a couple hours, they had made multiple types of food, baskets, bowls, and roofing from various parts of the tree. It was pretty obvious that using coconuts for things we take for granted and buy at the store is something that's not in the past at all. These people who live in rural areas like Nukubati truly do know and still live off the land - even though major tourist areas are not so far away. It was pretty eye opening.

Other parts of our final time in Fiji included going back out on the water - up until mid-day when we left! We just couldn't help ourselves. =)

Toby's witness protection selfie

And of course we had to do a bit more snorkeling!

 

As you do on vacation, we tried to soak up the memories of our happy vacation on our last night and morning.

Last canapés, last evening swim, and last serving of drink snacks

In the picture above is what might be my favorite food from the trip: grilled coconut slices. On most evenings, we'd go to the main lodge for dinner but sit and look at the local fish guidebook for a while and identify the fish we'd seen that day. (Yes, this was super geeky and my idea, but I'm 80% sure that T enjoyed it too.) The first night that we did this, they served us this little snack platter and I fell in love with the coconut slices. So we came back every night after so I could eat my coconut slices before dinner! Mmmmm!

Goodbye to our bure, the peaceful reading times in the lodge, and the welcoming lodge lights at night

When it was time to leave finally, it felt like we'd been gone from Sydney for a month. It was hard to believe it had only been five days! Just like when we'd arrived, the staff all lined up on the beach, gave us hugs, and sang to us as we got on the boat. I have to admit, I was a little choked up leaving such a beautiful place and people.

Saying goodbye to the couple we left with

They stayed on the beach, singing and waving, until we had almost reached the mainland.

Of course, then it was time to face the adventure that is Fiji aviation! The other couple that left with us was on the same flights back to Sydney (the only one that night), but they somehow didn't make the short connection at the international terminal. We spoke to them as they were trying to organize things at the desk and then said we'd see them on the plane. Unfortunately, they never appeared! We talked about them and worried about them a lot on our flight back and knew it easily could have been us that fell through the cracks. Hopefully they had an adventurous night in Nadi and made it back safely the next day.

At the single checkin counter in Labasa

It's still hard to believe vacation is over and it feels like we are worlds away in Sydney. The happy reality is that we're not, and the peacefulness of Fiji is just a five hour flight away! Til then!

Vanaka vakalevu to my T for planning this trip for me. For us.

P.S. A quick video with some of our GoPro footage is up here:

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Lunch on a sandbank

One of the activities we could do was lunch on a sandbank that is only accessible at low tide. To do this, we just had to tell the staff the day before, pick out what we wanted for lunch, and then show up at the boat at the appointed time. Or in our case, be reading by the beach an hour before so the driver could come find us and say "Sandbank? Let's go!"

It was looking pretty overcast when we headed out. I asked our driver, Willie, if it was going to storm. He's a pretty concise guy, and said "Yes." I was feeling a little alarmed and said "Are we going to be OK?" He just smiled really broadly and said "OK!" Turns out, we were OK on the sandbank - the rain went around us completely, and we just watched the storms roll past us.

The sandbank was about a 15 minute boat ride away. It's actually attached to a tiny little clump of trees that never get covered with the tide. This was a little reassuring, knowing that if some disaster struck, we wouldn't be left to let the tide slowly overtake us!

Our lunch was so fun and a little bit surreal. Willie brought everything we needed out on the boat: a table, chairs, towels, and an umbrella. There's a metal post for the umbrella that's been set up, so as soon as it's out of the water, it's picnic time! And then Willie left us all alone on a sandbank in the ocean.

It was a pretty amazing feeling, being all by ourselves out on this strip of land in the middle of the ocean.

The radio, aka our ticket back to Nukubati

An added bonus to our sandbank lunch was the great snorkeling we could do around the reef that circles the point!

Toby loved the snorkeling so much that every time he got dried off, he couldn't resist the urge to go back in.

And there was also the tiny little island bit to explore too. Willie told us that we might see sea snakes in there, and T was desperate to spot one. Although we never found one, we did see lots of really amazing little creatures just hanging out and waiting for their water to come back.

T also tried to audition for Jellyfish Baywatch and save a giant purple jellyfish that was washed up on the beach. It was too late for that little guy, but a valiant effort by Toby.

We spent the rest of our day back on the main island - paddleboarding, kayaking, swimming, napping, and getting a massage.

Yup, another impossibly great day in Fiji!

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Fun in Fiji: snorkeling, swimming, and sleeping

Our first full day in Nukubati was just as amazing and the night before had made us think it would be. We took advantage of being on vacation and did vacation-y things like sleeping until the birds and sun woke us up, took a nap during the a afternoon rain shower, and ordered fun cocktails from the bar.

The days on Nukubati go like this: you wake up when you want. When you're ready for breakky you can go to the main building and let them know what you'd like to eat. While you're eating breakfast, one of the hosts will show you that day's lunch options, and you decide what and where you'd like to eat - pretty much anywhere on the island is fair game.

Then you can entertain yourself with whatever you'd like until you are ready for lunch. The rest of the day goes like the first, except that the hosts will come find you around 5:30 to deliver champagne and canapés. And then when you're ready, you can make your way to your chosen dinner spot for your evening meal. At any point during the day, saunter up to the bar to find someone to make you a cocktail or pour a drink. Basically, it's about as laid back as you can imagine!

Our first day flowed along pretty naturally: we had a lovely breakky of omelette and tropical fruit. Then we decided to head out for a snorkel off the main landing area. There is a reef that circles the island, so it was prime for snorkeling around at low tide.

We also took out some glass-bottomed open kayaks. They were great for cruising over the coral and checking out the fish and starfish underneath the waves. And we also encountered a sea snake: he swam around us for a while and then dove down once he was tired of our company.

Post-lunch on the island got a little lazy. It was pretty hot and humid, and a storm was rolling in. This made it perfect for sitting on our giant porch. Naps, reading, and watching the weather roll by ensured.

By the time the weather had passed, we were ready to tackle something else. So we headed out on a trail that climbs to the top of the hill on the island. The trail seemed pretty quiet, except for the giant mosquitoes that seemed pretty happy to see us! At the top of the hill, we could look out and see the mainland and a few other islands nearby.

There was just enough time to hike back, grab a cocktail, and go for an evening dip. Then canapés came around and we got cleaned up for dinner.

 

It was amazing how quickly we got good at being relaxed and into vacation mode! I really think we could do this professionally. =)

 

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