This is another day that should be repeated by popular demand. Because of the date line, we are supposed to land in Los Angeles before we have left Fiji! I am writing this in Nadi airport, where I have been able to post all the pictures missing from previous blogs. So if you only read the text, now you can go back and look at the pictures!
We had a later checkout from the hotel, at 11 am, so that gave me time to go to the hat weaving demonstration. While I was waiting, I took some photos of the gardens. You can see it has been raining again!
Fijians have told me that this beautiful tree with the red blossom is what New Zealanders call the Christmas tree, because it always flowers at Christmas.
Hat weaving starts with... you've guessed it, a palm frond. The head is measured, and a piece of palm of the required length is cut from one side of the frond. Both ends are notched, and the piece of frond is bent into a circle and the notched bits are tied with a bit of palm fibre.
Then, you start weaving those long leaves to make the brim.
At that point, I had to leave to check out, so I never did find out how the crown was started, but no extra bits were added.
Those remaining long bits are eventually plaited into a band
I have been completely fascinated by all the things this lady can make quickly out of palm fronds. I'm not sure I would ever have the patience to learn to make such things, but it does remind me of the skills that we have probably had in the past and long forgotten, to make simple useful things out of the natural materials that surround us.
After the hat making, Paul and I went down to the south beach for a last swim.
The water is so clear, and beautifully cool - it has been a particularly hot and sticky day, so it was wonderful to lie in the water - I didn't swim. I just lay and watched the fish. There were some tiny transparent ones, some larger brownish ones with a yellow flash, and bigger multiple-coloured ones with neon flashes on their backs. We didn't really want to get out of the water, but lunch time and the 1.30 boat approached, so we got out reluctantly and showered and changed. We only had time for a very quick lunch. While we waited for the boat, we looked at the baby turtles.
I didn't get time to read about why they are being kept, but as turtles are an endangered species, I presume it was for conservation rather than cuisine.
We had our last look at the lovely south beach as we walked out onto the jetty.
There was even a farewell party - or a welcome party for those who were just arriving on the boat
The trip was much sunnier than our last one, and we really enjoyed passing between all the little islands. There are so many bright green islands, set in the blue sea and surrounded by a fringe of white sand that I am starting to sound like a travel brochure. They are unbelievably beautiful though.
This a Castaways Resort. It's another one where you go ashore and return in a tender
I'm really glad I didn't have to do that!
All too soon, we were back in Denarau Marina, finding our luggage and then in the bus to the airport. On the way, we did manage to photograph the thatched Bula Bus
It was taken through the windscreen of the bus on which we were travelling, so it isn't that great a photo, but it shows the bus reasonably well. Denarau, as I think I said before, is a resort for the rich. It has a very smart golf course
Our bus driver said the houses cost millions, and were well beyond the reach of ordinary people such as he. The whole of Denarau is a man made island, made from an area of mangrove swamp
This is the channel between it and the mainland. You can see the mangrove swamp on the left of the picture. It is all very low, only a few feet above sea level, so I guess it will be threatened by an rise in sea levels, not to mention bad storms.
Now we are back at the airport for hours, until the plane leaves at 10.50 tonight.
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