Bula means Welcome

     We weren't expecting our trip to Fiji to be the highlight of our vacation, but it turned out to be.  Fiji is everything you imagine when you think of South Pacific islands.  Volcanic peaks surrounded by lush vegetation, colourful tropical flowers, white sand beaches and friendly people.

Bula -- welcome! Bev with drummer. The drum is a hollow log.

The pool at night

     We began our visit with a couple of days at the Sofitel Resort on Denarau Island, which is a mostly man-made island full of resorts and fancy vacation homes.

     After that, we boarded the Fiji Princess for a 3-night cruise of the Fiji Islands, specifically the Yasawa island group.  The ship could hold 68 passengers, but there were only 38 on our cruise.  Surprisingly, no Americans! Most of the passengers were from Australia and New Zealand with 4 from Switzerland and, of course, two from Canada, us.

     On the way to our first destination, Modriki Island, we passed numerous islands; some uninhabited, some privately owned and some with resorts.

Modriki Island, seen here, is where the 2009 movie Cast Away starring Tom Hanks was filmed.

Notice the "Help Me" message on the beach made from coconuts

 We all went ashore and some of us did some snorkelling.  The water was as warm as a bath.

Al going for a snorkel. Cruise ship in the background.

 Remember this shot from the movie where Tom Hanks set up a message that could be seen by an aircraft?

Bev in the warm water.

 Sailing off into the sunset, heading for our first night's anchorage.

A lovely sunset.

The crew entertained us with Fijian songs several times during the cruise.  
The Captain often joined in.

The pool would be filled with sea water once the ship was anchored
and needed no additional heating.

One of the many small islands we saw

The Village Chief is the second person in. The cruise director translated for us.

     We visited a Fijian village.  After Fiji was devastated by Tropical Cyclone Evan in December of 2012 (a Category 4) and again by Winston (a Category 5 - the strongest type) in February of 2016, many villages were flooded out and/or buildings destroyed, aid groups rushed in to help.  This particular village receives funds and volunteers from several different sources, including the Vinaka Fiji Trust which was established in 2010 to serve the Yasawa Islands.

Visitors must don a sulu or sarong to avoid offending the locals.  
Women are also expected to avoid exposing their shoulders.

Bev and Al standing in front of the village school.

Bev in costume. We had a lovely Indian dinner and a Bollywood dance contest.
Bev and Al won the contest which was fun. Sorry, no video to accompany this.
The prize was a bottle of wine which we shared to others.

     This is an Indian-style sari.  Bev was getting in character for the Bollywood night festivities.  Fiji has a large East Indian population (about 38%) as a result of its previous status as a British colony (like India was) and therefore indentured labourers were imported from India between 1879 and 1916 to work on the sugar cane plantations.  Of course, once the servant had fulfilled their contract (indenture), the British did not take them back to India without payment, so most stayed.

"Bula" (pronounced "mbula") means "hello" or "welcome" or "cheers" when used as a toast. 
"Vinaka" means "thank you" but when combined, as in "Bula Vinaka" means "a warm hello". 

Our ship, the Fiji Princess.  
It looks larger in this photo than it really is.

The beach where we sat out under umbrellas, snorkeled off shore, played with
various water equipment, enjoyed the beautiful view, and had afternoon tea.
It was nice and relaxing.

The Captain is seated to the right in this photo

Waiting for the Bollywood fashion show on our last night.

Bev tried to catch some fish with a hand line, but only succeeded in
giving treats to several fish until she ran out of bait.
Yes, it is a dress that you wear when fishing.

All these people are looking at the sharks and some were diving down to touch them.

     On our final day, we had the opportunity to "swim with sharks".  This location was a circle of coral, around 4-5 metres deep with several white-tip reef sharks known to frequent.  This type of shark is only about 1 metre in length and is not dangerous to humans.  I was able to dive down and touch one as it swam by.

Bev did not venture into the water this time but rode in a glass-bottom boat.

The Fiji Princess as seen from the stern.

     Travelling in Fiji was a wonderful experience and doing our first small-ship cruise made us realize that this is a much better way to cruise than on the mega-ships.  You get to know the crew and your fellow passengers, there are no lineups, no other cruise ships in the ports or islands we visited and there were no extended "sea days" to cover vast distances.  If we do another cruise in the future, we will almost certainly look for a small ship to do it on.