Day 2 - it's all included

This is a family resort, but they do their best to include everyone (every meal is serenaded in traditional Fijian song and singing). Dinner for kids is from 5:30-6:30 and very appropriate for the ages. The kids club opens from 6:30-9 so adults can go eat while the kids play. For the first time ever we convinced the boys to try it out so Jeff and I got to have a nice dinner alone by the beach.

They boys were introduced to an area of the beach where many hermit crabs are (crab central station!). All the kids got to catch some and then they had races with them on the sand! After that they played games on a lit tennis court until we came back. As much as they wanted to bring the hermit crabs home, we assured them customs officers would not look highly on it, and neither would the airplane staff if they got out.

We all managed a great night sleep with the help of some Melatonin and woke up ready for another full day. In spite of being a different day here, we are only 4 hours earlier than Calgary and finding that quite easy for our bodies to manage.

Breakfast is a buffet and the eating area is out on the beach looking at what seems to be paradise. Completely clear and calm ocean with the dive boats moored 30 ft out and more islands in the distance. The air is already warm so no need to wear sweaters. We spent the day at the pool and on the beach again. Kyle loves snorkeling and was out for about 3 hours in total today. Jeff was taking him out in the reef that extends about 300 meters out from the beach and about 1/2 way around the island. It is only 5ft deep at most, with sandy spots to stand up, and the coral reaching up to about 1ft from the surface in places. The coral is not as colorful as all the fish but pretty good for an area there are so many people and fins that knock the more fragile types over. Some is flat and red, some bumpy and red, and others thin and spikey. The new growth is violet purple on the tips of the spikes and in the deeper areas it all grows up like a forest in big clumps. We saw big parrot fish today and more fish of all colors. Our little shark was very curious with Jeff and Kyle again, obviously used to people. They saw some other huge fish but we have no idea what it was. I went out snorkeling for a bit today and it really is incredible not to have to take a boat somewhere to see all that. The water must have been almost 90 degrees, very warm to the touch, near the shore and it does cool off further out but bath water is still the best description.

While playing on the beach a huge praying mantas fell out of the tree right by them. Having only seen one in the Kung Fu Panda movies it was really big in real life!

Thomas loves to play in the sand. Mostly covering himself up, digging and building castles. So much so that he managed to exfoliate all the sunscreen off his legs without us noticing yesterday, until is was too late. So he and I spent the day in the shade and he was very good about it. Thankfully the pool has a huge shade over it so we still had almost the entire day of pool time. Kyle ears and neck are getting red from all the snorkel time so he is on mandatory hat time. Oh the joys of having 'pasty white northern children' on a sunny, tropical holiday!

Thomas took me to see the hermit crab site today and we sat and watched them for a while. You can pick them up but must be careful because they can reach their pinchers out and get your fingers!

As Jeff and I were getting in the water for our snorkel time we thought we hear goats bleating. Then we thought it must be birds and as we looked closer at the hill side down came two little goats! Not sure if they are wild or what but rather unexpected.

Anything we need here, we just go and get it. Unlike Mexico where many things are an extra charge, everything is included here. Jeff borrowed fins and went to take them back and the man said to keep them until we check out. They have great quality kids fins in all sizes so the boys got a pair each and I think set speed records doing laps of the pool for an hour. There are kayaks and paddle boards which are popular in the morning when the water is really calm. They have a kids dive time in the pool where they get to try a tank and breathing with a regulator - going to sign the boys up before we go. We were diving for our little pool rockets and attracted all the kids so shared them around to 4 families, became the 'in' family and met everyone today. Then Jeff had all the kids hiding their eyes while he threw them and creating races. This is a popular destination for Aussies, only a 3-4 hour flight. There is a family from Norway here as part of a 10 week vacation and some other American families.