| There was a five week trip down-under, to the land of kangaroos and koala bears, where Ibis meet you at your car and cockatoos are always looking for a hand out. |
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| This is the land where tour buses and airplanes meet on a 100 mile long beach. |
| Where aborigines dance for you to the sound of didgeridoos. |
| Then there was New Zealand where sheep blocked our way south. |
| Where fierce Maoris tried to scare us and ended up rubbing our noses, |
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| This was the land where Sharon got rammed and Jay got fleeced. |
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And then there was our special trip to Fiji. It was our 25th wedding anniversary. We wanted to go to Tahiti, but our travel agent suggested that for a bit more airfare and a lot less money for lodging and food we would have more fun in Fiji. We stayed two nights at a nice resort and then boarded one of the Blue Lagoon cruise ships. |
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| The four day cruise took us to the Yasawa Islands where we snorkeled, explored an underwater cave, had a picnic on shore and were entertained at night by local villagers. |
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| Aboard the ship we learned about the Kava ceremony. Kava is a drink made from the yagona root. It is not alcoholic but has a tingly numbing effect on the tongue. Some claim it can become addictive. One evening, while the crew sang songs, Jay was invited to partake. |
| Just when Sharon took this first picture, Jay was told, "No, dear friend. First: to accept the bowl of kava, you clap your hands two times. Then always use both hands to offer and to accept. Drink the kava in one gulp and slam the empty bowl down on the ground. Your smile is just fine". |
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| The sunsets were always fun and gorgeous. We listened to the sound of drum beats and conch shell as the torches were lit. |
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| We watched a group of men from the island of Bega perform the fire-walk ceremony. |
| Drums would sound as they chanted and in slow rhythmic moves build a large fire on top of a series of large boulders. After quite a while and when the fire had almost burnt out, the stones were exposed. They were glowing hot, no doubt. |
| While the drums continued first slow then fast and loud, some of the men would slowly walk with bare feet across the hot boulders. They were almost in a trance and did not seem to notice the scorching heat. |
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| Sunday was our last day and, quite appropriately, the hotel staff sang beautiful hymns for our departure. |
