Fiji Trip Report

[revid]

Administrative Note: I have a new LJ email address since Hushmail cancelled my account in my absence: revidLJ at gmail dot com.

It's SOOOOOOO good to be home! I really missed all of you.

We flew into Nadi, Fiji non-stop from LAX, arriving at 5:30 AM local time, and losing a day. (Fiji is 5 hours earlier but one day later than California time.) We (my friend and dive buddy Wendy, Chuck & Angie, who organized the trip, and I) went straight to the very nice Lagoon Resort in Pacific Harbor, Fiji, where we napped and tried to get our body clocks turned around. The following day, we did two shark feeding dives at the aptly named nearby Shark Reef. Saw some bull sharks the size of refrigerators! It was amazing.

The following day we drove to Suva to board the Sere Ni Wai (Fijian for "Cuts Through the Water") aka the Fiji Aggressor III. The van that got us had picked up four of our other friends on the boat from the airport, and the remaining 2 (for a total of 10 people) met us in Suva. We headed out for the 6 hr ride to the first dive sites.

The days on the boat had the same basic pattern: Continental breakfast at 6:30, dive at 7:30, hot breakfast, dive at 10:30, lunch, dive at 1:30, snack, dive at 4:30, dinner, night dive at 7:30, crash, start all over again. I did 49 dives total. The diving was phenomenal with sun blocking-sized swarms of fish, beautiful nudibranchs and other invertabrates, and abundant soft coral. It might be my favorite diving ever.

Our friends went home after the first week, but Wendy and I stayed for a second week. This time there were only 7 people total on the boat. It was very nice. Took the van back to Nadi on Saturday AM, boarded the 747 with 450 of my closest friends at 10PM Saturday, and through the miracle of time zones and date lines, arrived in Los Angeles 10 hours later at 1:20PM Saturday.

Bizarre Random Obsevation: We were in a tiny little supermarket in the tiny little town of Lami, Fiji, and over the speaker playing background music comes that freaking "Clothes Off" song by Gym Class Heros. What the fuck?!

I took a ton of pictures and some video, with which I will be spamming you intermittantly over the next few weeks. Here's a taste of some shark video (I was more afraid of that damn big grouper, named Leroy by the boat crew):

Close-up of a leather coral:


Good Night All!

Comments

[mikeyface.livejournal.com]

WELCOME BACK!!! (Again, lol.) I missed you, doll, but your trip sounds like it was fantastic!!! *HUGS*


Bizarre Random Obsevation: We were in a tiny little supermarket in the tiny little town of Lami, Fiji, and over the speaker playing background music comes that freaking "Clothes Off" song by Gym Class Heros. What the fuck?!


That made me laugh like a crazy person. :)


XOXOXOXOXOXO

[revid.livejournal.com]

LIke I said, it was wonderful, but it's good to be back. I'm glad you enjoyed your trip too!

[mikeyface.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!! :) XOXOXO

[girltufty.livejournal.com]

Really good to see yo back and am glad you had such an amazing trip. LJ is not the same without your posts Mary. Looking forward to more photos.

[seanlily.livejournal.com]

Glad you had a good time, sounds wonderful!
the picture is amazing
How long have you been diving?

[looking-spiffy.livejournal.com]

FACT: That leather coral looks like my cactus, only with more yellow and less green. His name is Mickey. END FACT.

That video is awesome. :D

[my-own-beat-now.livejournal.com]

Looking forward to the cool pictures and videos - so glad you're back, and so glad that you had what sounds like an awesome time. You know it's a good vacation when it seems like the best one ever!

This is a random and probably dorky observation, but it comes from someone who really has never spent any time in the ocean doing much more than bouncing around in the surf - there is a hell of a lotta stuff down there! That video blew me away - I had no idea that the ocean was so crammed with stuff! Sounds dumb I know, but I have this vision of the ocean - being soooooo huge and stuff - as being this big but somewhat.....not exactly empty, but sparse maybe? - open space. While I know there is a gazillion sharks and fish and stuff out there, it always amazes me how dense with life it is. Prejudice of the land-lubber I guess :)

[rainjewel.livejournal.com]

Man, I'm happy you're back!! You are CRAZY to be in the water oh my GOD. *trembles* I'm so glad you had fun though!

[revid.livejournal.com]

Thanks Karen! I have photos galore. It's going to take me forever to get through them, but this way I'll just be pic spamming in dribs and drabs.

[revid.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, there be more sea beasties!

But now I must start planning MY TRIP TO LONDON!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[revid.livejournal.com]

I've been diving on and off since 1985, but I've gotten a lot more dedicated to it in the last 6 or 7 years. I just started taking underwater photos about 3 years ago, which is its own type of fun, as well.

[revid.livejournal.com]

Hahahahaha! Mickey!

I have some video of the current blowing the polyps of a leather coral like grass in a breeze. I'm sure Mickey would be jealous.

[looking-spiffy.livejournal.com]

He would, you know, 'cause all Mickey can do is sit there being a cactus. *tear*

[girltufty.livejournal.com]

I am very in awe of the diving also. I would love to be able to do that. I think I would panic as I am not a very strong swimmer. An ex of mine went for a dive in Malta when we were on hols and he said it something everyone must do once. There is no feeling like it apparently.







What dates are you in the UK and where? Trying to co-ordinate!!

[revid.livejournal.com]

The world down there is amazing in its vastness. I have some videos of just the camera scanning over the tops of the pinnacles, and the colors and the variety of corals and the sheer numbers of fish are just mind-boggling, even to someone who's dived as much as I have.

[revid.livejournal.com]

Seriously, that grouper was scarier than the sharks. Of course, it was all your fault that I was cracking up down there thinking of "I'm a shark...suuuuuck my diiiiiiick!"

[revid.livejournal.com]

Ha! At one point I actually thought of you and your aversion to sea creatures, dear Emily. I wished you could see how cool it really is! :-)

[and-ed.livejournal.com]

"I'm a shark...suuuuuck my diiiiiiick!"

Okay, I really need to hear that story. lol

Awesome pic - will watch the vid tonight.

Again, glad you had such a great time...and so, so glad you're back, man. =)

[revid.livejournal.com]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/133/413317522_118758ef1a_o.jpg

Got to be warped to hang with this crowd man.

[and-ed.livejournal.com]

Well, isn't that delightfully random? =)

Thanks for the link...I do hate to be out of the loop.

[thirdbeatred.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, pretty! Do you ever get scared about all the sharks? Even though I'm sure they're all "whatever" about people hanging out with them by now.

[tasyfa.livejournal.com]

That's some fabulously clear footage, my dear, brava! Diving is one thing I don't think I'll ever do. I'm a bit claustrophobic and even just snorkelling in the pool makes me kinda wiggy and breathless. :-/ Glad you had fun - but glad you're home, too. ♥

[leighrowena.livejournal.com]

Sharks! Mary, SO COOL! That is amazing video. There are sharks, like, RIGHT NEXT TO YOU! I'm totally looking forward to all of your pics and videos because I love that stuff.

So happy that you had fun and that you're home safe and sound!

[revid.livejournal.com]

They really don't frighten me too much. Of course, circumstances are everything, but for the most part, they could not care less about divers...it's much safer than being on the surface actually.

[revid.livejournal.com]

My little point and shoot camera take pretty nice video, amazingly enough.

Diving isn't for everyone, but I love it!


I'm glad to be back...I missed you and your always fascinating thoughts.

[revid.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you've been having fun times too lately! When are you going to be on the left coast?

[leighrowena.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's kind of an insane summer, but I don't really mind. Well, at least not when it's fun stuff. My summer just got really booked up really fast.

And I'm traveling the last week of August and over Labor Day weekend: SF from Aug 27-31, then Seattle from Sept 1-4.