We both woke up early in morning- around 3:30 AM, Fiji time, after going to sleep around 8 PM. Neither of us got up (besides Maria going to the bathroom), and didn’t make any movements to get ready for our day until around 7:30. We boarded a cab an hour later, and set off to begin our snorkeling adventure. There was an older couple from our hotel in the cab, and they seemed very nice, though their presence was overshadowed by that of two boisterous sisters around the age of 50 and their hearing impaired mother. There were some introductions, asking us about our trip and what we were going to do in Australia. The cab stopped in a small neighborhood just short of Nadi, where we had shopped the day before, and we got out and boarded a larger bus, which then took us to the harbor, after passing through a lush golf course and ridiculously unaffordable hotels.
The harbor was the type of shopping experience we had imagined upon embarking on our mission the day before: clean, classy, and not entirely composed of stores only dealing in auto parts.
The harbor was the type of shopping experience we had imagined upon embarking on our mission the day before: clean, classy, and not entirely composed of stores only dealing in auto parts.
...Ross?
We boarded the boat, and set off on an hour-long ride to the island where we would be snorkeling. They advertised morning and afternoon tea, as well as a BBQ lunch. Maria and I were thrilled disappointed that we wouldn't be eating at Chicken Express again.
The Pacific water was chilly, just like it had been across the ocean in California, but the visibility was good and we saw a lot of fish that we had never seen before, including several of the notorious Crown of Thorns Sea Stars happily munching on corals.
WARNING: FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SCIENCE
These sea stars (note to non-marine science friends: Starfish is an incorrect term used to describe these animals. They are not fish) have been causing disturbances on reefs by feeding on coral polyps. Overpopulation of these animals and hunting of their natural predators, tritons, combined with the increasing cases of coral diseases have given them a bad name as the ultimate destroyers of reefs. They are also venomous and produce a nasty neurotoxin, but that's beside the point. They are important to biodiversity of the reefs, but unfortunately the reefs aren't resilient enough to handle everything that is being thrown at it at the moment (disease, global climate change, ocean acidification, deadly and ravenous echinoderms... it's a lot to handle). The guides said they were going to be taking them out of the water to get rid of them (apparently, the day before a girl stepped on one). Maria and I were surprised and somewhat pleased when he mentioned “they didn’t know what impact removing them from the ecosystem is going to have.” Just acknowledging their actions will have an effect impressed us, though they still collected the animals anyway.
Serving us Coconut Scones.
And, just as the woman at the tourist desk advertised, there was free alcohol on board. They asked us to refrain from drinking until after we snorkeled, something about "safety" or what have you, but I don't really remember because I was drunk (kidding!).
Our Private beach.
The Pacific water was chilly, just like it had been across the ocean in California, but the visibility was good and we saw a lot of fish that we had never seen before, including several of the notorious Crown of Thorns Sea Stars happily munching on corals.
WARNING: FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SCIENCE
These sea stars (note to non-marine science friends: Starfish is an incorrect term used to describe these animals. They are not fish) have been causing disturbances on reefs by feeding on coral polyps. Overpopulation of these animals and hunting of their natural predators, tritons, combined with the increasing cases of coral diseases have given them a bad name as the ultimate destroyers of reefs. They are also venomous and produce a nasty neurotoxin, but that's beside the point. They are important to biodiversity of the reefs, but unfortunately the reefs aren't resilient enough to handle everything that is being thrown at it at the moment (disease, global climate change, ocean acidification, deadly and ravenous echinoderms... it's a lot to handle). The guides said they were going to be taking them out of the water to get rid of them (apparently, the day before a girl stepped on one). Maria and I were surprised and somewhat pleased when he mentioned “they didn’t know what impact removing them from the ecosystem is going to have.” Just acknowledging their actions will have an effect impressed us, though they still collected the animals anyway.
Demon. But important to the ecosystem.
We tried to identify as much as we could, but our knowledge of Caribbean fish only allowed us to assume some fish were maybe distantly related to fish that we knew the names of.
The "Pacific Cousin of the Sergeant Major from the Caribbean Only Less Colorful But Still Cute"
Regardless, they were beautiful and fun to photograph, even if we didn’t know all of their names.
As we snorkeled around and took pictures of everything imaginable--something strange happened. First I felt it on my leg--a sharp stinging sensation that quickly faded. I ignored it, but it ended up happening two more times to my hand. When we got out, Kelley said that the same thing had happened to her three times and we joked about how we both thought that we were going to die immediately the first time it happened. (The Pacific has some jellyfish that can severely injure or even kill a human).
Lunch was served, then we went back into the ocean to take more pictures, only this time with our cameras having the proper settings.
I got cold, and went back to lie on the beach and tan. As I lay on the white sand beach, the waves gently lapping at the shore and the sun warming my skin, I listened to the magical sound of an 8-year British old boy sing “Never Say Never” by Justin Bieber while he and his brother played in the surf. Then their sister joined them, and the sounds of their arguing filled the cool Fijian air.
The colors of the reef animals were simply astounding. Never in my life had I seen such magnificent blue or such bright yellow. I was having an incredible time snorkeling around, looking for small details of the reef, and trying my best not to be seen as a predator. I was having such a good time, in fact, that I had completely forgot about the slightly cool water until my body started shaking violently--that was my cue that it was time to get out.
The colors of the reef animals were simply astounding. Never in my life had I seen such magnificent blue or such bright yellow. I was having an incredible time snorkeling around, looking for small details of the reef, and trying my best not to be seen as a predator. I was having such a good time, in fact, that I had completely forgot about the slightly cool water until my body started shaking violently--that was my cue that it was time to get out.
On a beach in Fiji. NBD.
We left the island around 3:30 in the afternoon, and once on board the vessel I promptly got myself a glass of white wine and we sat in the air conditioned deck on the first floor of the boat and we tried to plan out our next stop in Sydney.
Once we boarded the bus to take us back to the hotel, the two sisters were apparently on a sugar-induced high of some sort (they said they didn’t drink), and found great joy in shouting “Bula!” (“hello” in Fiji, pronounced “Boo-lah”) to EVERY SINGLE PERSON we passed. They laughed loudly when their greeting was returned, and harder when the person gave them the finger. They attributed their behavior to having never had kids, so they “had the maturity level of 12 year old boys” (their words, not mine).
Upon our return to the hotel, we checked to see if there was a departure fee for the island that we would have to pay at the airport, and when we learned that wasn’t one, we showered and then went downstairs and splurged on a buffet dinner that included roasted chicken, delicious potatoes, and fried rice with enough cilantro satisfy a Qdoba for a year.
We packed up, and I feebly tried to even out the weight in my bags. We went to bed early again, preparing to get up at 5 AM to get to the airport in time for our 5 hour flight to Sydney.
that triggerfish is beautiful
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