Our Suva trip was a lot of fun and a great cultural experience. I forgot to mention that upon entering the city, we drove past a big prison right on the Queen's Road. It was such a dark, foreboding looking place - high, dirty brick walls topped by loops and loops of concertina wire. Everyone commented that just seeing it must be a huge crime deterrent - you certainly wouldn't want to end up there! It was on a prime lot though, so the inmates can say they live right in Suva Harbor!

By the time we got checked into the hotel after our taxi adventure, it was time for linner - the meal that takes care of both lunch and dinner! We had a wonderful seafood meal (including some baby octopus!) at Tiko's Floating Restaurant. It was an old Blue Lagoon cruise ship docked in the harbor right by our hotel. Right out from Tiko's is a group of big ships all rafted together. When we asked why they were all tied together, we were told they had all been impounded for not paying their harbor fees. Several were pretty rusty and we're thinking Suva will never collect from most of them. It struck us as interesting and we're quite sure we'll never see that sort of thing in the middle of San Diego harbor! After our yummy meal, we walked through the downtown area and quickly found the guys weren't as fascinated by all the little shops as us girls (silly boys!!!). We decided we would have to split up the next day to be able to truly enjoy the shopping opportunities to their fullest!

Friday was ALL about shopping! The boys took off to explore the chandlery (boat stuff) and fishing stores while we girls set out to find the Cost-U-Less store we had heard so much about. A $3. taxi ride took us to the place of our dreams - the first CostCo like store we had been in since Mexico! We spent a couple of hours going up and down the aisles over filling our carts. They had several American brand items, but boy, were they pricey! Rosarita refried beans and enchilada sauce, Ghiradelli (sp?) brownie mix with 3 kinds of chocolate chips, and a case of Campbell's chunky clam chowder literally jumped into my cart. So did a big bottle of Purex laundry detergent, Energizer batteries, and a case of Bounty paper towels. I almost cried with joy when I saw a big tower of Ultra Charmin, but then I saw how much it cost and really wanted to cry! No matter how much I have missed that softness, I could not bring myself to pay the lofty price, so settled for some Quilted Northern at about $2. FD a roll. I did, however, splurge $74. FD on 4 giant bottles of Tabasco for Glen! Gotta keep the Captain happy! :) The Cost-U-Less store is awesome - not only do they exist, but they offer free delivery of purchases made by "yachties" right to their boats. That meant we didn't have to lug any of the stuff with us - it was all delivered to us the following Wednesday. Now, that's service! We did take a few things with us for the evening, however - a pack of Reese's peanut butter cups (OH MY!!!), some dry salami, and a couple of bottles of wine. The rest of the afternoon was spent leisurely shopping in all the little shops in downtown Suva. What a pleasure without the guys!!! When we did all meet back up, we found out the boys had visited the Royal Suva Yacht Club and were sorely disappointed. It sounds regal, but turned out to be little more than a dump. They didn't have any luck finding the boat parts needed for either boat and passed on any new fishing equipment, but we heard they had a fabulous lunch - those boys!!! Instead of dinner, we got together for a wine tasting in our hotel room - we had a couch and two big chairs surrounding a cocktail table in addition to a breakfast table and chairs! Jan and I had bought different brands of wine from Cost-U-Less so we could taste them and decide which was best before buying in "bulk!" It also gave us a chance to sample the cheese and salami - what a feast! We went back to Cost-U-Less the next day and filled another cart each!

Our original plan was to leave Suva on Saturday, but once there, we realized there was too much to do and see in 2 days, so we decided to extend another day and night. Besides, we found out it was Dave's 60th birthday and we just couldn't let him spend it on a bus! Our first planned stop for the day was the Fiji Museum. To get there, we walked out of our hotel and across the Ratu Sukuna Park (we were at JJ's in the park!) where a big police rally was being held. From putting together several versions of stories about what was going on, we think the head of the Suva police force wanted to set a good example of morale values by having the police men and women sing and play Christian music. They put on a show that lasted most of the day! (We also heard that he demanded the resignations of anyone on the force who wouldn't sign a statement of dedication to Christianity, but we couldn't confirm that story - it would be a big slap to anyone on the force who might be Hindi or Muslim.) We walked past the Parliament Buildings, the Suva City library (donated by Carnegie), and on to Albert Park where we enjoyed watching some rugby teams in action (amazing how rough those guys play without all the pads and gear of our American footballers!). The museum is located inside of Thurston Gardens, so we strolled through the grounds enjoying all the tropical vegetation. I particularly enjoyed a few orchid plants that were blooming (I've been so disappointed that they don't really grow all over the islands). There is a beautiful, stately clock tower at the entrance to the museum and we all laughed that it was set on island time (it wasn't running!). The museum was wonderful! It was fascinating to see artifacts and read about Fiji's history - everything from outrigger canoes to cannibal forks and everything in between. It was very well laid out and we all enjoyed it more than we expected. They had a display of dresses made out of masi, or tapa cloth. I think I had described tapa back when we were on Fatu Hiva - it is bark from a tree (usually mulberry here) that is beaten until it becomes cloth like, kind of like a very thin felt. Anyhow, it was really interesting to see a traditional Fijian wedding outfit as well as an American gown made out of tapa - beautiful! The internet in the marina was working pretty well for a few days, so I was able to get lots of pictures posted. We hope you will find them as interesting as we do! :)

We spent Saturday afternoon visiting the local markets. The big municipal market is like a lot of little markets specializing in certain wares - fish, fruits/vegetables, flowers, and a flea market. It was so interesting looking through them all and realizing that this is where most of Fiji gets their goods - not at what we call grocery stores. The fish market was especially interesting! There are also a couple of craft markets and we had a lot of fun picking out souvenirs. I bought a kava bowl that I can use for fruit or salad (no kava allowed!), and Glen picked out a gorgeous war club that is ornately carved. Of course, we just had to buy a cannibal fork as well - you know, when in Fiji....!!!! Back at the hotel, we were delighted to get to see a couple in their wedding garb. She was from Australia and wearing a traditional white gown and he was Fijian and wearing a wonderful tapa outfit (see gallery photos!). The day ended with a birthday dinner for Dave at The Bad Dog Cafe - we thought it a very fitting name for our guys! We had been warned not to walk anywhere after dark, but since it was only a couple of blocks away and there were 6 of us, we decided to go ahead and walk back from dinner to the hotel. Along the way, we saw a man being beaten pretty badly (at least there was lots of blood!) - so much for the police chief's good example!

Our overall impression of Suva was quite positive and we are very happy we made the trip. We saw nothing of the "unrest" caused by the ongoing coup, and the peopple were all quite friendly. It was a bit sad to see that the native Fijians and the Indo-Fijians (most whom have been on the island for many-generations) didn't integrate or socialize much. Several times we were told by one group or the other how "bad" the other group was, but it made us wonder how we must look to an outsider in America as to how we "get along" with other nationalities. We were also a bit pestered by tour guides wanting to show us Suva. They were all very pleasant, but after the third one giving us the line "I've just come back from a great trip to California!" we began to be skeptical! They were also all "representatives of the city council" and "weren't looking to be paid." Once they found out we weren't likely to give them any money, buy anything of value at one of their commissioned stores, or pay them for carving our names in a little wooden sword, they just smiled and wished us a good day. The streets were dirty and littered and there were some beggers, but again... what would we say about some areas of New York City or Los Angeles ? We think for a big city in a 3rd world country with a lot of poverty stricken people, they are doing pretty well!

Our bus ride back Sunday morning was pretty non-eventful. It rained most of the way until we hit the west coast - made us realize how lucky we got with nice weather most of the time we were in Suva. We had fun unpacking our new goodies and trying to figure out how we can display them while at the same time make them "heel" safe - thank goodness for double stick tape!