At long last Juliet and I are in Fiji! The trip, originally scheduled in August 2020, was postponed until May 2022, and postponed again until now, thanks to the pandemic. The nation of Fiji is a constellation of 370 islands with a population of just under 900,000, located in the South Pacific, a 10 1/2 hour flight from San Francisco, a 4 hour flight from Sydney Australia. It was first inhabited by Melanesians 3500 years ago. Europeans arrived in the 1600s. Most recently ruled by the British, the country gained independence in 1970.

Specifically, we are on Navini, a beautifully foliated dot of an island, some distance from any other islands. It is so small that it takes only 11 minutes to circumnavigate by foot. The sand is delightfully soft and shoes of any sort are unnecessary. The turquoise ocean is clear and warm. The trade winds at this time of year strong and refreshing. Contrary to reports, there are no mosquitoes!

We go snorkeling off the island jetty. The wind and waves are robust. It is quite hilarious trying to put on my fins. I swim out to the reef and find myself being buffeted by the current requiring vigorous strokes with both arms and legs. This is not exactly the Fijian experience I had anticipated, but at least it’s good exercise!

The weather gets gloomier, darker, and blusterier. The ocean is very rough. Daily boating excursions for snorkeling to other islands are canceled. On the one day we do go out, it takes half an hour to get to the reef and an hour to get back to Navini because of the roller-coaster waves. The reef at that island is not healthy, largely bleached and broken. I’m told Winston, a category 5 cyclone, devastated Fiji in 2016 causing tremendous destruction on land and sea, affecting 40% of its residents.

The day culminates in a colossal downpour in the evening that lasts well into the night and resumes in the morning on our final full day here. However, our last morning brings sunshine and we decide to snorkel the circumference of the island. As compared to the walk, it takes 1 1/2 hours. This photo was my souvenir.