Where Are Ron and Ellen?
New Zealand (Ron and Ellen), Fiji (Ron), 5 January - 9 March 2015
Ellen and Ron near Milford Sound, NZ, January 2015
Fiji
26 February 2015
Afton, Virginia, USADear family and friends,
When I sent the last message on 13 February, my downstairs heat was not working and I was expecting someone to come that day to figure out and solve the problem. Well, here it is, 13 days later, and for the first time since 12 February I have heat in the downstairs part of the house. It's been a long saga involving multiple diagnostic trips by the HVAC people, trying to figure out what parts to order, ordering of parts - all interspersed with three snowstorms and record-breaking cold. As of an hour ago, the installers had put in the new parts, but the system is operating in emergency mode (i.e. using electric heat) until the HVAC electrician comes to make sure everything is wired into the geothermal system correctly. The installers thought they had it wired correctly, but wanted to make sure - didn't want to switch it to geothermal and have it burn out more parts. They'd tried to call the electrical guy, but were hampered by the lack of cell phone coverage at our house. But the indoor temperature is slowly rising and is above 60F for the first time in two weeks. I am grateful!
Ron has apparently figured out at least some of his technology, since I've had no massive complaints about it lately.
I haven't heard where he is heading next - in theory today would have been his last day on Leleuvia Island - but it sounds like a wonderful place and it wouldn't surprise me if he stayed longer.
Love to all,
Ellen
23 February 2015
Leleuvia Island, FijiHello, my dear,
After my first visit to the Island of Mana Lagoon, I decided to see the cities of the main island and quickly learned that my normal way of wandering around in strange countries did not work in the island culture of Fiji. The tourist are here to visit the beaches where the resorts and backpacker hostels are located.
My instincts about buses and mini-vans were correct, and it was easy to catch a bus to Lautoka and then take a mini-van to Ba and no problem finding the hotel I had read about. However, the hotel was under new ownership and under construction/renovation, as I learned by reading the large sign giving me the name and phone number of Mr. Edwards who turned out to no longer be with the company. But there were some interesting conversations with some others who all agreed there was no place to stay in Ba and recommended I should go to the resort area of Tauav Bay or Lautoka. Knowing nothing about Tauav Bay I opted to return to Lautoka for the night.
Lautoka was a pleasant beach town, and I saw a lot of it as I walked around checking out the sleeping options. Found a hotel that was ok, seemed safe, in my budget range - but was full. They directed me to another a couple of blocks away that was fine.
In Lautoka people were friendly and I felt safe wandering around. Found something to eat, wandered through the main market, checked out a couple of parks, walked up the main street and the fancy area with the large resort along the beach. In the evening there was a little more activity and I met more of the local people to chat with, but not many tourists except some volunteers.
After my experiences in Nadi and Lautoka, I thought I was ready for the capital city Suva, and since the next day was Sat Feb 14 and people were making a big fuss about Valentine's Day, I decided to go on to Suva the next morning.
Places to stay were quite full, but I found a plain single room with just a fan and bed, clean and freshly painted with a shared bath, in Central Hotel up the hill from the bus station. In the process I learned a lot about my options and the next day moved further up the hill to a nicer place with apartment-like rooms with a small kitchen and a patio terrace overlooking the water.
At my age I care for a bět more comfort and privacy and prefer my own room with facilities rather than the dorm rooms provided by most hostels, but traveling alone costs more per person compared to when I am with Ellen. So far, with the exception of the Island I have found rooms for between $US25 - 45, all with AC, fans, TV and usually an icebox, and would have been for two people. Of the 6 different places you would have found 2 acceptable and one passable.
Suva was packed for Sat and Valentine's Day, and while I had read about Suva being dangerous, it seemed very safe to me and I had only pleasant experiences. The main street seemed to wind around about a block from the water and most of the places of interest were on this street. At one end is the bus station and at the other end is the Pacific Resort Hotel which is very beautiful and fancy. On a couple of occasions I went into the lobby in the air conditioning to read the Fiji Times. Their pool overlooking the water was also very beautiful.
The heat was unbearable in Suva. Over 90F. I would leave the AC in the room set to 80F and come back to the room and enter the room that felt like an icebox, relative to the outside. Impossible to sit on the balcony. When I went through the local museum, most was not air conditioned except the shop and office which you had to go through to reach the other exhibits. When I would pass through it felt like passing through a freezer.
There was a very large park across from the Pacific Resort Hotel and I enjoyed watching rugby, (while in Suva, Fiji beat New Zealand in Las Vegas, something like a match leading up to the Final Four elsewhere, which was a big event in Suva), wickets, basketball, tennis, and some other sports. I enjoyed watching sports I don't normally see and meeting people who try to explain the rules to me.
On several occasions I have watched TV when they are broadcasting the sessions of their Congress. It appeared to me to be similar to the English House of Commons. Lots of humor mixed with the politics. It seemed that for several years they have not been able to meet their target of 1 million visitors and were stuck around 750K. There was a report of a delegation that made a special trip to India to promote Fiji to the high end tourists who spend $3K per week. These must be the people who book the Pacific Resort Hotel and the Island resorts that are quite expensive (to me and maybe you).
It was my lucky day to have met three university students. They kept saying USB and I kept thinking about computer ports and wires. Then I realized it was USP, the University of the South Pacific. I asked one of them where I should go and was told about Leleuvia Island. So I googled it and liked what I read. I didn't want to make another choice on my own in any case and the choices are endless.
My next place, Leleuvia Island, was a bit different. Cost including meals was $US114 on weekdays and $US132 weekends, including meals, snorkeling equipment, kayaks, paddle boards, and an endless supply of cold drinking water. It was a nice compromise between a fancy resort and a laid back backpacker's place. Beautiful island, wonderful food, bungalows right on the beach with a wonderful breeze to stay cool and lots of friendly staff. The shared bath facilities are clean and ample. The dining area serves as the social gathering area during the day and evening.
It is a small island and I have walked across it through the "jungle" and around it on the beach, snorkeled, and tried the paddle boards which was an experience. I had watched a young couple take two of the paddle boards out and just glide across the water with ease looking at the fish through the clear water. However when I tried it a couple of days later, the wind had risen and the glass surface had turned to rolling and when I stood up I toppled over into the water - several times.
The water is perfectly clear and it is like swimming in an aquarium with all the multi-colored small fish.
The food has been really ample and wonderful, different each day, and the weekends have buffet spreads that I have really enjoyed, probably adding back the few pounds I had lost in the previous couple of weeks.
Of course for me the interesting people I have met makes the place perfect and I will stay for a week total. The bures (bungalows) and facilities were only built about three years ago and they don't market to the young vacationers and backpackers by giving commissions to the people who sell reservations, although they have dorm rooms. The result is the place is very uncrowded, and one day there were only 4 of us. The people who come here have some local connection to know about the place. On the weekend people come from Suva. There have been volunteers from some of the local islands taking some vacation time, some long-term travelers who found out about the place (an American who has been traveling for 6.5 years, a guy from Chile who has traveled for three years), expats who work in Fiji, Europeans who work in the South Pacific. Perfect environment for me.
In the upstairs over the office and kitchen they have built an art museum. I had not paid much attention to it until one day I was talking to an interesting looking guy who turns out to be the artist, who encouraged the manager of the island to open it up. He got several other artists to participate, and things are shown here before they are shown in Suva. A lot of his work is done with paint he has made from mud. He explained how he found, prepared, and used the mud to paint his pictures. I will post one of the pictures. [Note from Ellen - no picture received]
The manager also turns out to be very interesting and has a very different business sense. He has started and sold some of his other businesses.
Where will I go next? Wish I knew. I have several different recommendations and I may take one or something different.
Love and miss you,
Ron
Back to the New Zealand-Fiji index
cfw.com
Questions? Send email to Ellen, ebouton 
Last updated: 27 February 2015
