Fiji Pt1 - Blue Lagoon Cruise

So, we're doing this a little backwards this time round... we're going back to December/January to reminisce on our amazing holiday in Fiji. This trip was a very significant and memorable moment in time - whilst there is ease in taking a very selfish outlook and conclude that the trip was a special time for Tim and I to say goodbye to the family, it was so immensely larger than that. The journey to Fiji was the perfect mixture of fun, laughter, happy-hour cocktails (hmm, it's possible that this ingredient made up a large portion of our holiday concoction!), but most importantly we all had life-changing encounters with beautiful people. When talking about travelling, the number one reason I give for my overly passionate display towards the topic is that it is a beautiful opportunity to broaden my perspective on life. My world is so very, very tiny and often self-absorbed. Jumping on a plane to any other place in the world, or hoping on bus and chatting with the person next to you, or walking over to your neighbours yard to have a yarn, presents the opportunity to expand my world and consider others. This is what happened in Fiji.

It was such a blessing to have such quality time with the immediate family. We quickly got used to "Fiji time", which meant that there was no real time to go by. Any meal time for the Williams/Harris family is taken very seriously - having seconds is essential and even thirds, if there's only 2 courses. If you're too full for dessert than you're considered an amateur when it comes to the fine art of eating large, eating well! Therefore, needless to say that meal-times were some of the best times, as we were usually the first group at the dining tables and the last to leave. "Big Joe", our Cruise Director, became one of the fam as he as cuddly and smiley as he was tall and padded.

The highlight was easily visiting a Fijian village. It doesn't matter what language people speak, or what colour our skin is, there is so much that can be translated in a smile or gentle hand-shake. Fijian people are just gorgeous. We had a blast dancing with them, trying Kava, trying fresh coconut juice and talking to the children. Krystee is such a natural with the kids and she knew how to show them love with such simple gestures. We all left the village feeling honoured and blessed by these people - and then realised how amazing that is considering they really don't have much at all!!

In the spirit of giving, Tim offered his photography services to a couple who were rededicating their wedding vows. It was such a random scenario - a sparse crowd of 30 strangers on a stunning picturesque beach celebrating a couple who we met 3 days earlier. Yet, we were all in tears and hugging them tightly at the end of the ceremony. Tim, as usual, did an incredible job! You will be able to check out the pics on his blog in the next week or so... www.timwilliamsphotography.blogspot.com 

The four days that we had went so quickly. By the time we were making close friends with our fellow cruisers, we had to say goodbye. Tim and I met a beautiful, generous lady and her daughter who live in Vienna, Austria. She told us we could come and stay whenever we wanted - so watch out for our Austrian Alps Adventure...

Soon to come, Fiji Pt2 - The Radisson Resort

Dubai - A one night stop-over

Dubai - a one night stop-over. A city on a desert. Not just any city. A city with 7 lane roads, twisting sky-scrapers, Tim's dream car offered with the purchase of an apartment, five-story shopping malls (a city within itself), gold spitting ATMs, golden towers adorned with sun-reflecting tiles... ok, so it's massive! We arrived at the airport, really unsure what to expect. Actually, we were definitely expecting 40 degree heat, however the mild 16 degrees gave us a chuckle as Tim was the only one standing in the passport check lines wearing a t-shirt, shorts and "jandals".

Driving from the airport, both of our heads were magnetised to the bottom of the back windows trying to crane our necks to get a view of the buildings that were towering over us. The taxi driver was giving a running commentary of everything, which would have been absolutely fantastic, however I'm pretty sure we were both just smiling and nodding as we really didn't know what he was saying. But we were impressed with the surroundings, regardless.

The one word that sums up the time we had in Dubai is, Random! We were utterly overwhelmed with the hugeness that Dubai was, and were wondering where all the people were to occupy it. We didn't have the chance to do all the touristy things, but we managed to make our way up the Burj Khalifa - the tallest tower in the world, over 828 metres! It was incredible, to say the least. The day was misty and therefore the view wasn't perfect but for a moment I envisioned Simba and Mufasa looking out at the Pridelands, except now SimCity nerds had come and invaded!

We disembarked the giant tower and stepped into the mall to have a looksy... and literally got lost. We couldn't get out, for ages! But when we did, we were enchanted by the amazing water display that was gathering hundreds of people, as Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was booming and enormous water jets were dancing immaculately in time.

After that we walked back to our room... wait stop! I failed to mention before that we got upgraded! We were stoked... until we walked into the 3 bedroom apartment, with a hallway to our bedroom that was long enough and almost tempting enough to practise our 100m sprints. Random and excessive, but a whole lot of fun!