Barty

This little angle was dropped in our laps one Sunday morning. Born that day she was left in the gutter. We figure her mom was moving her litter and got scared and dropped this little gipper and never came back. Well we phone the spca and they told us to come down with the baby. We did and were told no one was available to take of her and we would have too till Monday. We would have to feed her every 30 minutes and stroke her genitals to make her pee and pooh!!!! Well we put on our big girl panties and hunkered in feeding and peeing Barty every 30 minutes.

Josie and I did it all day and evening and at about 11pm Stan and Chris took over, since they would be up till 4am watching world cup rugby they could take care of Barty during the night. I got up at 6am and started taking care of her with Josie till the spca opened at 10:30am.

I would love to say that this story has a happy ending but it does not. She was too small and the vet felt from his experience that puppies this young never make it past 2 weeks, so we had her put down.

We are very grateful for the time we had with her, and trust that she felt very loved, safe and cared for which is a very foreign concept in Fiji.

In tradition of our street our little girl puppy was given a boys name (the boy dogs have girl names, why I have no idea)

With great honour I share with you:


BARTY

barty

Nananu-i-ra

A group of us (15) decided to take off for the weekend and head to Nananu-I-Ra which is a small island at the very tip of the eastern side of the Viti Levu. Basically you go to Rakiraki and catch a boat to Nananu-I-Ra. We had a great time, I enjoyed reading, painting and hanging out with friends. Most importantly spending some quality time with Stan.

He did give me several scares that weekend. He tipped his kayak and could not get back into shore. He tried to swim himself and the kayak back to the shoreline but the current was way to strong. So he finally let go of the boat and swam to a reef and called for help for 30 minutes. Eventually someone saw him and contacted the resort that one of their guests was in trouble. He happily got rescued, by that time the boat had been swept by the current to the end of the island. The lesson of the story...He won't kayak by himself or if he does he will have a whistle with him!!!

The next day he decided to go for a run and he was gone forever and I was getting concern that he passed out from the heat. He had no water with him and it was very hot. He decided to go off the track and work his way down the slope to follow the shore line it was much more treacherous than he realized. Just as I was going to send out someone to find him he was coming back. I am relieved he is ok but at the same time I want to kill him for scaring me again!!!

Here are some pictures of our adventures....

nananu-i-ra

Open day at USP

Every year USP has open day for high school students and potential students to explore the campus and see what programs are offered. The best part of open day is the show of dancing! Various countries will do their traditional dance, here are just a few pictures of just a few of the countries. The theater arts program also put on plays throughout the day!

open day fiji

HomeStay gallery opening

Josie and I have our dolls and pillows for sale at homestay gallery. This is the galleries grand opening night...

home stay gallery opening

Weekend away

After a week of having to listen to a Methodist Minister yell from 4 till 9 or 10 at night Josie and I had to escape the city on Sunday when we knew it would be an all day affair. I would like to mention that this gathering happened blocks from our houses but it was like he was in our room with a microphone.

On top of this when the methodists did there fund raising there custom is to have turtles. endangered turtles!!!! As a very hard compromise they were allowed 12 turtles to be caught to eat, much to WWF dismay, they felt it was too much. Well guess how many turtles the methodists caught.....84 thats right 84 endangered turtles!!!


Anyways here are a few pictures of the Warrick, our haven from the shouting.

warwic weekend

Happy Birthday to Me

I started my day with Josie giving me a great present a basket from the Solomons filled with very important things like brown rice, strawberries, molasses and more. Then she took me for a hot rock massage which was heaven. Then for a surprise lunch with the girls. In fact the whole day was an amazing surprise!!!!!! The next night Stan arranged for a pizza night with family and friends and more cake! It was a great day, two days!!!

My Birthday

A day of face painting

As a fund raiser for Josie's girls school they had a carnival day and I helped with face painting. At some point however the kids decided that they wanted to create art and that I was there canvas this is what happened....

face painting

There are also shots of carmen our lovely house dog, she is very sweet (she is yawning in that picture) and I am so happy she has found herself a North American caregiver.

ED 281

This is the next level of the class that I took last term, the only difference is we actually get to do art!!!!!

art class ed281

The Playhouse art exhibit

I entered my first art exhibit in Fiji, the ANZ playhouse art exhibit that has been running for years. This is what I entered....

playhouse art exibihion

Treasure Island

Final stop the eastern side to Treasure Island and Nadi

treasure island

Naigani

Well, after a world wind adventure in Beqa we were home for a day (sorry no pictures). We were off again........ to Naigani

naigani

Lawaki Guest House

Next we are off to Lawaki Guest house for the weekend! It was my favorite place on the entire trip. I love the peace and quite, the amazing simple healthy food, fresh made bread, fabulous preserves made from local fruit, and great meals. The the owners are great and willing to go out of there way for dietary needs and requests. They are completely eco-friendly and get what a gift they have, a little piece of heaven. In saying that, it is not for the person that wants the high end experience. Rustic is the best way to describe this accommodation. www.lawakibeachhouse.com

lawaki guest house

Pacific Harbour

We are heading to Pacific Harbour for a few days. We will be staying at the Uprising so we can explore the local area. Spend a day at Pacific Harbour Village shopping for war clubs. Then the next day a river raft up the Navua river to the Nakavu village that was established by John Humphrey Danford and then to waterfalls in the Namosi Highlands. www.discoverfijitours.com

heading to Pacific Harbour

Oceanic Art

Here is some of the art that gets created at the Oceanic Art Centre. This is just a few pictures from the last show that happened. This is where I hang out some of the time and create art.

Oceanic Arts Centre

The exploration of Suva

There was no rest for the wicked and my family was up and ready to explore downtown Suva. We barely scratched the surface of what can be explored in what is known as the Pearl of the Pacific. First Stop the University to see where Stan works and I play .

exploring Suva