An Unexpected South Seas Adventure

Thursday

All that swimming yesterday must have really worn Ro out, because he slept in later than us for the first time in recent memory. We ate a quick breakfast at Nuku, then hopped on the South Sea Cruises charter bus which took us to Port Denarau. After checking in and getting our color-coded wristbands (indicating how long we got to spend at which island), we boarded a large motorized catamaran for the 30 minute cruise to the nearest day trip locale: South Sea Island. All the outdoor seating was taken, so we sat inside at a table with Val, a lady from Auckland, and her two daughters (ages 9 and 6) on the journey. Denarau Island, for all its nice landscaping, picturesque golf links, and posh resorts, can't escape its origins; it's pretty much reclaimed swamp land, so the beaches are no great shakes. You have to go to the Coral Coast on the southern side of Viti Levu for decent snorkeling, or one of the offshore islands.

Ro still snoozing at the start of a gorgeous day

Is that our boat, mommy?

As a smaller boat transferred us from the catamaran to the island, there were about a half-dozen Fijian staff on the shore playing music and singing to us. We stepped onto the pristine white sand and coral beach, and our cares eased away as we took in the beauty of the tiny South Pacific paradise. There were plenty of lounge chairs scattered around the island, a selection of sea kayaks laid out on the sand, a little hut that distributed the snorkeling equipment, a salt-water pool, a buffet line, and most importantly an open bar (which everyone headed straight for). Drinks in hand, we were given a quick orientation to the island, then set free to do whatever we wanted.

Semi-sub off South Sea Island

Bula! Bula! Bula!

We were on the shortest of the tours to the island, the "Finding Nemo" adventure (there were also half-day and full-day packages), so we got priority for boarding the semi-submersible for an underwater view of the lagoon. Sort of like the Finding Nemo Submarines at Disneyland, but a lot more claustrophobic (if that's possible), and with real fish and coral. Sherry got separated from us getting off the transfer boat, and had to scramble over several rows of people to get to us in the semi-submersible. All the kids would ooh and ahh every time we passed a cool coral formation with lots of tropical fish swarming around (the pictures don't do it justice due to the thick glass). Sherry was glad when the ride ended, though, as she was starting to get seasick. Mark did notice a big crack across one of the submerged windows on our way out; probably a good thing we didn't see that on the way in.

http://www.ssc.com.fj/South_Sea_Island.aspx

Inside the semi-submersible


Coral off South Sea Island


Ro more focused on his Sprite than the fish

Heading back to South Sea Island

We hit the pool on our return, as Ro didn't seem to have the hang of snorkeling enough to try it in the ocean. We got to talking with Cam, a psychiatrist from Auckland, who was in Fiji scoping out locations for a small hospital to serve Denarau Island. Most resort guests would probably rather wait till they got home than go to the public hospital in Nadi. He was even thinking about starting a drug rehab clinic, as there were far fewer temptations here for addicts than in the Caribbean. Sherry watched Ro while her stomach settled, and gave Mark the first turn snorkeling in the lagoon. Fiji is known as the soft coral capital of the world for good reason. Simply magnificent! Much better than the view from the sub, Mark suspects all the bigger fish were scared away by the ship's motor. But now Mark was able to see tons of big, colorful fish. Alas, no Nemos, but he did see a few Dorys. Most impressive, though, were the bright royal blue starfish the size of dinner plates!

Gradually easing into the pool

After snorkeling for about 45 minutes, Mark was having a great time and planned to upgrade us to the full-day experience. He figured he'd give Sherry a turn and popped his head out of the water. Just at that moment, he heard a whistle from shore and a shout to get out of the water! The other snorkelers were just as puzzled as he was and speculation abounded. Someone said that a kid had pooped in the ocean; Mark didn't buy that one - fish do it all the time. A shark was Mark's main concern, although he thought it unlikely in the lagoon, but he kept glancing behind him as he snorkeled speedily towards shore. When he finally caught up to a staff member on the beach, the real story elicited a collective "gulp!" in all our throats: a tsunami warning.

Remember that nearby Samoa had just been devastated by a tsunami a week ago. And keep in mind that no point on the tiny island, with the exception of the flimsy buildings and the palm trees, was more than about 5 feet above sea level. The tour director called an emergency gathering underneath the palms for everyone on the island and gave us the lowdown. An 8.4 magnitude earthquake had just struck Vanuatu (the island nation immediately to the west of Fiji) and there was a strong chance a tsunami would be generated. If so, it was predicted to hit Fiji in about 35 minutes. Silence. He continued, telling us that we had the option of leaving the island or taking a chance and staying here. They were diverting a boat that had been carrying guests to resorts on outlying islands to come pick us up. Hopefully, it would be here in 25 minutes. Nothing like cutting things close, eh? Most importantly, the bar would remain open in the meantime. Gotta love the Fijians!

Bad news, everybody!

What followed was an interesting study in human behavior. As we all listened intently to the radio, the adults tried to keep things simple for the kids, relaying concern but not trying to scare them too much. As we armed the children with life jackets and floaties, in what seemed to be the equivalent of "duck and cover" for a nuclear bomb, the strain in everyone's voice was palpable. Sherry just told Ro that a big wave might be coming, and if he found himself floating in the ocean to make for the nearest boat or island. You start to wonder just how fast you can climb a palm tree with a kid on your back. Who are we kidding? They could probably climb one better than us anyway. Mark mused, "as last looks go, this wouldn't be a bad one." If it came to it, we were grabbing one of those sea kayaks and holding on for dear life! The word soon came that the option to stay had been rescinded. A tsunami had, in fact, been generated. Everybody off the island!

Watching intently for a tsunami

Let's get the heck outta here!

Fortunately, the rescue boat arrived just in time. As we boarded the catamaran, we urged Ro to make for the top deck. The last place we wanted to be was trapped inside the cabin of a capsizing vessel; we'll take our chances in the water, thank you very much! Life jackets on, we began the agonizing wait, looking for any bulge on the western horizon or receding of the water around the island. The smaller boats still had to ferry a couple loads of passengers onto the catamaran; we wished they would hurry, as everyone was anxious to get away from the island and into deep water. Ro and a bunch of the other kids were crying, but a crew member came around with a bag of lollies to pacify them. It worked surprisingly well!

Queueing up for salvation

Pulling away from the island

Trying to comfort a scared Ronan

We spent most of our time on the boat talking with another family with kids from Auckland. The down side of sitting on the top deck soon became apparent, as we were baking (or is it broiling?) in the hot sun with no significant wind since the boat was basically sitting still, well away from the island...waiting. Port Denarau had been evacuated; not that we wanted to be there either, but it meant we had nowhere to go. After about 90 minutes, the "all clear" came after only getting a few gentle swells. The crew offered everyone the option of returning to South Sea Island. Yeah, right! Ever hear of aftershocks? Surprisingly, about a third of the passengers took them up on the offer, including the family we'd been talking with. The mother didn't seem too keen on the idea, but got outvoted. Sherry was having none of it, telling Ro, "I'm hot, burned, and seasick. We're going home."

Passing the time while waiting for the "all clear"

A brief stop back at the island

This Fijian civil ensign has seen better days

Sherry with Viti Levu in background

When we got back to the port, all the restaurants were closed, so we hopped on the charter bus back to the Hilton. We stopped by L'Epicier, the hotel deli, to pick up a loaf of bread. Sherry made hot ham & cheese sandwiches and Mark mixed up a couple of stiff tonics to wash them down after our harrowing experience. We watched the BBC news as we ate; the Vanuatu quake was now being called three separate quakes, ranging from 7.1 to 7.8.

Port Denarau Marina

Fixing lunch in our room

As much as we would have liked to just relax, Ro was itching to go to the pool. He and Mark played while Sherry checked out some of the shops. There's an ice cream hut placed strategically near the kids pool, and Sherry surprised us with some Cookies n' Cream on her way back to the pool. Sherry sat and talked on the edge of the kids pool with Kyle, a mom from Sydney (who actually grew up in Chicago), while Ro played with her sons Max (9) and Jackson (7). According to Kyle, the guests at the Hilton were all instructed to go to the 2nd floor of their buildings until the tsunami warning had passed. There aren't enough buses in all of Fiji, let alone Nadi, to quickly evacuate the hundreds of guests at each resort over the narrow two-lane bridge that is the island's only access to Viti Levu, and it's still a fair drive to the hills from there. So, the "evacuation plan" is for everyone on Denarau to stay put and just get as high up as possible! The boys enjoyed horsing around in the pool, wrestling and dunking each other, although the older boys took it a little easier on Ro. Eventually, Mark and their dad joined in and an impromptu game of pool rugby was formed. When Max and Jack complained about Ro breaking the rules, their dad calmly reminded them, "He's American, he passes the ball forward."

Relaxing by the kids pool

"He did it!"

Ro might have bitten off more than he can chew

Fighting for the rugby ball

Around 6pm, we were the only ones left at the pool, so we headed for the room to wash up for dinner. The Bula Bus carried us back to Port Denarau, home of the only Hard Rock Cafe in Oceania. Shortly after we arrived, the waitstaff got up onstage to sing along to the Village People's Y.M.C.A., so of course we had to teach Ro the moves. The atmosphere is even more casual than at Hard Rocks in the States, if that's possible. One of the employees had a birthday, so the rest of the staff put her up on a chair, sang a Fijian birthday song to her, then all of them did shots! Mark was able to pick up a souvenir pilsner glass for his collection, and was pleasantly surprised to find his all-time favorite album cover framed on the wall, Candy-O by The Cars (Sherry vetoed the pic going up on the blog for obvious reasons). Ro was caught up watching the Michael Jackson retrospective on the numerous televisions, mostly because he's familiar with all the songs from riding in Carla's car (she's a big MJ fan). Sherry took a hilarious video of him last week at home, singing Bad to himself while playing with his toys.

Helping out with the evening torch lighting ceremony

Ro liked all the memorabilia on the walls

We were in the mood for some good old-fashioned American-style grease, so Mark got the Fiji Burger (essentially a bacon cheeseburger with a fried egg and pineapple chutney), Sherry the veggie burger, and Ro the cheese pizza. Sherry went to the loo at one point, and came back to find Ro dancing on the bar with the waiters, singing an encore of Y.M.C.A. After dinner, we hit the gift shop for some Hard Rock Fiji t-shirts, figuring they wouldn't be too common back home in North Carolina. With his best puppy-dog eyes, Ro somehow talked us into buying one of those overpriced Teddy Bears; we nicknamed him Bula Bear. Now Bear Bear has a friend! Similar to last night, Ro fell asleep on the Bula Bus, but as he was relatively clean, we carried him to the room and lulled him back to sleep with Cartoon Network. Glad to be safe and sound, we hit the sheets early ourselves, knowing we have to get up early tomorrow for another adventure.

Still trying to figure out the moves


Anxiously awaiting his spoon back


Tuckered out once again

The Pursuit Of Nothingness

Wednesday

Ro was scared last night because he thought he saw a monster in the ocean and was afraid it was going to come through our patio door, or so he said. Even so, letting Ro sleep in our bed probably wasn't the wisest move. We never let him do it at home for a reason: he's got the jimmy-legs [insert your best Michael Richards impersonation]. He turned himself perpendicular between us, prodding Sherry with his feet all night and head-butting Mark. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep after our long travel day, but Ro slept fine and was rarin' to go at 6am. Ughh. By the light of day, it turned out the thing in the water he was scared of was a buoy.

We also discovered that our room, although striking in its design, works much better if you're alone. The partitions separating the portions of the room are sliding translucent glass, so if you turn on the bathroom light, there's no way to block it from illuminating the bedroom. There's also no lock (or even latches for that matter) on the free-swinging toilet or shower doors (also translucent glass) - not the greatest idea with an inquisitive kid. There's also no blackout curtains, only a nearly transparent window blind on the sliding patio doors. Speaking of the window blind, Sherry was in the process of pulling the chain to raise it this morning when the whole apparatus crashed down in her hands. On closer inspection, a plastic part on the other end of the rod must have broken, causing the whole thing to fall off its mounting. We let the housekeeping staff know, hoping they wouldn't think Ro broke it and charge us.

As Mark was shaving and showering, Sherry took a hungry Ro on to breakfast. Mark stepped out of the shower to find them walking back in the room a few minutes later, with Ro soaking wet. To hear Sherry tell the story, Ro ran ahead of her despite her calling out for him to stop. When she rounded the corner, he was on the steps of one of the pools. Unfortunately, the last step was a doozy and he plunged in over his head. He panicked, flailing about as Sherry raced over to drag him out. Only a few other people saw what happened, but Sherry was mortified nonetheless, and brought him back to the room to change clothes.

"This is the pool I drowned in daddy!"

Breakfast at the hotel is served at Nuku. They tried to upsell us to the "full breakfast," but we knew from experience that the continental breakfast would be more than enough. Plenty of cereals, pastries, and fresh fruit to choose from, plus some really tasty yogurt parfaits filled us up easily. On our way back to the room, Ro made sure to scope out which of the 7 (yes, seven) pools he could stand up in, and proceeded to splash around in all three of them. Two were shallow decorative pools around the restaurant, and the other was a 1 meter deep kids pool. He was now petrified of the deep pools, which was probably a useful thing for the time being.

Snaggletooth happily working on a donut

Sherry took Ro down to the kids club for the morning, but she was a little hesitant to leave him there. There were only two girls much younger than he there and the toys looked a little young for him, but Sherry felt a little better when another boy Ro's age showed up so he would have someone to play with. Then we set about doing what it was we came here to do...absolutely nothing! We lounged by the pool, drinking a cuppa; Mark zoned out with his iPod while Sherry read her book. The sky was a little overcast, but that was alright with us since we weren't looking to get burned on our first day.

Relaxing under the palm trees

Eventually, we got a little restless; with a five year-old, we're not used to sitting still for very long. Mark went to go scope out the day trips at the tour desk, and Sherry browsed the hotel stores. She began feeling guilty about leaving Ro at the somewhat lame kids club, especially once she discovered there was another kids club for older kids that seemed to be doing much more interesting things around the resort instead of being cooped up in a daycare-like room. So off we went to pick Ro up early. When we got there, he was sitting in a circle with a bunch of other kids his age, having fun eating watermelon and didn't want to leave. We weren't about to hoof it back to our room (the Hilton is BIG) and back to the kids club again; fortunately the word "pool" was all the persuasion he needed.

Mark and Ro played in the kids pool while Sherry hopped on the Bula Bus to do some grocery shopping in Port Denarau. The open, thatched-roof bus is only $5 for an all-day pass, and it makes a circuit around the island stopping at the port and all the major resorts, coming around about every 15 minutes. The port is the next stop after the Hilton, so getting there took next to no time at all; getting back was another matter. In addition to food, Sherry picked up a sarong for herself as a beach cover-up and a Fiji rugby sevens jersey for Mark (the Fijians are the only two-time winners of the Rugby World Cup Sevens). For those of you Stateside who have never seen rugby sevens, you'll get your chance at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, as the sport was just recently added to the games.

Meanwhile, Mark taught Ro how to do a cannonball into the pool, which he loved. Some other boys showed up soon after, relieving Mark to relax for a bit. Ro also met a little girl who's attention he kept trying to get, not realizing she had speech delay per her grandmother Leigh, a former Emergency Dept volunteer at Tauranga Hospital. Small world, eh? It seemed almost everyone we met around here was from New Zealand, mostly from Auckland. Mark and Leigh tossed the kids around the pool for a while until she got tired, then Mark began tossing them both, much to their delight.

Ro gives chase

Sherry came back with the food, so we coaxed Ro out of the pool and back to the room for lunch. The hot ham and cheese sandwiches Sherry had planned to make with our sandwich press were quickly vetoed when she discovered that the bread she had bought was sweet coconut bread with sultanas in it. It went great with a grilled PB&J, though! We broke out the Sapphire and tonic as Ro went outside to play on the hammock. We soon joined him, relaxing in the lounge chairs on the beach as he played with his Hot Wheels in the sand. The older kids club happened by, looking for crabs on the beach. Their Fijian guide showed them how to find the crabs hanging onto the floating rope marking the swimming area.

A friendly gardener giving Ro a helpful push

It wasn't long before Ro wanted to go back to the pool. Sherry played with him, while Mark went to book our tours. We all enjoyed throwing and chasing after the sinking pool toys Sherry had bought at K-Mart before we left NZ. Ro and Sherry searched under the water for a toy orca for at least 15 minutes, scouring every inch of the huge kids pool, not realizing Mark had stashed it in his togs; then, just as they were about to give up, he surreptitiously dropped it under the water for Ro to triumphantly find. Sherry still doesn't know. Ahh, good times...lol.

Ro picking up Sherry

We played in the pool all afternoon, but as the light dimmed we started getting hungry again. We rinsed off and lounged around the room for a bit, Mark and Ro watching old Tom & Jerry cartoons while Sherry dried her hair. Sherry was going to have a relaxing espresso while she got ready, but couldn't quite figure out the machine and managed to spray espresso EVERYwhere, sacrificing one of our sporadically-replaced bath towels for the cleanup. At least the hotel staff had fixed our window blind while we were gone. The service at the hotel was always very friendly, but prompt was not in their vocabulary. We're on "Fiji time," remember? Much of the female staff seemed to be visibly pregnant, which might account for some of it. Mark speculated that there was actually some sort of cult, while Sherry mused that maybe the Fijians just used crappy condoms, if at all.

Waiting in the open-air lobby for the Bula Bus

We all boarded the Bula Bus to Port Denarau for dinner. First, we stopped by the chemist for some zinc oxide for Ro's increasingly rosy cheeks. There was an adjacent candy store, which took forever to drag Ro out of; somehow the concept that we were just about to eat dinner didn't register. We escaped only having to buy a small bag of gummies, then headed for Indigo, the local Indian restaurant. We found out later that Saffron (same owners) in Nadi was supposedly just as good if not better and cheaper, but in a much dodgier part of town. Indigo was plenty good for our taste, and we enjoyed sitting outside by the water (under a canopy) watching the gentle rainstorm. Mark thought his tiger prawns were delicious but only got full with the help of some cheese naan. Sherry's palak paneer was great, but Ro wasn't too enthused about his buttered chicken (which tasted fine to us), and mostly just ate rice. After dinner, Ro found a frog (like the ones from last night) on the pier and started chasing it around in the rain.

Boarding the Bula Bus

Sherry at Port Denarau

Dinner at Indigo

These frogs were everywhere

We stopped in a souvenir shop at the port, where Mark found an All Blacks rugby jersey for much less than he would have paid in NZ dollars, so he snapped it up after closely inspecting it for any telltale signs of fakery. The ice cream store at the port serves New Zealand Natural Ice Cream (told you there were a lot of Kiwis here), and Ro wasted no time getting a big chocolate waffle cone. We weren't too sure about letting him eat it on the Bula Bus, but the driver didn't say anything. Ro managed to keep most of the drippings on himself, but after he finished he started dozing off. We were afraid he was going to hurt himself tipping over, so we proactively laid him down on the seat. As we dropped all the other other passengers off at their resorts on the way to the Hilton, we saw a large crowd gathered at the Sheraton to watch the fire dancers. They looked pretty cool, but we didn't dare wake Ro up until we were home. Unfortunately, the Hilton gets the fire dancers on Mondays, so we'll just miss them.

A sleepy chocolate mess

Carrying a sticky, chocolate-coated Ronan all the way to the room was out of the question, so we tried to be patient as he drowsily meandered down the path at a glacial pace. Even so, he was still alert enough to always exchange a friendly "Bula!" with passersby. After a much-needed bath, we arranged the rollaway and a chair next to the couch to make one big sleeping platform for him, then told him he could stay up watching Cartoon Network as late as he wanted. Two minutes later, he was sound asleep and we were outside drinking champagne, intently watching a frog hop around our patio, listening to the waves crash on the shore.

Bula!

Tuesday

The weather had turned unseasonably chilly and rainy this past weekend, and with Mark away at work, Sherry was left to peel Ronan off the walls of the apartment by herself. We were in need of a serious Spring Break! Our Air Pacific flight to Nadi today left from Auckland, so we were up early to make the drive to the airport. It would have been nice if Ro slept more on the way up, but he was still in good spirits after the long drive.

We were at the customs kiosk, and Ro pulled himself up on the counter so the agent could confirm his identity. The agent asked him how old he was, and Ro enthusiastically replied, "I'm five," then adds, "I farted...he, he, he!" We were mortified, but the agent kept a straight face and pretended not to hear him. Five seconds later the smell hit all of us and we exclaimed with pained expressions, "Yeah, you did!" at which point the reserved agent absolutely bust a gut laughing.

Sharing each other's rides to maximize their motion time

We had read on the internet that cocktails at the Fijian resorts were pricey, so we stopped by the Duty Free shop to pick up a bottle of Bombay Sapphire to make our own. While waiting for our flight, Mark and Ro sat by the terminal window, watching the planes while Sherry browsed the bookstore for a new James Patterson novel. The airport bar had something on TV Mark hadn't seen in quite a while: American football! Even though it was just a replay of Seahawks vs Colts, it was still a refreshing sight. Mark relaxed and watched the game while Ro played with his Hot Wheels, then found an Indian boy with some cool Lego Star Wars toys to hang out with.

Varooom!

Ro was excited to ride upstairs on the 747. The seatback entertainment systems weren't as fancy as the ones on Air New Zealand, and Ro quickly lost interest when Sherry wouldn't let him watch The Fast And The Furious. The movie selections weren't "on demand," and they all started at the same time, so you pretty much had to know what you wanted to watch ahead of time or you'd be lost. Sherry read her book, while Mark watched the latest Star Trek (again). Ro wasn't too enamored of the inflight meal, but Sherry had brought plenty of snacks in anticipation of that. We had noticed Ro scratching his bum as we boarded, and Sherry took him to the toilet to confirm what she suspected...serious skid marks. He went commando for the rest of the 3.5 hour flight.

After landing in Nadi, we soon became acutely aware of the concept of "Fiji time." From the time we landed, it took nearly an hour for our luggage to show up on the baggage carousel! Gave us plenty of time to pick up some Duty Free champagne, eh? As soon as we got in the taxi, Ro exclaimed, "there's no seat belts!" The cabbie's response, "we don't need them here." Grreeaat. As we were passing a scrap yard, Ro said, "that looks like a dump!" Then he thought for a second and made himself laugh, "That's what my daddy says when he has to poop!" Mortified once again.

Arriving in balmy Fiji

The city of Nadi on Viti Levu (the biggest island in Fiji) wasn't anything to look at. In fact, in many places it could have passed for a third-world country, but as soon as you cross the bridge to Denarau Island the scenery changes abruptly. Carefully manicured lawns, gardens, private villas, and sprawling resorts populate the planned island development. We were duly impressed when we pulled up to the Hilton, the newest resort on the island (parts of it are still under construction). And everyone greets you with a smile and a hearty "Bula!"

http://www.denarau.com/

"Rub my belly," pleads a tired Ro

Once we stepped into our room, Mark knew all those lonely nights he spent at various Hampton Inns while doing locum tenens work were worth it, racking up the Hilton HHonors points we were using to fund this little Spring Break of ours. Even though it was only a one bedroom unit, it was huge. It had a somewhat unorthodox layout, being roughly partitioned into three equal parts. At the back was the enormous bathroom with separate shower and tub, a washer/dryer, and a cleverly concealed clothesline that is technically outside but nearly unnoticeable from outside the building so as not to clutter the scenery. The door to our room opened directly into the bedroom, which was nice but nothing special. The living room/kitchen facing the ocean had a nearly full size fridge (already stocked with Fiji water and milk), a range, and a microwave, but it was the espresso maker that really impressed Sherry. Ro was more captivated by the two big flat-screen TVs (with Cartoon Network, which we don't get at home) and the beach right outside our patio door. We even had our own gas grill outside!

Checking out our hotel room

There was no rollaway as we had requested, but our bellboy Joseph called for it and had one promptly sent down. Although the beach looked tempting, it was already dark outside and we were all famished, so we walked down to Nuku, the main restaurant on the resort. We passed a bunch of kids watching the outdoor movie by the pool (it was a Scooby-Doo cartoon tonight), but we were too hungry to stop. The restaurant was very good, if overpriced. Mark had the lamb curry (which became a bad idea in hindsight around 2am), Sherry played it safe with a chicken Caesar salad (normally only available as room service), and Ro ate from the kids buffet. Ro was too excited to eat and mostly just picked at his food, so we took some rolls for later, knowing he would wake up hungry.

Ro was more interested in slicing up his food than eating it

After dinner, Ro waded and splashed around in one of the shallow pools that borders the restaurant while we watched from a large chaise lounge and finished our drinks. We let him play on the beach before bed as we watched the moon rise over the mountains. Some girls a few doors down from us were hunting frogs with a torch (i.e. flashlight), collecting them in a pen made from chair cushions with the intention of racing them. Ro was captivated by the sight of so many frogs, and we got to talking with the girls' parents, who were there with what looked like their whole extended family. They were from Marlborough (on NZ's South Island), well known for its wines, and from the looks of their empties it looked like they had brought all the wine with them.

Kicking back at last!

Hope those girls set the frogs free eventually

Ro was actually eager to take a bath for a change, mostly so he could play with his new pool toys in the tub. After reading books and winding down, Ro was hesitant to sleep on the rollaway in the living room, even though we were only a few feet away. We reluctantly let him fall asleep in our bed to keep the peace. We watched the replay of Monday Night Football (Yes!) as Brett Favre stuck it to his old team, but hit the hay at halftime knowing Ro would be up bright and early.

Scrub-a-dub-dub!

Ronan Lives Up To His Name

Friday

Ronan tottered into our bedroom early this morning, waking Mark because he wanted to go downstairs to the spa pool and swim again...lol. We've created a monster! Sherry cooked us porridge (with plenty of sultanas and brown sugar) for brekkie, then left for her nail appointment (with a side of coffee and gossip) with Robyn, then took those infernal bulky slides back to the toy library. We finally have our living room back! It took Mark a good 15 minutes of trial and error to wrestle them into the car last night, and Sherry even had trouble figuring how to get them out once she got to the library.

Down at the pool, Ro still favored the spas, only briefly entering the main pool. After much coaxing, he did finally touch bottom in the big pool while hanging onto the railing, but the water still covers his mouth and nose, so he refused to try to swim in it. Sherry brought Subway home for a quick lunch before we all headed off to Baywave for Ro's swimming lessons. The instructor and a couple of the other moms were duly amazed at Ro's progress overnight. He was so taken with the new underwater world he'd discovered, he had trouble paying attention to the teacher!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronan

Ro spent pretty much all day in or under the water

When trying to swim freestyle on the surface, Ro has trouble bringing his legs up and keeps standing up after a few paddles. He actually does a lot better when swimming underwater, such as when retrieving objects off the bottom of the pool or swimming beneath our legs, when he instinctively switches to the breaststroke Mark showed him. Thus, it's understandable why he won't swim in deep water; when he runs out of breath, he hasn't figured out a way to keep himself on top of the water other than standing up. So, we still have to keep a pretty close eye on him, but he's pretty good about avoiding the deeper water.

Still doesn't like being on his back. Note the death grip on the teacher's wrist

After lessons, we paid to stay at Baywave for the rest of the afternoon. The giant wave pool was a big hit with Ro (and all the other kids), who was pretty tentative at first. But, by the end of the day he was in the corner where the waves peak the highest, hanging onto the railing for dear life as the breakers shifted him and the kids around him down the rail a foot or two with each wave.

Our little beached seal

Sweet as!

The gigantic spa pool was thankfully only for people 16 years and older, and Sherry and Mark took a couple turns in it peacefully soaking our aches and pains away. Geez, how old are we getting? Not too old for the hydroslide at least. The big green monster of a slide intimidated Ro at first, who rode down with Mark the first time. The pitch-black tunnel over the first half of it actually even freaked Sherry out a little bit the first time. Ro had a blast and wanted to ride down the second time with Mark as well; a gentle shove on Mark's part ensured he rode down solo, which he wanted to do every time after that - at least until he discovered the novelty of riding down backwards with Sherry. He didn't even balk at going headfirst when Mark suggested it, despite the massive faceful of water you get at the bottom. Fortunately, the line for the slide moved quickly, and we could always watch the college (i.e. high school) water polo matches going on below to pass the time.

Ro and Sherry trying to keep their footing in the breakers

Although we all had loads of fun, after several hours we were DONE, and we could tell Ro was getting tired. Even so, talking him out of the big heated wave pool was no easy task. He promptly fell asleep on the couch after his bath while Sherry prepared dinner, completely tuckered out.

Getting Wet

Thursday

Yesterday we had our first tsunami warning since we've been in NZ. The waves hit Mount Maunganui main beach around 10am. A rescue helicopter flew along the beaches warning people over a loudspeaker. We have tsunami sirens, but they weren't set off because the tsunami wasn't expected to be that big and they didn't want to start a panic. Nonetheless, the beaches were cleared (some of the gung-ho surfers left rather grudgingly), and hundreds of looky-loos climbed Mauao and Mt Drury for a safe view of the impending "disaster." The waves from the Samoan earthquake did hit us, but weren't more than a meter high, the difference barely discernible to the naked eye.

http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/local/news/tsunami-threatens-bay/3904806/

Ro bouncing on the bungee in Bayfair yesterday

Ro's swimming lessons this week at Baywave, the local indoor aquatic center, have been somewhat frustrating. Ever since falling in the pool in Rarotonga, he's been petrified to put his head underwater. Four days into his lessons, and it's still a challenge to get him to stick his face in the water and blow bubbles for more than a second. The friendly ladies teaching the class are very patient with him, but progress has been slow.

Learning to kick

Today while Sherry went bathing suit shopping, Mark took Ro to Coronation Park for a little footy practice. Sherry had packed us some sparkling apple juice and candy bars (a rare treat), thinking we were going to the rock climbing gym, but Ro decided he'd rather relax in the park on such a gorgeous day. Sherry came home to find Mark and Ro already back from the park, playing on the deck with Ro's small sandbox (and making a colossal mess). Mark and Ro were essentially commanded to burn off some more energy and get out of the house, so we went down to the pool.

First time Ro's seen a baking soda/vinegar volcano

Relaxing near the lawn bowls club, candy bar in hand

Ro's "special experiment"

It remains a mystery what finally prompted Ro to put his head under water this afternoon. Mark showed him how to sit on the bottom of the spa tub with his head under the surface, which Ro soon copied! It's not as if we hadn't tried to get him to do it before, though. Sherry's jaw dropped when she got back from her run up Mauao and came down to the pool (in her new bikini) to find Ro jumping into the spa tub and getting his head all the way under. In short order, he was diving to the bottom of the spa tub to retrieve toys, swimming under Mark's submerged legs, and even rolling backwards into the tub from the edge like a scuba diver leaving a boat. When Sherry asked him what was different today that made him finally do it, he responded matter-of-factly, "I just did it."

Ro was beside himself with giddiness at his newfound ability to "swim," as he calls it. In actuality, he has just figured out how to sink without drowning...lol. His flailing can hardly be called swimming at this point, and he refused to get into the big pool to really prove he could keep himself above water, claiming it was "too cold." Regardless, we were all thrilled at his major breakthrough, and eagerly anticipate his swimming lessons tomorrow.