A number of years in the past, my Mother and I joined the Far West Ski Affiliation on their annual dive journey. That 12 months they went to the islands of Fiji. Regardless that we don’t scuba dive, non divers are at all times welcome. FWSA travels to totally different locales every Fall. We’ve got been on a number of of their journeys, together with to Cozumel, Roatan, and Grand Cayman. Fantastic journeys!  

After a ten hour flight to Nadi, we drove over two hours to Pacific Harbor. The climate was scorching and a few humidity. Then we took a ship for one hour. Lastly, we went on a really small boat to the gorgeous Beqa Lagoon Resort on the tiny distant island of Beqa. The water was very shallow. We had a moist touchdown which means we needed to take away our sneakers and socks and roll up our pants to stroll within the shallow water to the resort about 60 ft away. The resort employees carried me in my guide chair over the water to the resort. The identical factor with my heavy energy chair.  Energy chairs and water don’t combine. 4 robust guys carried my energy chair over the water safely.  Then they carried everyone’s baggage over the water. My first expertise doing one thing like this. Very cool.  

After an orientation by the supervisor, we loved a scrumptious lunch within the out of doors restaurant. Then we acquired settled in in our bure overlooking the Pacific Ocean. They positioned a big board over the one step to our bure. It labored properly for me. Our room, or bure as it’s referred to as in Fiji, was very spacious and funky and I may get round in my energy chair simply. There was additionally a small wading pool in entrance of our bure overlooking the ocean. The resort itself was fairly accessible for wheelchair customers. We needed to convey a transformer with my battery charger to cost my chair since Fiji has totally different electrical voltage.

The subsequent day was Sunday and we requested about church providers. We went to church however we needed to stroll 20 minutes to get there with a information. One space of path was sandy, so I needed to go quick to maintain the momentum and never get caught. The information helped and pushed me via the sand. Many occasions throughout our stroll, he needed to transfer large branches and rocks and a few areas had been very uneven (and I assumed LA sidewalks had been unhealthy). Simply a part of the journey!  

The island of Beqa has no roads or vehicles. Everybody walks to their vacation spot, and all the things must be introduced in my boat and particular person energy. Once we arrived, they gladly carried me as much as the church. By the point I rotated, that they had already carried my energy chair up about 15 steps to the church!  They helped me switch into my chair. It was an attention-grabbing service with Scripture and music principally of their native tongue. We walked again to our resort and had lunch. I picked out a e book about Fiji and browse on the gorgeous seashore. I had an excellent foot therapeutic massage. The sugar felt good rubbing on my ft and legs. The choir from the church got here out for a night live performance simply earlier than dinner.

The subsequent morning we loved a leisurely breakfast on our terrace overlooking the ocean. After lunch there was a coconut and basket weaving demonstration and we sampled recent coconut meat and water. Then I went within the pool earlier than dinner. Such is island life. Stunning sunsets.

The subsequent afternoon we walked to the village and visited the first college. The children sang and carried out for our group. Then we toured the varsity and dorms. The children and academics reside there. Among the academics additionally act as den moms for the scholars.  

We took a tour of a special village and so they took us by boat the following day. I went in my guide chair and the guards helped push me. Among the paths had been barely extensive sufficient for my chair.  Some paths had been concrete and a few dust. I used to be glad I didn’t need to drive my energy chair alongside the slender paths. We took a tour of the preschool and the kids sang for us. Stunning! We toured the village and stopped at a vendor village. Earlier than we left the village, I finished to provide a candy little lady the bracelet I used to be carrying. She gave me the largest smile!

Earlier than dinner one night time, we loved a firewalker efficiency and a number of other firewalkers walked on scorching rocks. Wonderful!

Our first week in Paradise got here to an finish and it was a 90-minute drive to the airport in Suva after the boat trip to a different island. They made positive there was house for my chair behind the van and 4 guys lifted it up into the van. We boarded a small 20-passenger airplane to the island of Taveuni after they loaded all the bags and my energy chair. The ability chair I had then got here aside.  Urgent on two levers, the seat got here other than the battery case.  Evidently, the battery case was very heavy to raise and put within the aircraft. It took a while to suit my energy chair and everyone’s baggage within the tiny aircraft. It was like a puzzle.  

For the second week, six extra folks joined our group. After nearly an hour, the twelve of us landed on the island. We arrived at Paradise Taveuni resort an hour later and had been greeted by the resort supervisor with floral necklaces. We had been handled foot massages simply earlier than our first lunch overlooking the ocean. Our bure was fairly spacious with a dwelling space, bed room, and a patio. That they had constructed a brief ramp which was steep however I made it work by going up backwards so my chair wouldn’t tip. I normally go up steep ramps or hills backwards to be protected. In our bure, that they had just lately put in security bars within the rest room and within the out of doors bathe. Every bure had a non-public out of doors bathe.  

One night, we loved a conventional Fijian feast with totally different meats and greens. Stunning Fijian dancers carried out and the wait employees sang and danced. Then we shared in a kava ceremony the place everybody sits in a circle across the large bowl of kava and everybody shares within the kava. Kava is floor up root and blended with water. Very tasty! Each night time a trio of musicians offered the music for dinner.

We discovered the resort suffered main injury when a giant cyclone hit and destroyed the resort just a few years previous to our go to. They rebuilt the resort in 3 weeks due to their employees. They had been nonetheless constructing just a few further bures. I needed to go over the uneven grassy space from our bure to the out of doors eating space and to the pool. On one facet of the resort on the property line, we seen the down bushes from the cyclone. The second week at this resort on Taveuni was nice however there was no alternative for me to enterprise outdoors the resort on account of uneven dust roads. So, there have been no further actions not like on Beqa. Nevertheless, I used to be in a position to go on a ship trip with the others whereas they went diving. Many of the divers had diving excursions every day with one night time dive. My Mother went snorkeling nearly on a regular basis. I loved listening to their underwater adventures. It was an exquisite and memorable journey.