(From Ann)
In the capable care of Captain Ron!

Captain Ron.

Okay, maybe that doesn’t make much sense…Captain Ron, capable hands…but in Suva it does! Yesterday we ventured ashore with Linda and Bob from Bright Angel. We headed toward the hotel that supposedly has a dinghy dock and found nothing that looked much like one. When there he was…Captain Ron! “You can tie your dinghy up behind my boat and use the swim step to get ashore!” Okay, why not! Especially because Captain Ron is docked just in front of the police boat.

Captain Ron is actually from Seattle but has happily settled here in Suva on his boat. Scratch another item off the bucket list ….meet Captain Ron!  We also found out that his daughter lives in Oakland.  We’ll try and get in touch when we’re back for the holidays.

Suva was a culture shock! We had not seen a paved road in at least two months and that one turned into a dirt road as it rounded Taveuni. This road was not only paved but full of screaming fast cars! Maybe we were still adjusting but they sure seemed fast. We hailed a taxi and got dropped off at the main bus terminal. Very dangerous place to walk as 20-30 buses were all in a hurry to keep their schedules.

But we maneuvered through the buses and crowds of people waiting for them and crowds of vendors selling snacks for your bus trip…you get the picture..sensory overload! And this is before we got to the market.

This is the outside part of the market.

$2 Fijian for the whole bowl of tomatoes is about $1 US

These folks are selling clams (as well as coconuts and other assorted stuff).

The Suva Market is the self-proclaimed largest market in the South Pacific and I believe it! Your senses are assaulted with smells, colors and sounds! This place is full of the best looking fruits and vegetables we have seen. They even sell rolled pandanas rolls ready for weaving. Bob and I stopped in a hand made craft booth and were delighted to find out that it was associated with Fulunga. They were equally thrilled to hear how much we loved it. Unfortunately we we out of sight just long enough to lose Bob and Linda. No worries, 45 minutes of cruising the market and back to the bus station and we were finally united. We kaivalangi (white people) kind of stand out!

Meanwhile...upstairs in the Kava market...

The kava from each island area is different due to soils and water. There's a dizzying array to choose from.

You can taste the difference, but they all taste somewhat like dirty water with a kick and you end up with a numb tongue and throat and a bit of a happy smile.

Sensory overload got the best of us and after a delicious pizza for lunch we headed back to our very small, very quiet boats having only been nearly run over once. We will attempt to see more of Suva on Monday, when hopefully the rain will have lightened up!

Meanwhile I have just processed our first batch of ginger beer. Tasting trials take place on Tuesday!