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| Ratnesh showing us the rock formation by the sea. |
We awoke this morning to both of our phones displaying a time of 7:30 am. When we got up and checked our computers, the time showed 6:30 am. For the first time since we arrived almost one month ago, it is by far the clearest day we’ve seen to date and yet when looking outside it appeared to be 7:30, not 6:30.
Soon, we discovered, the Internet wasn’t working most likely having a bearing on the clocks on our phones, with the laptops “remembering” the times we’d previously set. I suppose that makes sense.
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| This morning’s view across the bay. |
A few days ago Junior brought us a single chaise lounge, which we’ll take turns using, and now at almost 9 am, I’m hoping that after I wrap up today’s post, the sun will still be out and available in the corner of the veranda where I’ll sit to soak up a much-needed dose of vitamin D, long since ignored and forgotten over all of these rainy days.
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| We drove into an area by the beach with a massive rock formation. |
This house is situated on a huge U-shaped bay. Right now I need only pick up my head to see the other side of the bay as shown in this photo I took a few minutes ago. What a view! At some point soon, we expect simultaneous sunny days and working wifi enabling us to sit outdoors facing the ocean while posting.
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| We found coral in the tiny pool of water. |
How am I writing now when the Internet is down? I’m hooked up to the weak signal from the SIM card on Tom’s phone. Our position on this mountain prevents a clear signal. However, Blogger doesn’t require a strong signal to open a draft page when no photos are involved. The writing part is doable on its own.
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| The bubbles around the coral led us to believe it is alive. |
Although our photos are small files they require a certain amount of bandwidth to upload to the Internet. Right now, using Tom’s SIM, I can only upload one photo at a time, requiring no less than 10 minutes each to complete.
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| It’s interesting how plants and trees grow from rocks and continue to thrive. |
What I have done is post one photo at a time while keeping busying busy preparing tonight’s meal in short spurts in between the uploads. Sitting and watching a slow upload is comparable to watching paint dry.
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| As Ratnesh held this shell in his hand, the creature therein began to emerge. |
At the moment, Mario (Junior is off today) is attempting to resolve the problem by re-establishing a connection to the router in our house which requires numerous settings he updates on his phone. We feel badly having to take his time but, we can’t be online without this device working properly. Otherwise, we’re sharing the connection with all of the other renters in the other building.
When the signal in out for the area, there’s nothing that can be done but wait until it returns whenever that may be. In the interim, being able to post with this weak signal from Tom’s phone will alleviate some of our concerns over getting something posted.
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| Ratnesh pointed to small shrimp, crustaceans, and a variety of sea creatures living in tiny shells. |
We often think of our most avid readers who explain they enjoy that cup or coffee, tea or glass of wine when they sit down to check out what’s going on in our part of the world on yet another day. Although we may not have anything of great interest to share on a particular day, we feel compelled to post something with a few new photos.
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| A water hole in the rock formation with coral. |
I know how disappointed I feel when finding a favorite blog that hasn’t posted anything recently. We’re all creatures of habit to some degree and consistency often provides us with a sense of comfort. Well, whether we have interesting news or not, we definitely fall into the consistency category of blog writers.
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| We have many more new photos to post but couldn’t resist sharing a few of this morning’s clear day photos of our views. |
For tomorrow, hopefully back online with a full signal, we’ll have a post about the lifestyles and routines of the locals. We’ve interviewed several local citizens from generations of history on this small island of Vanua Levu.
What they’ve shared with us is both interesting and awe-inspiring. Please check back tomorrow for the story and many more new photos.
Photo from one year ago today, October 4, 2014:
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| When our ship docked in Hilo, we took a taxi for a tour of the city which included a stop at this same park we’d visited on another occasion when our kids came to visit months later. For details of that date, please click here. |