Fiji, Australia and Fiji again

About a year and a half ago Lars and I were hanging out with friends when they asked Lars, ‘what’s your dream vacation?’  He answered, ‘I want to see the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) filming spots in New Zealand.’  I said, ‘okay baby, we’ll make that happen.’  A few months later, we booked a 13 days New Zealand cruise that went to three locations where they filmed LOTR.  We were excited and built a vacation around the cruise that included visiting Sydney, Cairns, and Fiji.  Plus we had the added bonus of Lars’ mom coming with us!

Day 1: We left for Fiji first.  Today we had a 6 hour flight to LAX and then a 10 hour flight to Fiji so we didn’t arrive until technically, day 3.

Day 2: Since we crossed the international date line, this day didn’t happen for us!  On to the next day...

Day 3: We arrived in Fiji early in the morning.  We had our temperatures taken before we could clear customs and then we were picked up by a driver who took us to the pier where a boat was waiting to take us to our resort.  I had picked a small private island resort for us to stay at as I thought it would give us the relaxing and beautiful stay we wanted.  It did not disappoint!

View of our resort.

Lars and his mom.

Our view from our room.

We checked in and immediately got in our swimsuits!  It was such a nice relaxing day!  Lars’ mom and her friend Diana had already been at the resort for a couple days so we talked with them about what they had been doing and we all decided that it would be fun to do an island hopping cruise the next day so we signed up for that.  We talked, had some drinks, swam, and relaxed in the lounger chairs for most of the day.  Lars, his mom and I also got massages which was so wonderful, especially because I’ve decided the best way to get a massage is with the sound of the ocean in the background.  Seriously, it’s the best.  After our massages, we went to watch the sunset and then have dinner.  It was a great start to our vacation!

Getting massaged on the beach.

Enjoying the hammock outside our room.

GORGEOUS sunset that night.

Day 4: Lars and I woke up early and watched the sunrise.  We loved it and at that point, decided that Fiji was one of the most beautiful places we’ve been to.

Sunrise.

After breakfast and a couple hours of enjoying the beach, we had our island hopping cruise which also included snorkeling.  We were on the boat about an hour before we got to the three different islands that we were visiting.  This was where I was able to get my souvenirs as our island didn’t have a souvenir shop.  We had lunch at one of the islands and then went out snorkeling.  Lars and I hadn’t been before so after the initial panicking, we figured it out.  My favorite part of the snorkel was seeing the blue starfish!  On our way back to the island, it started raining really hard and got choppy.  Since I was flying everywhere whenever we hit a wave, aka all the time, the captain had me sit back by him.  So it looked like I was navigating us back through this rainy weather which we decided warranted a picture.

Rainbow by our boat.

One of the islands we visited on our island hopping tour.

“Captain” Mel hard at work!

Day 5: Sadly, today was the day we left Fiji but we were excited to go to Australia!  We got up early and our boat was leaving right as the sunrise was coming up.

Goodbye Fiji!  For now...

We got on our flight to Australia, went through customs and then headed to Manly.  About ten years ago I visited Australia and New Zealand with a friend of mine and my favorite place in Australia was this cute town called Manly so this was one of those places that I had insisted we go to because I loved it so much.  So we took the train to the pier and then took the ferry to Manly.  Once we got to Manly, we had a late lunch and then walked around the town, over to the beach, did some souvenir shopping, and enjoyed the city.

View of Sydney from our ferry.

Manly beach.

Sunset in Manly.

Day 6: Today we headed back to Sydney and did the hop-on hop-off bus so we could see a lot of Sydney. I always love the sights and the information they have on those buses!

Sydney opera house.

Sydney Harbour Bridge.

All of us.

When we got hungry we decided to have lunch at the Sydney Opera House.  They have a restaurant called Opera Kitchen.  It was such a cool experience to eat right by the Sydney Opera House!

The food and view were amazing!

Of course we had to visit the Sydney Opera House afterwards.

Lars and his mom.

Sydney Opera House close up.

Me and Lars.

We finished up the day by heading back to the airport to go to Cairns (pronounced ‘cans’).  We got to Cairns, checked into our airbnb, and went to bed.

Day 7: Today we had a Great Barrier Reef tour.  The tour company picked us up from our airbnb and then we got checked into our ship.  We had booked the VIP Top Deck with this company so we got to be in the same area as the captain and we even had our own butler!  We had breakfast and drinks brought to us and then we were on our way!  The ride and the ocean was extremely choppy so while I had taken some motion sickness pills to help, they weren’t enough and I started feeling sick pretty quickly.  I laid down and that helped a lot.  We got to our first reef and since we were VIP, we got to get into the water first.  Jade, our butler, was also our personal snorkel guide as well so she took us around to the reef.  At one point she saw a shark and said it was right by us but by the time we looked, it was gone.  It was really fun but as it was really choppy, it was a bit hard on me as I was still feeling a bit sick.

We’re ready to go snorkeling!

We went to one other reef and I wanted to go snorkeling again but I was feeling so sick that instead I just laid down.  Lars went though and this time he did see a shark! After the second reef, we headed back to Cairns.  We went out to dinner and then called it an early night as we were all exhausted!

Day 8: Today we flew back to Sydney as our cruise was expected to leave the next day.  I am not one of those to take pictures while we’re flying but we got some really cool views of the Great Barrier Reef and I couldn’t resist!

Great Barrier Reef from our plane!

We checked into our hotel and then found a lovely place to eat on the wharf.  We had a delicious dinner and Lars even had kangaroo!  I tried it and it was actually pretty good!

All of us at dinner.

Our wonderful view during dinner.

Day 9: I had been anxiously checking the news to see if our cruise was going to get cancelled as Royal Caribbean had said they’d be making an announcement.  They cancelled all U.S. cruises so I felt relieved that our cruise was still a go.  We got to the port, checked in, and were on the ship.  I was sure we were going and excited that all this Coronavirus fear wasn’t going to impact our trip.

Ready to cruise!

A few hours later though (after unpacking), I read on the news that New Zealand had closed all their ports.  I was so sad as I was sure this meant our cruise would be cancelled.  About an hour and a half later, the Captain came on the intercom and announced that our cruise would be cancelled.  We could either get off right away or get off the next day.  We chose to stay the night so that we had time to figure out our next move.  We were so devastated that our cruise was cancelled, Lars in particular since the New Zealand part was his dream.

At dinner we all discussed what we were going to do and we decided to go back to Fiji.  We loved our time there and it just made sense.  We hoped that it would help lift our spirits after being so sad about missing New Zealand.  I called Fiji Airways and changed all of our flights.  We booked a hotel in Fiji and went to sleep but not before getting some beautiful shots of the Sydney Opera House from our balcony.

My favorite picture from our balcony on the cruise.

Day 10: We had breakfast on the cruise ship and then got ready to leave.  We then went to Fiji and checked into our hotel late that night.  We were glad to be back in Fiji!

Day 11-13: We spent the next three days the same way.  We got up, had a small breakfast, hung out by the pool in the morning, had lunch, did more pool in the afternoon, and then did dinner in the evening.  It was exactly what we needed!  We had three full days of relaxation and it was wonderful!

Good morning!

We love Fiji!

Our resort at night.

Swim up bar.

Yummy drinks.

All of us enjoying happy hour at the swim up bar.

This is where we spent a lot of our time... by the pool with a drink in our hands.

And this was our favorite spot by the pool.

Our view from dinner one night.

Another view we had from a different restaurant we went to for dinner.

Day 14: When we first got to Fiji, we signed up for a Fijian cooking class and visit to the market and today was the day we were doing our class!  We got picked up from our hotel and went to the market.   It was so interesting and we even ended up getting some spices from the market!

The Fijian women get clams every day to sell at the market.

The market.

Spices at the market.

Then we went back to the cooking school and we made seven dishes.  They were all so delicious I don’t know if I can pick a favorite!

Lars was getting credit for something I did so I scowled at him and he took a pic, haha,.

Making a fish dish that was yummy.

Lars is a pro!

Ready to eat.

The first few dishes that we made and ate, our dessert was in another dish.

We made naan and curry next.

The cooking class was really fun, delicious, and they emailed us the recipes.  We all enjoyed it!  Once we got back from our food class, we packed up and got ready to leave as our flight back to the US left that evening.  It was a strange day because we left at 9:40 pm that day and arrived in LAX at 12:40 pm the same day.  So it was quite literally, the longest day we’ve ever had.  Once we got to LAX, we went to our airbnb to check in and then walked to a nearby In ‘n out to grab dinner.  We had some serious jet lag so we had a hard time sleeping that night.

Day 15: We made it back home!  Our flight back home wasn’t very full, which was nice so we had plenty of room to relax.  We found out later that Fiji closed their borders the day after we left so we were very lucky that we left when we did so we were able to get back home with no problems.  

Overall, we had a great trip.  It definitely had its ups, downs, and surprises but overall it was enjoyable.  A big plus was that we loved being able to spend so much time with Lars’ mom.  She’s a wonderful lady and we truly loved every moment we got to spend with her.  Another plus is that Lars has now officially been to six continents!  Woot woot!  

We have already decided that we will be going back to New Zealand sometime (hopefully soon).  For right now, we’re quarantining ourselves and are happy to report that we’re still feeling great.  Hope all of our family and friends and doing well too!  :)

El Salvador

Lars and I had the best time in El Salvador!  After we booked this trip, I realized that I haven't been to visit El Salvador in 18 years!  Way too long in my opinion.  I had prepared Lars for El Salvador the best I knew how, teaching him a few Spanish words and letting him know that my family was super nice and very gracious.  And here's how it went!

Day 1: Thanksgiving!  I didn't realize how many people travel for Thanksgiving so I was really glad we had Pre-Check as we cruised through security.  We had two flights and got to El Salvador in the evening.  We had dinner, hung out with my parents and grandparents, and then called it an early night as it had been a long day of traveling.

Day 2: When Lars and I travel, one of the important things to us is the food.  If we don't enjoy thefood where we visit, we aren't going to be super interested in going back (like Morocco!).  So our day started with a typical El Salvadorean breakfast that we loved!  Honestly, we loved all the food we had during our visit!  I've been to El Salvador twice before this trip so I wasn't worried about the food, I already knew I'd love it but I was concerned about Lars.  I shouldn't have been though, he thought everything we had was really good.

After breakfast, we hung out with my parents and grandparents while we were waiting for my parents' luggage to come in as it had gotten lost.  It didn't come that day (it took another two days to get there) but we were hoping it would.

Me and my parents.

 After waiting, we went out to lunch with my Aunt Doris.  We had the most amazing view as it was a restaurant that was on a volcano.  And once again, the food was delicious!

View from lunch.  Isn't it so pretty?

Lunch with Lars, my parents, and my Aunt Doris.

After lunch, we went to the volcano.  This was my first real volcano experience and it was breathtaking!  There were people selling fruit on the trail to the viewpoint so my dad bought some passion fruit.  I had never had passion fruit directly from the fruit before but I enjoyed it and so did Lars.  In fact, this was Lars' favorite part of the trip as seeing the volcano was nothing like he had imagined it would be, even the photos don't do it justice.

We visited a volcano.

Lars eating passion fruit at the volcano.  It was delicious but very messy.

After the volcano, we went back to town and visited my family's bakery.  It was really impressive to see all the machinery and work that goes into what they make there! 

We then went back to my grandparents' house, had dinner, and went to bed.  It was a fun day and while my Spanish is limited, I was starting to get back some of what I knew.  I could definitely understand more than I could speak though.

Day 3: Whenever Lars and I had some spare time, we spent it in my grandparents' backyard.  It was so peaceful and so pretty, we couldn't help but admire it!

My grandparents' backyard.

My dad with his parents.

Today we went to Ataco with a lot of my family.  One of our first stops was this area where we got some drinks and some food.  I don't remember what it was called but no surprise, we loved it.  

This was delicious although I don't remember what it was called.

Once we finished our snack, we walked along the streets of Ataco.  We stopped at a food market right by the church and park and then walked along looking for murals.  (While we also did some shopping, of course!)  Ataco is known for their murals and for good reason!  They're so colorful, detailed, and impressive!

My family in Ataco.

My dad told me all churches are near parks, this was a classic example.

Food market.

One of the beautiful murals they have in Ataco.

Another gorgeous mural.

What a view!

After walking along the streets we took a tour through the streets of Ataco.  It was fun to get that perspective and really cool!

On a bus tour around Ataco!

Ataco.

View on our tour.

We then went shopping along the streets on our way back to our van.  I found a few items I wanted and my dad, true to form, found some more fruit he bought.  (Seriously, he bought fruit pretty much everywhere we went, haha.)

Day 4:  Today we went to the coast to visit the fish market and have lunch by the ocean.  I was so entranced by the fish market though, that I forgot to take any pictures!  We got some seafood for dinner though and let me tell you, fresh seafood is a favorite of mine!  At lunch, we had ceviche as an appetizer and it was the best ceviche I've ever had.  They also had some mini mariachi bands going around asking people if they wanted them to sing for them, for a price of course.  We had them sing to us for a bit and we loved it!

Ceviche we had at the coast.

Lunch by the coast with Lars, my parents, my Aunt Emely and my Uncle Pepe.

We then went back to my grandparents' house and got ready to have my Grandpa's 92nd birthday party.  All the family came over and we had dinner and a mariachi band even came over!  The party was my favorite part of our trip because all my family was there, we were celebrating my Papa Berto's birthday with a mariachi band, and it was so much fun!  I loved that Lars got to experience a mariachi band in person! He told me afterwards that he didn't realize how much fun a mariachi band is as videos do not do them justice.

Lars and I with my grandparents at my Grandpa's 92nd birthday celebration.

My grandparents and three of their children.

Mariachi band for my Grandpa's birthday.

We definitely ended the day on a high note with celebrating my Grandpa's birthday so grandly!

Day 5: Today was my Grandpa's actual birthday!  So we went to breakfast at Pizza Hut (we didn't actually have pizza though, it was a typical breakfast) and they sang to him there.

Birthday breakfast and singing at Pizza Hut.

The reason we celebrated with a party the day before was because we had reserved a room at a resort called Decameron for the night.  We left early afternoon and got to the resort, checked in, and immediately started to enjoy the view!

Decameron.

It was beautiful!

Can I go back?

Evening stroll along the beach.

It was such an amazing experience!  We couldn't get enough of the gorgeous view!  We had so much fun playing in the ocean that evening!  Unfortunately, I think I accidentally drank too much ocean water while playing, and after dinner I felt a little sick so Lars and I called it an early night.  

Day 6: I have officially decided that the best way to start any day, is by starting it by the beach.  Lars and I took a morning walk along the beach as we woke up early.  There's nothing quite like a morning stroll along a beautiful beach!

My favorite way to start a day is by a beach.

So of course we went for a walk.

We then met up with my family for breakfast.  And I'm not kidding, our view was fantastic!!

This was our view from breakfast.

We didn't have to check out until early afternoon so after breakfast we played in the ocean some more.  We had such a great time!  

On our way back to my grandparents' house, I was able to get some pictures of some of the normal things they have in El Salvador that we don't see here.  For example, they have mango trees everywhere, so I got a picture of a mango tree.  They also have a lot of sugar cane and fruit stands.  (Yes, my dad bought more fruit from these stands when we were stuck in traffic.)

There's a mango tree in this picture!  The one with red leaves is the mango tree.

Sugar cane in the background next to a fruit stand.

Once we got back, we of course had to tell my grandparents how much fun we had so we chatted with them.  We also found Ramona!  This turtle is my dad's childhood pet, so she's around 50 years old and still kicking.

My dad with Ramona, his childhood pet.

We headed back to the US the next morning (super early!).  It was such an amazing experience to go to El Salvador with my parents to visit my dad's family.  I've been wanting to take Lars there for years so I'm so happy that we were able to visit.  Every single thing about this trip was fantastic!  Lars and I loved our time with my family.  Everyone was so nice to Lars, whom they nicknamed, 'El Chepe,' and so welcoming to him!  He told me later that he didn't realize that when I told him my family was super generous, that they were actually going to be even more kind, generous, compassionate, and helpful than I had told him!  I love that he had that experience and I love that I was able to visit my family, it had been too long and I honestly cannot wait to go back.