And then there were three...wait, four!

Bula everyone!

So much has happened in the past few weeks I don't even know where to begin. Austin and I recently got back from a week long trip along the Yasawa island chain where we stayed in traditional Fijian Bures, explored remote islands and caves, and even swam with sharks. But because internet is extremely slow and way too expensive here, I'm going to do my best in this entry to sum up our travels with Joel up until he left a couple of weeks ago. I'll work on uploading pics from the Yasawa trip (with some of my favorite pictures to date) in a later entry. Austin's working on creating a Picasa album that we can link to our blog so we don't have to spend so much time uploading photos. This way, you'll be able to check out all our pics as well.

Ocealys arrived in Savusavu on the 23rd of September. Man! was that exciting. I was coming back from a stop at the local market ($1 for a bundle of bananas and a bunch of mangoes!). I wasn't expecting them until later in the day because everyone told me it would take hours for them to get to Savusavu from Taveuni, where they had anchored the night before. As I was headed back to my hotel, I stopped by the Government Wharf to take a few pictures and there they were...on the horizon. I knew it had to be them, and with my new amazingly incredibly awesomely amazing new Panasonic T5 camera, I zoomed in and confirmed it was a Cat. By the time I had turned around to head back to the Yacht club and await their arrival, they were there....that boat is FAST!!!! Unfortunately, customs had to meet them at anchor and check the boat before they could come ashore...so there I was, staring at Ocealys, just yards away from Austin, and I wasn't able to do anything about it! I almost jumped in and swam...hahah, but figured that might not go over so well with customs, so I settled for a Fiji Bitter Beer to calm my overexcited nerves instead. Luckily Cendrine and Ben (Belgian couple) and Emma and Filipo (French/Italian couple) had turned up for lunch and so they sat with me while I waited. I do believe they were just as excited with anticipation as I was for the contents of Ocealys to arrive on shore, given all they had heard about Austin and the boat during the time we all spent together in the days before.

Finally the dingy, jam packed with Maurice, Sophie, Mossimo, Annabelle, Joel, and of course, Austin :) made it's way toward me and I finally got to meet the whole crew. It may be hard to believe, but the children are even more beautiful and adorable in person. Annabelle informed me immediately that on her boat we always get to be Princesses :) and Mossimo explained to me how much they enjoy using Joel and Austin as human jungle gyms. Maurice and Sophie are extremely warm and welcoming, and the boat....WOW! The boat is incredible. I can't believe how large and comfortable it is.

Later that day, to the absolute DISMAY of sobbing children, Austin, Joel and I parted from the Ocealys. My God those kids adore the boys...and I really can't blame them :) We checked into a local hotel and planned the next couple weeks in absolute excitement...and then there were three!!

Reaching Taveuni was by no means a small feat. We hopped a 3 hour bus ride to Buca Bay, and then transferred to a boat that took us to Naqara, a very strange, poor town...really quite creepy for my taste.

The good news is that Taveuni offers a ton of activities, even around the town of Naqara, and we spent the rest of the day trekking up to a natural waterslide. Unfortunately, it had been raining and threatened to be a little too dangerous for us to get in...complete bummer. Nevertheless! the Keen's were slippery on the slick rock and I ended up involuntarily sliding in on my ass more than a couple of times anyway. haha...I mean yyyyyOUCH!

The next day we took a bus along the northern side of the island toward the sun (absolutely beautiful!) and Bouma, a natural reserve that promised a 3-waterfall trek. The lady who checked us into the park informed us that there was no way we were going to be able to make it to the 3rd fall in time to catch the bus back (most tourists go by van with guides so they have all the time in the world...us poor, well economic folk :) who jump on the bus option are out of luck I guess). However, I learned quickly that this sort of information does not upset nor stop the McKown brothers when they have their minds set on something, and so at (mostly) Joel's insistance, we powered on past the 2nd fall. Again, because it had been raining, the trek to the third fall was steep and muddy up to our ankles and I found myself half swinging, half groping at tree vines to keep myself from sliding south. But we made it! Just in time to jump off the fall before heading back at our 1/2 mark. The boys went first, then Austin climbed up with me for round two. It wasn't as scary as it originally looked, so I jumped...LOVE having the boys around to make me jump off falls!!

Back in our creepy little town that night, we soon learned that all places to eat or buy food of any sort closed before 5pm, so we found ourselves walking into a deserted resort hotel in the next town over in desperate search of something to eat. Even this place was wacky and because they required a pre-ordered dinner, we ended up eating the food that they somehow (thankfully!) had extra that day...amazingly enough it wasn't at all bad, and the 3-man band that was playing for, well, us (and maybe two or three others who crawled out of the night into the restaurant) invited us to sit with them for a Kava session. It was a great experience...better than all the gimicky hotel Kava ceremonies common at the hotels in Nadi. We chatted with them, passing around the coconut shell filled with Kava, for hours before one of them (who doubled as a taxi driver) drove us home to end the night...not bad at all.

We headed north the following day, but only after we made a fresh salad of lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and peppers (YES!!!!) that we had bought from local vendors. After nothing but white bread, curry and rice for a week straight, we were feining for some veggies. haha the boys dared each other to eat a chili they had picked up as well...between tears and frequent gulps of milk (it was so damn hot!) they choked down most of it...but dang! the thing was so intense Joel's finger nails burned for two days straight!

The atmosphere in Matei on the northern tip of Taveuni has an entirely different atmosphere. It's absolutely inviting and the views are breathtaking. We stayed at a place called Bibi's, where we met Erin, a fellow American traveller who was spending a week in Fiji before she headed to New Zealand on a Working Holiday visa. She clicked into our group immediately...and then there were four!!!!

The following day was Sunday, and since no buses or taxis run on Sundays, we bit the bullet and jumped into one of those leisurly tourist vans we had seen all the white folks in the day we hiked to the waterfalls :P On the eastern side of the island is the Lavena Coastal walk, and according to Bibi's daughter, this was a "must" on the island...along with Audrey's naughty coffee and pastries, but we'll get to that later ;). Man, was she right. The trek took us across swinging bridges, along coral covered beaches, and through villages and rivers. Oh and then there was that incident in which we almost lost Austin when he slipped on a rock (those damn Keen's! ) and fell off a cliff...kind of. Luckily there were tree branches suspended out from the sides of the cliffs and they cushioned his fall...but you can only imagine what was going through our heads as he (in slow motion of course) slipped, fell sideways onto his shoulder, and collapsed onto the bushes in the fetal position with wide eyes and an open mouth. We all stared in disbelief...I may have screamed but I'm not positive...and just as a surprised (half embarrassed) chuckle ha! started to arise from Austin's throat, a branch snapped and Austin somehow manuevered a backwards barrel roll into a full standing position next to us within a matter of a seconds. Whew! It all happened so fast we succumbed immediately to a silly fit of giggles at the sheer rediculousness of what had just happened, but all in all it was definitely enough to give a girlfriend, a brother, and a new friend a minor heartattack in the meantime.

The coastal walk concludes with a swim between two towering cliffs into a heavily currented area of water that acts as a home to the bottom of a gigantic waterfall as well as a less-gigantic natural waterslide. When we arrived, a local guide had just finished taking a new husband up to the gigantic waterfall to jump off. His new wife had settled for the waterslide and happily watched him jump from a safe distance. I liked this combination. I knew the boys were up for conquering the waterfall and I thought I would swallow my pride, act like a lady, and take this chance to not do what the boys do for once and enjoy the calm(er) waterslide, while of course watching them jump from a safe distance. Perfect! Have fun boys! The fall looks marvelous(ly terrifying!). Confidently I started to make my way up toward the waterslide...but it became clear within a matter of about 3 seconds that climbing to the waterslide was going to be trickier than I thought...before I knew it, the guide was dragging me through intense currents and ordering my every placement of hand and foot as I scaled the rock wall towards my brave activity of the day. When I reached the top, heart pumping, adrenaline maximized, I turned...completely proud of myself of course!...until I saw those damn McKown brothers effortlessly scaling the rocks behind me.

Shortly after (and honestly, I have no idea how this happened, but I have a hunch it had a little to do with my ego, and a lot to do with Austin's adorable smile) I suddenly found myself behind the guide, Joel and Austin, scaling a second wall...this time of mud...then jumping into a smaller waterfall, only to be looking over (YIKES!) the precise ledge of the gigantic waterfall I had just 20 minutes ago happily committed to not jumping off of! Damn Austin and that adorable smile!

Joel was first to jump...well he more like ran and launched himself off the cliff into the fall.

Damn it...my turn...or not. I somehow convinced Austin (and myself) that it would be better for him to jump first...you know, the fact that he would be waiting for me down below would DEFINITELY be more convincing than him standing behind me telling me to jump. So jump he did......and I found myself alone...well with the guide, but you know what I mean :( Bad move. Austin was a little ant in my vision...how the heck is an ANT supposed to convince me to jump??? Just as I had concluded that this was an impossible feat, the guide threatened to take me back down the way we came...(clever, clever man...he saw the glitch in my ego from a mile away...and besides, going back the way we came was next to impossible). Ignoring the twinkle in his eye and the heartbeat in my throat, I jumped...and then I fell...and I think maybe I fell some more. Austin later described the fall as one that he actually had TIME to think about in the air...that the fall was much longer than he had imagined. hahahah Well I survived...but I'm not going to lie, I was a little banged up. I definitely lost my top upon entry and I definitely felt like my face was going to explode upon contact. (Oh and then there was the nausia that came later) hahah but all in all I'm glad I did it. LOVE having the boys around to make me jump off falls!! :$

The day ended with nothing else but Audrey's "naughty coffee" and "naughty chocolate cake" (according to the Lonely Planet, but not at all far from the truth) made with her homemade, sweeter-than-hell Kahlua. She is the sweetest old lady and the atmosphere is incredibly inviting as she serves her treats to guests on cushiony armchairs from the balcony of her house that overlooks the ocean and a stunning sunset. (And you better believe we got the recipe so if we're ever in town again for a holiday...don't worry mom we will be!...then guess what everyone's getting as a gift??? hehe).

We caught a flight to Nadi the next day...and again managed to capture some incredible aerial views...

THE SURF TRIP...

There's not a whole lot to say here other than the boys had been talking about conquering Fiji's famous surf breaks since they knew they were headed to the country...and that they did!

(Aaron/Casey, this had your name written ALL over it!)

On Joel's last day in Fiji, we booked a trip out to Wilkes...a right hand reef break, west of Numotu and Tavarua. This was the real deal...head high to 1 1/2 times overhead. Erin and I were technically on the boat for a snorkel around the reefs the boys were strategically avoiding on their surfboards, but as self-appointed photographer, I was really more interested in the surf and ended up watching them from the boat the majority of the time. Unfortunately, we were behind the waves on the boat, so I only got pics of them surfing the smaller ones, but the waves were so clean and even before people started to clear out as the day wore on, they caught a bunch of waves.

Our boat driver!

Satisfied surfers :)

The boys tend to their battle wounds...

We finished the day with a mean Kava session in our hostel. Joel did the honors...and let me tell you, Kava is a whole different beast when you're mixing it yourself! A lot of laughing and good times that night. The next day, Erin and Joel took off to the airport to fly to New Zealand where they both begin entirely new adventures...

And then there were two!