Upon exiting Banana Republic, my first task was to proceed to the South Pacific
for two months of R&R ( you fools, do you think that two weeks is enough for a vacation!)
You dont really start to relax until the second week, and your not on island time until the forth.
Fiji proved to be an excellent choice if you wanted to get away from tourism.
Off the eastern coast of the main island Viti Levu is the smaller island of Ovalau,
the former British Colonial Capital. The old British Officers Club is still there. The day I
arrived, they had just re-felted their 150 yr old snooker table, and I got schooled by
the two local champions.
Buy me a beer and I will tell you about the time I threw the Chief of police
across the bar at the Club.
This is the Chief's (village chief) whale tooth necklace with woven
coconut fiber rope. The skirt is traditional male garb called a Zulu.
Doubles as a beach towel.
There is an even smaller island off Ovalau, called Thangalai.
It is small enough that you can throw a rock across it.
I paid Emosi, the owner of the Old Capital Inn, with pencil drawings for my
stay on Thangalai. I think these drawings still hang in the dining room.
~
I spent a few days in Pappette and Moorea, Tahiti on the way back to the
Land of the Lost (the term american military overseas use to refer to back home).
This boat was parked in Pappette harbor.
~
This is a pencil drawing I did after returning to California.
