Thursday 11/6 R&R, fizzled plans, crab shack, exhausted kiddos

 
Today ended up being another r and r day at the resort. Katie and Jon are running loose now 🥴 Grandpa is feeling a lot better after taking the azithromycin. 

We snorkeled in the morning. We saw a blue flowery creature that stuck out of the lime green coral, an octopus that was reddish but retreated and changed to the tan color of the coral right before our eyes, huge sea cucumbers and more. 

We had breakfast and Grandpa surprised us all that he had cut his mustache! It took us a while to notice and everyone agreed it doesn't look too different or scary 😆 Mustache or no mustache he wears it well. 

Anyway, we  hung around after breakfast. Jeff played nitwit with some of the kids. We attempted to make some plans for the day but reasoned with all the sick tummies we maybe shouldn't chance too much time away. G&G and Jeff remember the hot springs nearby that one of the locals took them to 20 years ago so Jeff asked a worker who said he would send his friend to guide us. His friend was in town (Sigatoka) but could be here in two hours. He would get in our van and take us to the hot springs. At that point it was 1230 so we set our plans on 230 to go see the hot springs. We swam, ate lunch by the pool, sampled Kokoda (Jonathan and Jeff loved it!) and staged ourselves to be ready to go... 2:30... No guide...3:00... No guide... 3:30 no guide ... And we couldn't find the worker who promised us a guide. Somewhat frustrating to feel like we were missing opportunities. We thought maybe we could go without a guide but talking to a different worker he said it was too late at this point and we be there in the dark and the villagers wouldn't like it. Oh well. At this point a different kid is taking a trip to the bathroom every 15-30 min so maybe it's a blessing we couldn't go to the hot springs.

We snorkel again at high tide (boys and Grandpa's stay behind in the room). We explored the area to the left of the resort... Much of the same fish and creatures to see. Annie is so good at snorkeling! She does just fine and even dives down 5-6 feet to pick up shells off the ocean floor. The water is so buoyant that you can float without any effort. Annie has the urge to go and we are done snorkeling anyway so I expedite our exit from the water and fast walk/fun towards our bure probably 200-300 yards down the shoreline. That was a comical experience... I didn't dare take her to the closest restroom (had to cross the pool area and restaurant- couldn't risk an accident there!) so we continued hot footing it down the shoreline. She cycled between thinking she could make it and not being able to make it... That's a story better told in person 🥴...let's just say she might have fed the fish.

For dinner we drove about 15 min to eat at the crab shack... Kids were falling asleep during dinner. Jonathan and Ben were struggling with feeling stomach cramps just feeling unwell probably dehydrated on top of tummy bug (,they swam in the pool a bit in the afternoon). The boys didn't have an appetite to order anything other than a milkshake/ sprite and bread, Katie ate her pasta but regretted it. Annie fells asleep at the table. What a day! Hoping everyone feels better tomorrow when we pack up and fly to Vanua Levu.

Health report:

Jon and Katie seemed to get hit today with stomach cramps and loose stools. Ben is struggling a bit more with stomach cramps/no appetite. Jonathan took a nap for a few hours in the evening.... Deciding if someone should take the azithromycin.... We have just enough for one person.

Stunning sunrise

Outdoor shower after snorkeling

Walking to breakfast