Tuesday part 2 Police, Akata, Temple, Flat Tire

We headed for Suva to meet Akata and her family at Tappoo market. Every village has speed bumps on the highway 

Along the way Jeff sped up to pass someone in a passing lane on a straight away and surprise- a police was there with a radar gun at the end of the passing zone and waved us to pull over. He looked very serious but said bula ßhappily to everyone so we couldn't tell what kind of interaction this would be... Jeff talked with him outside the van, we couldn't tell what was being said... Turns out it took a while for the officer to believe we were not a public hire bus but a private hire. I will let Jeff write more about their conversation but when it was said and done we left without a ticket.

The drive was so lush and beautiful with countless villages along the way. We got stopped one more time at a controlled stop and Jeff struck up a conversation with the man... asked if he was from Rabi because he looked like he could be. The man is inactive now but went to LDS college. 

Finally we made it to Suva downtown and it was so busy, we found a parking spot and we're reunited with Akata who brought her husband, son and daughter, and two nephews(?). It was a sweet and tearful for Janet and Akata. Akata's mother always fed Jeff and his companions, and her father's life changed when he accepted the gospel. Akata and Janet have stayed in touch over the years. We ate pizza in the food court of a really nice multilevel mall. 

After lunch we said our goodbyes to Akata's family and headed for the temple grounds. The security guard met us as we unloaded and gave us hand sanitizer and told us to enjoy haha. Not sure why we all got a squirt of sanitizer. Anyway, we walked around, he followed us and took our picture. Very friendly and even had idea for our poses 😁

The temple was closed for cleaning so it was pretty quiet. It has such beautiful groups and a view above the city

We met missionary couple, the Brauns. Turns out the are from Spokane and know some of the same people as Janet and Bill. . (Cue "it's a small world") They are temple missionaries and are loving their mission.

We stopped for gas and candy before starting the trek back to the Hideaway... We had a two hour drive ahead of us and it was raining and would be getting dark along the way. I think we were all anxious to get back  The van scraped low as we were leaving the station and the attendant alerted us that we had a flat tire. The back left tire was pretty much flat. They filled it with air and sent us down the road. We were left wondering how it got a flat in the first place, did someone mess with it in order to get some business for their cousin?? 5:00 and the first place was closed, tried another, tried the Toyota dealer, finally found a tire place. They did soapy water to find the hole, plugged the tire, asked for $10 fjd and away we went, driving slowly because we didn't want a ticket, bracing ourselves over every speed bump because we didn't want to pop a tire, windshield wipers the whole way in the steady rain. Most of the way was dark and hard to see in the rain, windy road with lots of speed bumps... 

When all was said and done that day sort of did us in! We were so happy to get back to the hideaway... The kids got their second wind and ordered dinner. Whew, what a day!!!