Pics - cruise through Fiji - above and below water

Kokamo's Pacifc Meanderings
Tom and Rachel
Wed 14 Jul 2010 10:40
Pics from the last 10 days in Fiji, as we made our way East to West:
 
 
 
Some great corals off Nameena Island
 
 
 
The remains of the projection room in the 'first cinema in the Pacifc' - once part of the leper colony on Makongai Island we wrote about in an earlier blog
 
 
 
The remains of the some of the (tiny) rooms the thousands of 'patients' lived in.
 
 
 
One of the island's current inhabitants - temporarily in a tank as part of the Ministry of Fisheries' tagging scheme
 
 
 
But their main work is breeding giant clams from impressive specimens like these
 
 
 
Yep, they are giant...
 
 
 
And can be incredibly beautiful close up
 
 
 
Inoke, one of the guys at the research centre, and his family (hand gestures apparently have different meanings in the South Pacific...)
 
 
 
Inoke teaching Rach how to scrape out a coconut to make coconut cream
 
 
 
"C'mon Rach, it really aint that hard!"
 
 
 
Our walk to the otherside of the island ended up in taking the school photo
 
 
 
Some more spectacular coral off Naingani Island
 
 
 
Including lots of different soft corals - the first time we'd seen them in any number
 
 
 
The South Pacific is full of lobotomised whales...
 
 
 
Coral with their colourful polyps showing (or I think that is what they are?!).  Waving your hand in front of them causes such surprise they hastily disappear into their holes.
 
 
 
And finally, thinking of Molly and Marve on their big day, wishing we were there.