Fiji! (4 of lots)

We're off to our "village."  It's six hours away, running the engine.  (Yay engine.)  We stop along the way for a snorkel at a reef.  The reef is beautiful -- lots of colorful coral and fish.  The ocean is a beautiful blue we just don't get at our side of the Pacific.  It's also saltier.  You float REAL easy in it, but it tastes horrible.  (The two things I hated most about scuba certification were:  salt water up my nose and salt water in my eyes.  So the saltiness of the ocean was notable.)  After the snorkel, we swam back to the boat -- which had seemed too far away, but wasn't.  (For what had to be the third time this trip, I actually thought about my lack of depth perception -- which was surprising because I *never* do in daily life.)

We get to the village where we'll be staying.  Picture a pretty small island with two beaches on opposite sides ("sunrise beach" and "sunset beach" -- tell me this isn't just like "Survivor") -- on each beach are ten huts.  In the center of the island, between the two beaches, is the big community hut (when we first walked in, an Aussie guy says, with perfect American accent, "Welcome to your first tribal council").  On the way from the community hut to each beach is a little ... bathroom area, consisting of a counter with two sinks, a row of four toilet stalls, and another row of three shower stalls.  (Each toilet and shower is behind its own little wooden door for privacy.)  There's no fresh water on the island -- the cruise company ships it all in, and it is supplied down to these little bathroom areas.  It's only one temperature.  Signing up for this cruise, the one thing that worried me the most was taking icy cold showers.  There was nothing to worry about.  The water bakes in the hot Fiji sun, and the showers ended up quite warm.