Earthshine

James and I checked out of our Airbnb and then collected Jamie from the airport at 10. After dropping him at home we had breakfast at the Island Bay Beach House (of course!) There were huge waves sweeping into the bay; banks of turquoise water swelling up and then sloping down, crashing against the rocks. Spectacular. We took an Uber with Jamie and Kerry from Burwah Street to the airport and caught the 13.35 plane to Fiji. When boarding was announced the Air Fiji asked us if we were ready to fly to paradise! We had amazing views of Island Bay as we climbed up into the air, we could see the waves clearly. It took about three hours to fly from Wellington to Fiji, and after going through arrivals and biological security we got to the hotel at about 5.30 p.m. The Hilton is a long hotel with lots of different white painted villas and buildings. Our rooms are next to each other and they are lovely; facing on to the long, sandy beach. We went for a stroll along to the adult pool where we all had a swim before dinner. We saw a mynah bird sitting on the grass near us, and another one on the roof of a building. The air and the water were so warm, it was idyllic, and the sky was blue and pink and orange as the sun set. Dinner was excellent and we had a good chat before retiring to bed somewhat exhausted after our journey. The moon was a thin crescent, lit at the bottom rather than the side with its “horns” pointing upward. I could see the rest of the moon as a pale glow; this is called Earthshine.