May 26, 2024
Catching up with the Nestor's!
Got to spend a nice afternoon and evening catching up with fellow Yank, Elizabeth Nestor and her husband Kevin who moved back to his hometown of Mayo Abbey, after 20+ years in the states. I worked with Elizabeth on and off, over the last 30 years, in Philadelphia. We stay in touch thru a group text, Heard Immunity
with about 10 others, all with the common denominator of Turner Construction. Elizabeth and Kevin have been married 20 years, and I found out that Kevin knew my relations the Keane's, back when we first met. In fact, his cousins live right next door to them and his brother does business with them regularly! Such a small world! Kevin & Elizabeth moved to Mayo Abbey right before Covid and have been busy renovating their home and settling in. It was great to catch up, share the gossip on all those we know in common and give them the details of my ship and the upcoming adventure. I hope they can truly join me for some segment in the future!
Today we went to see the coastal Naidiri Village that has recently won the Top Prize in global restoration, for their ocean reef project. The reef restoration was borne out of necessity to solve their dwindling food/ main protein source for the village, of fish. It was started by 2 of the villages rugby players and today is run by the local teenagers (mostly boys) in the village. It was great seeing how empowered and proud they were of their amazing efforts.
The port agent offered several trips to areas around Lautoka . We chose the trip to Serenity Island Resort which included van and boat transfers and lunch. It was a really nice day enjoying the sun, reef, pool, turtles and amenities!
I organized a group tour for a fun day experience. We had a great day despite the rain that decided to join in. We started with a 45 minute van ride out through the city, into the countryside. Then we got in long boats and went up river to a waterfall, some swam or cheered on the guides to cliff dive. Then back in the boats to visit Sabata Village where 50 family members live as a community existing totally off the land, along the river. Next was a quick boat ride to our BBQ lunch spot. After lunch we got to tube down the river, through light rapids, for just about an hour. We ganged our tubes together with the guide - we had a chain of 14 in my group and the guides totally blew us away singing hymns for a good chunk of the journey. It was truly moving in that place with the rain drizzling and all of us linked together. Loved it!