August 26, 2025

Kyoto Day 3 - Culture Submersion - FUN DAY!!

Three girls on their way to Tea!

What a fun morning we had!  We went to an authentic tea house in Gion, the older section of Kyoto. We all got dressed in Kimonos complete with hair, socks and shoes. The staff are amazing and efficient & like ninjas with bobby-pins. They whipped our hair into updo's in no time! They also pulled, lifted, folded and tucked us neatly into those Kimonos with several fabric belts. Once we were all dressed, we went into a sliding screen Tea Room and met our hostess. She did brief introductions and asked us a bunch of, get to know you questions. The 5 of us Seniors were in with 6 other - 3 young couples - who all kneeled on the floor, while the 5 of us had mini chairs, to sit in! The tea service was very interesting and took about an hour. Then we could go out into the gardens and take photos. We had a lot of fun coming up with unique poses to highlight our inner geisha's!

Photo Fun in the gardens of Tea House.

STANDING STRONG IN THE STREETS OF KYOTO!!

L to R - Bosco, Me, Sherrie, Sarah & Bob

PORT DEARAU, FIJI - Naidiri Village

By Patricia Patrick • December 4, 2025
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.

LAUTOKA, FIJI

By Patricia Patrick • December 1, 2025
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!

RIVER TUBING DOWN THE NAVUA, SUVA, FIJI

By Patricia Patrick • December 1, 2025
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!