1/1/2026 New Years Day

A beautiful sunny day greeted us when we opened the curtains. We had both slept so well, and I dont think ive slept that well since before Si died. The Kava is goooood. I went online this morning and discovered that I can get it at home. I would have preferred to bring the real stuff from Fiji but the import laws to NZ don't allow it, and I’m not sure if it's frowned upon in the uk either, it's not worth the risk, i suspect the fine is huge. 

Our last breakfast was taken in our usual seat, and I was pretty tearful, despite the perfect view in front of me.

We decided to switch up our egg order today, controversial I know, but we had scrambled eggs, they were so light and fluffy and cooked to perfection. Morg added a pile of beans, sausage, bacon and potato wedges to his to keep him going until the airport. We both filled up as it promised to be a really long arsed day! It was a lot quieter today, the staff were also quieter than usual, possibly something to do with the celebrations of last night. If you didn't know that there had been a huge celebration at the resort you would never have known because everything was back in its proper place. Once we were full, we went back to the bure to pack our bag and tidy everything.  One of the receptionists came down and checked what time we were leaving the island so she could book our taxi from Vuda Marina to the airport for us and we followed her down to reception to check out. Today is the stillest it's been since we arrived on the Island, and we really missed the strong breeze. There wasn't a whiff of one to be found and a full day to be spent without the air con didn't hold much appeal for Morg. We were both in swim wear, and had left clothes out to change into before getting the boat back to the mainland. We had hoped to spend the day on the beach in th palm huts but had slipped up, and they were all full. The group who sang last night had stayed on the island too and were making the most of the shelters and loungers on the beach with their families. 

That just left the pool area. There were plenty of loungers but as it was so still it was almost too hot to sit without some sort of shade. I managed it for an hour but had to go in the ocean to cool off. I was drying my beach shoes out in the sunshine so I had to go in my flip flops. It wasn't ideal, I have white women's feet and they are a bit wimpy to be honest. I finally made it in with much hopping and swearing as the coral dug into my little trotters. As soon as I was in deep enough it was just easier to let myself flop into the water and paddle myself out to deeper water. Once my arsw was no longer touching the ocean floor lay there being rocked gently by the waves watching the clouds chase across the sky . I have bought Si’s rash vest with me which has been a godsend and stopped me burning, especially in the water when snorkelling and I thankfully had kept it out of the bag to wear.  I was really hoping that because the ocean was so calm the visibility would be good on our last day, sadly though it was still all stirred up and like a soup from the heavy storms we have had. I was a bit disappointed as I really wanted to snorkel the other side of the island before leaving but the conditions haven't been right.   Eventually I had to get out because I could feel my nose burning again and it’s now like a homing beacon! To get back to my lounger I had to repeat the same ridiculous wimpy walking over the washed up coral and stones I did getting into the water. I managed to stub my big toe twice and fell over once on the short trip! F f s, at least it made Morgan laugh.

When I finally got back poolside I asked Morg to move my lounger for me. I needed some shade and he pulled the lounger underneath the blue sun sail that's tied over the pool. It was much cooler being out of the direct sunshine.  Within the hour the wind picked up, coming this time from the opposite direction it had been this last week  and blowing up onto the pool deck which Morg and I were eternally grateful for. There were fresh coconuts on the bar, so I offered one to Morg as I was having one, and they are really good for rehydration in the sunshine. He doesn't like coconut water, I was amazed, just when you think you know someone! Obviously it didn't stop me having one! It cost me my crab race winnings, but was worth every penny. Delicious. Once I’d drunk the water I took it back to the bar and they smashed it open so I could eat the flesh as well. I was not going to waste something so tasty that is good for me!

An hour later we noticed a huge catamaran sailing past the island, it turned and stopped just off shore.

Minutes later a gazillion people appeared from nowhere. Our friendly Fijian elder explained they were on a tour from Denaru port for the day for snorkelling, bbq and drinks. Which explained why we weren't encouraged anymore to go around that side of the island. Serenity gets paid a lot of money to have  the tour boats there. But for me it kind of spoils the island. I think it's a good way of advertising the island and you can't fault them for charging to see  the beautiful coral on that side. I can't think of anything worse myself, because we worked out here were over 100 people getting back on the catamaran, and they had just spent the whole day all shoved together on that side of the island and it's not that big at all. Progress I'm sure, and I appreciate the islanders have to make a living, it's just such a shame that mine and Si’s beautiful and perfect little Island is at huge risk of becoming spoiled. Obviously that's only my opinion. They had to be boarded on our side of the Island as it was too choppy for them to board on the other. Peace once more descended once they had left and I settled back on my lounger. 

The staff were all still in mischievous and playful moods. They were like kids, dumping each other into the pool, the ocean over and over again. There was one bloke in particular who Morg had got chatting to, who had worked three years in New Zealand on the trees and playing rugby, well we lost count the number of times he got thrown in the water, every single time he came out smiling and laughing, showing the most perfect set of straight white teeth, and when Morg asked him “ how many times is that now brother” his reply of ‘‘Plenty times’’ had us both giggling. It's also a tribal/family thing. A lot of the tribes/families are traditionally enemies/rivals, and as such this is the perfect opportunity for that tribal rivalry to play out in a harmless way. There was still a lovely sense of fun and enjoyment amongst everyone on the island, and that was shown by the island challenge organised by the staff for the remaining guests. They had set out loads of challenges to do and everyone was throwing themselves into it. The guests partaking, were laughing, sunburnt and having the best time, it was a truly unforgettable New Year’s Day for them all I'm sure. 

Sadly the time approached for us to leave, I went and had a shower in the beach shower and got dressed ready for our flight back to New Zealand, packed my damp swimming stuff into a bag and we were ready for the off. As we sat in the lobby, our Elder friend came and sat opposite us to chat, he asked our permission to take our photo which I found surprising but also really nice, of course we obliged. I asked if I could take his photo too, and when he took off his cap, even sat there in his work uniform, he transformed into someone with a massive presence and authority, right in front of our eyes. He sat and held himself differently. It's hard to describe but hopefully you can see it in the photo.

He bid us farewell and gave me the biggest hug and told me  to go back next year. I'm sure he says it to everyone, but that hug was so very welcome.

The boat arrived to collect us and we were loaded in, it was very choppy so it took quite a while but they got us on without me falling in which was quite an achievement! We sat ourselves down and Appia said for us to sit on the other side as we were going to get wet otherwise. He proceeded to pull down the plastic window to prevent the water splashing in on us. The waves were really high and the captain spent the whole trip fighting with them as we bounced over them. Even with the plastic down the spray was finding its way in and I'm glad we moved. The wipers on the front were tied on with cable ties and working hard to keep the window clear. You can obviously tell I'm not nautically minded. I have no idea on the correct terminology for these things! We eventually got into Vuda Marina and our taxi driver was waiting for us, the same one who picked us up when we arrived. He was beaming, and seemed genuinely pleased to see us . We were asked if it was ok for more photos to be taken so i think it was for a promo thing for the island,” this is how our guests leave sunburned and smiling!” They shook Morgs hand and I had a hug from them and before we knew it everything was loaded into the boot we were in the car being driven towards the airport.  We passed through villages where the children were playing outside not a smart phone to be seen. We drove past Tiny ‘supermarkets’ and garages on the roadside, mobile phone top up stores and through the lush sugar cane fields with the stone mountains behind them. The stone is used all around the island and there is a massive quarry in operation blasting it from the hillside.

We drove past some really impressive looking properties. Morg asked our driver who they belonged to thinking they might belong to one of the Fijian rugby stars or something, but he told him it was a hotel, but that very bad things happened there and no one wanted to stay. The bedding was lifted off the guests beds during the night, things flew off shelves and all manner of strange incidents occurred throughout the hotel. There was another one that he pointed out to us and he said that the same bad things happened there, very bad spirits . The locals say the people who built them both, brought the bad spirits with them and all the bad luck. The villagers won't go near either place and they've both been standing empty for over two years, fully furnished and just totally abandoned. They are impressive looking buildings, but they will now be left to crumble over time.

We then passed through a police checkpoint on the road and they were just checking the tax and documentation discs on the cars ,so we were waved through as it was all in order.  It’s a regular thing apparently.

Arriving at the airport took no time at all and we were soon in the air conditioned building. I was very glad for my jumpsuit with the long legs, Morg was still in his shorts and vest, he was getting chilly! We went to the help desk and the extremely uninterested girl pointed us where we needed to go. Except when we got there it was the wrong place.  Back up where we'd come from to try again.  Finally we were checked in and on our way through security to the departure lounge, a very quick operation which surprised us greatly. It was heaving but Morg had spotted burger king and was starving hungry so we wheeled over and he had a meal and I had some fries and a coke. It had been a while since breakfast. We only had 45 minutes to wait until our boarding time, but this was where things started to go tits up, an announcement came over the air saying anyone who had two pieces of hand luggage had to now bring them forward to the desk at the gate, as due to the flight being full there wouldn't be enough room in the overhead lockers for everyone's luggage. Why they hadn't worked that out earlier and done it when they checked everyone in is beyond me completely. While they were doing that they could have been loading on the special assistance passengers as that always takes a while, but no, they were unable to do two  things at once. We were finally called forward, with just 15 minutes to go before we were supposed to be taking off. I got to the aircraft door and they transferred me over into the aisle chair and started to load me in, once again Morg and I found ourselves seated in the aisle and middle seats, meaning we were potentially going to be up and down like a blimin yo-yo ! The joy. Because of the delays we were late taking off, so I decided to get straight into my film of choice, Lilo and Stitch, thinking I would have time for two films on the flight. However for 30 minutes straight , there were continual announcements from the captain and crew over various things. Added to that were adverts every two minutes through the entertainments. Morg was bashing his head against the seat in front of him he was so frustrated. An hour in and there were still regular interruptions. The staff were shockingly bad and actually really rather rude, and we'd not had so much as a drink bought around. Food was being served, but in the weirdest way possible, there was one steward with the drinks trolley right down the front, and in front of him another crew member had the food trolley. The third crew

Member was running up and down the aisle with trays of food from the drawers at the back as the one with the trolley was shouting out what she wanted. Surely it would have been better for her to throw the food out from the back and meet in the middle. I’ve had much better service from Ryan Air and Easy jet, and they are pretty shit as it goes. Morg and I eventually had our food half hour before we landed and the captain put out an announcement saying the crew would be coming through the aircraft to collect the rubbish when we had only just started eating. Also all that was left was fish curry by the time it got to us, the chicken and veggie options had all gone, funny that. Although I caught a glimpse of the chicken and mash that was being eaten by a passenger behind us and it looked a bit grim, to be fair the fish curry was quite good, but I struggle to eat a meal quickly at the moment so really didn’t appreciate being hurried along when it wasn't my fault they were idiots.

Finally we landed and everyone rushed to get off, the staff came along with the aircraft's folding chair, and by now I couldn't move or feel either of my legs. The aisle chair was a lot smaller than the airport ones but did the job, and they were

trying to speed up the process because we were so late leaving Fiji. It would all have been splendid except they couldn't work out how  to transfer me from it and into the airport one at the aircraft door. They ended up taking me back onto the plane, unloading me into the first class seat,  then loading me back into the other aisle chair, drove

my foot into the metal drawers at the front of the plane, which thankfully I couldn’t feel and finally wheeled me off and transferred me into mildred. It was a miracle she was on the plane given the way things had gone. Morg was about to lose his shit with them. He has zero tolerance for idiots. Even less than me. While we were waiting we had to fill out the electronic declaration forms for New Zealand Immigration, I had my snorkel in my hand luggage and obviously had to declare it along with our beach shoes. Thankfully we were waved through and the bags were not even checked. A family of Asians were in the process of being fined for bringing in food that wasn't in sealed packaging. They should have eaten it on the plane like we did with our fruit on the way out!

As we were going through the arrivals we chatted to the Samoan lad pushing the chair. He was saying sometimes he only has two jobs a day, the rest of the time he’s in a bunk house waiting for flights to come in. His shift is 24 hours long, but he seemed really happy with it as the money is really good and it’s not hard work. Morg went to collect our luggage off the carousel and we

finally made our way out of the airport. The guy from special assistance came with us right to the uber stand, which we thought a bit strange as usually they leave you as  soon as they can. When the uber came, we realised why, he thought Mildred was the airport's chair, he didn't realise she was mine, despite all the sticky labels all over her. I think he must have had sleep in his eyes to have missed that! All loaded into the uber we headed home to Morgans. I was staying the night there as it made more sense to do that than unpack my stuff from the Fiji bag, pack up my trusty backpack which I’d left at his, then load everything into the truck and have him drive me to the hotel… at 0200hours. We had a quick shower and hit the sack. It's been a nice week but very hard I think for Morgan, I'm pretty certain he'll be glad to see the back of me ! He’s been living on his own for a long time, so sharing a room with his very emotional mother for a week and having no space to breathe will have been extremely trying for him. He has the patience of a saint but I know I will have pushed him to his limit this week, not intentionally obviously.

There have been a lot of challenging emotions, flashbacks, and many many tears. I am so glad we spent it at Serenity Island, it is a very special place that has given me memories of Si to cherish forever. I hope Morg has enjoyed it and has now seen all the things that Si told him about. It breaks my shattered heart a little bit more that he wasn’t there with me in person this time, but I can still clearly see the expressions on his gorgeous little face at all the things we shared on that beautiful little Island for his last birthday . I’m glad I was able to make it utterly perfect for him, and with help from the staff, and Mother Nature we all worked together to give him the most precious and special celebration that he truly deserved for all he did for me. I am also eternally grateful that I videoed him so much ( to his utmost disgust) during that stay, as well as all the photos I took of him and us. Whilst it’s just not the same, I can at least still hear his voice and see him enjoying those very special moments.

Much love

Mrs Leoanrd

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