Day 5 in Fiji: Deep Sea Fishing

My parents had talked to a few locals on who does deep sea fishing trips on the island. They suggested John, and he did not disappoint! It was a beautiful day, and we were on the boat for 4 hours. Cris was like a kid in a candy store! He had always wanted to go deep sea fishing.

 Getting ready to push off

 It was so neat to see a different view of island from the boat. You could truly see why it is called the "Garden Island". The views were breathtaking!

 Check out the video at the bottom of this post for a video of the pod of dolphins that played in the wake of our boat. Just don't mind how funny I sound.

 We caught a few different types of fish. First was the baby "uncle Barry" aka Barracuda that I caught. Or should I say snagged. I have such skill that I don't catch fish I snag them. The Barracuda was snagged on it's side, and this Mackerel tuna was snagged on it's tail.

Cris was in the middle of reeling in a Wahoo, when it was caught, eaten by a reef shark. So Cris ended up reeling in a 120lb reef shark. It was really cool, and before we even went out Cris said he'd hope he'd catch a shark. They wouldn't go near the sharks mouth to let him free and couldn't get the lure out, so they ended up doing surgery, cutting the shark free. Poor little shark is missing a little bit of his bottom lip.

After the shark was let go Cris finally caught what we were waiting for. DINNER IS SERVED!!!

This Wahoo is probably around 60lbs. And according to our captain, this fish is very coveted and goes for $12-$15 a pound.

Funny story when Cris got the fish reeled in John got a club and started beating the crap out of the fish(although he chose a different word) I was startled and he said you have to beat them since they have sharp teeth, and you don't want 60lb of fish with sharp teeth flopping around on the boat. I have video of it on Cris' phone but can't figure out how to get it uploaded to the blog.

 After Cris' catch Patrick one upped him with his Wahoo that was around 80lbs. This was the first time Patrick had ever caught a fish this big, and on a actual fishing rod. The locals always just use fishing line and their hands, and they fish on mostly the reef so they only catch smaller fish.

 This is the lure that Cris caught the shark with. John was unhappy to catch a shark since they ruin the lures. He said that this particular lure cost him around $80.

This is just a little bit about Wahoo from Wikipedia:

Wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) is a scombrid fish found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. It is best known to sports fishermen, as its speed and high-quality flesh make it a prize game fish. In Hawaii, the wahoo is known as ono. Many Hispanic areas of the Caribbean and Central America refer to this fish as peto.
The flesh of the wahoo is white to grey, delicate to dense, and highly regarded by many gourmets. The taste is similar to mackerel, though arguably less pronounced. This has created some demand for the wahoo as a premium-priced commercial food fish. In many areas of its range, such as Hawaii, Bermuda and many parts of the Caribbean, local demand for wahoo is met by artisanal commercial fishermen, who take them primarily by trolling, as well as by recreational sports fishermen who sell their catch.

Cris was pretty happy with his catch of the day. I was really hoping on of us would catch a Yellow Fin Tuna, I guess we'll have to try for that fish next time.

They gut the fish for us right on the boat. It was pretty gross. The locals don't waste anything, so Patrick took the heads and tail fins home to his sister and a friend.

Later that afternoon Patrick came over and cooked us up the Wahoo, Fiji style. He first made a fresh coconut cream sauce. He brought up two coconuts from the tree, and harvested the coconut out of it with a special grater. I tried it and it took me 10 times longer to do just one side of the coconut. He then added water to the coconut and let it set, then strained it to make coconut milk. Once I figure out how to get the videos from Cris' phone I have video of it.

I am not a fan of seafood at all. I was brave and tried the Wahoo, and oh my gosh was it good!!!! It was not fishy tasting and didn't even smell fishy. Cris was shocked when I asked for him to pass me the plate of fish because I wanted more. We had so much fish that we froze more that half of it and Patrick will go get it anytime he pleases when he checks on my parents home. He was pretty happy to have it!

Cris' reef shark, Patrick's Wahoo, and the pod of dolphins that played in the boats wake.

Sunday in Fiji

 We were able to go to church while we were in Fiji. It was such a neat experience, and we can't wait to go again. Cris was such a good sport and wore a sulu to church. Most of the men in Fiji wear them to church services or on special days. We saw several men with multicolored, and floral ones. Cris said he didn't mind it, it gave him a nice breeze. :)

 This was the church building we visited. It was dedicated in the 80's sometime. It's not very big, it had a kitchen in it, bathroom, a small room that was the branch Presidents office and also doubled as the primary room, and the chapel that also was used for the Sunday school room. We had a great time. My parents had warned us before had that we may be called out in the middle of sacrament to give a talk. I went somewhat prepared, but luckily we were only asked to bear our testimonies. We decided that we should do our sacrament meetings "Fiji style". There were 3 speakers and they only spoke for about 2-5 minutes each. Which made for a really quick sacrament meeting. :)

 These are the kids that I taught Primary to. My mom hard also warned me that I may be handed the Primary manual, which I was. They were great bunch of kids. They usually have more kids in their primary but it was a rainy day which made it so not many people were there.

 After church was over we were invited to eat lunch at the church with the Branch President's family and friends. I will fully admit, it was hard to eat what they feed us. We had a ramen noodle with muscles type food, whole crabs, fresh muscles, and dalo. Dalo was the hardest for me to swallow. It's a root type vegetable, like a potato, but it was very dry, thick,and had no flavor. It would have been much easier to eat if it had some kind of sauce to eat with it.

After we ate Cris had some gum that we passed around to all the kids. They were in heaven!! The kids also liked watching all the movies we had on our phones of our kids. I pulled out my Ipad and started the movie Frozen for them while we visited with the adults. Those kids sat still for the whole movie and didn't budge for anything! If we would have had any other movies downloaded we would have been there all day, and night!

 I loved the spirit we felt when we were there and hope to be able to go back soon! These people are awesome, and hold a special place in my heart, I wanted to take all these kids home with us.

Fiji Day 3: Oldest Catholic Church in Taveuni, International Date Line, Natural Water Slide, & Snorkeling off the Beach

On day 3 we went to the oldest Catholic in Taveuni. It was nestled on a hill side over looking the ocean. It was amazing to see the work put into the church and the stained glass was beautiful! The church wasn't open on the day we went but I was able to sneak a picture of the inside from a side door that was propped open.

 This was the view from the front steps of the church. I don't know how you could go church, when you have this view. I would want to be outside playing in the ocean!

Up next was the International Date line. Don't fall over but Cris ran two days in a row, and was also kissed two days in a row! It's a miracle!!!

 The natural water slide was a blast! There were also lots of little pools of water to play in. Check out the videos at the bottom of the post for footage of Cris and I going down the slides. While we were there a native family showed up. A little girl was going down the slide on her feet like she was surfing. Her balance was amazing! Cris couldn't believe how fast the little kids would run up and down the trails without shoes. The pads on their feet are so thick I don't think anything would bother their feet. Cris on the other hand had to wear his flip flops while walking on the trails, I have tougher feet than him and didn't use mine.

 When we got back from our adventures around the island, we hit the beach for some snorkeling. I told Cris he looked like scuba Steve. This was Cris' first time snorkeling, he really liked it! We saw several blue star fish, clown fish, a many other fish I can't name. :)