Coconuts,The Rainbow Reef and The Exact Moment ....

I was so thrilled to capture this Fijian kingfisher on a telegraph wire....like the one who graced us with his presence in Naituba.... sitting on the roof of the farm temple. It makes up for the fact that I've  never managed to take a decent photo of our speedy little British kingfishers.

We spent a lot of time under this coconut palm outside our chalet ...following the shade with our books.

Coconuts in the tree above us.

We asked in the restaurant if we could have fresh coconut milk at dinner and before we knew it the manager had cut down 3 coconuts from 'our' tree with his sele (panga),

and served them with straws that evening as our aperitif.  Much more delicious than Pina Colada...

I never tired of watching the sun

going down over the sea 

every night. A different sky every night.

The morning of our snorkelling trip on The Rainbow Reef - famous for its hundreds of varieties of living coral and tropical fish - a rainbow appeared  over our beach.

It didn't look like the weather was very good as we set off on the  boat....mostly with people who were experienced divers. We were the only three who had booked for snorkelling.

But when we got out to the reef - about forty five minutes from the shore -  the clouds cleared and the water was everything I'd hoped for - 

 crystal turquoise.

A cormorant or a shag (? ) watching us from his perch.

The lovely crew  - all experienced divers - who looked after us so well. Our guide is the one on the left who was wonderfully patient and humorous with us and all our faffing about with the gear and the wetsuits and putting up with our endless fits of giggles in the water practically drowning ourselves in our masks....

How on earth does this thing work?

I finally got it together - the pressure and weight of the flippers and the suction of the breathing apparatus and the tight squeeze of the wetsuit -   and overcame my fear of swallowing the whole sea and not being able to breathe and what if we disturbed a shark...

and discovered I was floating above a silent and magical underworld. Cliffs and forests of living corals in soft muted colours - lavender mauves, lime yellows, dusky pinks, pewter, bronze and rust - inhabited by darting shoals of tiny navy, and black and translucent cobalt blue fishes and bigger ones - striped like bees, iridescent turquoise, shimmering purple.

It really was like being in a David Attenborough underwater movie.

Thank you to my photographer sister who took some of these pictures .... and like me vowed it was the last time we would ever attempt to put on or take off a wet suit - wrestling with a giant octopus and being squeezed to death -  comes to mind....even if the price has to be going to the movies to visit the marvellous world of coral and fishes  under the sea.

Our last beautiful evening on the Garden Island of Taveuni.

Today.

Today I restrained myself in the farmers' market and I only bought Neroli cabbage and rocket, and green beans and sweetcorn and tomatoes  - enough for one person. But I have a feeling I may be making soup for the freezer with what I can't get through....

On  the other hand I did buy rather a lot in the Marks and Spencer 50 percent off sale. And a few items which weren't in the sale.....compensating for not buying too much spinach? Mad I know...

This afternoon I took bags of my red and ripe apples to the next door neighbours. And one of them returned the favour with two huge pears and a giant courgette from their allotment. I told them about Robin and how one year all of his ripe pears were stolen off the tree and so after that we always picked them before they were quite ready.... although it's notoriously difficult to gauge the exact moment of juicy ripeness of a pear.

I also find it  difficult to know exactly when it's the right moment to the a cake out of the oven.... in spite of the skewer in the middle test.

This afternoon I  baked a coffee and walnut cake for a family event at the weekend...knowing it wouldn't get a Paul Hollywood handshake for its rather dense texture and uneven rise. So it's lucky I'm not competing in the GBBO and my family love me and my cakes whatever they taste like.

 And anyway a good swirl of creamy frosting usually distracts from any major flaws.