A Corner of Paradise and Horse Whispering

We take a walk further up the hillside to view the plots of land my brother and his partner bought a few years ago. One plot for a house and several plots for conservation  - to protect the beautiful  trees and wild life which are constantly at risk from unauthorised requisition and destruction.

Toads and frogs underfoot are our constant companions...

and all manner of tropical plants line the way.

The view from the top of their land....so peaceful and unspoilt.

We stop off at the farm of a friend of my brother's. He is away but Theresa,  the caretaker of his land, lets  us 

eat our fruit salad lunch on his verandah and even makes us an impromptu cabbage and carrot salad as well. Then

she gives us a tour of the gardens which are wonderfully productive.

All this produce will be sent on the boat to the remote island, Naituba which we will be visiting next - where we'll be staying for 2 weeks in the ashram where my brother lives.

They also grow pineapples on this farm  -  this is beginning of a baby pineapple, 

which turns into this....

 and although only one pineapple grows from one plant it also produces little offshoots at the base which are called queens... and will be the next pineapples

Pawpaws also grow freely....

and the caretaker's sons delight in 

picking some for us. She has 8 children which is not uncommon for Fijian families although they don't all live with her and her husband..some are at school or staying with grandparents. I loved the friendliness of all the Fijians we met and we learnt the universal greeting of 'Bula' ( pronounced Boola)  always sung out with a huge smile.

Although it was hot and humid and we were bitten alive by mosquitoes, it's the quiet peacefulness of this totally unspoilt corner of paradise that I will always remember.

Today

Today a friend and I spent the morning in the company of 2 amazing horses  - William and Harry -  on a farm on Dartmoor.

We were horse whispering ....being blessed and healed by their uncanny non-human hearts.

 The horse that chose me was Harry....he seemed to feel and accept my sadness and stayed totally quiet with me....helping me overcome my ambivalence about trusting such a huge and powerful creature....letting me come close to the silky warmth of his nose.....letting me lead him for a few steps....then pushing me, nudging me away...letting me know it's safe ...out there ....and inside me.

And this is William with Robin in September 2015. They connected immediately...maybe William knew they shared a birthday...... he was so playful with him ....and somehow recognised  and trusted Robin's love of children and animals....it was beautiful to witness.

More Fiji ....and What's The Point

Next day we stop at the local market in the nearby town, Somo Somo, to buy fruit for lunch.

Coconuts, ginger.....and their lemons which look like limes but taste exactly like lemons.

Typical houses in

the main street.

We drive in a taxi  further up into the hills on a rutted road to visit friends of my brother. They have made a home and a guest house and an amazing garden on a plot of land hacked out of virgin jungle.

The view from the garden.

Everything grows so well and so fast in the humidity....

the lady of the house has planted a wonderful variety of orchids....I've never seen one like this above.

More

orchids.

Lemons.....

and a Surinam cherry  - which tastes like a black cherry but not so sweet.

We were treated to  chai tea  and delicious homemade cookies and they opened

a fresh coconut for us, with a panga called a sele. Tthe milk was sweet and the flesh was soft and chewy and fragrant -  nothing like the coconuts we buy in the supermarkets here.

To be continued...

Today after a gentle session with my family constellation therapist - she prescribed gorse Bach Flower Remedy for hopelessness and despair - I drove to Castle Drogo (one of Robin's favourite haunts) on the edge of Dartmoor and

walked around the late summer gardens in the sunshine ...sharing them with the bees

and the butterflies,

who are too busy staying alive to ask what is the point of it all?

The Return/ Travel Photo Blog

 The Return

I have been back a few days but still in the upside-down spin wash of jet lag.

Now that my exotic summer is over, manoeuvring my way around my empty house ....re-treading the pathways of my old/new Robin-less life.

Searching for tentative  footholds in the steep climb of a blank future.

So for a while this will be a photo travel blog. Adventures in Fiji.

We fly, via Hong Kong to Nadi, on one of the biggest islands in Fiji, Viti Levu. 

While we wait  at the poolside to get into our room at the Toka Toka hotel we order breakfast -  our first fruit smoothie - pineapple, pawpaw and coconut and some undefined lurid pink syrup.

Mynah birds hop around between the tables making their distinctive call. We hear them everywhere we go.

 A day and a night later, leaving Nadi in a small 14 seater plane to fly to Taveuni, a smaller island,

a journey of an hour and a half across this picture postcard turquoise sea surrounding hundreds of atolls and small and large uninhabited islands.

Arriving at Matai airport we are met by our brother

who takes us out to lunch at The Coconut Grove where we have  delicious samosas,

fresh vegetable curry, 

and the best fresh coconut cake Ive ever eaten.

Our view from the restaurant balcony,

 and in the gardens masses of  hibiscus flowers, 

and this butterfly perched on a very exotic succulent plant - name unknown .

We stay at the Taveuni Island Resort, a beautiful quiet chalet hotel with wonderful views,

and  the luxury of an infinity pool which my sisters and I love, which makes me feel I'm swimming  a travel brochure.

The sunset from our chalet balcony that evening - having to pinch myself it's all real.

Back to today.... and an English autumn morning...

I climb a ladder to pick some of the red ripe apples drenching our tree in the garden. I sort them  in the kitchen and store them in cardboard boxes in the shed. I cut the bad bits off some of them and then feed them into the juicer...making a fragrant, sweet, nectar the colour of roses and pink hibiscus.

And I wonder how I can ever leave this house and the free bounty of my apple fountain.