Home sweet home! Robby by our Makaira Resort villa on the garden island of Taveuni

Our king sized bed at Makaira Resort

Our own private plunge pool; Makaira Resort

Spotting a moral eel while snorkeling in front of our villa

Spadefish

Blue spotted sting ray

Juvenile fish hiding in coral

Finding a massive conch

Banded sea kraits are highly venomous so we kept our distance!

Loads of sea snails to be seen while snorkeling off Taveuni

Our peaceful retreat at Makaira Resort

See no evil (Robby), hear no evil (Gracie), speak no evil (Emma)

Family photo in Taveuni (Gracie, Fran, Emma, Bob, Nancy, Becky, Ann, Luke)

Our 7 am breakfast ritual at Makaira Resort

Gracie loving the non stop attention from Uncle Luke and Aunt Becky

Our Lavena coastal hike outfits

Taveuni Ocean Sports shack; Matei

Frannie tickling Robby's ear as we wait for the public bus to take us to Lavena

Fantastic views on the 1 hour bus ride from Matei to Lavena (a bargain at only 3.80 FJD)

Small village near Bouma

Bure bus stop

Coastal scenery on our drive to Lavena - the road is unpaved and quite bumpy!

Final stop and all passengers disembark at Lavena

The Lavena Coastal Walk & Visitor Center - the friendly staff will get a local guide to show you the way to the waterfall

Pet pig; Lavena

Luke and Robby enjoying our 5 km stroll on the famous "Lavena Coastal Walk" - one of Taveuni's must do activities

Panorama of the view on our Lavena Coastal Walk

Flower mustaches

Waterfall in the distance

Foliage seen on our Lavena coastal walk

Cyclone Winston blew out the swinging bridge so we had to wade across the river; Lavena Coastal Walk

River crossing view

Luke and his crab friend

Crossing over another river

Robby making his way across the river

Banana munchers

Our awesome guide Simoni showing us the kava plant

Pinnacle rocks

Cat whiskers; Lavena Coastal Walk

Hiking up the final section leading to the waterfall; Lavena Coastal Walk

At long last, the waterfall is in sight at the end of the Lavena Coastal Walk

Striking a pose in the waterfall pool; Lavena

We had to swim about 200 meters through this passage to reach the waterfall

Another view of the passage you have to swim through to reach the waterfall

Smiling at the end of our hot, sweaty walk - the waterfall is super refreshing and well worth the effort

Luke climbing up to slide down the waterfall

After an hour of enjoying this lovely spot to ourselves, we finally tear ourselves away (Robby, Simoni, Luke, Franny & Becky)

Orange fruit dove; Lavena Coastal Walk

Boat ride to check out the second waterfall (which can only be reached by boat and costs 140 FJD for up to 6 people)

The beautiful, secluded second waterfall

Smiling before leaving the second waterfall - everyone loved the Lavena Coastal adventure!

Franny posing at the front of our boat; Lavena

The view on the drive back to Matei

Sunset over Matei

Lucy preparing breakfast for us every morning; Makaira Resort

Hibiscus flower decoration at our breakfast table

Rainbow Reef information board - so excited to go SCUBA diving in Taveuni!

Getting ready to dive Rainbow Reef with Taveuni Ocean Sports

Clark anemone fish

A giant moray eel peers out from the brain coral

Orange-fin anemonefish

Neon blue and yellow fish

Tomato anemone fish

Snorkeling with manta rays!

The 180 degree meridian where each new day begins! Apart from Siberia, Antarctica and 2 other Fiji islands, the meridian crosses no other land. Here, Robby tries to pull Becky from today back into "yesterday"

Beautiful garden at the Wairiki Mission

The Taveuni Catholic Church, also known as the Wairiki Mission

Emma and Becky prepare to beat the lali drum; Taveuni Cathedral

Inside the Wairiki Mission - the prettiest church on Taveuni

Interior detail of Wairiki Mission

Overlooking the historic site where Taveuni fighters battled invading Tongans. The underdogs won and celebrated by roasting the Tongans and eating them with breadfruit!

The first store to open in the world - the Meridian Store

Meridian cinema - where you can spend yesterday and today watching movies!

Hiking to the Waitavala Waterslide

Panorama of Waitavala Waterslide

Sliding down Waitavala Waterslide is at your own risk - expect lots of bumps and bruises and a whole lot of fun!

We had the entire Waitavala Waterslide to ourselves early on a week day morning - we heard the weekends would be packed with visitors!

Laughing the entire way down the Waitavala Waterslide!

Group photo before we leave the waterslide (Robby, Franny, Emma, Gracie, Becky and Luke)

Posing with Harry, our awesome Taveuni taxi driver!

Fear not, the Waitavala Waterslide is next to a prison but the prisoners are super friendly!

School scene; Taveuni

Shopping at MH Supermarket - the largest one in Taveuni

Liquor land is behind a caged area - since alcohol is so expensive in Fiji, this makes a lot of sense!

Swimming with Grace and Emma in the private plunge pool

Snapshot of our daily breakfast; Makaira Resort

Gracie and Emma posing with our breakfast flowers; Makaira Resort

Gorgeous view from our breakfast table; Makaira Resort

Robby ballin' in Fiji!

Lovo underground at Wiwi Village

Preparing for the village meke

Unearthing our lovo meal - root crops, chicken and fish were incredibly delicious!

Sia explaining all the lovo dishes that we will enjoy for our dinner tonight; Wiwi Village

Big smile from Robby over his amazing lovo meal

Meke performers at Wiwi Village

Village girls sing and dance for our meke performance

The boys laughing during their performance; Wiwi Village Meke

Pretty sea shells abound around Taveuni

Gracie and Emma looking at Aunt Nancy's videos of Bella in her performance

Playing Catan on one of the few rainy afternoons we had in Taveuni

Getting excited to visit Tavoro waterfall

Loading up the van to visit the 3 waterfalls at Bouma

Tavoro Waterfall Visitor Center

Franny, Grace and Emma at the entrance to the Tavoro Waterfall Park

The first waterfall is a flat 10 minute hike away

Foliage on our short hike to the base of the first waterfall

What a beautiful sight! The first waterfall is the highest and has the biggest swimming pool. Luckily, we have it all to ourselves

Family photo at the Tavoro Waterfall

Another view of pretty Tavoro Waterfall

Luke smiling on the hike up to the 2nd waterfall

Looking down on the first waterfall; Tavoro

It’s getting hot and sweaty on our hike to the 2nd waterfall; Tavoro

Taking a break to soak up the gorgeous views

We love Taveuni - truly the "Garden Island" of Fiji!

Coastal view on our Tavoro Hike

Pretty flowers; Tavoro hike

Robby and Luke debate left or right track - which way to go? We definitely recommend the left track that crosses over the river to reach the second waterfall

A defiant purple crab blocks our way on the hiking track; Tavoro

At long last, the second waterfall is in sight

Staircase leading up to the second waterfall

Posing in front of the second waterfall at Tavoro

Another view of Tavoro's second waterfall

Our parting view of the second waterfall at Tavoro

15 years of marriage later, Becky can still get a chuckle out of Robby by presenting him with a flower; Tavoro

The 3rd waterfall at Tavoro

Yay! We finally made it to the third waterfall where we finally take a dip to cool down

Gracie and Becky take a dip in the swimming pool of the waterfall; Tavoro

Bula from Taveuni! Gracie and Becky have big smiles after our trip to Tavoro Waterfall

Stopping at Suncity Supermarket to buy groceries

Robby partaking in a kava ceremony at Makaira Resort

Becky and Aunt Nancy about to board our flight to Viti Levu