Hols!

Easily bored by holiday snaps? Give this a miss then. 

My goddaughter Lydia has come over to stay for about 10 days and that's a huge joy. Fresh from completing (very successfully) a Masters in Law from Cambridge, she's chilling out before the next move and chose to spend some time in Fiji. I am blessed.

So, we're having a lovely time. She got off the plane and within an hour or two we went to soothe away the jet lag in the Sabeto Hot Springs. Much is said about the healing and restorative properties of the natural mud baths of Sabeto: the local village hosts it as a tourist attraction as well as it being revered as a much loved place of healing. A slice of the profits go to the local churches of the village and we were guided through the process and the four pools (extremely muddy - quite muddy - only a tad muddy and pristine) by Buna, our kind, local guide. Here we are at various stages of cleanliness and uncleanliness, but never far from Godliness.

Sunday was spent with the inspirational Rev Grace Reuben at Bethany Methodist Church in Nadi where I was kindly asked to preach at the second morning service. Bethany's present worship centre stands on top of the original church building, and the original church building became the Manse - but not reduced in size. Grace must have the lengthiest Manse sitting room I've ever seen! It was lovely to catch up with her - the first ordained woman in the Methodist Church of Fiji's Indian Division. She has many a story to tell. Here we are after worship and enjoying lunch - the Fijian fried prawns particularly wonderful.

We did real 'tourist' on a day trip to South Sea Island and a cruise around the outer Mamanuca islands. You can get the low down at https://ssc.com.fj/day-cruises/south-sea-island/. I'm an uneasy tourist in a way, ever troubled by the impact on the environment and the culture of this kind of mildly exploitative day trip: Fiji easily and almost flippantly packaged for the tourist dollar. And yet... Fiji's tourist 'industry' is needed. It was a lovely day: sun, sand, snorkelling and underwater viewing from a semi-submersible and a blissful, lazy cruise back on the top deck above the radiant blues and greens of the moana.

(I guess it must be good Methodists who operate the South Sea Island day trip because pretty much the first thing you happen upon on disembarking is a hot water urn alongside coffee, tea bags, sugar and a milk jug. God bless 'em, I say). 

We're back in Suva now and I've had a bit of work to do while Lydia's been socialising with PTC's younger contingent. Some leaping around in waterfalls was done today I think. And tomorrow we go with Nanuku settlement friends to Pacific Harbour; our nearest sand and swimming spot, for 'church on the beach' and some fun and games. Here we were making plans for all that last Wednesday at youth group. 

Is it theologically OK to pray for sunshine? Discuss. (We did, anyway).