How did you end up in FIJI???

This is THE most asked question by friends and resort guests!

How did I get to Fiji???? In the late 80's, sitting one evening with a good friend & my now ex on our patio in Walnut Creek CA (with 3 bottles of wine!!), she & I started talking about getting out of the corporate rat race before the "gold watch at 65". What if we built a small resort / retreat for artists & writers? My husband was a "house-husband". It worked for us/me because I traveled a lot & he could pick up & go too if we wanted. She suggested New Zealand -- both of her kids were married to Kiwis. I looked into it but at that time, NZ didn't allow ANY immigrants over the age of 40 - they expected everyone to end up on the dole.

My husband & I were intrigued with the idea. Being on the West Coast at the time, we spent a lot of time in Baja and on the West Coast of Mexico & started looking around there. Then came a move to Cincinnati which put the Caribbean close. In our 8 years in Cincy, we made AT LEAST a dozen trips to that area, from the Bahamas to Bonaire. Either flying to a specific island to check out properties or on a small cruise ship that went into the off-the-beaten-track places. We came THAT CLOSE to buying a small privately owned island in the Bahamas except, on the 3rd trip, the mosquitoes were so bad that I had to have a doctor brought to the resort! We only looked at islands owned by "civilized" countries - UK, France, Holland. Most everywhere the locals were okay around tourists but VERY "chip on the shoulder" to owners & other expats. Descended from slaves, they had a "you owe us a living" mentality. AND, on a lot of the islands, there were ARMED guards in the stores!! Hmmmmm.....

In early 1996, I spotted an ad in a Villa Rentals newsletter for 25 acres for sale in Fiji. It was freehold (only 8% of the land here can be BOUGHT) and had an old house on it (used as a weekly rental). We were already committed to a trip to Bonaire at the time so I asked for photos (this is WAY before email!!) and more info. It was for sale because her husband had died (they had planned to develop it into a small resort) and she remarried -- and the new family had 4 kids under the age of six! We flew to Fiji in May 1996, after checking it out with friends in international banking. Once a British colony, the Fijians had never been "slaves". Hurricanes (called cyclones in this part of the world) do happen but, unlike the Caribbean, very infrequently (I've been through only one).

To be continued......:)

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