Walking on the Reef at Low Tide . . .

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It’s my last night at the Beach House.

Yesterday was another day of doing “nothing”. I read most of the day. Since I’ve left home, I’ve already read 4 novels! I read so quickly and now I have seemingly limitless reading time so I’m tearing through them. I’m always like that when I’m travelling. I also did some more coconut leaf weaving with Mali. I made a basket and a bag and another bracelet. I don’t think I’d remember how to do any of them except the bracelet on my own though. I don’t know if I’ll be able to bring them home or not, considering they’re plants and all the customs stuff . . . we’ll see. We’ll also see if I run out of carrying space before then!

Today I decided that once I got out of bed, no reading today. I just wanted to soak up being here. And it’s been lovely. I laid out in the sunshine, until the sun disappeared behind a cloud. I took another long walk along the beach. I thought about what I’m going to do with the next stretch of my trip. I treated myself to a massage - thanks to a lovely woman named Susanne. (At $11 Canadian for an hour’s massage, it’s hardly a splurge!) I swam in the pool. I spent a lot of time in my favourite hammock on the beach.

At low tide, I went out exploring on the reef again. This time I walked all the way out to the reef’s edge which has to be close to a quarter kilometre away from the shore. I couldn’t believe all of the critters I saw along the way . . . bright vibrant blue starfish, urchins of various colours, a couple of huge sea snakes, crabs, various fish and some incredible coral. I can’t get over how much there was to see and the water was never deeper than my knees, usually more ankle-depth. If there’s that much to see walking on a shallow reef, I can only begin to imagine what I’ll see snorkeling and diving!

This evening as the sun was starting to set, I settled back into my favourite hammock. While it was still pretty bright, there a huge rainbow suddenly appeared at the end of the beach. It just dropped out of the sky and into the ocean. I could vividly see every colour in it.

About half an hour later, the sun began sinking towards the ocean. I watched the whole sunset as I strolled along the beach.

Now I’m hanging out in resort’s lounge having just had a delicious dinner. I can’t say enough about this backpackers resort. Honestly, of all of the backpackers I’ve stayed in around the globe, this may be the best one - certainly of any that I can remember. The property is beautiful, the facilities are well-kept, the staff are friendly, the food is wonderful. I’m eager to start travelling around Fiji and seeing more of the islands, but it feels unfortunate to leave this place.

But I will. Tomorrow morning I’m catching the bus back to the Nadi airport where I’ll be taking a domestic flight. It’s time to go to the island that has inspired my entire interest in Fiji. It’s time to go to Taveuni . . .

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