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Published: February 12th 2014
Thursday 6
th We get picked up okay and board our ferry at 8.30 for the Mamanuca Islands. Our first stop after 30 mins is South Sea Island. It’s small, in fact I’ve seen larger piles of sand on a building site ! Ten minutes later we drop anchor off Bounty Island. This is our island for the next three nights. It’s 48 acres and takes half an hour to walk around.
We’ve booked at the last minute and got a beach fronted burre at 60%!o(MISSING)f the normal cost. It looks like my shed but with a pitched roof, bathroom, air con and a sun deck. It’s located about 30 yards from the sea shore amoungst palm trees and we have a double hammock in the trees. It’s great !
All Burres are numbered and given a timber carving to identify them. Christine wants to take ours home for the garden.
After quickly settling in we go for a swim and then have a BBQ lunch on the shore. We then spend the rest of the afternoon snorkeling over the coral, swimming and a little sleeping in the hammock. Once we get used to not tipping each
other out.
Late afternoon we walk right round the island and arrive back half an hour later. As we get ready for dinner there’s a tropical downpour. Our first rain in a week.
After dinner the staff entertain us with traditional Fijean songs but it’s still an early night at 8.30
Friday 7
th We wake late and just make the end of breakfast before 9. We spend the morning lazing in the hammock and swimming and it’s lunchtime before we know it !
It clouds over and we decide to take out a double kayak, a dangerous thing for us as we can never paddle together.
We’re not surprised to spend the first 10 mins going round in circles before eventually heading off round the island. After 40 mins we complete the circuit and are pleased to hand the thing back before we have another argument about whose fault it is that we can’t go straight.
The afternoon’s very cloudy but we both go out snorkeling and Christine sees a big fish which she manages to miss every time with the underwater camera. We’ve only got fronts or rears of the thing.
She vows to do better tomorrow, if it’s around.
The rest of the afternoon is spent reading and keeping out of the way of another tropical shower. It’s a lazy day.
Saturday 8
th We spend most of the morning snorkeling and see wonderfully colourful coral and brightly coloured fish of all sizes. Christine see her “big” fish again and doesn’t manage to get a photo. I’m starting to think she’s imagining it !
The afternoon’s spent reading in our hammock and dodging the showers. Late on we have another walk around part of the island and look at the Hawksbill turtles in a conservation pond.
At dinner we get talking (or rather listening) to an awful woman I’ve been trying to avoid since arriving.
We leave as soon as possible and pack ready to depart tomorrow morning.
Sunday 9
th At breakfast we say goodbye to our neighbours Echo and Frank, a young Chinese couple on their honeymoon. We board the yellow Yasawa Flyer for our trip into the Yasawa group of islands and our 3 day stay at Natqalia Lodge on Wayalaili Island. We arrive about an hour and a half later
and find that there are only 4 burres left after last year’s cyclone destroyed the dorm and there’s only us and 5 others at the resort.
The resort is owned and run by the local villagers. It’s very Fijean and basic. Our Burre fronts a beautiful beach and has only cold water and electricity from 6pm to 10.30pm. We eat only what they grow on the island. We could get hungry !
We spend the rest of the morning swimming and lazing around and then after lunch go on a snorkeling trip.
It’s a long swim, probably 3 times farther than as I’ve ever swam and Marko who takes us has to keep helping me clear my snorkel and stop me drowning. At last we reach the spot and see some wonderful coral, better than at Bounty Island. It’s easier getting back and we spend the rest of the afternoon reading. There’s not much else to do.
After a dinner of chicken curry we go back to our Burre to read until the lights go out. It’s still early !
Monday 10
th Last night we shared our Burre with several little lizards which we
heard scurry along under the rafters calling out and the odd cockroach in the bathroom.
It was a hot and sticky night without air con or a fan and I was pleased to have a cold shower first thing. A bit tepid would have been better.
After an early breakfast we hop on the resort‘s little boat and go 20 mins straight out to sea. We are dropped off with our snorkels and swim over more amazing coral and a deep hole with 5 foot sharks swimming around. Luckily they’re only black tip reef sharks and are harmless. We get to touch them and they are really solid muscle. It’s still an amazing experience ! We’re just getting to see them when a boat load of other tourists turn up and shout and splash about and the sharks disappear.
We get back in time for a well yearned for cup of coffee.
After lunch and a nap we get snorkel and finned up. I’m given a ride on a kayak, to save me from taking ages to swim there, and we go out to the rocks off our beach for more underwater viewing.
I’m wearing
a life jacket to help me float and this time I see lots of brightly coloured fish without half drowning and coming up gasping for breaths of air. It’s a much more enjoyable trip ! Christine floats along on her own without any need for assistance.
Late afternoon we take a walk up the hill side behind us and get some wonderful views of the island and our little resort.
Tuesday 11
th Last night it was just too hot inside so I decide to sleep in a hammock on the beach. Just me and the mozzies ! Sleep is fitful and I fall out once, it’s a hard landing. It’s much cooler though and just as I’m getting really settled in a thunder storm breaks out and I have to retreat indoors.
I catch up on sleep after breakfast and then we kit up and go snorkeling. Christine leads and I do my best to keep up. The life jacket stops me sinking but slows me down. We see some amazing coral displays.
Lunch soon follows and then we go out again. My right toes are sore from the fin so I only wear the
left one. I soon find I start to go round in big circles ! Progress is even slower. We are rewarded by the sight of great coral and lots of colourful fish. The sea off our beach is great for snorkeling.
I get back in time to join the locals to go hand line fishing. The boat speeds out for about 20 mins and seems to stop in the middle of no where but amazingly the boatman moors onto a bouy tied to a coral reef. I don’t know how he found it without any sort of compass or navigation aid.
We start fishing and I soon get lots of bites but it’s really difficult to hook them by pulling the line sharply. Dave, another tourist has better luck and lands a 7 or 8” monster. I swap lines, there must be something wrong with mine ! Eventually I snag one ! It’s not the largest fish, but it is a pretty yellow one ! Dave then catches another, 2-1 but I soon equalise with a brown fish, 2-2 ! Dave has the last say and catches the last fish and beats me 3-2. But at least I
caught something this time !
In the evening the locals build a bonfire on the beach and we have dinner sat close to it. We don’t need the heat but it keeps the mozzies away. Afterwards the local girls sing and play their guitar. Staying on the island is all about mixing and joining in with the villagers.
Wednesday 12
th A terrible night to get to sleep. The temp’s over 29 and the humidity is also very high and no breeze, air con or fan. I go out side after 11 and find two people in hammocks on the beach already. I wander around for an hour or so and try a hammock by our Burre but can’t get to sleep.
In the morning I find that most people didn’t get much sleep either. Today’s a very hot and humid day.
We spend our last morning snorkeling before getting ready to leave in the late afternoon.
Around 4 we say goodbye to the villagers and get our boat transfer to the ferry which picks up around the islands. Two hours later and we’re back on the main land and go back to our hotel.
The main island of Fiji has been interesting and not quite what we had been expecting. It’s very green, mountainous and the villages are often made of shacks. The islands are as beautiful as the advertising pictures.
Tomorrow we leave for New Zealand. It’s hard to believe we’ve now been away 6 months ! The time’s gone so fast I’m already worried about coming to the end of our trip.
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Martin
non-member comment
I can't believe how the time has passed either!
It hardly seems any time since we had lunch and we talked about your forthcoming voyage Steve. Still, as long as it lasts I'm enjoying reading about it. Both of you stay well, be lucky. Martin