Strawberry Coral

We were up and out early this morning. Laite, our bure mamma asked us to attend their morning meeting so we could meet everyone on the island. Paula and I went for a short walk along the beach then met Laite at about 7:45 am. We were introduced to everyone and told them something about ourselves. The owner of the island was present and we had a short but very nice visit. After breakfast, a group of us headed to Farthing reef to see the strawberry coral.



The coral and sea life were incredible. We saw many fish, octopus, giant clams and had a blast.


We returned in time for lunch and planned to a nap on they beach in front of our bure. Several other couples had the same idea so instead of napping we all ended up floating in the lagoon for hours. Evidently the staff noticed our flotilla and waded out with mojitos for all. Our best day yet. We drug ourselves onto the beach just before 5:00 to dress for cocktails and dinner on the mountain top. Goodness, what a climb but we had a spectacular view and another amazing meal. We trekked down the mountain for dessert and apertifs and decided to call it a night. The walk along the beach back to our bure revealed more stars than we've ever seen.

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Dancing the Night Away

Laughter, food, alcohol, and dancing. That's how we ended the day but I need to back up a bit and catch up on the more mundane parts of the day. We spent the first half of the day eating and napping while the rain continued through lunch. As soon as the rain stopped, Paula and I hopped a boat for Shell Beach. There are a number of beaches, Shell, Devil, Nudie, Paddy's, Rachel's, and Long's Beach. Each of the beaches are reserved for us on different days. No one else is allowed on your beach so they are completely private. The beaches all have huts or bure's with hammock, chairs, etc.... They deliver a picnic of your choice and set up a nice table with silver, champagne, or whatever and leave. Shell beach is beautiful with many giant shells. While on Shell Beach, the overcast skies cleared and the sun broke out over the island to our west.



A quiet, relaxing afternoon.


As we were leaving for Shell Beach, a spirited competition erupted on the beach between the red and blue bures.


Maybe now is a good time to explain a little of the culture. There are fourteen houses or, as the Fijians call them, bures. Each bure has a bure mamma. She is your private host, butler, arranger, masseuse, friend, clothes washer, etc.... The 65 Fijians on the island are considered family so all the guests are treated like family. It is all first name basis, they know our names and expect us to know theirs. They join in the activities be it snorkeling, dancing, or general goofing off. They wait on us hand and foot but in a manner more suggestive of an honored house guest rather than an employer/server relationship. Anyway, as we were clambering aboard our little outboard for the short trip to Shell Beach, Arthur, a giant of a Fijian and all around talented singer, guitar player, dancer put forth the Friday game challenge. All the staff quickly entered the games but only one or two guests. Of course Tachi, the newly wed Brazilian beauty from Hong Kong, garnered all the points for the red team. Paula and I, through our mamma Laite, are blue. After cocktails and dinner that night, the competition resumed with a number of skill challenges that all involved loud music and dancing. The blues won three of three of the events with Paula being a major contributor.


Even with blue teams strong comeback, we were unable to overcome the large lead the reds established on the beach while we were away. After that, it deteriorated to a great party with everyone dancing. A few slipped to the back of the palapa to the kava bowl (I think it is the Fiji equivalent of peyote - one sip numbed my tongue and lips).


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Location:Fiji

Rested

I awoke in the middle of the night to the wonderful sound of rain on the tin and thatched roof of our bure. It was cave dark and I questioned if my eyes were truly open until a flash of lightning illuminated the room. The rain would pour down at times with a tropical intensity only to ease up into a steady, droning rain that lulled us back to sleep. I awoke later to the grey light of pre-dawn. The rain was still drumming steadily on the roof punctuated by the occasional sound of a coconut thumping heavily to the ground. I snuggled tighter under the covers and enjoyed hearing the birds begin their wakening calls over the sound of the rain in the palms and on the roof top.

I quietly crept out of bed, grabbed a cup of Darjeeling tea, infused the requisite three minutes, and walked down to our beach in the rain. The birds were undaunted by the rain and kept up their chorus. The noisiest are the large red and blue parrots. The beach had changed overnight. The tide was going out and the little stream that flows around our bure had grown with the rain. It formed a new mini delta and stained the clear water tea brown.

For those of you that need pictures, here's our bedroom. In the far corner is a large, walk in double shower with open glass louvers on two sides. Across from the shower, behind the desk, is the hot tub.


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Location:Fiji

The Lay of the Land

For those of you received our email yesterday, a lot of this is a repeat - yes, I am a lazy blogger and have elected to cut and paste from an earlier email rather than tax my simple writing skills to compose another story. Heck, if I can't plagiarize myself, who can? Bear with me, however, I did add a few photo's and new information at the end.

We have been fortunate to travel to some wonderful and unique places but, if first impressions hold, this is the most fantastic corner we have discovered. It is hard to conceive that God could have created a more beautiful and peaceful place. It might require another day or so before I can condense our feelings and experiences to the blog. I'm getting ahead of myself. First, getting here is a journey. Yesterday was a thirty hour marathon. The long lay-over at LAX was brutal but once we boarded Air Pacific (11:50 pm) it was downhill. I was asleep shortly after take off and slept for eight hours until they woke me for breakfast at 3:00 am Fiji time. We landed on time at 5:10 am and breezed through customs and immigrations - everyone, even that early, greets you with "bula bula" and a smile. We met up with a rep for the island and, after coffee and a short shopping stop headed for the marina and sea plane, a 1958 De Havilland Beaver. A beautiful, classic plane if you are not planning a trip across the South Pacific in rain squalls.


After bailing out the floats and backing the plane back into the water on a tractor,


a very handsome, young, French speaking pilot gave us a wink and a thumbs up and we were off. Our highest altitude during the flight was about 900'. We had the windows open the whole way and enjoyed the breeze scented with the slight smell of burnt oil and sprinkled with the occasional light rain. As we approached the island, Luke, the afore mentioned handsome young (like maybe 22) French aviator dropped down to several feet off the water and carved along the valleys betweens volcanic peaks, mere inches over the lush vegetation and volcanic outcrops, before dropping down into the blue lagoon of Turtle Island. Luke taxi'd in to about three feet of water and shut down. Two strapping Fijians promptly appeared to carry Paula ashore while I was left to awkwardly hop off the pontoon and splash ashore on my own. We had another breakfast with our fellow castaways, I think there are eleven couples here, and then had a short nap before lunch.

Our bure is fantastic. I've attempted to snap several pictures but it is difficult for me to capture the charm. It is almost completely hidden from our beach and the lagoon. As you approach from the beach you cross a bridge over a small stream and ascend several broad steps entirely paved with previous guests names, initials, foot print, hand print, etc.... The covered front porch extends the length of the bure with a large, salt water fish pond on one end.


Opposite from the pond is a queen size bed upon which we took our aforementioned nap.


Above the porch, they hung this welcoming sign


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Back to Paradise

We're packing and picking up last minute items but will be ready when the car picks us up in the morning. We are limited on luggage to 33 pounds each. We fly from Nadi to Turtle Island in a single engine float plane so they limit the luggage. We don't need much, a few swim suits, sandals, and books. Paula and I are excited about Fiji but dreading the long day tomorrow. Here's where we are going

























Hopefully, we'll have great weather and I will post many pictures over the next couple of weeks.

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Location:Sugar Land, Texas