Another Day, Another Beach

We were roused from bed by tremendous flashes of lightning and booming thunder shortly after four this morning. The drapes were flapping and standing straight out from the windows. The rain was beating on the roof and we could here the rushing water in the two small streams that circle our bure. We turned on a light, the nights are so dark that you cannot see your hand in front of your face, and checked to make sure the rain was not blowing in any of the windows. The bure is composed of all louvered glass walls on all sides. Once everything was secure, we snuggled back in bed and listened to the storm rage. We awoke in daylight to the sound of dripping water from the palms and the rushing sounds of the streams. The wind was still blowing and the tide very high but the rain had stopped. Our walk to breakfast along the beach required a little wading due to the high tide.

We had originally planned to float and kayak in our lagoon but, after breakfast, decided to picnic on Racheli's beach. Another beautiful beach but without the shade of Devil's or Honeymoon. It was overcast and we could see rainstorms offshore and on adjacent islands. As we watched, a tall volcanic peak on a nearby island disappeared as a large rainstorm past between us and the island. We named the two points protecting our beach Shark Point and the other Crab Point. The sandy spits leading through the lava and coral on the south end of the beach were protected by black tip sharks. The water is so clear you can stare into their eyes as they challenge you before they dart off. The tide continued to recede during our visit to Racheli's and exposed a very pretty little beach beyond a lava flow to the north. As we waded around the rocks to the newly exposed beach we were surrounded by pretty green crabs we'd spied earlier in the rocks and tidal pools. We returned to our bure in the early afternoon to say farewell to a couple leaving. Tonight, we're eating alone on the dock.

I just walked down to the dock to post this blog and Felipe asked me to join him and his brother Ben fishing. They have to be here to greet the plane but we will leave after. Ben is a hoot, I went fishing with him and Felipe a couple of days ago and missed two fish. Ben's English is not the best but every time I see him he holds up two fingers and yells "Two Fish!".


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Location:Fiji