Joyce and I had worked out a daily schedule. It was all centered around a two night stay and a fishing
trip at the Mango Bay Resort. The day before their arrival Danny, from Mango Bay, emailed us to inform us that the boat had to be taken in for repairs and would not be available for at least 7 days (in Fiji that usually could be interpreted to mean 14 days.)
What a blessing! We were to be fishing on Thursday. That was a very windy, raining day. The fishing trip would have been canceled. That meant rescheduling: 1. Extend our stay at Blue Lagoon. 2. Mango Bay for Saturday the 13th. 3. Work everything else in as best we can. It worked out perfectly!
Arriving in Nadi, Fiji at about 6:30 AM, and processing through customs, ready to start a wonderful adventure at about 7:00 AM. Can you believe it – our first stop was the drive thru at McDONALD’S for a quick breakfast!
Then to Denarau Island to catch the Yasawa Flyer II for a four hour ride to the Blue Lagoon Resort on Nacula Island, a part of the Yasawa group. Had to stop for some island treats!
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The boat stopped at several different resorts on different islands, giving us an opportunity to enjoy a site seeing experience of the string of beautiful small islands.
A little windy on deck! LoL..did not stop the picture taking!
We were received at the Blue Lagoon Resort by the staff singing a welcoming Fijian song and serving us a nice cold fruit drink. We were given the Palm Villa Family Bure number 1, beach side with our own beach lounge chairs under a beach bure, and hammock. In the front room was a king size bed on a two-step pedestal. A bedroom in the back with a king size bed and two singles. Since Joyce and I opted to“baby sit” Tab’s baby, the three of us took the back room. The bathroom had two sinks on a long vanity, a semi enclosed toilet, and an open sky pair of showers, one with a hand held head the other with the larger overhead “rain” head, with an outside exit door. The front porch was furnished with an “L”shaped padded bench for lounging. Nice facility! Around the outside were several papaya trees, from which we gathered some of our fruit treats.
Monday afternoon, after settling in, we snorkeled right off the beach over some nice corral. It was a bit like swimming in a tropical fish bowl – amazing variety of beautiful fish, and other sea creatures. While eating a lovely dinner we watched a beautiful South Pacific sunset! Every meal was exceptional!
Our next three days included visiting a local village, a snorkeling trip to a lovely reef, an enthralling trip to another island to tour through a cave, toured in the water (I missed this trip), and of course enjoying the beautiful white sands beach.
Even took the moment to do some bracelet weaving! A marvelous adventure on a gorgeous island!
The boat trip back to Denarau Island seemed longer then the trip out, partially because bad weather
was setting in and the sea was a bit rough. Upon arrival we went just around to the other side of the dock and had dinner at the Hard Rock Café – a bad mistake! Loud music, gay waiters, and expensive food that was not real good!
We drove from Nadi to the Hideaway Resort on the Coral Coast, about an hour’s drive. A nice place,
somewhat inexpensive, with beautiful grounds and beach. The inclusive breakfast buffet was wonderful!
Friday, Dec. 5th, about noon we drove back to our apartment in Suva. The drive across the Coral Coast is
the most beautiful drive in all of Fiji. We experienced occasional rain showers and cool weather. This
continued throughout the following week until Sunday, Dec. 14th.
While staying at our place as planned, we did “drive to” adventures. Saturday we did a “must do!” We
went to the Suva Market – the largest open market in the South Pacific. Tab was like a kid in a candy
store. We came home with “heaps” of vegetables and fruit to last several days! Sunday, Cortney went to
church with Joyce and I – we enjoyed that! After church we visited the school, so they could see where
we spend most of our time.
Monday, we visited an abandoned tourist site, Orchid Island. It had flooded the previous Saturday and
was muddy and not real appealing. You could feel the history there and the main Bure was fascinating.
From there we went to a WW II gun placement site that was established to protect the Suva harbor – a
historically interesting place.
Tuesday, we went to the Takalana Resort to see the “spinning dolphins” and snorkeling over the Moon
Reef, which has some very nice coral. The dolphins put on a show! It was a nice day. When we came
home Tuesday afternoon we were out of water. Some flooding from the big storm in the area on the
previous Saturday had taken out some water mains so they were rationing by turning off some areas.
Wednesday, we drove up to Pacific Harbor and went on a chartered fishing trip. We fished near a reef
near Yanuca and Beqa Islands. Cherene caught a very nice Giant Trevally, weighing about 30 pounds and
very strong. Although that was our only catch, it was a fun day. We went by a Chinese fishing boat that
had run upon the reef. It was laying on its side. It has been there for a few months.
Thursday, while I waited for a delivery of water we could use to flush with, the four of them went to the
Coli I Suva National Forest and hiked down into some water falls. When we woke up Friday we had
water again. I took my first shower since Monday evening!
Friday, we went on a “White Water Rafting” trip. We were driven up into the highlands – beautiful
drive, beautiful country. When we arrived at the jump off place, we hiked down a couple hundred yards,
to the river. The Decker’s and a couple we didn’t know went with us. We and the Decker’s were in the
larger raft, with a guide. Three guides, the photographer and the other couple were in the other raft. It
was a wonderful float, not serious white water stuff, although upon impact with one rock, Elder Decker
and I tipped over backwards. I stayed in the raft but Elder Decker landed in the water, losing his hat and
glasses. At a place in the river, we beached the rafts and the guide (Moses), Cortney, Cherene, Tab and I
swam across the river, climbed up a cliff, and jumped back into the river. We did stop and hike into one
beautiful water falls. We also saw several more as we traveled down the river.
After arriving at the conjunction with another branch of the river, we had lunch and loaded into long
boats with 25 hp motors to deliver us back to our cars in Navua. A great trip, fantastic scenery. We then
drove to the Mango Bay Resort.
Mango Bay Resort is a pleasant, smaller resort. No air conditioning, this was my main concern when I
booked it for this time of the year. As I said, the weather has continued to be cool, so the nights were
comfortable. The fishing trip the next day was fantastic. We were in a 28 foot open bow boat that
handled the ocean very well. When the crew introduced themselves to us, we knew it was a good omen
– Freddie the captain, and Ronnie our driver, two good family names! We went out about 15 miles near
Vatulele Island. As soon as we got to within about a ½ mile of the island, we were seeing the diving sea
birds, an indicator that fish are active and feeding. We began catching fish immediately. We took turns
and each caught one Mahi Mahi, then started on the next turn and caught a couple more. Joyce gave up
her second turn and with that Tab caught what was probably the largest of the day. At about 12:30 or
1:00 the catching had slowed down, so we decided to have lunch and snorkel. They took us to a reef
area where the water was only from 4 to 8 feet deep. The coral was beautiful and we found several nice
shells.
After lunch and about an hour of snorkeling, we returned to fishing. Freddie wanted to catch some Skip
Jack to use for cut bait. As we came off the reef we found a large number of birds, which would indicate
fish. It was a large school of Skip Jack and we caught 5 quickly, with Joyce enjoying catching two of them.
The afternoon fishing was a little slower, but we were able catch 3 more Mahi Mahi. We were racing the
receding tide. We had to get back to the resort before the water got too shallow to go in on the reef at
the resort. However on the way in we were joined by two different schools of dolphin, and circled them,
adding another delight to the trip. Ten beautiful Mahi Mahi! A great fishing trip!
Sunday the sun came out, and the temperature rose. Summer had arrived! Fortunately we were on our
way to Denarau Island and the World Mark Resort – Air conditioning. The west side of Fiji is the hot dry
side, and Monday and Tuesday were warm and muggy. Monday we visited The Wood Turners—a place
where they make beautiful wooden bowls, etc. Then we went on to The Garden of The Sleeping Giant—
a garden of orchids, with a walk through a hillside rain forest. Tuesday Morning, Tab’s family took a
snorkeling trip out to a small island and enjoyed snorkeling over a deeper reef, seeing lots of fish, and
the a shallow reef to enjoy the beauties of the reef.
We have missed some fun places that we ate at and sight seeing along the way; but,all good things must
come to an end. At about 6:30 PM they left Fiji to return home.
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