Fiji, a Tropical Paradise in the South Pacific

First of all, thank you for your comments after my last post, when I shared some of the emotions I was feeling as we got ready to head to the US.  I really appreciated the kind words.  We made it safely to the US and have had a great long weekend with my family.  I'll post more on that soon, but first.......Fiji!!!

Fiji was not a part of our original travel itinerary and not a place I thought we’d make it to on this trip.  Bob floated the idea of visiting a South Pacific island a few months ago, though, and it was one of those “wow, wouldn’t that be amazing” ideas that stuck in our brains.  When we were researching flights for our return trip to the United States, we found that traveling directly from Australia to the US was the same cost as flying from Australia to Fiji and then on to the US.  That realization, coupled with the knowledge that going to Fiji now was going to be much easier than trying to get to Fiji in the future, was the nudge that we needed to make our return plans include a quick stop in this South Pacific island nation.

We flew out of Cairns after a fantastic 10 days in tropical north Queensland, including snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and a relaxing day trip to Fitzroy Island.  We hopped down to Brisbane and then boarded a larger plane for the flight over the South Pacific. 3 1/2 hours later, we landed in the city of Nadi on Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji.  We made our way to Denarau and the Malolo Cat ferry, which took us to Malolo Lailai. Malolo Lailai is the second largest of the Mamanuca Islands and is located about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Viti Levu.

The sunset as we left Denarau was beautiful, as were the boats in the harbor.

We saw a rainbow and watched the sun set as we transited between islands.

The ride to Malolo Lailai took about an hour, and when we arrived at Musket Cove Resort we were greeted by singing and waving staff members.  

One of them photobombed our photo once we were on land. :)

After getting settled into our bure, we had a traditionally-prepared “pig on a spit” dinner and then watched a short performance of some traditional Fijian songs and dances.  The men did a spear dance which reminded us all of the haka performed by the Maori in New Zealand.

We had arrived at the resort when it was completely dark, so we were excited to see this spectacular view at breakfast the next morning.

The resort, which is Fijian owned and operated, was small, very comfortable, and the staff was extremely friendly and welcoming.  Our bure was beautifully set amongst lush trees, flowering bushes, and green lawn.

After breakfast, we watched one of the guys using special tree-climbing shoes in order to cut coconuts and branches off the trees.

We rented bikes and cycled around part of the island to explore.  The first thing the boys wanted to check out was the island's small landing strip.  During our stay we watched several small planes and helicopters land here to drop off supplies and/or people.

 It was low tide, so the water along the coast had receded.

We found the resort's organic garden and some incredible viewpoints.

And we tried out the pool....and Fiji Gold beer!

Because Musket Cove is affected by the tide for several hours each day, the resort offers free, twice-daily snorkeling trips to nearby points as a water activity alternative.  On our second morning, we headed out on a small boat that took us to a deepwater snorkeling point.

Even just looking down while sitting in the boat we could see beautiful coral below.

We got our fins and masks on and got in the water!

The visibility was incredible, and we could see at least 20 meters (65 feet) below us.  The snorkeling point was along a reef wall, so we could see coral and fish above the reef and along the dropoff to much deeper water.

And Colin found Nemo!  He'd been disappointed he didn't see Nemo on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia....we just found him in Fiji instead.

The number of fish swimming around was stunning.  So much life underneath the calm water.

We headed back to Musket Cove under picture-perfect blue skies and warm Fiji weather.

That afternoon we relaxed on the beach and in the pool, soaking in our peaceful surroundings and a beautiful sunset.

The next morning Bob went on a morning dive trip, and the boys and I went snorkeling at another deepwater point.  We saw these humongous blue starfish everywhere! 

We saw a large sea slug and a giant clam, too.  This clam looked completely different than the one on the Great Barrier Reef—this guy's shell was jagged instead of curved.

There was more interesting coral as well.

This boat was anchored near our snorkeling point, and it definitely caught our attention. When we passed it, we could see a submarine, jet skis, and a speedboat, as well as a big crane for putting all these toys in the water.

It was anchored right next to this luxury yacht (blurry photo—there are two separate boats here). We think the big boat was the “toys boat”, allowing the yacht owners to store everything they couldn’t fit on the “small” yacht. Wow.

The next morning, we took a short visit to a village on a nearby island.

The tribe leaders welcomed us with a kava ceremony, which is the traditional means of welcoming someone into a village or home in Fiji.  Kava is a plant that is grown and harvested all around the South Pacific.  The root is used to produce a drink (also called kava) that has some sedative, anesthetic, and intoxicant qualities.  It's not an alcoholic drink, but the drink can produce some similar effects if ingested in large enough quantities.  My quick sip just made my tongue tingle slightly.

This village was definitely geared towards tourists (i.e., lots of people selling trinkets and a strong request for a "voluntary donation"), but it was OK for a short visit.  We took a walk around and saw some of the homes and the school.  It was a school holiday period so classes weren’t in session, but we peeked into some of the classroom windows.

This is a traditional drum that was outside the village church.

Leaving the "tourist" village, we saw another village that was in a worse state--I think this was probably a more average village than the one we walked around.  In February 2016, Cyclone Winston was the strongest tropical cyclone to ever make landfall in Fiji, and the effects of the storm are still apparent as even the tourist village didn't have electricity restored yet (over one year later).

When we got back to Musket Cove, we rented a Hobie Cat so that we could introduce the boys to catamaran sailing.  Bob sailed in college and my Dad had the exact same Hobie when I was growing up.

It was really fun to sail, even for a short time, with the boys. They seemed to enjoy it too!

That evening, the resort also did a kava welcoming ceremony.  Only Bob and I and 2 other guests were there, so we were able to ask a lot of questions about this ritual and Fijian culture/life in general.  It was a nice way to learn more about some traditions and cultural practices of Fijians.....though I don't really care for kava.  It's better than fermented mare's milk.......but not by much.

We ate Fijian curry dishes for dinner, which were all delicious.  We could taste and see the Indian influence in this food.

On our final day in Fiji, we got up early to do one last small boat excursion.  There is a pod of spinner dolphins that is frequently seen nearby, and we were hoping to see them before leaving the island later that afternoon to begin the long trip back to the US.  We passed some tiny picturesque islands as we transited through the choppy waters.

We kept our eyes open for the dolphins on our last beautiful day in Fiji……..

And while we saw a turtle and lots of flying fish, unfortunately the dolphins were nowhere to be found. We were disappointed, but it was still a beautiful day on the water and we even made two last snorkeling stops.

While it was choppy on top, below we could see really far down to the bottom.

When Colin is old enough, the boys and I plan to get dive certified so we can do some family dive trips.  Here we just ducked below the surface to get a closer look at things, making sure not to damage the coral by touching it in any way.

When we arrived back at the resort, we had one last swim in the pool before cleaning up and packing up.  It was time to say goodbye to this spectacular South Pacific spot and begin the long journey back to the United States…..