Thursday 13th June
It was another glorious morning and so we decided to try our hand at kayaking. We went out for about half an hour and traversed up and down the beachfront in front of our Resort. This was followed by a walk up and down the beach but neither of us had shoes and the sand was a bit gritty so we ended up heading to the main pool to have a swim and a coffee.
Our activity today was a visit out to the village of Solevu on the island across from ours. Transport to the island was by way of the Lomani Princess and this took about 20 minutes. Once we got to the island there was a greeting ceremony performed by two of the village elders in the Village hall. I was quite horrified to see that this involved the Village elders passing out a single coconut husk cup, filled with scoops of kava, to each person in turn whilst everyone watched and gave a ceremonial two clap of the hands! This was for the group from our Resort and another unknown group from a different resort. All drinking from the one cup!!! I was equally amazed to discover that I was the only person that was horrified and that abstained. I had flashback visions from my childhood of the 1972 Brady Bunch episode where Peter and Bobby stumbled on the bad luck Totem in Hawaii and I now worry that, by refusing this offering, I may follow the same fate. Time will tell. Mark and I had come totally unprepared for this village visit as apparently we were meant to make donations of food and or money at the end of the ceremony. We had neither. We wished they had told us this beforehand as we could have brought both.
Our Solevu Village visit was for one hour and, after the welcome ceremony, there was still about 40 minutes left to walk around the small village and beachfront area where the local women were selling their handmade wood carved products. Again, we were woefully ill prepared for this endeavour and should have known better. Mark thinks they should take better care of their beachfront though as he walked the entire length and was horrified by the amount of household waste littered along the beach.
Our afternoon activity was for more snorkeling and we spent our time beforehand around the main pool as we waited for the 2.30 pm departure. We have been blessed with great weather and were lucky to have escaped the scorching heat of just a couple of weeks prior. The afternoon snorkeling turned out to be a bit of a fizzer however. The water was much more choppy, as the wind was up, making for rather unpleasant conditions as we tried to navigate the reef without shredded on its surface. I did have visions of myself as Tanya in White Lotus Season 2 though as I was being slapped around in the water and, once again, wondered if I would survive this latest activity. It wasn’t just me though, none of our group lasted more than 30 minutes out of the allocated one hour but, alas, I only lasted for about 10 minutes. We just hope the conditions for tomorrow morning’s snorkeling outing will be much calmer.
The early return from snorkeling meant we were back to the Resort in time for 4:30 pm happy hour which Mark was pleased about. It was then another quiet dinner at the Resort followed by an early night.
Friday 14th June
It was another glorious morning and so we set off along the beach for a walk. It was low tide and so we were able to walk, with our sand shoes on, as the beach isn’t really suitable for walking in bare feet as it’s quite gritty and shelly.
Our activity for the morning was an outing on the Lomani Princess for dolphin watching and snorkeling and this was scheduled for 9:45 am. We weren’t too hopeful about seeing many dolphins but, in the end, we saw a fairly large pod that entertained us for quite a while and some even chased alongside our boat as we left the area.
The conditions for snorkeling were much calmer than yesterday afternoon and so it was a much more enjoyable activity: there were no ‘White Lotus’ moments for me today. We saw quite a lot of fish and some colourful coral but it still wasn’t as spectacular as our first morning of snorkeling. Hopefully, we will go back to that reef tomorrow as that will be our final snorkeling activity for this trip.
The Lomani Princess arrived back to shore at about 12:30 and we spent the next couple of hours by the pool and having lunch. We had planned, all along, to go for a bike ride in the afternoon and it turned out to be perfect weather for this activity. A cool change developed bringing a refreshing breeze and rainclouds, that gave some drizzle, making for much more pleasant cycling conditions. Cycling around in full sun would not have been a vibe at all! We cycled around the island twice, and that was about an 8 km pathway which was enough for me, but Mark then went around another couple of times. The island is nice and flat and so it’s ideal for cycling, especially for beginners like me: there is not a single uphill or down dale! As soon as my cycling had finished the clouds cleared and the sun re-emerged so I headed back for a swim in our plunge pool whilst I waited for Mark to return. It just so happened to be Happy Hour by then so it was another evening of back watching the sunset from the happy hour bar and then dining at the restaurant.
Saturday 15th June
It was a glorious morning for our last full day in Fiji so we started it off with a walk and then I did some yoga before we both went to breakfast.
It was our last outing for snorkeling this morning and we were pleased to find this was back at the reef we had visited on our first day. It was still teeming with the most colorful and varied fish and the area also had much better water clarity, for some reason, making for a great last day of viewing.
It was then back to the main pool for some well earned rest and lunch. We both had rather sore muscles in our arms and upper back and neck area from the snorkeling. The rest of the afternoon was a lazy one for me as I had a foot massage and Mark ditched the line fishing outing and instead went for another 15 km bike ride. We caught up again back at our room and Mark finally had a full dip in our plunge pool.
We headed back to the main pool and bar area to watch our final sunset and then had dinner at the restaurant. The only difference with tonight’s dinner was that there was entertainment during our meal with some fire dancing which was quite impressive. It had been another full and wonderful day but we had both had enough time here at this lovely resort and were looking forward to heading home tomorrow.
One thing we do miss is the friendly nature of the hands. They have a tradition here of calling out hello by way of saying ‘Bula’ as they pass, and this is to absolutely everyone: Guests groundsman, staff at the hotel, anyone. You can be walking along, thinking you’re quite alone, and all of a sudden you hear someone screaming out ‘Bula’ and you turn around and see, way off in the distance, someone raking leaves acknowledging you. It actually proved a little bit of a hazard for me while I was riding the bike the other day so I nearly fell off my bike with fright at some of the people calling out to me. So, if you’re ever around the eastern suburbs of Sydney and you hear someone calling out ’Bula’, turn around because it will probably either be Mark or myself.
PS: I just want to point out a few things I consider worth noting if ever you’re embarking on a tropical island getaway where there is a focus on water based activities:
1. Bring two sets of swimmers and swimming goggles.
2 Bring plenty of casual shorts for getting wet etc with kayaking and for bike riding. I brought just one which was not enough.
3. Bring a plastic bag to wrap your mobile phone in for going out kayaking.
4. Bring a rash shirt for sun protection when snorkeling. I got Mark to buy one for himself before we left but I should have bought one for myself too!
5. Bring a sarong if you have one. This is the ideal place for them! I have 3 at home that I never use but would have got a lot of use out of them here when getting up and down from the day beds by the main pool and back and forth to our room.
PS2: this is a recommendation for a taxi driver if you ever find yourself in Nadi. His name is Apimeleki Ravula.
We always knew we were going to be cutting it fine on our return trip from the island into the port of Denarau and then out to the airport for our flight back to Australia.
Before we headed out to Lomani Island, we found Api and asked if he would be able to meet us on our return from the island and get us to the airport quick smart. He agreed to meet us in one week’s time and said he would be waiting for us at the Port. His fee was very reasonable as well.
When we did get back to Port, one week later, and hurried off the catamaran, Api had his van parked right upfront near the exit and was ready and waiting for us. We made it with plenty of time for our flight and have such gratitude for Api for being so reliable and helping us out.
Thank you again Api!
His contact details are below:
Api meleki Ravula.
+679 9345 632
+679 8434 210
apimelekiravula@gmail.com
