Matacawalevu Village Visit

Thursday one of the staff members here, Joji, took us across the channel to Matacawalevu Island and his village, Matacawalevu. (He also does tours of the local school, fishing and other minor excursions). We walked most of the village, 30-40 houses, met some people, looked in at the church and elsewhere, and had an introduction and visit with The Chief (not pictured because I forgot to ask), a well-spoken and well-traveled Fijian (he'd been to NYC and DC) about our our age. Apparently the chief is elected by and from the elite families. All the resort staff are from one or another of the four nearby villages, and we wanted to have some experience of the native culture here; and do a little to directly support the local people.

Looking toward the village, across the channel, from Joji's boat

On the beach; Matacawalevu translates to "long beach"

Houses facing a village green

Some of the houses, nearer the beach, did not fare well in last year's cyclone

The church (Methodist)

Interior

Village ceremonial drum

Cooking is done in a shed away from one's house

Piglet herd

Joji shows us a local tuber, kava

Bread fruit: think Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian

And papaya, one of my least favorite tropical fruits

Boating back to Nanuya...the Blue Lagoon beach again

Nanuya Update

Tuesday we got here in the afternoon, checked in, moved in, reconnoitered, and then just relaxed until dinner, which was an hour after sunset. Wednesday we had really good intentions, but before we could get our face-masks, snorkels, and fins, the tide went out, and, of course, we didn't want to go snorkeling at low tide. So, somewhere between breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we went for a walk on the beach. That was about it for Wednesday. Oh, I did read Ian McEwen's Sweet Tooth. Today was more productive: we visited the village across the channel, went snorkeling for more than an hour (first time ever!), and then took another walk on the beach. And I started reading Eleanor Catton's The Luminaries. Tomorrow we visit the Blue Lagoon.

Wednesday's walk

What much of Wednesday looked like

Sunset skies

Ditto

The resort, though tiny by any standard, does really nice stuff: here, dinner on
the beach for a young Oz couple celebrating a birthday

A hundred feet away, the elders were doing OK...here, Vicki's steak (I had
lobster)

That's how clear and calm the water is

This is approximately what we looked like snorkeling today (actually it's another
couple from Oz); we were out for about an hour, all the more experienced guests
offering advice and encouragement--we had never done this before; the coral and
fish and what-not were beautiful and captivating; Vicki loved it and really excelled
(much to her surprise; and mine); I still prefer the Monterey Aquarium but have
committed to at least two more sessions here

Of course the big daily event is the arrival of the boat from
Denarau...new guests

From today's beach walk, a bit of the beach where some scenes from Blue
Lagoon were filmed; tomorrow we do the main locations

Nanuya Island Resort And A Tour Of Our Cabin

Our travels are rarely about relaxation, so we thought we'd give it a try, in a scenic locale, warm, un-bothered, with limited recreation and excursion opportunities, good food, and a superb reputation. So far, after a day, Nanuya Island Resort, capacity 24 guests, no children, is living up to expectations. It's a bit pricey for us, but then we've just finished eleven weeks' roughing it in New Zealand and deserve a break. Among the other guests we have met, there are several couples from Oz, two from Sweden, and one from Deutschland-u-A. No backpackers. Oh, it's a "deluxe villa," not a cabin.

Our little cabin, #3

View from the porch

The tall coconut palms indeed are laden with
their fruit

Fortunately, you can open any that don't
fall on your head; let's see, Carole, Dad
always used a hammer and an icepick, right?

View from our little yard; not pictured are a hammock and a
sky-chair...

In the sitting area; the staff are friendly, helpful, all on first-
name basis with guests

Thus

Bedroom

View from bedroom

Bath

Shower

Main lodge building

Interior, lounge, bar, dining area; so far, the food selection
has been fairly eclectic, and pretty fresh, especially the local
fruit and seafood...and surprisingly affordable

Neighbor

Bula!

Fiji Air got us from Auckland to Nadi in good order. Fiji customs and immigration looked formidable on the website--I spent a good bit of time scraping mud, etc., off our hiking books, poles, tent pegs, etc., and we packed our packaged food and other such items with great care and for ease of inspection--but it was just a walk-through. Bags x-rayed, but not opened. We suspect the Fijians understandably let their guard down with flights from hyper-environmentalist New Zealand. Whatever. The on-going flight to LAX, which we'll be on in less than a week, was cancelled, so the shuttle to the Mercure, where we were staying the night, was crowded and the hotel quite full. We spent the rest of the evening reorganizing and repacking, again, for our week in the Yasawan Islands; and getting used to the heat and humidity. We're in the tropics now.

Poolside courtyard at the Mercure; note
Travelers' tree

Next morning, another shuttle took us to the port, Denarau,
where we boarded the Yasawa Flyer II (they never explained
what happened to I), which would take us, at length, to
the Yasawan Islands, and Nanuya, where we are to stay
nearly a week; a fast catamaran, very comfortable; mostly
tourists, mostly backapackas

The itinerary; 5 hours to Nanuya, a dozen
or more stops

Vicki takes in the passing scenery, beautiful South Seas
island after beautiful South Seas island

Looking back to the big island

Other islands, some big, with mountains, others so small
you wonder how they will fare with global warming

Bigger island, mountain

Another mountain

At every stop, a resort or village, boats come out to
deliver people and to take on more people, supplies, etc.

Shoals, reefs, along the way

Finally, our island and Nanuya Resort come into view

Closer up; as it turned out, our "villa" is right in the middle,
on the shore

We and our gear are off-loaded into the tender and head for the
beach

To be greeted by friendly staff members of the Resort,
bearing refreshments, bead necklaces, flowers, etc.

Ka Kite Ano, Kiwis

We departed Auckland about 5:30PM Monday, the 31st, with many pleasant memories and earnest vows to return to New Zealand much sooner than later. There are some other southern hemisphere sights we want to see, but New Zealand will certainly be our default southern destination in the foreseeable future. Even after eleven weeks this time, and seven weeks earlier, we feel like we are still just doing reconnaissance here. There is so much to see and to do, and it is marvelously easy to travel. See you again, New Zealand!

[Reserved For Further/Final New Zealand Items]

More to come...