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...

New Zealand Out-Takes, 5

Damn! We missed the speed-shearing contest!

Incipient boot-tree

Elsewhere I featured "Headstones on Broadway" (Matamata?)
These just to show it was no fluke...mortuary stores are a
main street business here

Thus

New Zealand wit

So there we were, minding our own business, driving along
the North Island's Pacific coastal highway, not concerned
in the least about wandering stock

When, just as we are taking a picture of the sign, this
insolent steer walks up and says "You gotta problem with
wandering stock, human?!" "Not all stock who wander are
lost, you know!" he added.

It's a major problem here; of course we reported them

Tane/wahine...

The signage is always interesting

Bathrooms with roof garden...Hundertwasser country

Ubiquitous...on the coasts

Tough people, but gentle and always interesting

New Zealand Out-Takes, 4

Lingua Gangsta...I should have done a post on it...you see
it here aplenty...campas, backa packas...

But the best instance, so far, is this

Picnic table for people with concave butts

In Thames...the Central Chambers building and the adjacent
Off-Center Building...love the sense of humor these people have...

International symbol for dental/podiatry offices...

Sic transit, Gloria

Outdoor sculpture everywhere here

"Beryl, they've taken the begonias, again!

Utilities are very often decorated here

Art Deco bridge?

More entries for "Stick-man's Very Bad Day"

Not at all sure what to make of this

Town so small the mailboxes are at the liquor store...