Getting wet in the warm waters

View from our little house (Bure) Malolo Island in background

Woken by a cacophony of unusual bird noises.  It sounded like a Starwars Light Sabre fight.  The Banded Rails, Black Jays, and the Parrots let us know the sun was coming up. Breakfast was cooked for me.  Poached eggs on hash browns, and then pancakes with butter and honey to follow.   Quinn had an omelette.  Tighe wasn’t hungry, so he went swimming in the pool next to where we ate.  He had a croissant, muffin, nutrigrain, and pancakes.  I wonder what he will eat when he IS hungry.

 Snorkelling the reef was relaxing, and we spent most of the day there, until the tide was too low.  Lots of different fish, and others we had swum with before..., Trigger fish, butterfly, wrasse, tuna, parrot, trumpet, barracuda and damsel.  

Lots of yellow, neon green, florescent blue, pinks and purples.  I spied a small grey boxfish with neon green polka dots.  A blue sea star and squirrel fish were very close to shore

 Both boys wanted to swim to the pontoon.  I put Tighe in the ring, so that he could rest without treading water.  We made it, and spent time on top, it‘s a trampoline, and then you can bounce into the water.  Fun! 

 I ventured out to the reef edge. Fantastic coloured coral, all different shapes and sizes.  I swam with a school of florescent blue fish, and turquoise damsels.  It was magical

Parrot fish with Damsels

 I found a clam shell, and Tighe a coconut seed.  Tighe has been picking up lots of different shells, rocks and treasures.  We also saw parrots, black Jays, and a large black and white bird, perhaps a Teal.

Looking west towards Beachcomber Island

 Spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool. Tighe made friends with Alexandro from Italy, and I caught up on a novel. 

The boys fed the crested iguana the hibiscus. The flowers are placed backwards on a stick and presented to the lizard.  They snap them up.  They are close by the turtles.

I got to touch a turtle today.  The shell is hard and the fins soft.  We spent a while just watching the turtles, and picking flowers for the iguanas.

Quinn challenged Tighe and I to mini golf.  Surprisingly I was great at it.  I managed lots of 2s and 3s, and won!  There will be a re-match soon.  The sugar cane tasted like corn today.  Picked for a day, the sweetness  wasn’t as pronounced, but the boys still keep asking to suck on it.  I managed to cut my thumb peeling the skin with the pocket knife.

My adventure today was food.  Scallops with a balsamic sauce.  The flavours were okay.  Seared tuna with a spicy salsa.  This was yum.  I took my time and really enjoyed the taste.  Black forest gateau with ice cream for dessert.Quinn had a tomato and pineapple pizza, and he declared it ok.  Tighe wasn’t hungry, so I got him a small bowl of pommes frites, and icecream for dessert.  While he was eating them, he also wanted a burger.  Perhaps the young man is hungry after all.

We spotted more geckos on our way to bed, and discovered a gecko living in our “little house” or bure.  When he saw us, it turned around within a blink of an eye, incredible speed.  It lives behind the kitchen unit.

Swapping the Winter Blues, for the Turquoise Waters of Fiji

Tighe tasted sugar cane today.  The look of bliss on his face said it all.  “It’s sweet!”  I noticed the cane plantations on the way to the boat.  I asked the driver if there was any place I could purchase freshly squeezed cane juice.  His reply was to stop the van, wander over to the growing plant, pick a cane and bring it back.  He peeled the outer edge for Quinn.  Tighe had to wait until we were waiting at the edge of the reef surrounding Treasure Island.  The transfer boat was on Island Time, so the skipper got a decent knife out, and peeled some more cane.  A unique experience, sucking sugar cane on a coral reef.

 Fiji was stuffy hot, and Tighe managed to have an apple in the bottom of his school bag when we went through customs.  Fortunately I had declared that I had fruit, and food, so managed to avoid a FJ$400 fine.

 The 25 minute speedboat ride from the Fijian mainland was refreshing after being stuck on the aeroplane for 2 and a bit hours.  

Treasure Island

The Turquoise water, waiting for me to snorkel

 The boys spent the late afternoon exploring Treasure Island.  Apparently it takes 30mins to walk around, but we haven’t done that yet.  Turtles and crested Iguanas, and wekas!  Well, they are called Banded Rails, but Tighe yelled ”it’s a weka!”  They are smaller than a weka, and have stripes.  They are endangered, so it was awesome that one loves our bure, and hangs around in the gardens.

According to Tighe, Turtle shell is hard, but their fins are soft.  I haven't had the opportunity to touch a turtle yet.  Quinn and Tighe spent until dusk swimming in the horizon pool.  

I found some hermit crabs, and tried out my new lens. A relaxing time.

Dinner was an “international buffet”.  The teriyaki chicken was our favourite.  A selection of gateaux were for dessert.   I liked the coconut gelatine slice.  Very subtle.  

Our torch found a decent sized crab on our exploration along the shore.  Disappointed that there were no hermit crabs.  Perhaps the tide was wrong for us.  We are all tired after the day’s travel.  There is no phone, internet or TV in the rooms, so the boys have to read or occupy themselves.  Tighe has picked up coconuts in various stages of development. 

On a late gentle stroll to see the turtles by torchlight with Tighe, we happened upon fire dancers, twirling sticks with fire at each end.  On the way back to the bure, Tighe spied 2 large geckos on the walls.