Tropical island paradise found! We are enjoying our private garden bure (hut) at Musket Cove Resort and Marina, which was about a 1-hour catamaran ferry drive from the main island of Fiji, which is called Nadi. There are many resorts on Nadi, but our Flight Centre travel agent, Rose, suggested that we go to one of the nearby islands off the mainland for a better island experience. It is very nice here. There is another resort on the island, called Plantation Island, that caters to families. I walked over there and the families seemed happy there and I am happy for them.
Musket Cove has some children, but doesn't cater to kids' activities. There are daily snorkeling trips that we get in on every day, and a beautiful beach as well as a salt water pool that is cooler than the sea water and a refreshing change from having waves in the face. We are struck every day by the extreme tide changes. The beach just across from our bure is waist deep in the morning and at 4 pm it is dry land for at least 400 meters. Then it is waist deep again by 8 pm. Sunrise is 6:30 am and Sunset is 6:30 pm. There are a few lights on resort paths and our bure has bathroom lights and a lamp in the bedroom and in the sitting room, but otherwise it's pretty dark after sunset. The two restaurants close up by 8 pm. There is a bar that stays open late for those who are looking for that activity. It isn't close to the bures, which is great planning.
I don't love eating every meal at a restaurant, but we are a captive audience. A generous breakfast is included with the room rates and they have been accommodating when I ask for a plate of cooked spinach instead of what is on the menu, for example. Ruben rejected my suggestion that we each pocket a box of cereal and call that lunch. R's favorite phrase for the week is "Charge it to the room!" I might have a heart attack and will certainly be serving us saltines and tap water for a while when that credit card bill arrives. To be fair, I didn't complain at all when he charged a couples massage to the room yesterday when the afternoon rain came it. That was fabulous.
There are no TVs, no room telephones (plenty of folks are on their mobile phones), and no in-room wifi. We have been able to check e-mail a few times in the reception area. It's slow, which keeps us from getting too carried away.
A few Americans around, but more Kiwis with a smattering of Asians and Europeans (I think we have identified German, Dutch, and French being spoken). We are both sad when we tell folks that we are headed back to the States at the end of the week. This trip was harder on me than last time because we were so rural with no town. It took me almost our entire time there to make good connections to yoga and book group, and garden club. No running or gym available through which to meet people (so long my usual hook up) made it tough. Enjoy the present, silly!
We took so, so many wonderful pictures while snorkeling. It was truly a highlight of the entire time away from Colorado. There needs to be some serious editing to choose the best pictures, so for now, here are a few glimpses of paradise, Fiji style.
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