I finally have a better connection, so I hope these pictures post all right, to accompany the text.
We woke this morning to the sound of rain, and it continued, off and on, until the afternoon. The paths in the resort all have deep puddles, and the air is humid and uncomfortable. Sometimes, such as when we were at breakfast, the rain comes down like a waterfall and you can hardly see more than a short distance. Most people have stayed indoors all day, though I did see some children in the pool in the rain after lunch.
Paul is not enjoying the food here. There was only white bread for breakfast, no muesli he liked and no marmalade! The world is clearly about to come to an end! I should explain that we travelled everywhere in Australia and New Zealand with supplies of very solid-looking bread, some kind of health-food muesli full of oats and bran and nameless chewy bits, and a jar of marmalade. This is in addition, you understand, to the ton of luggage we are already carrying. And if the hotel we stayed in did not provide these food items to his satisfaction, Paul just brought his own supplies in to breakfast. These supplies have had to be carried, with explanations, through bio-security between Australia and New Zealand, between NZ and Fiji, between Fiji and Samoa, and between Samoa and Fiji. Usually, I try to pretend I'm not with him. Now, however, we are very short of these supplies.
Last night's buffet dinner did not please him either. He did not like any of the starters (including melon and parma ham, and smoked salmon) he would not eat any vegetables (as usual), he said the barbecue was tough, he would not even try the delicious curry, probably because it was mince, he hated all the puddings; need I go on? Lunch was even worse; he couldn't find anything in the buffet he was prepared to eat, apart from the apple crumble for pudding.
Tonight, we are booked in at the a la carte restaurant. I hope to goodness there is something there Paul likes, otherwise, no doubt, he will want to go into the kitchen and harangue the chef!
I have had an interesting day - aside from listening to food complaints. After breakfast, I went to a demonstration about coconuts. Not much here was new to me, I grew up in Africa, but quite a few of the rest of the audience were from Kazakstan so they were quite fascinated. We watched how Fijians remove the husk - with a sharp stick.
And we were shown how they open the coconut - with a blunt instrument.
I know it was a long time ago, but I seem to recall a panga (a large slightly curved knife) being used to do both of these things. Then we drank the coconut milk. We also saw how coconut is shredded; a sharp circular rasp is used, fixed to a small stool, so you can sit on the stool with your knees either side of the rasp. It seemed very labour intensive. I also seem to remember from my childhood that getting the flesh out was quite an effort. But it seems here you just cut parallel strips, then prise them out easily one by one.
The party were then going off to plant a coconut, as the the people from Kazakstan had not been aware that the coconut is just a seed. But I had noticed a number of people getting on the Bula Bus for a short trip round the island, so I went too. This Bula Bus, though thatched, is not as well thatched as the one we saw a Denarau Resort, but is very similar. I should explain that 'Bula' is the greeting in Fiji that means something very much like 'Hello' and all Fijians say it all the time. All tourists are greeted this way by everybody, and we politely greet them back. We have become used to walking through the resort being greeted with a happy smile and a 'Bula' by everybody we pass, and returning their greeting - though I notice mostly the tourists don't say it to one another.
Anyway, the bus took me on a tour of the island. It didn't make any stops for photographs though, as it was really the Kids Club trip, and small children have no interest in taking photos. I managed to snatch a few as we passed. We went along south beach and past the honeymoon bures, and also the wedding chapel.
The honeymoon bures are all on their own, well away from the rest of the resort. I believe they have a jacuzzi each. The resort hosts weddings, and one of the other people on the bus told me there was one tomorrow. We also passed the air-strip, where the pilot needs to be careful not to over run, or you end up in the water!
I really enjoyed the sign board.
There's no control tower here! Flying here is one of the options, though probably in 9 seater plane, and I can't imagine how it would cope with our huge bags.
You can walk around the island, it is described as a bush walk, but I think it's more like a rainforest walk.
There are lots of coconut palms as well as other trees, all crowded together, and all full of drips from the rain. The bush is very thick and, at present, very wet. There were a couple of villages nestled amongst the trees, but tourists are supposed to stay away.
You can just see the wooden thatched houses through the trees. One very small beach, called Sunset Beach, is supposed to be where you go to watch the sunset, and there are other areas good for snorkelling.
The resort itself is quite interesting, and probably typical of many others. Pathways through tropical shrubs
pass all the little bures (thatched bungalows), playgrounds, tennis courts, restaurants, a shop, bars, swimming pools, a games room, a spa and an Internet room. The north beach is attractive, but not as good as the south one.
The water is deeper and there are stronger currents. The snorkelling area is about 50 m off the beach, whereas on the south beach, you can see fish everywhere.
After lunch, I went off to the spa have a haircut. I last had my hair cut in June, and I felt I was starting to look like Worzel Gummidge, especially with my sun hat on. Ever since we left home, we don't seem to have stopped moving, and Samoa was the first place where we stopped for long enough for haircuts. I couldn't find a hairdresser in Samoa, but the spa here has one, so off I went. The spa itself was an interesting place, with a thatched bure for reception, and a series of wooden walkways behind it leading to other little bures for all the different treatments.
I think they are more used to people wanting a massage or a mud wrap, but at least I now have tidy hair. It cost about a quarter of what I usually pay in London, though I don't think it's as good.
Tomorrow, we hope for better weather. Paul has seen some catamarans on the south beach you can take out to sail, so he wants to take one out tomorrow.
I shall remain on the beach and watch, as long as it isn't too hot or too wet.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
No comments:
Post a Comment