Breakfast at this resort was a bit more elaborate; it featured small baked buns, and French toast. Afterwards 4 of us took a 5 minute walk over a small rise to Honeymoon Beach on the other side of a headland. The beach there was better than the main one, which was shallow and rocky.
On the way we passed an apparently empty village where we deposited a courtesy donation of $2 each into a box for the use of the beach.
The slope was gentle and the water didn't get deep until far out. My companions waded quite far and were still only knee deep. I was content to lie in the shallows and let the waves wash over me.
When they returned they obsessed over a hermit crab they had found, giving it names and posing for pictures with it. Hermit crabs were quite easy to spot on the beach; you only had to keep still so that they wouldn't sense the vibrations and retreat into their shells.
Noontime heralded the arrival of the northbound Flyer and more guests. Another welcoming committee assembled on the beach.
Today there were more arrivals, including the English girl and a couple of Aussie girls from Wayasewa. They had the same itinerary as I did, one day behind, so they would be trailing me all the time.
They were in time to take lunch, which was this creation.
Music was provided. He was very good. I'm not sure but it seems that someone mentioned that he had once appeared on a Fijian TV talent show.
I spent the rest of the day hard at doing nothing. This isn't such an easy task as it seems. First you have to empty your mind of goals. There are no goals on Fijian Time. You are out of touch with the world. Usually I didn't know what hour it was and only the meal drum gave a clue.
But seriously, I did finish Graham Greene's The Quiet American and clear a significant backlog of Kindle reading.
In the evening, after a dinner featuring beef spaghetti and chocolate cake, they staged a hermit crab race. Each person chose a crab. They were put in the centre of a circle and the first one to reach the perimeter won.
Next we went outside for the potato relay race. The men competed against the women. The potato had to be carried between the knees while running or hopping to the other end of the course and back. If the potato was dropped that leg had to be redone. The men and women won one round each. In the decider, it turned out that the Fijian men had cheated and not carried the potato at all, leaving it at the start point, and hoping no one would notice in the dim light. As a result, the men had to play a forfeit round.
This was followed by a sing and dance along.
With everyone exhausted, some walked down to the beach where the Milky Way could be plainly seen in the night sky. I couldn't locate any familiar constellations. I think the Southern Cross was low and behind a hill. The bonfire was lit then riddles and jokes told. My contribution was this, paraphrased: A guest arrives very late at a cannibal dinner and is told by his host: I'm sorry, everybody's eaten.
That night I did not make the mistake of not using the mosquito net. I had wanted better airflow but the bites were not worth it. Towards dawn a shower cooled temperatures.
The English girl who joined my dorm closed the door for the night. Too bad for air flow. During the night it rained heavily which dropped the temperature considerably.
Breakfast was rather plain compared to the feast the night before. More carbohydrate in the form of sweet potato and taro. The new arrivals from the afternoon before went snorkelling. I killed some time writing in my diary.
The snorkellers got back about the time S and I had to leave. My next stop was the White Sandy Beach resort. This is located on the western side of Naviti Island. After 90 minutes sailing they announced my resort, I bade farewell to S and stepped into the transfer boat. (All the resorts use transfer boats as the Yasawa Flyer cannot approach the shallows.) There was one departure and I was the only arrival for the day. At the beach a committee sang me a welcome.
I was introduced to the current backpackers over lunch. F from Germany, E from Austria, and a couple from UK. Lunch was pretty good, comprising a vegie curry, papadums and rice.
I resisted blandishments from the staff to join the snorkelling activity and rested away the afternoon. Anyway they had enough people with the afternoon arrivals. (The Flyer passes each island twice on its daily circuit, so resorts in the middle will receive northbound guests in the morning and southbound guests in the afternoon. The order in which people visit the resorts depends on the package they have booked, or itinerary they have drawn up, which in turn depend on availability of spots.)
In the evening, the resort staff played a friendly volleyball game with the neighbouring resort and guests were invited. Fijian group dynamics were fascinating. There were no formal teams, people were free to join or leave a side whenever they felt like it. Some players both men and women were very good but there were no showoffs. It was just a game for everybody to participate and have a good time.
With a west facing location, the sunset was spectacular.
Dinner was excellent. It comprised soup to start then a main of fried chicken with a cream sauce, accompanied by julienned carrots, beans, potato wedges and taro. Dessert was pineapple cake. I suspect the cook had worked in a commercial kitchen before.
This was a gecko on the dining room ceiling.
While I was showering, they began the evening balloon game. Couples were required to maintain a balloon between them in a specified position without using hands while dancing to the DJ. To eliminate a couple in each round the challenges got harder and harder. The winner was the couple with F, the German guy. He was also a good player at volleyball.
The resort staff sang us Fijian songs after the games.
A bonfire of palm fronds and twigs was lit on the beach so that people could mellow out in the glow.
