When the Yasawa Flyer
pulled into Octopus Island we saw crystal blue sea and white sandy beaches! It
looked beautiful and like a great place to be spending the next 2 days. To get
to the island we had to be transferred on little fishing boats, which I thought
was quite cool. As we pulled into the shore, we were greeted by the Fijians
singing a welcome song and shouting “Bula”, to which we had
to shout back Bula, and as we climbed off the boat we were given a fruit punch
- nice way to arrive and be greeted if you ask me. We were able to check
straight into our bure – little wooden hut/bungalow room which was
so cute, consisting of a big bed, small wardrobe and nice veranda (we had
shared facilities, which weren't too bad). We could tell the resort was
probably one of the more upmarket island resorts as it was very cute and had a
small but nice pool with lots of comfy sunbeds around it and lined along the
beach; the guests weren’t your typical backpackers either and
mostly consisted of families, couples and elder people.
After we had dumped our
bags, we headed back to the sand floor restaurant for lunch - which was
delicious and of great quality - another sign of an upmarket resort! The day
was pretty overcast and cloudy, much to my disappointment, but it was still
warm and we spent the afternoon sitting on sunbeds on the beach relaxing. I
went for a swim in the sea with my googles and found that just 5m from the
beach there was this amazing coral reef with loads of fish, which was pretty
cool and I enjoyed having a good swim around and decided I would explore it
better the following day with snorkel gear.
After having a shower
and getting ready for dinner, we headed down to the bar, enjoyed a cocktail and
joined the Kava ceremony, which is a Fijian welcoming ceremony. Kava is a
traditional Fijian welcoming drink made from the roots of a Kava plant, powdered down and mixed with water. We got to join the circle and try some of the Kava to be
welcomed into the group and to the island and it tasted exactly as it looked - like dirty water,
gross! Just the one boat (the coconut shell they serve the Kava in) was enough to make me gag and I kindly declined the second time it was passed around the circle, Darc still had a second bowl, even though it wasn't very nice! I knew I wasn't going to like the Kava before I'd even tried it, but it was one of those things you have to try when you’re in Fiji as it is their tradition and culture, plus now I've tried it
once it means I won't have to try it again.
Following the Kava ceremony, we
had a yummy three course A La Carte meal in the sand restaurant, which
concluded with a banana cake dessert served with Fijian ice cream, which I
might add was so tasty and we then watched England get smashed by the All
Blacks in the rugby. After an early start from the morning I was pretty tired
(it's a tough life doing nothing all day), so we went to bed and had another
great night’s sleep.
When we woke the next
morning, the weather was better than the day before but still a little
overcast. By the time we had our buffet breakfast and set ourselves up for the
day on a sunbed on the beach, the clouds were beginning to clear and we were
soon to be graced with bright blue skies and the sun’s rays blaring
down on us, well me anyway, Darc being the milk bottle he is, had positioned
himself nicely under an umbrella.
We hired snorkel
equipment out for the day, so early around 10am, we went on our first swim out
to the large reef just 5m from the shore. The coral looked so pretty and
colourful and we saw loads of different types of fish swimming about. We didn't
stay in the water for too long, because we both kept getting stung by something
which felt like little electric shocks all over our body. When we got out we
had vinegar put on our red spotty patches and returned to our sun loungers. We
asked what it was that stung us and the guys in the dive shop said it was just
coral and life under sea. Darc reckoned it might have been tiny jelly fish, but
whatever it was, it was annoying and did ruin the snorkel a bit (we later found
out it was jelly fish lava). We spent the rest of the morning like every other
relaxing on the beach, reading our books, listening to music and sleeping. Just
before lunch we took out a kayak each, which was nice and relaxing, as we ended
up just floating in the sunshine on the crystal waters of the Fijian ocean and
looking down through the glass sheet to the reef below.
When we arrived back to
the beach we had lunch and retook our position up on our sun beds for yet more
tanning. Half way through the afternoon, all the village children came down to
the beach as they were waiting for their boat which was taking them across to
school for the week. We were told the night before at the Kava ceremony that
the school was only 15 minutes away by boat, but the children boarded there
from Sunday to Friday as it was cheaper for parents to send them away for the
week than to send them across and back everyday. There were so many children,
no older than the age of 12, pile onto two fishing boats with just their
backpack and maybe one other carrier bag, with few parents standing on the beach
- mostly those that worked at the resort, to wave them bye. It was one of those
cultural things that we were quite lucky to see and I thoroughly enjoyed
watching - how the other half live!
We went snorkelling again in the afternoon, with t-shirts this time to
minimise the sting but found we didn't get stung at all. We spent a good 45
minutes snorkelling this time and again saw loads of cool fish and coral, which
fascinated us both.
The afternoon went
pretty quickly and before we knew it we were sitting on the beach watching a
beautiful sun setting over the sea. We had already booked to do a night
snorkel, so at 6 o'clock we headed down to the dive shop to collect some
snorkel equipment and a torch before heading out to the pitch black sea! The
night snorkel was pretty cool and a little scary. There weren't too many fish
about but we did see some and I did spot nemo at one point! As it was night we
were also lucky enough to see some lobsters and a couple of crabs and Darc even
spotted a Octopus as we were coming into the shore just metres from the beach
and from him. I was quite gutted I didn't see it, especially because I would've
swam right over it. We were pretty cold by the time we got back as the water
temperature had dropped enough to provide a chill and we very much looked forward to a warm shower
and some dinner. After another great 3 course dinner, the resort put a film on
around the pool area which we watched under the stars while eating some
gorgeous strawberry Fijian ice cream, before heading to bed.
This morning we were
leaving this beautiful island to head onto our next adventure. Once we had
breakfast, we checked out and waited the short period for our transfer to the
next island. Again, as we boarded our little fishing boat which connected with the main
boat, we departed to the Fijians singing and waving goodbye to us!
We are now on our 30
minute transfer to Mantaray Island, which if you hadn't guessed by the name, is
famous for the seasonal manta rays spotted by the resort. I will be back again
in a couple of days to let you know how we're doing and if we spot any manta
rays! Until then, stay on Fiji time - take things easy, chill out and have no
worries!
Xoxo
To see our pictures from Octopus Resort Click Here - Octopus Resort
No comments:
Post a Comment