On island time

We arrived in Fiji intact except for one bag.  We had to pay for one excess bag, and it was probably that one that never made it on the plane.  Kelly thought she noticed that it didn’t have a tag on it in LA but figured it must’ve been on the other side or something.  It didn’t have anything critical – our snorkeling gear, some towels, a jacket and shoes, and some of Hopscotch’s warmer clothes.  We filled out a missing bag report and headed out to the reception area where our ride to Navini Island was waiting for us.

Navini Island Resort was to be our big splurge since we aren’t really the resort types.  It’s a small island about 40′ offshore and only has 10 bures (small cottages) on it.  We found it by googling “best snorkeling Fiji” so we were excited to get there and do some serious relaxing.  We arrived just in time for breakfast, after which Kelly and Hopscotch hit the beach with her new friend Sy (the son of one of the employees) while I hit the hay.  Unfortunately it was raining on and off and pretty grey, but it was still fun to play in the water and in the sand.  Meals were done communally at certain times (they would beat a drum to announce it was time to eat) and at dinner we met a few of the other guests, including two other families with small kids.  One family were Kiwi’s from Auckland with a 3.5 year old and a two year old, and the other were from London (an American and a Brit) with a one year old.  We ended up spending a lot of time with both of them which was fun.

Every morning at 9:30 they would do a day trip somewhere so the next day we headed to a nearby island to visit the village there.  With our guide we presented the chief with some kava as a gift and he welcomed us and allowed us to walk around.  We visited the school grounds (which were closed as they’re on break) and a small market where some of the local villagers sold souvenirs.  After some lunch I decided I needed to hit the water, whether the weather was going to cooperate or not.  The reef around Navini was nice, though apparently has been in decline for a few years.  That night was Island Night, where dinner was cooked in a traditional lovato (underground oven).  The men of the resort then included us in a kava ceremony where we sampled the kava drink (clap once, drink, then clap three times), and then sung songs, with lots of audience participation in the dancing.

Our final day on Navini we did a day trip to Sand Cay, a nearby sandbar.  The corals were incredible there.  Much more diverse than the Cook Islands where Kelly and I honeymooned, which had primarily hard corals.  We raced the rain back to the resort, and after a nice lunch, we said out goodbyes and headed back to the main island for our next stop along the Coral Coast.  We’re not usually the resort type, but we had a great time on Navini.  The staff were super friendly, the food was great, and even though the weather didn’t cooperate and we only saw sun for the boat ride back, we still had a lot of fun and would love to go back.