Beach Combers - Mamanuca Islands

Day 1 - Beach Combers - the Mamanuca Islands

It’s with mixed feelings when we reach a new place. Whilst we are both excited about the next part of our adventure, it’s sad to see us ticking a country off our ever decreasing itinerary and being one step closer to home! A travel expert spoke to us about going to Fiji way back when we were booking our around the world tickets back in the UK and now here we are already!

Up again with the larks we gave ourselves enough time to grab a quick coffee in the hotel before meeting the coach outside. Unfortunately ‘Fiji Time’ meant that the coffee turned up just as we were about to leave.

Being the travel experts we now are, Glenn went off to get in front of the very large que to pay the balance of the trip whilst I was despatched with the luggage to push in and get it checked onto the ferry. Feeling rather smug as we had a head start on the large queue and we would make time for that missed coffee before boarding, was the point when things started to go wrong

It seemed that something went awry with the booking and we only had a reservation on one of the islands with the other being full! After a lot of very long laborious telephone calls between the agent and the island, an escalation somewhere to a manager we were still no further forward 30mins later. With 15 mins left to now catch the ferry we opted for an alternative island and the telephone booking procedure started again. This time the good news was that there was space, the bad news was the agent couldn’t work out the price we had to pay for the change!

Just when we were thinking that we would have to retrieve our luggage before the boat set sail with it, they miraculously found the original booking and we were quickly despatched to the ferry, minus the coffee!

The ferry crossing to Beach Combers island, which is in the Mamanuca’s, was around 45 minutes and what a way to de-stress. We past small stunning islands and made a drop off at another, all were picture postcard.

When we arrived at beachcombers, which was tiny but looked amazing, we were despatched into small boats and driven across with a lovely welcome committee to meet us on the beach again singing the Bula song.

A lovely lady showed us to our villa which was about one back from the beach, a hammock outside, and a bathroom with hot water! It even had a kettle so we sat outside and had our long overdue coffee.

Refreshed, we changed and headed for a walk along the beach with a plan to have a dip and explore. However as we were approaching we found a boat that was taking people on a fish feeding and snorkelling tour. It was free so we quickly jumped on board to take advantage of the freebie.

The reef was just past the island so we were soon in the water admiring Fijian Fish (there were a couple of other types here) whilst those who stayed on board fed the fish. The captain found it quite funny to throw the food in my direction so I was soon surrounded by fish. Unfortunately we didn’t have the GoPro so no pics to share.

Back on dry land we decided to have a beer before lunch. Beachcombers is described as a party Island so they had various happy hours throughout the day. Not as bad as it sounds though, it was pretty tame, no over loud youths and meant you could get cheaper beer. We enjoyed these and took a few silly pics of ourselves on the beach, we are loving Fiji!

Lunch was a buffet affair and to be honest, wasn’t too bad. We were told there was another freebie shortly after where you could go and see turtles so we gulped down our lunch in preparation.

The tour turned out to be a 2 min walk to an area located just behind our hut with a handful of turtles swimming around in a plastic pool. 2 minutes later and the ‘tour’ was over! Oh well it was free.

At a loss of what to do next (neither of us sunbathe anymore) we decided to walk the circumference of the island. This took just under 5 mins (I timed it) it was lovely though and we were both glad we chose Beachcombers.

Recognising that we might quickly exhaust all options on the island, we then when to reception to book a trip for the following day. We ended up selecting one that would take you to an Island where they filmed castaway (of Tom Hanks fame, you know, where he talks to the football?) and a tour of a local village and school. That done, we decided to head back to our hut for a nap before dinner as it was a pretty early start. This holiday malarkey can take it out of you.

Dinner was again a buffet affair which was pretty good but no Fijian food! After dinner we sat in the bar for a couple of beers where, for a ‘party island’ it was pretty tame. Opting NOT to join in with some Fijian style Hokey Cokey thing they were trying to organise we headed off to bed around 8:30 so we could get a fresh start for tomorrow.

Day 2 Castaway and Kava

After another buffet b/f we sat around to wait for our boat to take us on the trip. We were told there was a dress code for women when entering a village, we had to wear a Sulu (sarong) to cover up. It was far different to the south pacific films I’ve watched where nubile young lovelies come running down the beach in next to nothing to greet foreigners to their shore. I didn’t mind at all but I think Glenn was a bit miffed.

There was only one other Dutch couple joining us so after intro’s we set off. First was the island where they filmed castaway. It’s pretty small with a lovely bay and a big hill in the middle covered in forest. Glenn remembers the film better than I do and it’s the hill he climbed to orientate himself and then later try to top himself when it all got too much (Tom not Glenn).

Fortunately there was only one other boat there when we arrived so we had a chance to explore ahead of any other boats arriving. Some clever clogs had written S.O.S in stones and someone else had erected a pretty cool shelter which was needed as there was little shade. We then had a snorkel (I think we might have pics this time) and then back on shore to dry off. We were about to go off and explore the rest of the Island (Glenn fancied trying to see if he could find the cave) when we were called back to the boat to continue our trip.

Next stop was the village which was on an island opposite. After tying our Sulu’s (Shel not Glenn), we embarked and was led through the village to where we would be welcomed with a Kava ceremony.

Kava is made from Kava root and tastes a bit like bitter muddy water. Entering the hut you sit facing the village Elders and they begin a process of stirring the big bowl of muddy water and singing and chanting. A coconut cup is then first offered to the visiting chief, in our case Glenn. This I think was determined by age and not status.  Glenn was then asked to cup his hands and clap, shout Bula and knock it back in one. The same process is then followed first with the visiting men and then the women, however they seemed to side step this process and we went in the order of age, me being next. It’s supposed to give a tingling feeling and turns your tongue numb, but I think you would need quite a few to get the full effect.

The young Dutch couple were both up next, their cups were decidedly smaller than ours. You can either get a full tide (full cup) or half tide (half cup). It looks like our reputation for beer quaffing had reached Fiji as the tide was very full for ours! The village elders then took a turn and the whole process was repeated again.

Traditionally you are supposed to bring a gift of Kava root but this was replaced with money so we all made a donation to the village and was then set free to explore. This turned out to be a series of market stalls with beaded jewellery where again you felt obliged to buy something. I got a couple of token bracelets so we could make our escape.

We then walked through the village on our way to the School. The Village had recently suffered a tornado but the infrastructure looked pretty good with solar panels and quite sturdy huts.

My expectation would be that we would see the classrooms and meet the kids, Instead we were met by a very formal headmaster who explained a bit about the school which basically taught children from all of the surrounding islands. The kids stay on the island all week and return home at the weekends. We did a brief Q&A before he asked for a donation! That done, we were not led to another classroom but to another area where the school teachers where drinking Kava in the morning break (evidently celebrating first day of term). A couple more rounds and that was it, it was time to head back to the boat.

Feeling a little disappointed I let the others go on ahead whilst I held back to talk to a few of the kids who were too young for school so were hanging around the village. I got quite a different Bula welcome and particularly like the pic where one is giving me the bird, another the V sign and the 3^rd a thumbs up. I love Fiji! This generated an onslaught of kids wanting pictures, it was the best bit of the tour by far for me.

Back on board we were quickly motoring back to Beachcombers. We were both a little disappointed with the tour which was very over priced for what you got. We didn’t mind making donations but on top of the trip price it all cost more than we would have liked. The village thing felt very staged too. Just check out how young the village elders are!

Back on the island, we grabbed a late buffet lunch (again no Fijian food) and had a couple of beers before heading back to our hut to chill in the hammocks.

Dinner tasted pretty much the same as lunch and the previous day’s dinner so whilst we loved the island, we were looking forward to moving on to perhaps try something a bit more adventurous. We had a couple of beers and chatted with a few travellers before hitting the sack for the night.