Sleep and Sun just like Ben Gunn

 

Head hit the pillow at 8pm last night and pretty much slept through until 8am this morning.  That's bee n coming, I'll call it the Fiji effect ... annnnnd relax.  Simple bed, no wifi in the room, perhaps a little step away from the hustle and bustle of modern living was what is needed .. .ask me again in a week!

So breakfast included in our hostel, again will be pretty simple pleasures. Won't bore you with a description of that each day unless anything unexpected emerges, but its cereal (which I oddly had with rice milk today), fruit (guava?), and as much toast as you can manage with choice of jam, marmalade of vegimite. All with lashings of a Pacific view.

Had a chat with one of our Fijian hosts, Andi, she gave me a run down of the things we can do, tropical walks, island visits, spear fishing for starters. All of that please.  But today it was just to stay resort side, and take on a few civilised activities. A bit less Robinson Crusoe and more Club Med.

Bryn and I took a kayak out around the little bit of coastline we are situated on.  Nice to be out on the Pacific, sitting back and taking it all in. We were told to stay away from the waves breaking on the reef about half a mile out so it was very much a sensible paddle. Plus I didn't have any of my Monmouthshire wing men to fish me out should I fall in with the sharks.  Higher risk than the River Wye for sure!

The day very much got away from us, but in a drifty, Fiji sort of way, got me Bob Mortimer autobiography, that is no lie! Chucked a rugby around with Bryn, started to get a bit twitchy so took a little exploratory run around the coast.  Would have been great if just sand but too rocky between headlands, and various streams to ford so will have to take my life in my hands and try a road run tomorrow.

And we were back at sunset with a Fijian Frozen cocktail (coffee base) before dinner which tonight I went with lamb curry, rothi, rice, chutney, papadom and dhal.  The Indian influence on these isles longstanding of course, with 35% of the population of Indian descent, tracing back to indentured labour in the 19th century. Great choices of food so far in the Beachouse, long may that continue. Curry was pretty bland, but enough different elements to keep me interested.

Played a bit of ping pong, pool and cards with the family .. bit of wine .. chillax

Footnote, always thought Robinson Crusoe was set out this way, turns out it was the Caribbean, but we are never too old for a Ben Gunn reference.

(Carys)

We all got a good's night sleep last night, which was both enjoyed and appreciated. It was nice to rise slowly and get all my things together - actually having a suitcase full of my things to decide what was good to wear. I put on an outfit I deem to be nice for breakfast, even if it was to be laidback, just so I don't spend the whole week in just swimming costumes, and actually make use of the masses we brought. Breakfast WAS simple but still nice enough, I just had some jam on toast, and then we readied ourselves for a mostly relaxed day. I enjoyed my first swim in the ocean, which is really beautiful, and provides a lovely view of the shoreline too when you swim out. We saw a couple of fishies too, quite big ones, but I'm hoping to see some bigger ones. We spent a bit of time at the pool too, and I stayed out a little too long in the sun, which has resulted in a burn unfortunately, so will try better to avoid from now on. 

I sat in a hammock for a while and read a lot of my book. Realising I was sunburnt, I thought a cool shower was due, so I spent some time back at the room. Then I was in for some more reading, feeling very productive with that, and enjoyed the sunset with my new favourite drink - fanta pineapple. Then it was time for dinner, which seems to be a repeated delight here - feeling very lucky to have such lovely food in such a lovely place. I had pasta napoletana topped with grated cheese and served with garlic bread. Lots of lovely veg which was delicious. And now we'll enjoy some pool and ping pong, and maybe some card games to make the most of the rest of the evening.