I was up pretty early this morning despite my relatively late night last night, getting straight out of bed for breakfast. It was once again them pigs tail sausage things with beans and fruits amongst other things. I was the first one to have these as well because they don't start serving what they call a big breakfast until 8, with just toast available before this. With a 9am departure from here I checked out of the island and got my backpack all tagged up, which I had sensibly packed last night, before saying my goodbyes to the group of 3 English in the group. Just 4 of us bought the pass go up to the next island, Mantaray Island.
After boarding the small boats owned by Beachcomber, it wasn't long before I had the chance to take photos of the whole island due to the small size. One thing that confused me this morning however was the fact my right arm was covered in red spots. I was worried I had got dengue fever or something although after talking to someone they said it was more likely bedbugs. To be fair they didn't look like mosquito bites so I stopped worrying about it. It wasn't long before the main ferry arrived and before long I boarded the sizeable vessel, sitting in the warm heat on the open top deck to get a good view as we sailed through the islands.
I have already said Fiji is made up of many little islands, and I got the chance to see loads as we left the Mamanucas island group I had been staying in, heading north into what is known as the Yasawa island group. En route we passed many different resorts which not only presented brilliant beaches but also things like hiking and wildlife opportunities with the mountainous geography of the islands. In the end we arrived into my island at the bottom of the Yasawas and after a short transfer arrived into my resort on Mantaray Island, which was in close proximity to a couple of other islands.
When landing onto the island we sat inside and got a free complimentary welcome drink which was basically juice and ice in a blender, getting informed about things to do on the island. The island is considerably bigger than Beachcomber although it is still small in the respect you could walk round it in a couple of hours. The main attraction on the island is the Mantarays which are these fish similar to Stingrays, just a lot bigger. The island runs snorkeling trips to see these fascinating creatures. Other activities vary from day to day although there is a board which tells you what is on offer each day. Lets just say I won't be bored on the island.
Due to arriving near lunchtime which runs at 12 each day, it was straight up for lunch which basically works on a menu basis with 12 different choices. Today I opted for the chicken burrito with chips which was very nice! It was nice here to meet the Canadians and Koreans who had gone straight here after the main island. After lunch I explored the resort a little which is actually really nice, boasting two beaches, one ideal for sunrise and the other for sunset. The resort also had a pretty decent bar area, the only thing lacking being a swimming pool. Before relaxing however I had to pay the compulsory meal package charge, which lets say wasn't cheap. Being on an island I guess it was island prices.
With three nights to be spent on the island I opted to spend the afternoon relaxing, finding myself a nice shady spot in a hammock. It was hilarious however because the islands pet goat started humping the Korean whilst his wife took pictures, and then starting chasing them! All the goat seems to do is annoy people! There are two pet dogs as well on the island which were both pretty friendly. After a short timing laying back in the hammock I joined the others in relaxing on the beach, although they had the idea by being in the sea. It was nice the water was shallow although you couldn't go too far out as there were loads of corals. It was fascinating though as these little fish kept coming real close to the shore!
With a fair chunk of the afternoon spent down on the beach, I spent the latter part playing volleyball with the Danish guys who had also come from Beachcomber. With 4 of us playing it was a nice way to finish the day, although I couldn't quite pull off a Rene Higuita return over the net! From here I headed into the dorm where I lay down as doing a bit of exercise kind of exhausted me! It wasn't that bad and I took the chance to write a blog.
Eventually it came to the time to have dinner and I was pretty hungry with lunch at 12 and dinner at 7. Dinner this evening was a four course meal and gourmet is probably the best day to describe it! First course was a tomato soup with vegetables, pasta and croutons, which was shortly followed by these potato based things for our entree. For main there was a choice of 4 dishes and I opted for the Pad Thai which I had a fair bit of in Thailand. For dessert we had a chocolate moose! Considering I was on a remote island the food was top class.
After dinner the entertainment guy from the island who runs all the activities came up to see how we were which was nice. With a dance based activity planned for the evening we got to learn a couple Fijian dances, which was then followed by a group snake dance where you copy what the person as the front does! It was a cracking way to finish the evening, when finishing going straight to bed along the majority of other people.
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