Goodbye to the Outrigger and on to the islands of Matamanoa and Tokariki lying to the north west of the main island.

We were collected just before 6 in the morning and driven to Port Denerau for our ferry trip- with a pits stop at a posh hotel in the tourist ghetto near the ferry port. We had a beautiful ride on the ferry, stopping at various islands on the way. Eventually we reached Manon Lagoon where we transferred to a smaller ferry- I forgot to mention that the transfer was in mid ocean! A while later we sighted our island, having paused to gape at a school of dolphins that followed and played in our wake.As we approached Matamanoa we looked vainly for a jetty- instead we saw a tiny boat, slightly bigger than a rowing boat bobbing up and down in the ocean. Luggage and passengers transferred somehow to our new transport. On arrival at the island, off came the shoes and we waded ashore! We were serenaded ashore and garlands hung around our necks- a cool drink quickly appeared. We were shown to our wonderful bure - it was very spacious, with an outside deck and a hammock! For the next few days I had great difficulty dragging Sandy out of it! This was Fijian relaxation at its best!  Our bure was luxuriously located a few yards from the sandy beach- a coconut lined meander into paradise. We relaxed - I mean serious relaxing, until it was time for afternoon tea by the pool- it was quite an effort to get there, but we thought that we should. In the evening we were serenaded by the wonderful gospel choir-apparently they had just won the Fijian choir competition. To listen to such beautiful singing on a warm evening by the pool and sea  and under the star lit sky was truly awe inspiring. Listening to Come All Ye Faithful sung in Fijian seemed wonderfully appropriate. Of course, being Fiji there were lighter moments that evening. Ever guest was ready for their meal but felt that they could not leave until the singing finished- and the choir thought that we were enjoying ourselves so much that they carried on singing-hence a very late meal that night. In the dark we heard the giggles of happy "scool children" as the Fijians boarded their outrigger boats and motored across the ocean to their home village.

The pattern of our days were very relaxed- we moved from the hammock to a meal and back again. Occasionally Sandy might have a swim or we might play table tennis in the evening- but that is as stressful as it got. Sandy did go out snorkelling on the nearby reef and was amazed by what she saw. One day we went out on a glass bottomed boat over the reef-the richness and variety of the corals and sea life was staggering- the large blue star fish was the highlight for us. Whilst we looked at the coral the boatsman had his feet up and lay back reading a comic- every so often he would look up and point the boat back in the right direction. When someone commented on it he said "you watch what you are watching and I will watch what I am watching." He was the driver, so we did as we were told!

One night a 9 inch gecko greeted us as we entered the bure,but meeting the wildlife seemed a normal part of our existence.