Fiji 2017 (Part 2)
You Never Want To See the Sun Go Down! *
Unless you have a cocktail in your hand watching the sunset into the deep deep blue sea with the light reflected across the scattered clouds sky turning them all sorts of amazing colors.
So I slept poorly. I was hot most of the night and the fan wasn't enough. I'm sure my body trying to burn through the alcohol I consumed didn't help. But I woke up around 6ish and went for a short walk on the beach. The sky was clear and it was going to be a glorious day. I was sweating already so I thought, why not go for a swim? So I changed into my suit, grabbed my goggles and walked down to the water in front of my burre. I got into the water and started swimming. Now it was sort of low tide, but wow the water was shallow. Like 2 feet deep. And my draft (i.e. my big belly) was probably a foot under the water, so I was barely clearing the sand. But I'm like, it will drop soon, I'm sure. Nope. The sand turned to coral. And still shallow. So I keep swimming. And swimming. Now I'm swimming perpendicular from the beach so I keep expecting the water to get deeper. It actually is, but the coral reef is so big that it almost comes out of the water. I finally made it to the far side of the reef and took a deep breath. I hadn't wanted to stop and rest where I might touch the coral or get cut by it. So I needed a break. So I just sort of floated there a bit and watched all of the amazing marine life. Really cool. Well after a short rest I figured I couldn't go back the way I came, so I headed parallel to the shore along the outside edge of the reef. Finally I got to the small channel through the reef that allows the boat to pull up to the shore. When I got out of the water, I was a tired little sea otter.
After breakfast, I read for a bit more and then decided to go snorkeling. So back in the water but this time with fins, mask, and snorkel. Which makes viewing the undersea life that much better. I had my GoPro with me and took some good pics. Since the reef is so shallow, the fish are all over the place and easy to sea. Especially with the sunlight streaming through the water. It really was a great swim. After the snorkel, I decided that I needed to sample the hammock that was in front of my burre. It works. And I sort of dozed in the sun for a bit before I realized that I would burn quickly if I didn't get out of the hammock and get into the shade.
After lunch, I decided to lather up and hit the lounge chair and just read and bake. I'm sporting SPF 70, but the sun is so bright and strong. In no time, I'm just drenched in sweat. But it sort of feels good just slowly roasting in the sun. And I'm really enjoying this new SciFi series I'm reading. But at some point, my skin starts to feel the burn and I'm like, time to go. So a quick shower, re-apply the sun screen, and then back into the water. Instead of the left side of the reef, I'm off to explore the right side of the reef. I've got my open names for the different types of coral I see. The brain coral, the fan choral, the antlers coral, the polyps coral. It's all very scientific I assure you. They are all so pretty and the various colors are amazing. Every shade of green, red, orange, purple, and even some blue. So pretty. And the fish. Just everywhere. So many of them. I discovered later that the locals are not allowed to fish in this bay which is why the marine diversity is so great. And it really is spectacular.
After the snorkel, I dried out a bit laying in the hammock for a bit before showering and changing for happy hour. I limited myself to two Mai Tai's which were delish and then read until the sunset which was spectacular. After happy hour, I had dinner and then sat at the bar working on the blog. On Sunday nights they have a movie. It was Deep Water Horizon. I'm sure it's good, but I don't want to see a movie about a ecological disaster while I'm at an amazing beach resort in Fiji. Let me live in denial about the real world for a bit longer.
The last morning at the Octopus Resort, I got up early and went for another beach walk. As soon as the sun hit the lagoon, I grabbed my snorkel gear and went for a swim. The reef is literally just yards off the shore and it pretty amazing. The many different kinds of coral is just spectacular. And the fish. Fish are most active at sunrise and sunset, so they were out in force. It was really just awesome. After my snorkel, I had time to clean up, have breakfast and then check out and wait for my ride to the next resort.
