Sailing out to Mystery Island on the Ra Marama

Fiji is a land of music! Everywhere we go we hear beautiful music, songs and smiles. Retirement is mandatory at age 55. It's such a relaxed country - we've learned of "Fiji-time" which is not a scheduled time - but a happy carefree way of living with out watches, TV and computers. This trip was from the port where VeeJay plays golf and has very exclusive homes that tip the housing scale at around $500,000 for a home on the golf course and walking distance to the port.
Our ship is an older one - but equipped with a fast motor so that the 2.5 hr sail only took about 30 minutes. We are anxious for the beaches. The sun is out. Our ship has folks from all over Australia, India , China - adventurers that are joining us for our day on the island.
The island is one of the 330 land masses that make up Fiji (297 are populated with a total of about 600,000 residents). Mystery Island has a few inhabitants - but is mostly a day playground with SCUBA, snorkeling, ocean kayaking, sand volleyball and crystal clear blue water.
It's called the coral coast area because the sand looks more like the size of garlic flakes - large and littered with massive amounts of coral bits from the reef that is just a few dozen feet off the shore. Perfect place to snorkel and dive! The group is divided into two parts - one that goes with a guide to snorkel and the other plays volleyball and swims or kayaks abound the island (2-3 times is possible in just a couple of hours). Some students with licensed dive certificates go SCUBA diving with Michael - a Canadian skateboarder that made it to this island job via Australia. He's also the instructor for those that are old enough and want to do introductory SCUBA . The four leaders split the activities - and Ms Ginny gets to go with the new SCUBA group - More later on that!

Warwick Resort and Heading out to Mystery Island

We've arrived...Showers!

Have we only been here two days? It seems like we have done so much already! The weather is off and on cloudy and sunny. The water is crystal clear. The most amazing observation is how special the Fijians make us feel all the time. Everyone, young and old, stops to wave at us as we tool along in our bus. We feel like celebrities, but in reality, this is just the way the Fijian people are - warm and friendly and inviting.
The food is spectacular! Buffet lunches and dinners which include all sorts of entries - especially tasty is the lamb, carved roast beef, pork tenderloins, Indian curry dishes and salads - all in ONE meal! They don't eat hamburger over here- it's too expensive! They could take a lesson from our Cincinnati bakeries when it comes to cakes and deserts - but the fresh fruit is out of this world so that is a must for desert at every meal! And yes, showers and bed are always a delight- We don't even mind going to bed at 9:00 as we are sooo tired after dinner that sleep is really great!

First day in Fiji