The R&R Big Adventure

Bula vinaka, Malolo Island

There was no bosom-brushing experience for Robert. Although he did say the masseuse went too far up one leg, but he was too polite to say anything.

The German couple who had just arrived at our resort yesterday didn’t have much luck. They had been staying at another resort and had island hopped to stay at our resort for a few days. They thought that, as it was a bigger island, they could go for walks, possibly trying different restaurants and bars. It was a bigger island than the others, but each resort was only accessible by sea, with no roads linking them. It was one of the Germans’ birthday that day, and his partner wanted to make it a special day. Soon after they arrived they sped off on a tender. It later transpired they had gone to Cloud 9, as R et al had done the previous day. Except Cloud 9 had no other customers, so they came back. The de-salination plant conked out in our resort in the afternoon, so there was no water in the taps or toilets. None of us could shower before dinner, so the sunset drinks stretched on. To celebrate the birthday, the guys were having a romantic dinner à deux on the jetty before sunset, with candles, flowers and lanterns. Except the wind was still gusting that night, so the lanterns and table linen were blowing everywhere.

As the rest of us were about to eat, the hotel staff suggested we all had a free cocktail on the house, owing to the water shortage. They were strong cocktails, clearly double measures.  We agreed that didn’t bode well for the water coming back on soon, despite the polite notes from management left in our rooms, along with a case of bottled drinking water. It seemed criminal to use Fiji bottled drinking water to flush the loo so, in the darkness, R and I were out in the sea, filling empty plastic bottles with seawater for our toilet. Our experience on the Inca Trail came in handy as well, as we had a flannel bath before bed. I felt sorry for the two honeymoon couples who were at the resort – what should have been the most romantic holiday, and yet potentially having to say to the person you want to spend the rest of your life with ‘sorry love, but it’s going to take more than two bottles of sea water to get that stubborn No2 down’.

Sunday morning the water came back on. Everyone looked very relieved, and fresh, at breakfast. It was still a gusty one – another coconut came down, but not near us this time. Two of the Brits were due to leave on an earlier ferry than us, to connect with the first of their three flights back to the U.K. Except the ferry they were booked on broke down. So – as you do – they had to book a helicopter transfer out of the resort. For the few of us now remaining, it created some excitement for the morning, and we waved them off enthusiastically in their helicopter from the lawn that doubled as a helipad. The resort advised us to get an earlier ferry in case the later one we were booked on was cancelled due to the weather. The staff – as they did for everyone – gathered at the jetty to wave us off, whilst singing a song to wish us a safe journey and to come back to the resort soon. It sounds cheesy, but it was done authentically (Fijians are genuinely very friendly), and we got hugs from many of the staff before we left. They all did a fabulous job. Considering we didn’t know this place existed until Tuesday night, it more than made up for missing out on Vanuatu.

Our crossing was indeed choppy but we are now back in Nadi, and staying at the pre-booked airport hotel we had planned to be in, given we were due to land back late from Vanuatu tonight. Not quite waves gently lapping at the hotel restaurant, and the path back to  our room is certainly not a sandy one a metre or two from the sea ☹.