Coral Coast, Fiji

This little adventure was more of an intervention from life’s busy schedule, rather than a planned trip, but nevertheless we booked with two objectives in mind “make Julia relaxed” and “book somewhere on the ocean”. The latter (my priority) was met perfectly with a private residence 2 hours onto the Coral Coast. A gigantic private Bure, with high swooping wooden ceilings had quite the Balinese charm. Ridiculously huge for two people,with its middle of nowhere location, it made us feel luxurious yet secluded. The wooden deck weaved between the private pool and trees shaded the lounges at the water’s edge of Maui Bay. I didn’t want a resort swamped by tourists, but rather a place where most nights we could be the only guests. True to its advertised quaintness, it was a place where the gardener scooted up the coconut tree to collect the morning drink and where the chef opened the window to pick some deliciously sweet Fijian bananas to top the pancakes. Two kiwi boys from down the road from where we both grew up, ran the family residence. Their jandals, singlets and kiwi hospitality fits right in with the Fijian way of life. The private residence, is just that. The main house has an open plan kitchen leading to a lounge area overlooking the pool. It’s the heart, with four other villas scattered between the palms.

Nopo, the resident chef doubles as the village Pastor, with Sai the waiter, masseuse and housekeeper along with the kiwi boys completing this little part of paradise. A paradise made for escaping to a sanctuary of tranquility. One of the boys will soon embark on a mission to a Tibetan monastery so we encouraged him to take us to the ocean’s edge for meditation under a sunset of pastels. Sai massaged us under the hibiscus tree and wine flowed easily as we perched on a log at the water’s edge. Horses collected us from our villa door for a ride up the mountain and through the water. Baby sharks and cobalt blue starfish lay in the shallow sea as we snorkelled through the coral forest. At high tide a bare half a meter of water was enough for a kayak and calm enough to just lay back and let the wind blow us by. Nights ended with a kava ceremony, card games or dinner on the patio.. Most days were spent laying under the trees reading and writing. Dave managed to read 2 books while I spent time aimlessly thinking about nothing but absorbing the surroundings. For someone who can go 5 days without seeing sunlight this isn’t something to be taken lightly, but rather something to be grateful for. Maui Bay was left once for a sailing trip to the white sandy beaches of Bounty Island. The freedom of snorkelling with the sharks, swimming and sunbathing perfected the sail back to the mainland. Three Fijian boys singing away with their guitars complemented the peaceful sails flapping in the wind but nothing could beat that sensation of a yacht’s bow piercing open ocean.

Fiji is an interesting and in some ways, diverse place. Local Fijians reside in small villages, some with no doors or windows and uphold a strong village culture. Yet, in the towns the Indians run stores with wire grills over every window. Even the hot bread shop has a small window cut into the grill for serving purposes making it obvious they were concerned about being robbed by locals. We really didn’t venture out much from our island hideaway so didn’t get to immerse ourselves in the Fijian culture which was a shame. Welcomed was what we felt; “BULA, BULA” at every encounter. I was pleasantly surprised with how many kiwi biscuits and ice blocks they had on offer, albeit devastated when I couldn’t gorge on a packet of 100s and 1000s due to the ant ‘epidemic’ that Fiji seems to have. But heck, if this is the only thing…

The coral coastline is just as it should be, crystal clear with dark coral emphasising the turquoise water. There really is such a thing as island time. Fijians really do have family singalongs while kids play in the overhanging trees beside the sea. Fiji exceeded expectations but more importantly, it was the perfect place to reset, together, find my smile again and energise for the next chapter.