Anyways, I left off the last posting with our helicopter flight to the next resort and we were again wowed by the tiny piece of grass on this little hillside that the pilot had to put the helicopter down…amidst grazing cows and horses! We arrived at the Outrigger resort, again greeted by a Fijian band and a welcome drink. This resort was spectacular in size and grandeur, but still didn’t beat the small island paradise of Castaway. We again stayed in a beautiful bure – this one nestled amongst spectacular tropical gardens – really beautiful. As you can see in the pictures in the web album – this resort had a magnificent pool and deck area, with lots going on.One of the nice touches that we unfortunately got very accustomed to at this resort was the Butler service. This meant that every night around 5:30, the staff would come to each of the bures with champagne and canapés. By the end of our 4 days here, I had the timing correct so that I was just finishing my G&T as the lady with the champagne was arriving. To top that off, again around 9, they would bring dessert and an aperitif. It was a wonderful treat and Dug was sad to see it end when we left Fiji – I don’t “do” butler service.
One of the highlights was the nightly torch lighting ceremony where costumed Fijians would start slowing beating on a poolside wooden drum, calling everyone to the ceremony. This usually happened just as the sun was about to go down and we were finishing our champagne. It was really fun to watch because this obviously has because a daily “must do” for kids at the resort. From everywhere, kids would start running towards the pool – along paths and out of bushes, like rats following the Pied Piper. Then the drumming would reach a crescendo and another guy would start circling the pool, lighting each torch on the poolside and blowing a conch. I think it became a bit of a ritual for all the kids who had flocked to the pool to follow (run) behind the guy lighting the torches. At each one, he would stop and let all the kids put their hand on the handle of his torch and they would all light it together. Then he’d run to the next one – kids in hot pursuit. During the first night of this ceremony, the girls were just watching the procession of children chasing the torch lighter and my darling Sophie (the often serious and conscientious child) piped up in a voice load enough for all the other parents to hear, “Mama, it really isn’t safe to run with fire – it’s kind of like running with scissors”. Well, once we and the other adults within earshot had stopped laughing, I had to explain that this was a special circumstance where it was OK to run while holding a burning can of accelerant on a slippery pool-deck.
We continued to enjoy ourselves for the next few days. The girls had a great time donning their head-lamps every night to go hunting for rhinoceros beetles and toads amongst the pathways. However, I had to bring the game to an end one night when Sophie dropped one of the toads into the pool right next to the restaurant. After rescuing it in front of a few dining spectators (don’t think they saw the humour in it), we let it go in the bushes again, but not before Sophie yells out, “It peed on me!” That’s my girl – she not afraid of a little amphibian juice.
We did get the opportunity to go to small wildlife reserve nearby where the girls to hold (cuddle really) some iguanas and a boa. You can see by the photos in the web album that they loved holding these critters.
We also found a little local curry restaurant nearby where the Fiji Bitters were cheap - $2.50 at happy hour and we spent a fair bit of time there. One night, we decided to eat dinner there, along with friends that we met – a mom and her daughter from New Zealand. We arrived at “Johnny’s” to find that the whole restaurant was in almost total darkness with only candles lighting the veranda. Johnny came out to welcome us and told that his power was off, but that his stove was gas so we could stay and eat. Only slightly worried about the food safety, we decided to stay and were treated to the best curry I have ever had. The girls ran around chasing toads, while we drank Fiji Bitters to calm the heat of the curry – great fun was had by all.
Anyways, we said our goodbye’s to Fiji and the friends we made there and headed back to Australia, but we knew that we would make the trip back to Fiji someday.
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