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Turtle Island, Fiji May 2005 |
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This May, Eric and I traveled half-way around the world to Turtle Island, Fiji. Turtle Island rests somewhat in the middle of a group of islands which lay to the northwest of mainland Fiji.
The pictures included on this website barely capture the beauty of this place and its people. The water was very clear, allowing us to see various tropical fish painted with unimaginable colors. At night, the sky would take our breath away as one could see the entire Milky Way dotted with bright stars. Eric, Matt, and Kevin not only caught one fish each on their ocean fishing trip, but also caught sight of a spectacular sun rise. The sunsets also never failed to be glorious every day.
The people of Fiji, namely the staff of Turtle Island, spoiled us with excellent service and kept us in stitches with their great sense of humor. Just like in the Caribbean, the Fijian motto seems to be “no worries.” We were always greeted with a genuine smile and an enthusiastic “Bula Bula,” which means “hello” and about a thousand other things!
We arrived at Turtle Island by seaplane, a half hour commute from the mainland. When we got off the plane, we waded through shallow water toward the beach as the Turtle Island staff serenaded us. It was at this time that we met Buna, our “bure mama.” Every couple on Turtle Island has their own bure mama, a person who not only takes care of your bure, but any other need you may have on the island. He or she will schedule a lomi lomi massage, book a private beach, and even take your breakfast order in the morning. Buna turned out to be an incredible woman; in fact, all the “bure mamas” were! We love Buna and hope to see her again someday. As she said, “We’re family now.”
So, what exactly is a bure??? It is supposed to be a hut, but I am sure that you can judge by the pictures that this was no Gilligan’s Island type of hut. There was no air-conditioning and some bugs, but it was a small price to pay!
At the time of the trip, Meredith and I were almost six months pregnant, so we expected the rest of our group to put us to bed early and party the night away. However, Matt, Eric, and Kevin seemed to tire out quickly from all of the day activities and went to bed relatively early every night. Still, everyone had a wonderful time. We spent some time napping, a lot of time eating, and even more time laughing. Eric and I feel very privileged to call Matt, Meredith, and Kevin friends and will never forget this experience. Again, thank you to Matt and Kevin for giving us such a wonderful trip.
Eric and I have a lot of stories to share, but we would rather bore you in person. I have included captions with the pictures that hopefully explain the different things we did while on our trip. Bula!
Sunrise... ...Sunset.
Our second day on the island, we had a private beach. "Paddy's Beach", and the small island straight out from it, were used for major scenes in The Blue Lagoon.
Already enjoying our day on Paddy's Beach.
Do you think Eric likes the lobster?
This is our favorite picture. We took this on our trip to a traditional Fijian village. She kept saying, "Bula bula bula..."
This is inside the village chief's hut. We had to wear "sulus" and cover our shoulders. Our group leader, Erami, presented the chief's grandson with kava root. When this gift was accepted, we were allowed to look around the village.
These women and their children had sold necklaces and shells to us. Not a bad office, huh?
Another village view.
Queen Mother, or Queenie, as he prefers to be called, performed for us on three different occasions. Our favorite performance was of him lip-synching a really bad song from the eighties and doing high leg kicks...over and over again.
A sample of the crab race contenders. Matt would call this a crab, but I still stick by snail! With claws. And unbelievably fast movement. What's up with that?
Gee Kevin, that's a little hat. Flip it around and it makes a kava bowl.
We tried to convince Matt and Kevin that Felipe walked on coals during the lovo meke night...but if you look very closely, there are flip-flops on those feet.
Buna spread flowers around our bure every day. She made sure the refrigerator was well stocked with Fiji Gold beer for Eric and pineapple juice for me.
A door sign made especially for us!
As great as the vacation was, I was glad to get back to the mainland and some junk food. |
Anne and Eric on their sunset cruise.
Matt and Meredith have big hearts and an even bigger sense of humor. No one makes us laugh like these two do! Who ever knew Yankees and Texans could get along so well? Kevin and Eric are not only business partners, but also good friends. We love hanging out with him!
Dearl and Amy run the Trafficology website for Nitro Marketing. They seem to be a very nice couple, and we hope they had a good time on the trip.
The "Nitro Guys"
One mode of transportation.
The "Bula Board" listed the daily activities.
Filipe played good guitar, but was better at making fun of us!
Buna, our bure mama, spoiled us rotten.
Enjoying our day on
Long Beach! The entire group had a private beach day on Long Beach.
The staff at Turtle Island challenged us to a volleyball game. The result: Fijians, 2000 / US, 17
Many Fijians drink kava, which is a liquefied form of kava root. The kava plant, when consumed in large quantities, has a calming effect.
Some members of the Turtle Island staff drink kava every night.
I am with my pregnant partner in crime, Meredith. Kevin arranged a dine out on the beach for the Nitro group and surprised us with the world's biggest cake.
Tying our names to a tree.
I think the heat got to him. Or the Fiji Gold beer.
Our men feel especially manly after rowing the pregos around in kayaks. Thanks guys!
We were asked to put on "traditional" dress for lovo meke night. We do island wear pretty well, don't we?
An outside photo of our bure. The inside of the bure is shown in the photos to the left and below.
On our last full day we took a boat tour around the island.
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