Fiji with the Wahba's

One last adventure before we head home to Canada.  We travelled to Plantation Island Resort on Malolo Island, Fiji.  It takes the better part of a day to travel there between the Auckland traffic, the flight to Nadi, the shuttle to Port Denarau and the boat ride to the island, but certainly well worth the effort.  It was a huge bonus that we could share this trip with the Wahba family who are 6 months into their one year New Zealand adventure based in Wanganui.

The first thing you notice is how calm and warm the water is.  It's a great mix of the vastness of the ocean but with the calmness and accessibility of a lake.

Right in front of the resort was an inflatable waterpark.  It was only available at high tide, but there were always a few hours each day you could play on it.  

Jonah clearing the 'T'

Logan launching off the diving board

The 'Blob'

The kids (both big and little) loved it.

There were kayaks, paddle boards, little sailboats and snorkelling gear available from the resort which we made frequent use of.

There was some pretty high quality snorkelling right off shore with hundreds of fish, many starfish and sea cucumbers and even some rays.  Our beach hut can been seen in the background below.

We loved how the blue starfish would seemingly try to hide amongst the coral.  Even color blind Rob could see them easily.

Naysa got braids and beads in her hair for the week which made our lives easier.

We did spend some time at the three pools when the tide was low.

There were some fun kids club activities like Coconut Boat racing, Tie dye shirt making and Crab races that the kids participated in.  The kids would often eat before us and then watch the 7 o'clock movie so the adults could dine at the a la carte restaurant.  Kate got to celebrate her 5th birthday with a special Fiji birthday song played by the staff.

You could also rent Bula bikes and explore the island.

And of course some of use got asked to do some fitness modelling by their husband.

We did leave the island on a couple occasions.  Rob and Mark took a surf trip to Namotu.  It was one of many of a series of surfs created by the Malolo Barrier Reef.  It was Rob's first 'non-beach' surfing.  The current was very strong, so the boat had to drop us off beyond the wave, then you had to swim in from behind.  Rob was able to catch one wave, but the biggest of his life, so he was pretty happy.

We also hired a boat to go on an island hopping tour which was the highlight of the trip for the adults.  We started at Cloud 9, a floating restaurant/bar/swimming platform.  We challenged ourselves by jumping off the balcony.

The water was crystal clear and the sand was a beautiful white color.

Next up was a tour of some famous islands.  We saw Survivor Island (Mana Island) from the TV show.

We also snorkelled near a small white-sand island (called Sandbank) just beside Survivor Island which was so beautiful that we felt like millionaires who paid big money to access the secret island!! Shh....don't tell anyone.  

The girls had died and gone to seashell heaven!

We finished the tour with lunch at Castaway Island from the Tom Hanks movie.  The original 'sailboat' from that movie is on display at Plantation Island Resort where we stayed.

If any of you are wondering who the adopted child is in these photos...it's Leo.  Jonah and Leo met in the teen club at the resort.  He's from New Plymouth and they became very good friends in a short time.

Leo's brother Oscar and the Teen Club Leader Joji were always up to something.

Including the evening torch lighting ceremony.

As the week ended we were treated to a Polynesian Fire Dance performance.  We loved how they could make fireworks by spinning the fire sticks on the water.

We are so grateful to have spent the week with the Wahba's and treasure their friendship.  There was so much laughter and maybe a little bit of alcohol too.  We certainly give it 3 jumps for joy on our rating scale (only because we could not time the picture!!!).

So long Fiji.  Too bad you are so far away from Canada!