Malolo Lailai - "The Island"

Being on the island of Malolo Lailai made me feel like I was in an episode of "Lost"... as soon as you left the confines of the resort, you were in the wilderness. The only sounds were the wind blowing and the birds chirping. It felt like "Others" were going to jump out of the bushes and attack me.

Malolo Lailai is a beautiful and mountainous island surrounded by amazing coral reefs. Hiking trails cover the island and there are many hidden coves and beaches that you can journey to. There is also a relatively large local population that lives on the bigger island (which you see in the distance in picture 2). In this case, the "Others" were extremely friendly and helpful. Hope to come back some day!

The Resort at Musket Cove

Looking down at Musket Cove Resort

If I was asked to describe Musket Cove Resort in one statement, it would be "laid back luxury". If you wanted to hang out in the spa, hire a private sailboat, or arrange for a private picnic on the beach, there was someone at the resort that would do that for you (at a cost)... or if you wanted to borrow a kayak for the day and find your own private beach, you could do that as well (for free). I've stayed in many luxury resorts that would charge you for every little extra thing, but Musket Cove wasn't like that at all. In fact, they even encouraged guests to go to a local market for food and hand crafted souvenirs. You definitely got what you paid for... and they made you feel like part of a community.

Welcoming beach party

The watersports area.. free snorkel gear, kayaks, and wind surfing equipment for all (I had some struggles with the wind surfing stuff) 

A true "house boat"

Looking at my beach front villa accomodations

Sunrise Hike at Malolo Lailai

I took these photos on my last day in Fiji. I had woken up before the sun in order to go on one final surf mission. However, the wind was blowing the wrong direction, it was raining, and the swell had dropped... so I decided to not go. As I was walking back to my villa (to go back to sleep), I noticed a break in the clouds... and it looked like the sun might peak out. Therefore, I decided to grab my camera and go for a hike. The cool thing about the island of Malolo Lailai is that it is one big hiking trail and you can basically go wherever you want (granted you have the energy). I started at the base of a beach and climbed over a little mountain to a clearing I spotted the day prior. From what I saw, it looked like a good spot to watch the sunrise over the big island of Viti Levu (which you see in the background). I'm not sure if these pictures do it justice... but the sunrise was spectacular. I would have liked to go surfing one more time prior to my departure, but this was a pretty decent consolation prize. Hope you enjoy!

More Fijian Gold

On this particular evening in Fiji, I picked out a quiet spot on the edge of the island to sit back and watch the sunset. It was the first evening that we had clouds and I figured that the clouds might make for a nice sunset... I was right! The view was pretty spectacular. Nothing more relaxing than opening a good bottle of wine and watching the sun go down over the water.

These photos were taken over the harbor at Musket Cove Resort.

The clouds look like they are swirling in this picture

Fiji Gold

The "Golden Hour" at Musket Cove Resort in Fiji.

My Fijian Adventure - "Last Light"

Enjoying the last few moments of light as I lounge poolside at Musket Cove Resort. 

My Fijian Adventure - "The Three Palms"

This photo was taken at Musket Cove Resort about 40 minutes after the sun had set. There was still a bit of light coming from the horizon and I set my camera to a 30 second exposure to try and capture as much light as possible (used a beach chair as a "makeshift tripod"). The three palm trees in the foreground definitely made for a much more unique perspective (which way do you think the wind blows??). You can notice a bit of a blur in the palms as the wind was blowing slightly. 

My Fijian Adventure - Surf Transfers

One of the daily adventures in Fiji was trying to hire a boat to take me out to the outer reefs. Since I was the only surfer in my group (parents don't surf), I had to find others to share the boat with me (the boat drivers didn't want to do solo trips unless you paid double). It wasn't too difficult to find others since there were a lot of Aussie surfers at the resort. However, all of the boats were on "Fiji time"... which meant that you needed to reserve a time 30-60 minutes before you actually wanted to go out. After the first couple days, I figured out the schedule and it wasn't much of a problem. The boat drivers were very friendly (had the warm polynesian hospitality)... they took us wherever wanted to go and stayed out as long as we wanted to stay out. They also had a lot of local knowledge and knew which break would be the best at any given moment. It was definitely worth the money!

Here you see a surfer coming back from one of the surf transfers at low tide. 

My Fijian Adventure - Wandering Around at Low Tide

In another 30 minutes, that boat would be on dry reef

I decided to wander around Musket Cove Resort during low tide... and these images represent some of the things that I saw (need to be careful where you step during low tide... lots of coral sticking out). Has anyone ever seen a blue starfish? 

Has anyone ever seen a blue starfish? 

Careful where you step!

Wedding... "Fiji Style"

As I was paddling around the lagoon between two islands in Fiji, I noticed boats carrying supplies back and forth from a sandbar in the middle of the ocean. After watching them for a little bit, I realized that they were setting up for a wedding. Imagine having or going to a wedding in the middle of the ocean... I think it would be pretty incredible. I thought about sticking around to watch the ceremony, but I had already gotten a lot of sun and decided to cruise back to the shade of some palm trees. However, before I bailed, I decided to take a few photos.

My Fijian Adventure - "My Slice of Paradise"

My Fijian Adventure - Namotu Island

Namotu Island (shown above) is located between Tavarua and Malolo Lailai. It features some world class surf spots that are a bit more "user friendly" than Tavarua: Namotu Left, Wilkes Pass, and Swimming Pools. Namotu was always the first place we checked (when looking for surf) and I surfed all 3 spots. Wilkes was probably my favorite (because it was one of the only places I could go right). However, I wasn't able to surf it everyday because of the strong currents and bad wind. The wave does almost a full 180 degree turn as it wraps around the reef... and it just peels forever.

On a side note, I almost stayed at Namotu Island. Unfortunately (or fortunately for my mom), it was fully booked. I think it would have been pretty cool to stay on such a tiny island. Although, I guess some people might get a bit "stir crazy" if they can't leave.

I love the ocean colors in this photo. During low tide, our boat driver had to drive a much longer distance to avoid the middle reef. 

My Fijian Adventure - Cloudbreak

This is my first post from my Fijian Adventure. Overall, it was a great trip with my family. Fiji reminded me of many places, but ultimately was unlike anywhere I had ever been. It reminded me of Hawaii because of the plant life and polynesian culture. It reminded me of the Caribbean because of the crystal clear waters and beautiful coral reefs. It reminded me of the Maldives because of the tiny islands and because your main source of transportation was boats. I guess I would have had a different reaction  had I stayed near the capital city on Veti Levu... but right after I flew into the Nadi airport, I immediately left for one of the outer islands called Malolo Lailai. Malolo Lailai is a small island with a few different resorts and is popular amongst the "yachting culture". I ended up staying at Musket Cove (which seemed to be the best match for me). Right next to Malolo Lailai was a bigger island where the locals lived (could actually walk to it during low tide).

Featured in the picture above is heart shaped island of Tavarua. Tavaru is a "mecca" for goofyfooters and has two of the best left hand breaks in the world: Cloudbreak (off screen to the right) and Restaurants (which wasn't breaking on this day). There is also a really good right called Tavarua Rights. In the past, only guests staying at Tavarua were allowed to surf these places... it wasn't until recently that the Fijian government opened them up to anyone with a boat (lucky for me). Cloudbreak is a scary, but perfect wave that breaks in the middle of the ocean (hence the name). Locals used to refer to the place as "Thunder Reef" and considered it to be bad luck because it was a dangerous place for fisherman. However, because of the influx of tourism dollars, they now consider it to be good luck. At Cloudbreak, you'll either get the barrel of your life or thrashing of  your life. All I can say is good luck! Restaurants is another scary, but perfect wave that breaks in really shallow water over some of the sharpest coral you'll find in the world. It requires a really big swell before it starts breaking (since it's positioned inside of Cloudbreak) and again I was lucky enough to be there during a HUGE swell. It broke perfectly during the first 4 days I was in Fiji. My leg actually got the privilege to meet Restaurants first hand (when I got washed over the reef)... and I still have the markings to prove it.

This picture was taken towards the end of my trip and the swell had dissipated (which is why I was taking photos instead of surfing).

More photos and stories to come!