Fish Are Friends, Not Food

My Korovou experience was soon to be over and Coral View would be my next home for the following two nights. I couldn’t help but quiver at the similarity in sound and wondered what awaited me.

Thankfully breakfast was the only meal I had on departure day. I don’t think I quite got over the peas and carrots incident of the previous day. So much so, that I failed to mention it in my previous post.

Ready and waiting, practically drooling at the thought of food (of some description) being presented, my heart skipped when I realised it was pizza. Hardly a traditional Fijian dish but I like pizza so what could go wrong?

One slice was placed in front of me. No, not a New York standard slice, a kid’s individual pizza style slice. Damn I sound ungrateful. There are people starving in the world and I’m getting grouchy over portion sizes. Truth is, I get ratty when I’m hungry. Shameful? Yes. Preventable? Unlikely. People better watch themselves around me when I’m deprived of sleep or food.

Like the fish dish of the first night, the food barely touched the sides of my mouth before being swallowed. It was only after my first mouthful that I realised what was actually on the pizza - chicken, tomato base, cheese, peas and carrots. It was like two recipes had glued together (yes I’m thinking of the Friends episode with Rachel’s trifle).

With my sole slice obliterated in three bites, I asked for more. At first I was hesitant and didn’t want to create some sort of Oliver Twist moment. The last thing I wanted to do was offend people even though the repeated proffers, “More food! More food!” still rang in my ears from my village stay. Things worked differently here. Amy and Amelia reassured me that it’s ok, just ask.

Like the fatty in the class, I had to wait until everyone had eaten so they could see if there were any slices leftover for me. I wasn’t embarrassed by that point. In all seriousness, I rarely get embarrassed when it comes to food. I love food and I love to eat. Sometimes that can be misconstrued as greediness but I don’t really give a shit, ha!

So there were no peas and carrots waiting for me at lunch, instead I boarded a boat with a few others destined for Coral View.

A couple on the boat jovially informed us that Coral View is fantastic and I’d have a brilliant time. They seemed of sound mind so I was hopeful.

We received another sing-song welcome and a fruity beverage. This stuff never gets old. Every staff member shook our hand too. It sounds like a small and insignificant gesture but at the time it felt wonderful. It was as if everyone there were thankful for us to be staying at their resort.

Before we made our way up to the main building, we rinsed our feet of sand. This isn’t something I’ve encountered since South Sea Island. This element of thoroughness was a good sign!

We walked through to the dining area and took a seat. We received an official welcome and a brief introduction to how the resort works and what activities are available. Afterwards we were treated to another welcome song and dance.

Lunch was instantly served afterwards in the form of a buffet. Checking in can wait apparently. Well you can imagine the grin that sprang up on my face. I was a chubby Cheshire cat after I ate and ate. The miniature bread rolls were like drops of doughy heaven. There was rice and noodles as well as two meat options (in sauce). My stomach is growling as I type this and remember the food at that place…ahhhh.

Checking in was a simple process and I spotted a laundry service that was available to guests. I cringed at the thought of my two week old washing that resided in my case. I’ve had the clothes placed in a carrier bag and encased in a shopping holdall to protect my nice clean clothes. This is not by choice I hasten to add, there had been no opportunity up until then to do laundry. I didn’t want to hand wash my clothes as they ruin and I’m a tight arse. I don’t want to buy new clothes unnecessarily. Thankfully the beautiful Fijian weather allowed me to live in my bikinis so going commando wasn’t an option I needed to consider.

A female worker helped me carry my things to my room. The surrounding area was so peaceful and quiet and the day beautifully sunny. I was very happy.

My dorm room was simple, clean and spacious. The shower rooms, toilets and sinks looked usable! Each bed was cordoned off by a short concrete wall. I also got my very own power point. I whacked my camera on charge straight away.

Glancing around, I saw that the dorm was fully occupied and recognised Heather and Sacha’s things across from me. I wondered how they were getting on.

With my stuff safely locked away, I went for a wander. I found Sacha and Heather sunbathing and had a stiff conversation with them. I left them to it and walked through to the activities centre and found Amy and Amelia eyeing up the chalk board list of excursions.

We each had a voucher for a snorkelling trip which was about to embark. We managed to secure places on the trip. I ran and got my things and returned to pick up my snorkelling gear. Again, I had to pay extra for hiring a snorkel. I had to do the same at Manta Ray. Full Monty package my arse!

To my amusement, we gate-crashed the Blue Lagoon trip as they were originally going to take one couple out. Sorry! We didn’t really speak to them much but got chatting to a lovely Canadian girl. Angela is travelling indefinitely as she has left two businesses she owns in the hands of her manager. Angela dives and wants to hit as many breath-taking spots around the world as possible. What a life! Oh, and Angela is younger than me. It does make me wonder what the hell I’ve been doing with my life!

Blue Lagoon came as a welcome distraction. It’s also the name of a film (The Blue Lagoon) I haven’t seen before. I don’t even know what it’s about but I know we’re going to a lagoon that is blue and it should have some fish there to gawp at. Sounds like a good time to me.

A Coral View worker took us out to the lagoon. On the surface it didn’t look that special. I dropped into the water, adjusted my snorkel and submerged my face.

That was a surprise. I couldn’t believe how many fish there were. Now this is what snorkelling in Thailand was like. In Koh Tao there were fish everywhere and they had no problems in swimming right up to you.

These fish were very cheeky and weren’t camera shy.

Some nipped and poked at me. The drawstrings on my swim shorts looked pretty tasty in their eyes.

Like many other places that I have snorkelled in, the coral was significantly damaged which was such a shame. Every now and then a vibrant colour peeped out from the dull coral but it was a rare sight.

There weren’t that many types of fish in the lagoon but there were plenty of them to make this a worthy trip. We even spotted an octopus. After my encounter in South Sea Island, I felt ok swimming up to it. I couldn’t see it at first. I saw a giant piece of coral change colour and then realised that it wasn’t coral but a massive octopus. It was ten times bigger than the one I saw at SSI. I tried taking some footage of it but it kept bobbing up and down within the coral so it still looked camouflaged. It was an incredible sight that will be stored in my memory at least.

After a while I came up to the surface to see that almost everyone was sat on the beach. I wondered how long I had been in the sea. It didn’t feel like that long. Having circled the reef a few times I decided to join the others on the beach. With that, the Coral View worker brought the boat across and took us back to the resort.

Showered and rested, I transferred my videos to my laptop. Soon enough it was time for dinner - yet another culinary delight.

As it was Saturday evening – the resort’s cultural night – we were treated to a series of dance performances.

Both the men and women sang and danced for us. We also got to see a dance that incorporated a long machete-like knife. I’d heard about this type of dance but hadn’t seen it up until now. The whole show was great and the ambiance was very lively.

A girl in the crowd was picked to come up and receive a very personal dance. It was her birthday and her friends squealed with glee. Cameras were poised and ready to film/photograph her embarrassment. There was plenty of love to go around though and everyone got in on the photo action…including me!

 When in Rome…

We were reminded that the bar stays open until the last man’s standing. It’s unfortunate for them if they have some heavy partiers on their hands! It had been a long day so I decided to head back to my room for an early night. I know I’m such a boring-arse!

It was a pointless act anyway as we had a guy hawking all night. For those who don’t know what hawking is, do you remember the spitting scene in Titanic? The sound that Jack makes just before he spits is what I call hawking. It is a common trait in Asia. Both men and women do it. I think it’s disgusting and it makes my skin crawl when I hear it.

Heather had no patience with the guy and kindly told him to stop it. He didn’t listen so she sternly told him to have a drink or something as we’re trying to sleep. At this point I checked my watch. It was nearing 3am. This guy had been hawking for a good four hours. It wasn’t like he did it sporadically, this guy constantly hawked over and over again. I tried to zone it out but it was impossible. He was only two beds away from me. Ah, the joys of dorm life.