I became somewhat addicted to a new luxury travel auction site called Luxury Link. They focused on properties that were either new, recently re-opened, or under-visited. You could get some really amazing deals — especially on the Lightning Auctions. I was stealthy; I would always wait for the last few seconds and then drop in with a bid. Sometimes it worked; sometimes it didn’t…. This time it worked and we got a really spectacular deal for a week on Nukubati Island. Where? It’s an island in the South Pacific. And how do you get there? You fly from Washington Dulles to LAX, then on to Nadi, Fiji. Oh, but we’re only getting started! Because then you have to take a puddle jumper to Vanua Levu, drive for an hour, and then take a 15 minute boat ride across the Great Sea Reef to Nukubati. Wow, how long does that take? Around 24 hours…
When you get to the island, all of the staff (there are two staff per guest) are waiting on the shore to greet you. They don’t have to do this very often as there are only 7 bures (think cabin) on the waterfront. The resort and staff accommodations are the only things on this tiny (less than 0.5 sq. mi) island. The rest is a nature preserve. Our bure was only a few steps from the water and the views were beautiful. When not there, laying on the beach, or walking around the island, pretty much the rest of your life is spent in the pavilion, which combines the library/game room, restaurant, and bar. This is where you generally meet people. I say generally, because the other way you meet them is when you are polling the other guests to see whose underwear is whose. This is part of the daily laundry service, which ends up being a social event!
So what do you do on Nukubati Island? In a word, chill! The library was well stocked with the leavings from past guests. There are hammocks and chaise lounges to loll about in to work on your tan in the rather brilliant sun. And you always want to stay close to the water to cool off from the drenching humidity. We also took lots of walks. The trail around the island is about a mile and is pretty flat and easy to get around. It normally takes about 30 minutes to get around. That is, unless you choose to eschew the trail and walk around “the beach.” The “beach” very quickly turns into a mangrove swamp which takes you much further than the trail. At one point, I had to swim for it (as you will read later, this became a bit of a trend for me). I felt I was reliving the scene from Papillon where Steve McQueen was crawling through the jungle and swamps to escape. If you are looking for a little climb, you can go up to the lookout point where there is a vantage point that lets you look out over the entire Northern coastline of Vanua Levu. Apparently, this was used by the high chief and warriors in the area, both for surveillance and security. Great views from there! You can also get one of their little putt-putt boats that made a lot of noise but never gained much speed.
After some strenuous activity for walking, swimming, or vigorous reading, you are ready for a meal and some libation. As far as the food is concerned, we went out fishing one morning and caught some of their local reef fish. As the boat touched sand, the mate was out of the boat with our fish and heading for the kitchen. Guess what we had for lunch that day?! The food was always great and plentiful. And then there’s the little matter of the bar. The bartender said that she could (would) make any drink that you could name. I asked for a Painkiller. For those who haven’t spent time down in the Caribbean, a Painkiller contains 3 parts pineapple juice, 2 parts dark rum, and 1 part cream of coconut (Coco Lopez). Add a splash of orange juice and a shaving of nutmeg and you’re ready to go! The bartender had everything but the cream of coconut — she seemed a bit confused by the concept. She quickly went into the kitchen and suddenly a man came flying out of the kitchen with a machete and up he went — climbing up a nearby coconut palm to retrieve a fresh coconut, that was then chopped open and stirred. I’ll tell you, that was the best Painkiller I have ever had!
The auction I had successfully bid on included the Romance Package. That included a massage (in Fijian, it’s called Bobo — yeah, I don’t get it either), and candlelit dinner on the beach, and a Sandbank picnic out on one of the sandbanks that rise out of the ocean at low tide. The staff come out in advance and set you up with a table, umbrella, beach chairs — and a champagne picnic! Then they take you out and leave you with a two way radio — truly shipwreck on your own island (until the tide comes back in and takes your island away!). How romantic! The picnic was wonderful but, being an “ants in my pants” kinda guy, I decided to do some snorkeling. And since we’re all alone, how about “skinny snorkeling?!” That plan seemed okay; Deb stayed with the stuff and I went out around the reef. But the reef was very large, and very shallow. After going for quite a while, I had to make the decision — continue forward or travel the long distance I had come. I thought “surely I have to be near the end!” Not. Well, two hours later, I made it back to our umbrella and a seriously unhappy wife!. The tide was coming in and lapping at our lounge chairs. A quick call on the two-way radio and we were back to the island to nurse my sunburned butt!
One of the other nights was a party where the staff performed a Meke (a native Fijian dance, not dissimilar to hula) and performed a Kava ceremony. The dance was beautiful and it was interesting watching the men squeeze the soaked kava root into a ceremonial bowl that everyone drank from. The first thing you noticed is your lips and tongue going numb. Then you start feeling very relaxed (melt-into-the-floor relaxed). Despite all that, we were up dancing the night away.
Probably the most memorable time on the island was when we were asked by the staff if we would like to go to church with them on Vanua Levu for Sunday service. We went with our friends by boat with the villagers. Everyone (men included) had to wear sulus (a kilt-like sarong) and walk from the boat landing to the local Methodist Church. It turned out that it was Children’s Day and all the kids (and ultimately everyone) sang. So beautiful! I was asked to be the representative of our group and I had to make a speech to the congregation thanking them for their welcome. Because it was a service, we sadly didn’t take any pictures…
One last note. You travel halfway around the world to a remote island where there are only 15 guests. You couldn’t possibly have a connection with anyone else, right? Wrong! The people in the bure next to ours were friends with some of our friends in Berkeley Springs, WV that is pretty remote itself. Totally weird.
Anyway, this would have been a totally memorable trip at twice what we paid for it. I doubt we will ever get back there, but the memories will last forever!
This entry was posted in Fiji, South Pacific, Travel
I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
