Fiji 2014 Day 8 – Matamanoa Island

Woke up at 615am to check out the sunrise. The wind was still blowing quite strongly and it was a little chilly. The sun hasn’t really come to the horizon yet and so I tried to hide from the wind by viewing from the restaurant. After a while, the sun started to peek out from the horizon. Took some shots and went back to bed.

As the sun peeks over the horizon.
As the sun peeks over the horizon.

Woke up again at 930am, so we freshened up and proceeded to breakfast. Continental breakfast was included, consisting of mostly pastries and cereals. As we arrived nearly close to closing time, the waiter helped us get some fruits so that we could quickly grabbed some pastries, how thoughtful.

Pastries for breakfast.
Pastries for breakfast.

After breakfast, went to the dive shop to inform of the snorkel that I didn’t return the day before and also at the same time, booked the Modriki trip for myself, cause my wife wasn’t really feeling great to go out to sea. Visited the reception again to confirm with Seaspray on my cancellation and full refund and it was confirmed and they would write me an email on that.

Went back to the room first before I headed out to snorkel. It was high tide going to low and thus it was a little difficult to swim against the current back to shore. Seen quite a number of fishes and some amount of corals, all of which were very close to water surface. Also getting used to the waterproof camera bags to shoot underwater pictures.

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With the sun shining through, the amateurish photos looked brighter.
With the sun shining through, the amateurish photos looked brighter.

Went back to the room quite exhausted and took a quick shower and fell asleep till 1pm, and proceeded to lunch.

Ordered a club sandwich for myself and it was mighty huge! I couldn’t finish all of the bread as it was simply too much. Stayed awhile to enjoy the sea view.

Activities for the day.
Activities for the day.
Massive club sandwich.
Massive club sandwich.
Pasta of the day.
Pasta of the day.
Beach view from our lunch table.
Beach view from our lunch table.

We went for a walk on the beach at the opposite side to our resort. Again, a long stretch of white sand and turquoise waters welcomed us. We strolled till we reached the near end of the beach where rocks continued. Didn’t want to risk slipping on these rocks since we were in slippers, made a u-turn back to our room. Lazed around till we fell asleep on the day bed.

Stretch of white sand.
Stretch of white sand.
Other islands from the beach.
Other islands from the beach.

Woke up at 5pm and I went to explore the island by myself. There was a road that led to a fork, one dirt road going up the hill while the other connected to a bridge, which I took that sent me to the other side of the island. The villas with private dip pools lined that side of the island, with a direction that faced the sunrise view (ours had the sunset view). Went past the villas onto the beach and there was where we left off in the afternoon walk.

Wooden bridge that linked to the other side of the island.
Wooden bridge that linked to the other side of the island.
Rough stony landscape after the beach.
Rough stony landscape after the beach.

I continued onto the rock areas in an attempt to circle around this smaller island. Managed to go to the furtherest point that had a clear view ahead but couldn’t go further since there was a split in the rocks that I felt was too difficult to cross.

Dark clouds nearing.
Dark clouds nearing.
Villa with private pool.
Villa with private pool on the other side of the island.

Went back around the same way and soon enough I got back to our bure. Immediately I dressed for snorkel round two.

At low tide it was much easier to to swim in the water but difficult too as I was closer to the corals. Saw just as much fishes as in the morning but because it was nearing sunset, there wasn’t much illumination through the water surface. But it was a great trip out nonetheless.

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School.
School.
That looked like an eel somewhere in the middle.
That looked like an eel somewhere in the middle.
Looked like a sea cucumber.
Looked like a sea cucumber.

Sunset was close and got some shots of it before heading back. The view was kinda disappointing compared to the view the day before as there were clouds at the horizon getting in the way of the view. Got back for a shower before we proceeded for dinner.

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Sunset, but a really cloudy day.
After the sunset.
After the sunset.

At dinner, pretty much was similar to the nite before. Ordered fish for myself and my wife had curry vegetables. Didn’t had the fanciful desert with live demo as we weren’t in the mood of having deserts since the mains were pretty filling.

Chicken Coriander soup.
Chicken Coriander soup.
Tomato soup.
Tomato soup.
Grilled fish.
Grilled fish.
Curry vegetables.
Curry vegetables.

We left after finishing dinner and went back to the room to rest. Spent the night naming photos, as we were almost halfway through our holiday and my wife watched drama on her phone since there weren’t internet or tv in the room at all. But it was ok.

Escape plan to Australia and Fiji in August 2014

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Australia and Fiji in August 2014:

Total duration 18D17N
Singapore is 2hrs behind Australia and 5hrs behind Fiji.
Flight time is 6hrs direct flight on Scoot from Singapore to Gold Coast.
Night flight on 25th July and arrival in Gold Coast at 8am on the next day.
Return flight is 8hrs direct flight on Scoot from Sydney to Singapore. Day flight on a Monday afternoon (off in lieu for National Day) at 1240pm and arrival at 7pm on the same day.

Day 1&2 Arrival at Gold Coast
Day 3 Sea World and Movie World
Day 4 Brisbane Parklands and shopping
Day 5 Arrival at Nadi
Day 6 Nadi town, Port Denarau and Robinson Crusoe Night cruise
Day 7 Arrival at Matamanoa Island
Day 8 Matamanoa Island
Day 9 Modriki Island
Day 10 Nadi Transit to Melbourne
Day 11 Arrival in Hobart
Day 12 Bonorong and Port Arthur
Day 13 Freycinet National Park
Day 14 Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake
Day 15 Strahan and Lake St. Clair
Day 16 Penguin, Cataract Gorge and Lauceston
Day 17 Platypus house, Sunday Market, City Park and Launceston town
Day 18 Home Sweet Home

This escape plan was planned as our last overseas holiday for 2014 before delivery of little one. As it was summer in the northern hemisphere, we had to choose to head south. Only Australia was presented an option that was not too far away based on flight time. Fiji was a side trip as it was cheaper to fly to Fiji from Australia then from Singapore.

Budget nature: Budget buster.

This is definitely not cheap for the duration, the weaker currency of Singapore dollar against the Australian dollar, the higher prices of food and accommodation in Australia and a side trip to island resort in Fiji.

Complexity: Easy to get around if you drive in Aussie. Fiji travel by taxi is manageable.

The various cities of Australia is easy accessible by their advance network of public transport but driving would be the easier way to get around. This is even more true in more countryside Tasmania.

Getting around in Fiji is hassle free by taxi but expensive. If you are adventurous enough, you could take their cheaper local transport.