We got our transfer into Port Denaru to wait for our boat to Matamanoa Island...Whilst we waited we tasted the first of many honeymoon mocktails...
The day we arrived the weather wasn't the best, it was raining and windy, the sea was very rough. This made the boat ride fun, but petrifying at the same time! I was holding on to the handle thinking how many people die on the first day of their honeymoon? Yeah i'm a bit of a drama queenIt was all good though, we made it safely to our island, all be it a little queezy. Once again we were welcomed with a song, and a mocktail, then taken to our room...
(We were allowed to take the wooden sign home with us but I forgot it :( )
It was very peaceful on the island, at full capacity it takes 30 couples, but there were only 16 or so there. A small distance from our front door were the steps to the beach...
There was hardly anyone ever on the beach, which was great! In the next pic you can see castaway island which was only a little bit over from matamanoa, it's not really castaway island but they call it that because that's where they filmed the movie 'Castaway'.
This is the roof of our room...
Everyday they would make our bed for us and place beautiful flowers on it...
The pool wasn't huge, but it was big enough, it was one of those ones that opens up to the sea, an eternity pool? anyway, it was great!
Hayden is such a water baby, he spent a lot of time IN the pool, whilst I spent a lot of time next to it:)
Right next to the pool was the main area where all the meals were served...
You could dine alfresco and they would light the fire torches everynight with a firedance...
It was very romantic and peaceful, especially looking into these handsome eyes :)
Like I said before Hayden = IN the pool, Collette = Beside the pool....
Don't get me wrong I was also IN the pool a lot, but nothing compared to Hayden.
There was hardly anyone ever on the beach, which was great! In the next pic you can see castaway island which was only a little bit over from matamanoa, it's not really castaway island but they call it that because that's where they filmed the movie 'Castaway'.
This is the roof of our room...
Everyday they would make our bed for us and place beautiful flowers on it...
The pool wasn't huge, but it was big enough, it was one of those ones that opens up to the sea, an eternity pool? anyway, it was great!
Hayden is such a water baby, he spent a lot of time IN the pool, whilst I spent a lot of time next to it:)
Right next to the pool was the main area where all the meals were served...
You could dine alfresco and they would light the fire torches everynight with a firedance...
It was very romantic and peaceful, especially looking into these handsome eyes :)
Like I said before Hayden = IN the pool, Collette = Beside the pool....
Don't get me wrong I was also IN the pool a lot, but nothing compared to Hayden.
Each day at around 10:30am they would load the people that were leaving onto a boat, and sing them a farewell song from the beach, they would then wait for the boat to come back with the new people and sing them the welcome song.
There were lots of things to do on the island (if you wanted) everyday they would update the activities board. This is me collecting palm leaves to do basket weaving...
This guy wasn't on the island for our first couple of days, (He'd had three days off) but when he returned we immediately nicknamed him 'Party Guy' . He was the loud personality in charge of activities and making sure everyone felt welcome and had a good time on the island...check out his cheeky fijian smile...
His real name was Sieko (like the watch) .... He helped me weave my first ever basket...
It turned out to be pretty cool, and we got to decorate it with flowers...
This is Tania, she and her husband Greame arrived on the island the same day as us, they are from New Zealand and were also married the same day as us, we enjoyed getting to know them:)
I have to admit my basket was actually pretty awesome...
Apart from Basket making, they also had snorkeling trips....
(Thanks Mary for lending us your underwater camera!)
Come on we spend an hour in the water, I was bound to have a snorkel mark...
The water baby in action...
We also went on a fishing trip with our New Zealand besties, the deal was if you caught a big one then the kitchen would cook it up for your lunch the next day free of charge...
Unfortunately we didn't catch any big ones, but plenty of small ones.
Ok ok, Hayden caught some small ones, I caught other people's lines, and eventually a rock which rendered my line useless.
There were lots of things to do on the island (if you wanted) everyday they would update the activities board. This is me collecting palm leaves to do basket weaving...
This guy wasn't on the island for our first couple of days, (He'd had three days off) but when he returned we immediately nicknamed him 'Party Guy' . He was the loud personality in charge of activities and making sure everyone felt welcome and had a good time on the island...check out his cheeky fijian smile...
His real name was Sieko (like the watch) .... He helped me weave my first ever basket...
It turned out to be pretty cool, and we got to decorate it with flowers...
This is Tania, she and her husband Greame arrived on the island the same day as us, they are from New Zealand and were also married the same day as us, we enjoyed getting to know them:)
I have to admit my basket was actually pretty awesome...
Apart from Basket making, they also had snorkeling trips....
(Thanks Mary for lending us your underwater camera!)
Come on we spend an hour in the water, I was bound to have a snorkel mark...
The water baby in action...
We also went on a fishing trip with our New Zealand besties, the deal was if you caught a big one then the kitchen would cook it up for your lunch the next day free of charge...
Unfortunately we didn't catch any big ones, but plenty of small ones.
Ok ok, Hayden caught some small ones, I caught other people's lines, and eventually a rock which rendered my line useless.
Another favourite activity was Kiaking around the island, we did this a couple of times...
On our last night we thought we'd get some shots to remember the island....
Every night these three would serenade whilst you were dining, if it was your last night they would come to your table and sing a request just for you. We couldn't pick so they did Brian Adams summer of '69 for us, it was great!
That night I also got an award to recognise my awesome basket making skills, yep, pretty proud of myself!
After dinner they held an 'international crab race' you had to bid for a crab and then if it won you took everything that everyone had bid for their crabs.
Our crab lost (Let there be a lesson in that kids!)...and I mean not lose come second, I mean our crab came DEAD LAST!
The day we left the island was one of those days where the sun was shining brightly, it was beautiful...
We loved being on the island, it was the perfect amount of time for it to feel like home and get to know lots of people, but not too long that we got bored....
On our last night we thought we'd get some shots to remember the island....
Every night these three would serenade whilst you were dining, if it was your last night they would come to your table and sing a request just for you. We couldn't pick so they did Brian Adams summer of '69 for us, it was great!
That night I also got an award to recognise my awesome basket making skills, yep, pretty proud of myself!
After dinner they held an 'international crab race' you had to bid for a crab and then if it won you took everything that everyone had bid for their crabs.
Our crab lost (Let there be a lesson in that kids!)...and I mean not lose come second, I mean our crab came DEAD LAST!
The day we left the island was one of those days where the sun was shining brightly, it was beautiful...
We loved being on the island, it was the perfect amount of time for it to feel like home and get to know lots of people, but not too long that we got bored....
It was great having our New Zealand besties and party guy on the beach to sing goodbye to us as we enjoyed a much calmer boat ride back to the main island.
We would spend the last three nights of our honeymoon on the main island, in the main tourist section port denaru....we stayed in luxury at the Radison...
This is where we spent Christmas day...
They had beautiful Fijian Carolers on Christmas eve, and Christmas day a fijian santa turned up at the beach on a jetski...
We really splashed out on Christmas lunch, going for the expensive hotel Christmas Buffet, but hey, we had to celebrate, it's CHRISTMAS!
We would often try to capture a sunset with our cameras but the weather would always turn, and the clouds would come in just before the sun hit the water....it was still spectacular though!
On our last full day in Fiji, we decided we wanted to catch a glimpse of 'real' Fiji, away from the confines of Port Denaru, we headed off on the Sigatoka River Safari...
It certainly wasn't cheap, but it was an experience worth having...
You take a jetboat up the biggest river in Fiji, this was our captain, he called himself, captain black jack....
I'd never been on a jetboat before, it was extremely fast, and extremely loud! Hayden loves this picture as it shows the two tone greys in his hair..
There were so many locals that access the water as their life line, they often float down the river to visit other villages, I was amazed we didn't bump into any of them!
Captain Black Jack would slow the boat down and give us stories and information about the real Fiji, then we got to stop and spend some time in a Fijian Village.
We would spend the last three nights of our honeymoon on the main island, in the main tourist section port denaru....we stayed in luxury at the Radison...
This is where we spent Christmas day...
They had beautiful Fijian Carolers on Christmas eve, and Christmas day a fijian santa turned up at the beach on a jetski...
We really splashed out on Christmas lunch, going for the expensive hotel Christmas Buffet, but hey, we had to celebrate, it's CHRISTMAS!
We would often try to capture a sunset with our cameras but the weather would always turn, and the clouds would come in just before the sun hit the water....it was still spectacular though!
On our last full day in Fiji, we decided we wanted to catch a glimpse of 'real' Fiji, away from the confines of Port Denaru, we headed off on the Sigatoka River Safari...
It certainly wasn't cheap, but it was an experience worth having...
You take a jetboat up the biggest river in Fiji, this was our captain, he called himself, captain black jack....
I'd never been on a jetboat before, it was extremely fast, and extremely loud! Hayden loves this picture as it shows the two tone greys in his hair..
There were so many locals that access the water as their life line, they often float down the river to visit other villages, I was amazed we didn't bump into any of them!
Captain Black Jack would slow the boat down and give us stories and information about the real Fiji, then we got to stop and spend some time in a Fijian Village.
The village was very simple, it looks a lot nicer in this pic then it felt, on the left is the community centre where they all meet for every meal...
Before we could hang out in the village we were taken to the Chiefs house so he could welcome us with a Kava ceremony, and accept us into his village.
Kava is the national drink, it tastes like muddy water, and acts like an anesthetic on your mouth...
They put flowers around your neck and Talcome powder on your cheeks (Traditionally it would be soot) So that other villagers knew the chief had welcomed you...and not to eat you, basically.
They are very modest in Fiji, the girls had to have covered shoulders and wear a sarong to enter the village.
Before we could hang out in the village we were taken to the Chiefs house so he could welcome us with a Kava ceremony, and accept us into his village.
Kava is the national drink, it tastes like muddy water, and acts like an anesthetic on your mouth...
They put flowers around your neck and Talcome powder on your cheeks (Traditionally it would be soot) So that other villagers knew the chief had welcomed you...and not to eat you, basically.
They are very modest in Fiji, the girls had to have covered shoulders and wear a sarong to enter the village.
The Fijian kids are really cute...
After the Kava ceremony they took us to the community hall for some lunch...
It started pouring while were were there, and the children loved playing in the rain...
After lunch we got to do some dancing...
Which Hayden LOVED....
Did Imention in was raining? well we tried to wait until it stopped, but we needed to get back, so not only did I experience my first Jetboat ride this day, it was also my first jetboat ride in the rain....and going at those speeds means the rain feels like bullets! Everone in the boat covered their eyes the whole way back down the river, how captain black Jack could see and get us back safely i'll never know! It was crazy!
After the Kava ceremony they took us to the community hall for some lunch...
It started pouring while were were there, and the children loved playing in the rain...
After lunch we got to do some dancing...
Which Hayden LOVED....
Did Imention in was raining? well we tried to wait until it stopped, but we needed to get back, so not only did I experience my first Jetboat ride this day, it was also my first jetboat ride in the rain....and going at those speeds means the rain feels like bullets! Everone in the boat covered their eyes the whole way back down the river, how captain black Jack could see and get us back safely i'll never know! It was crazy!
All in all it was an excellent honeymoon, I would recommend Fiji, particularly going out to a smaller island!
