Fiji's Slice of Paradise

After 'roughing it' for a week or so, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice cozy dinner at the Qamea Resort and Spa. We are out of wine and gin and are desperately low on beer not to mention our food supplies. We are slowly emptying our freezer in preparation for having the boat hauled out of the water in a couple of weeks. Mind you, we haven't had much opportunity to buy food since we left Savusavu on August 23rd. Anyhow, who needs all these reasons to treat oneself?

We anchored in the bay just around the corner from the resort and dinghyed over to make a reservation. It is only a 15 minute dinghy ride, but the rain was coming down and we arrived there soaking wet. We first stopped in at the dive shop to organize a dive trip for the following morning. Dave, the manager of the dive shop was pretty keen about the dives in their area and we left him looking forward to the next day's excursion.

We wandered along the resort's lovely sand paths and well manicured lawns and gardens, passing the thatched roof bures along the way. The first thing you notice at this resort is the friendly staff. Enthusiastic greetings of BULA met us along the way together with the offer to share an umbrella. The staff here make a point to remember your name so it didn't take long for us to start feeling very much at home, even though we weren't actually guests of the resort.

We dropped into the office and spoke to the resort manager, Belinda who together with her husband Andrew run the place. We asked if we could join for dinner which was absolutely fine with them, even though it is an all inclusive resort and we were standing there looking a little like two drowned rats. Regardless, we were warmly welcomed and Belinda suggested we arrive a little early to enjoy some drinks at the bar which sounded like a darn good idea.

Qamea is a five-star resort with a slew of accolades and awards to its name. It is in a lovely cove with its own beach and a coral garden at it's doorstep. A great destination if you are looking to spend some time in a tropical paradise. We had a delicious three course dinner with an excellent bottle of Stony Corner Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec (now on our list as a favorite). We got to know Belinda and Andrew over cocktails and we finished the evening sitting around the Yangona circle with the musicians. (I realize I still have to explain the Yangona ...).

It was a good thing we stayed a little longer. The rain had started to come down pretty hard and we knew it would be a wet and dark ride back to the boat. By this time, all of the staff at the resort knew we were from the yacht anchored just off the village around in the bay, so they kindly offered to lead us out and around the reef to our boat. It was a pretty hairy ride back and we were thankful they led the way as it wasn't only dark and rainy, it was also a bit misty making it difficult to see.

We arrived safely back to SEGWUN, wet but happy after a lovely evening. And we still had our dive to look forward to the next day. Now, this is paradise!