27/12/2025 Sandbars and Snorkelling

We decided to hit the breakfast buffet early this morning. A lot more people arrived at the Island last night and there are now several small children here. I feel a bit sorry for their parents because they're going to have the devil's own job keeping them occupied here as it's not really set up for kids and is definitely a chill out place. The Bure’s are set out in such a way that you don't really see the neighbours so it feels very private, which works perfectly for me. 

Morg surpassed himself with the amount of food he managed to put away, and had to shelve his plans for a swim after breakfast because he slipped into a food coma. Before he slipped into the aforementioned food coma he managed to get a brilliant photo of the little upside down Robin bird with the bed head for me!

I had good intentions of going to the cookery class mid morning to learn how to make a fish curry, Fiji style, but I wanted to get my underwater phone case set up ready for our trip this afternoon. Predictably that took much longer than I anticipated, and as always I cursed myself for not sorting it out earlier! Idiot. It only took me longer because I couldn't get the underwater filter attachment to fix on the case. Once I watched a youtube video I could see my error. As usual I was rushing and hadn't undone the screw enough to affix it on. As soon as I did that, it slid on sweet as a nut. The sunlight cancels out red tones underwater so by adding the red filter over the lens you can see the true colours beneath the waves. When it was on, I wanted to test it out and donned my snorkel and swam out in the ocean in front of the Bure. While there was not a large amount of colourful coral it was teeming with fish in all colours and the phone camera picked them up beautifully. I considered buying a special underwater camera before coming out, but found a dive case online for a fraction of the price. I have a go pro too but it's so old now there are no updates available for it, and it also gets really hot when using it. 

The only downside to the case is the weight of it, it's like a damn housebrick, and for a not particularly strong swimmer like myself that's problematic! Luckily it came with a woven cord wrist strap that adjusts around the wrist so it can hang free if required, or I could use it like a paddle. Either would work really. I discovered that where the  water was shallow, the filter was too much and some of the images came out bright orange which was unfortunate. Luckily the filter is on an adjustable leg so I am able to move it from over the camera lens quite simply whilst underwater. After half an hour or so of snapping away I got out so I could check if I needed to alter any settings on the phone before our trip. I'm actually quite impressed with the way I used my noodle on that one! Some of the photos were pretty good, although I found it hard, looking through the snorkel mask and trying to make sure I had the camera lens pointing in the right direction. I have some great photos of half fishes and even more of nothing at all. Irritating but a learning curve. The ocean was quite rough today due to the stiff breeze so i was bobbing around like a cork in there and also trying to keep th camera steady. The phone got very hot which surprised me because I thought being underwater it would have stayed cool, but the housing is metal and plastic so logically it was going to retain the heat. It also seemed to rinse the battery life, so i had to put it back on charge ready. All good except i hadnt noticed that the cable wasnt in the charger properly so it was plugged in for half an hour with nothing happening. Grrrrr. 

Time whizzed by very quickly with all my time wasting and before I knew it we were heading to the reception to meet the staff to go on the trip to the sandbar. Sue and Tara were already there waiting and Tara was upset because they had been told the trip might be cancelled a there was only those two on it, despite my booking Morg and I in, it hadn't made its way to the activities team. We were all very relieved when the guys came back and said it would now run. Tara gave me the biggest hug and kept saying thankyou bless her, because she had been looking forward to spending her 40th birthday on a sandbar in Fiji. After Si’s reaction to a Fijian sandbar last year for his 60th, I could relate to her feelings completely!

It was really funny when Sammi said we had to wait for the boat captain, he’d just messaged him but it would be 20 minutes as he was in the toilet. That made Morg and I laugh out loud, even taking a dump is on Fiji time. It meant the trip would be cut half an hour short but as long as we got out there none of us was concerned about losing half an hour. We couldn't tack the time at the end of the trip as the red boat had to go to Vuda Marina to collect more incoming guests.  

With his dump finished, the captain and another staff member whose name I've forgotten arrived  to load us onto the transfer boat and take us out to the red boat. The four of us were helped into the boat, and transferred safely into the red boat. Due to the high winds and choppy waves I did wonder if the trip would be cancelled but nope, it was a go.

Finally bouncing over the waves there was a safety briefing (a new addition from last year) and instructions on what to do in  the water should we get into difficulty. Sammi was coming in with us and would be guiding us. The three ladies were issued with lifejackets, which pleased me no end, and Morg and Sammi went without. Morg is like me when it comes to the ocean, not a fan really, so I was surprised he didn't want one too. Once the boat had dropped anchor, we donned our snorkels and jumped off the back, into deep blue water. I could just see the bottom but there was no way in hell I could touch it! I did a quick scan of the ocean for jaws or the meg and am happy to report that they weren't with us today. Well, not that I could see, although I did keep my eyes peeled at all times. Thankfully a huge coral reef loomed up in front of us and once we were over that my heart rate calmed considerably and I soon became mesmerised by the beauty beneath me.  i dont think the corals were anywhere near as colorful as what Si and I were lucky enough to see last year, which just goes to show you should never go back. It was still beautiful and completely mesmerising. Maybe it was because we were on a different sandbar..

The other issue was the high winds caused big waves which stirred up the sea bed causing the ocean to lose its clarity. It was still ok and we saw plenty but it wasn't  clear as it could have been.The one we visited for Simon's birthday wasn't accessible as the tides were too high and there was hardly any of it showing which was a real shame. But maybe for the best if I'm honest. We were swimming against the tide which was really hard going, but I think my regular swimming has paid off as I didn't get anywhere near as tired even against the strong tides, but maybe the lifejacket assisted?  I managed to get some pretty good photos nevertheless. I held a sea cucumber which felt like velvet, thanks to Sammi swimming down and picking it up to show us. We stopped for a break and just floated for a minute before carrying on, Tara swims like a fish, Sue, a less accomplished swimmer than Morg and I, she’s also clearly not comfortable in the ocean either! We finally reached the sandbar and I have to say I was relieved. Sammi then gave us some interesting facts about the white sand. It indicates a strong population of patriot fish, because white sand is from their poop, in places where there is dark sand or yellow, the populations aren't so good. There was me thinking it was crushed coral. He also told us what not to stand on if we needed a rest, spiky stones, even with swim shoes on are an absolute no no as they could be stone fish that are particularly unpleasant. The only other dangers are manta rays because of their tails… he didn't mention sharks deliberately but they are in Fijian waters, great whites are learning to adapt to the warmer temperatures of the ocean, and there has been one spotted regularly off Suva, which in shark terms is close by! 

Sue stayed on the sandbar and the rest of us swam off the other side of it to check out the coral gardens, and I finally saw what I wanted Morg to see, lots of the beautiful blue star fish that had Simon blown away, and he couldn't stop talking about it.

Sammi dove down and picked one up off the seabed for us to hold. It was hard but velvet like texture, difficult to describe. Once we'd all held it Sammi kissed it and threw it back to the ocean. Everywhere I looked they were draped over rocks, coral and just decorating the sea bed. I could feel and hear Si there with me so strongly in that moment. I cried into my mask, grateful I was underwater and could hide the emotions…

After half an hour we swam back to the sandbar to collect Sue, walked to the other end of it and got back in the ocean following Sammi to another great spot. It was breathtaking to see and even with the red light filter the photos don't do it justice. As we were swimming with the tide it was a little easier getting back to the boat than it was to the sandbar for sure. Sami dove down to the ocean floor and picked up several things for us to feel,  and showed us which corals we could touch and were safe to stand on. The `Fijians are very different to the Australians when it comes to protecting the coral, even going back 30 years when i first visited australia, and dove the barrier reef we were told not to step on the coral under any circumstances as it kills it and it takes years to regenerate. Sammi had no such warnings to give us which I found strange.

His family comes from one of the other groups of islands and he was swimming before he could walk, and you can see how at home he is in the water. He said he was so happy there was enough of us for today's trip as otherwise he would have been stuck behind the desk back on the Island and  that would have been awful for him! 

Finally back at the boat we were all helped on board by the other two crew members and it was then realized how tired my limbs were!  Tomorrow is going to be an achey one! 

The ride back to the Island was what can only be described as bouncy as  the waves had doubled in size due to the wind having picked up significantly. So much so, when we got back to the island, we had two attempts to get alongside the little boat and failed . We had to go around the other side of the island out of the wind to get off. It was like a millpond over there as it was obviously sheltered from the wind. As we went around we were able to see the new residences that are being built. I think it will be a while until they are finished and they don't look to be the most solid to be fair. I have no idea how much they cost to buy but I'm betting it isntt cheap, the building standard is low to put it mildly. We had to walk from there to the other side and as we did Sue asked Sammi did he not feel the coral cutting into his feet? We were all obviously in beach shoes, to protect our delicate little trotters. Sammi replied they rarely wear shoes in Fiji, not to school, work and never to the beach, and he couldn't understand us wearing shoes. Morg told him “bro its white man's feet”. He then asked us if people going for regular pedicures to remove the hard skin was actually a thing and couldn't believe anyone would pay to have the hard skin removed from their feet.  

As we walked I asked if the path that cuts through the centre of the island is still open so we can get to the other side without going right around.  He said it was but they were told to discourage guests from using it because of the construction there were nails etc and they didn't want anyone getting hurt. Which is a fair point but also a pain in the ass. I guess if you didn't know it was there you wouldn't know any different would you.  Anyway, I'm happy to take the risk of a nail in my foot to save my legs. There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of work going on with the residences so I really do think it's more to do with the charter companies.

We'd missed the complimentary cookies and coffee, but luckily for us there were still cookies left on the serving table and a pot of coffee sat on the machine. The reception manager told us to help ourselves which we did and we sat, dripping wet in the lobby and enjoyed them. We were hopeful of another nice sunset,  and decided rather than rushing back to the shower and changing we’d savor the coffee and cookies and stroll back, then go and watch the sun setting on the day. Which is what we did. The sunset was a complete non starter as a huge cloud blew over and ruined it which was a shame. It was still lovely stood in the shallows with the waves crashing over our feet in the balmy tropical air. 

We debated going to the kava ceremony but to be honest i couldnt face it and a lot of that was just down to just sheer exhaustion from my very busy day pretending to be the little mermaid! Tomorrow I'm going to be Elsa, I'm sure that's a lot less tiring! 

Much Love

Mrs Leonard

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