20 June 2011:

Dinner with a beer. Delicious. That night, there were some very strange and contrived group games after dinner. Apparently, this is very common in the Fijian resorts, and someone tells me you get used to it and it becomes kind of fun. I hope they are right!

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

The sign at the main path to the beach, welcoming new arrival, surrounded by tropical foliage.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

A more broad view of Wayasewa in the dimming light.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

The village on Wayasawa seem to burn things quite often. I wonder what it is they are burning. Garbage? Plant material? For cooking?

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

The same view of Waya and Wayasewa - but with the more dramatic lighting of the impending dusk.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

The beach outside of my private beach dorm an the light is growing softer late in the day. The water is very calm here, and the soft sounds of the gentle waves are very soothing.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

View of my private dorm on the beach with some dramatic volcanic formations in the background. Notice the (kind of drooping) decorative pole sticking out of the building.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

There seems to be some cool volcanic formations on Kuata as well.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

Ooh, there's another tiny island in the distance. Judging my Google Maps, this appears to me Vatu Island, about 10km away, past a few submerged reefs.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

More pictures from my hammock.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

My relaxing on a hammock was made even better by the sound of birds and some locals playing ukelele on the beach.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

Later on in the day, the boat passed us on it's return trip. These islands are linked by only this boat, on outbound trip and one inbound trip per day.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

This does feel like a tropical paradise!

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

Found a hammock to relax in!

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

External view of my private dorm on the beach. How cozy! At night, the stars are bright across the sky, and the soft sounds of the ocean are very soothing.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

View across the water to Wayasewa. Just under the huge volcanic plug-looking thing is the village. I hope those rocks are stable!

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

View of a large island in the distance. That tall island is Waya, connected to Wayasewa, the island directly opposite the beach, by a narrow sand isthmuth.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

View of the beach from outside my dorm.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

My dorm was the only building that was situated right on the beach!

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

I was welcomed to the island with a song (as is the case for a few of the places here). For whatever reason, I wasn't put in the main dorms, which I hear was passable. Instead, I was put in a "special dorm right on the beach, which I had to myself for my entire three days here! Other than only having a trickle of water from the shower and having to flush the toilet with a bucke, I was very happy to have this place! I wonder if it was because I booked through my Couchsurfing host.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

A last look at the boat on the way to the island. Usually, a larger boat, which everyone called "The Yellow Boat" runs this route, but that ship was undergoing repairs at the moment.


Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

In the midst of the scrum of boats scrambling to dock with the ship in time.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

At every stop, there is a flurry of activity of loading and unloading by a small fleet of boats from the various resorts. I loved how they used the word "steaming" for sailing.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

Before disembarking, I tried my best to scope out the area around the resort. I wonder what it will be like here...

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

My first real view of Kuata, the island I will be staying on. Every time I approached an island for the first time, I am so curious what will be there for me to see and explore.

Rough notes:http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

The dramatic island beside Kuata, Wayasewa. Turns out the villagers of the village just under the perilous-looking volcanic plug-looking thing run the resort on Kuata, as well as a resort on Wayasewa.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

This island turned out to be the island I'm scheduled to stay on first - I realized this only now, when I am writing this post. I would stay here for three nights. I'm taking a slow, relaxing cruise around the islands. Kuata is the southernmost island in the Yasawa chain.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

A closer view of the island, with its dense green foliage in stark contrast to the barren dull grey rocks and the bright azure waters.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

One of the more interesting volcanic islets. Looks like a large solid volcanic rock.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

Soon, we started encountering larger and more dramatic islands. The larger islands have multiple villages, many of them hosting resorts.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

Farther out, we started passing islands with more dramatic, obviously volcanic, landscapes. Some of these had resorts tucked under the cliffs. Although I am a bit sad not to see "real" Fiji on this trip, I am pretty excited to experience a stereotypical Fiji island-hopping trip.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

This is the legendary Beachcomber Island, the home of wild parties every night. Apparently, things have changed and this is now only a shadow of its former glory. I met a person who grew up on this island and had to take a small boat to school every day! What a unique childhood experience that must have been! I also heard that Beachcomber has a 100-bed dorm room!

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

Another island resort. There were a lot of neat looking places. I haven't seen such a high concentration of semi-isolated island resorts like this anywhere else! There are also many shows made here. Castaway was filmed on Monuriki, one of the Mamanuca Islands.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

The One of the first resort islands we passed. It feels as in nearly all of the islands have a resort, which I'm sure is a huge boon to the economy in the Mamanucas and Yasawas. I believe this may be Bounty or South Sea Island. A few of the islands in this group have ridiculous pseudo-exotic sounding names like this.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

The sea was full of islands. Small islands were immediately visible on the horizon.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html

20 June 2011:

After waking up at 4:30 and catching a bus that felt like I was in India (including the people), I was off! The boats for the Mamanuca island chain and Yasawas leave from Denarau port just west of Nadi.

Rough notes:
http://mandarinmanmarktravelnotes.blogspot.com/2012/07/2011-nz-to-sf-day-38.html