Chapter 6 - Fiji - 66.6% happy again

For island dwellers Fijians are pretty rotten sailors. Everyone gets sick the minute they set foot on a boat. The ride out to Beachcomber Island was great, even if we did have to dodge vomit, but now that we are here I am oddly unmoved by its beauty. Yesterday seemed to me to be so perfect, so genuine, and this place, full of bikinis and sunglasses and drinks in coconut shells with coloured straws, seems fake. Niki and Sophie do not feel that way at all, having stripped into bathing suits within thirty seconds of arrival. I think they really enjoyed the novelty of the church service and family feast, but felt a bit uneasy the whole time. The exact opposite of me, as now they are relaxed and in their element while I feel a bit precarious.

While the others went to check out the amenities I wandered around, trying to get my bearings. It didn’t take long, I crossed the entire island in about 10 minutes. There is a lovely white sandy beach and beautiful tropical foliage, a real island paradise, if you ignore the bugs of course. I’ve gotten pretty good at that, given that they are here in large numbers all day every day. Waves broke over the coral reef surrounding the island, people swam and snorkeled and lounged in unfettered enjoyment. It looked like a movie set.

The three of us met for drinks and the girls were bubbling over with happiness so I put away my unsettled reactions and took in all their news.

“There are oodles of cute guys here, mostly Australians but never mind.”

“There’s entertainment every night, and a sand dance floor. Dancing in sand sounds totally awesome, doesn’t it Sopha-bed?”

“It looks like a very well-appointed party place. We are going to have a great time here.”

“We can rent snorkeling gear and there’s a glass bottomed boat we can go out in to look at the reefs,” which I know Niki put in mostly for my benefit. I smiled my appreciation.

“And there are some guys who offered to teach us to dive properly.”

“All our meals are buffet style and dinner is in two hours so I am like, a quick swim, then a shower and change so we can hang out at the bar in time to meet some of the others and decide who we want to sit with, okay?”

The cold shower felt great on our hot salty bodies and while we dressed we tried to anticipate what would be on the buffet table.