Adventures of a lifetime

30 May

The last two days on Te Kaihopara have been phenomenal. Vibrant snorkeling, fantastic sailing, cruisy afternoons ashore and underwater cave swimming.

First thing in the morning, Taylor took the team over in the dinghy for a wee drift snorkel in the southern side of the bay. The coral was stunningly natural with heaps of tiny blue and purple fish! Unfortunately the current was going the wrong way and they ended up swimming over sandy patches, then sea grass lawns. Once back in the dinghy, they returned to the mother ship to crack on with a 14NM sail north. We left the bay of Gunu Village to head towards Nacula Island with a promise of resorts and swimming pools, more snorkeling and… The famous caves of Sawa-I-Lau.

The wind was on our starboard bow and we set the main, mizzen and genoa sails to get Te Kaihopara sailing at 6kts. Dodging reefs and trimming our hearts out, we spent two hours in the pristine sparkling waters west of the Yasawa group until it was time to furl all canvas and motor into our anchorage for the night: Oarsman Bay. With reefs on three sides, this anchorage beckons keen snorkelers and divers alike. There are two resorts here at this beach, the one managed by an Australian couple were more than happy for our motley crew of Aussies to enjoy their facilities and to explore the reef in front. Declan enjoyed their blow up slippery-dip (slippery slide) many times, and apparently everyone went for a snorkel but by the time I arrived, Heidi, Ian, Paul and Heather were sitting at the poolside bar with a cold drink! In the water, we found Suzi and managed to share a neat experience of seeing a blue spotted stingray that Taylor found hiding under a coral head. Also here, I saw an octopus of significant size and many giant clams!

As the sun set behind Te Kaihopara, we returned for a dahl dinner with roti and rice then put ourselves to bed for tomorrow’s big adventure to the caves.

Day 5 dawned and we had coffees in the crisp air. It gets hot around 8am so we all enjoy the earlier part of the day. At 8:30am Fiji Time (actually 8:45 on the clock), our tour guides and boat drivers appeared alongside us to take us to the Sawa-I-Lau caves. A thrilling fast boat ride then onto the beach and up to the caves. These caves are famous mainly for being the filming location for the movie ‘Blue Lagoon’, but are stunning limestone formation with a large cavity inside and a secondary cave only accessible by an underwater tunnel. There are many ancient stories about these caves and are a sacred spot to the local people.

Once back on board, I asked the crew how they would describe the caves in one word.

Ian: Otherworldly

Heather: ChallengingAchievement (yes that’s one word)

Heidi: Exotic

Paul: Dark (as in there was no sunlight in the inner cave)

Declan: Terrifying

Suzi: Magical

Taylor: Shadows