outrigger – Travels with Lori

December 2023

On my way to Fiji 🇫🇯

Relaxing on a sandbar in the Pacific before we head over to Castaway Island 🥂🍾
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Today was so much fun, I helped in the coral planting program run by local marine biologists at the resort. Castaway Island has vast coral reefs that they study and protect. Because of the way hard coral reproduces and heals, small pieces can grow to eventually become mature colonies. We secure these fragments to the grates using cable ties and then put it back into the water. I felt like I was back in Panama studying coral reef ecology 🪸🐠🧡

Cloud 9 is a famous floating bar in Fiji. It is a great way to spend the day relaxing on lounges, drinking cocktails, dancing to a DJ, jumping off the top deck, enjoying their delicious wood-fired pizzas, swimming and snorkeling in the turquoise blue waters…a perfect day!

Many Fijian villages are located on the banks of rivers with beautiful mountains and tropical wilderness. We took a fun and very fast speedboat to the village, trekked up a forested path from the river banks and were treated to the most beautiful afternoon. We brought kava as a gift, we were accepted as guests in the village with a ceremony and then offered kava. While Fijians are amongst the friendliest people in the world, it is important to respect their customs and traditions so the women had to have covered shoulders and long skirts. No shoes inside, sunglasses or hats anywhere, it is considered an insult to the chief of the village. They made us a delicious traditional lunch and then they sang and danced, it was such an amazing experience.
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The perfect day started with a relaxing massage and ended with a gorgeous sunset 🌅

February 13, 2020

We left the Shangri-La Fijian this morning and headed towards the Mamanuca island chain.

Not my photos but too good not to show you how beautiful it is! But before all this we drove one hour to the port of Denarau.

It was a little rainy when we left the Shangri-La Fijian, first rain we’ve seen since getting to Fiji. The South Seas ferry to Castaway was a little over an hour.

Just a reminder of where Fiji is in the world.

Now zoom in on Fiji’s largest island, Viti Levu to the right in the pic. The Mamanuca Islands are off the west coast and this is where Castaway Island is.

The ferry ride was beautiful, we saw a bunch of other island resorts that were just beautiful.

Here we are approaching Castaway on the small boat that they picked us up in. They come out with two boats to meet the larger ferry, one for the luggage and one for the guests.

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You have to see the water to realize it is even more beautiful than the pictures!

We were brought to our home on Castaway, a beachfront bure. These stand alone units, or “bures”, are nestled in the among the trees with beautiful views of the water. They give you plenty of privacy, are spacious and have a great front porch to enjoy the surroundings.

Let’s take a look inside the bure

These front two lounge couches can be beds for two kids or a great place to sit and relax in the bure.

The king sized bed has a separate room with sliding doors to close off the front area.

Rowan chose his bed. Look at the beautiful gifts and welcome from Castaway Island Resort!

The bathroom is a good size and has a separate shower to the left and toilet to the right, both in a separate room.

My favorite part of the bure is the handmade panels on the walls and ceiling! These are hand painted on bark by Fijian women. Each bure had some different patterns and designs but all equally beautiful.

I’m in love with our bure!! It’s perfect and has such amazing touches, I love the coconut body lotion they provide, the panels on the walls, the porch out front, the water bath for sandy feet!

Just a walk around the grounds…

We might get some more rain today, the sky looks so pretty.

The beach on the other side of Castaway from our bure. Inside the bar there is the paddle from the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks.

We spent the day settling in and exploring the island. The resort is small so it is very easy to get anywhere. Our bure is the farthest back and to get to the restaurant, reception, shop, water sports is about a 3-4 minute walk.

We found the family pool and took a swim. They also have a counter here with food, drinks and ice cream. You can have a late breakfast and lunch here.

This area of the pool is very shallow, it’s is about 2 feet and perfect for little kids.

The waterfall is a favorite no matter how old the kids are!

Water toys for pool fun 🏐

Walking back to our bure in the late afternoon.

This is what I love about the porch, watching the sunset and the kids in the water.

Just love the panels! The view out to the ocean isn’t so bad either!

What a welcoming sunset tonight! It was really hot and humid, just sitting was uncomfortable with the still air. I was trying to enjoy dinner but wishing for a cooler place! Dinner was amazing and I forgot all about the weather. This pork belly was amazing as were the other courses but my pictures didn’t look as good.

February 14, 2020

We slept great here, it was quiet and peaceful. We were so excited for our first full day here at Castaway. Rowan wanted to sail so after breakfast that was our first thing to do.

Breakfast, so happy they had congee, Rowan and I ate it every day. Plus the fresh fruits were so tasty. I don’t eat papayas at home, they never taste the same way they do in the tropics!

Excited for the day!

I managed to relax in the hammock for a little while after breakfast.

Rowan making friends already. Mary is awesome and helped us at the water sports hut.

We took out a catamaran and just zipped around. We’d stop and jump in the water to look at the coral and cool off with a swim.

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Castaway Island is so beautiful!

Every day there was a list of things you could do if you wanted. Today is Valentines Day so there was a nice dinner planned.

The food here is delicious, for todays lunch I had the grilled fresh caught fish and a fresh green salad.

Rowan was enjoying the sea life, especially this big curry fish!

Grant strolling along the beach with a coconut 🥥

Setting up for the Valentine’s dinner.

It was a beautiful evening!

Deconstructed Prawn Kokodo Salad, then Beef Tenderloin, it was an amazing dinner.

This area is where the buffet is served, breakfast every morning and dinner sometimes. High season it’s available every night as a dinner option, low season it’s every few nights.

The adult pool looks pretty lit up in the evening.

February 15, 2020

Another gorgeous morning in Fiji. This has been my favorite part of the day, having coffee out on the porch listening to the birds and the waves, it’s so peaceful.

Rowan and I walk along the beach to breakfast.

Beautiful view from the restaurant. Today’s activities are on the board. We decided to go to Cloud 9 today, a floating restaurant/bar in the middle of the ocean.

Castaway has a speed boat that takes us there, it’s about a 15 minute ride and we were able to see other islands and resorts along the way.

There it is, all alone out there!

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This was the favorite thing to do, jump off the second floor to do flips into the stunning water.

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I preferred to relax and enjoy a drink in the sun.

This is the second floor, lots of places to lounge. Those steps are what you use to jump off.

Rowan making friends with everyone. Especially the pizza guys, I’m sure it had something to do with him wanting to try all the different toppings!

I enjoyed some snorkeling too, there’s a reef right off Cloud 9. There was a pretty strong current so I didn’t go too far.

Representing Dream Vacations!

Family photo 2020!

We spent about 3 hours at Cloud 9 before we called to be picked up, it was a lot of fun, glad we went.

A walk along the paths of the resort, they are so pretty and lush!

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This is a great spot, above the water sports hut is the pizza place. They make individual pizzas that are really good! I was surprised to find good pizza in Fiji! Anytime I couldn’t find the boys they were usually up here, not sure how many pies a day they ate but I’m sure it was a few.