04 - 09 Oct 2012 (5 Nights in Kulu Bay Resort)
Kulu Bay is a small cove on Beqa Island (pronouned "Ben-qa"). There are only 7 Bure in Kulu Bay Resort. We stayed in Bure 4. All Bure are beachfront with a large patio and hammock
The living room
Eilin gets the "Day Bed" all to herself !The Master bedroom
Exploring the resort, we found a stub with a giant orchid specimen just outside our bure. It was flowering and had a large seed pod.
Also in abundant are leafless orchids which I believe are the Chiloschista genre.
Unfortunately, the weather decided that it should either be rain or heavy overcast for the full 5 days that we were there. We saw about 1 hour of sunshine which you could observed everyone on the island flocked to the beach :> Luckily for us, divers are not affected by rain cos we got our wetsuit and not afraid of getting wet !! We still managed to explore the island under the heavy overcast skies and catch the sunset over the pacific ocean. Just as we expected out of someone was making a point, as it was bright and blazing sunshine on the day we left Kulu Bay.
No wild animals on the island expect for a resident mongoose.
Of Firewalking, Meke Dance, Kava Ceremory and Lovo Feast
Beqa is the home of the Firewalkers. People of the village are given the gift to walk on fire and also to heal burns.
Firewalking Ceremory
Checking out the pit prior to the fire walking ceremony.
Meke Songs and Dance
Kava Ceremony
Kava is a root, grounded with rice and aged for 4-5 years. It is like the village version of whiskey. It is not alcoholic but more a sedative which is make you relaxed and happy. Apparently, kava is not exported to European countries and used in treatment of stress management.
What did it looked like ? Very much brown water squeezed out of a cloth.
What did it tasted like ? Traditional Chinese herbal medicine with a tinkling and slight numbing sensation on the tongue
The villagers can go on with it all night long, maybe that's what make all of them very good singers
Lovo Feast
Sharon introduces the tradition of the Lovo Feast and the dishes ... Baked pork belly, Roasted chicken, Baked Taro, Taro leaf stuffed with onion and cooked in coconut, Grilled snapper, pickled cucumber ... etc
Kokoda - my favorite dish for this trip.
Sharon was so kind to share with us how she made this ... need to try this back home!
-Raw marlin meat soaked in lemon for about half day. Washed with the 2nd extract of coconut water.
-Mix chopped shallots, potato, carrots, pasley and marlin meat into the coconut milk.
-Served cold !!
When it comes to Good Byes, the Fijian has their own version of "Auld Lang Syne" ... and yes all Fijian can SING really spiritedly !
PS: If you are wondering why are we wearing jeans and jackets in a beach resort ... we are trying very hard to reduce the over-weight charges for the next domestic flight segment. The solution was to wear all the heaviest pieces of clothing and pile on as many layers as possible ... haha
Talk about being desperate, after finding out that both resorts provided the PureFiji brand of toiletries, we were repacking our luggage and removing our personal toiletries at 1am on the night prior to the flight to reduce luggage weight ! I am sure we went through each piece in the luggage at least 3 times to make sure we really needed it :P