Page 35 - Fiji Traveller Issue 3

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from his hotel job during Covid and joined South Sea delicious lunch.
Cruises last year. “It has been great. There is never a dull I have to admit, I was disappointed when they
moment; I enjoy working with the crew, cooking out at announced boarding call. But after a quick change,
sea, and with the great view, it’s never boring,” he says sitting with a cocktail in good company, we bobbed to the
with a smile as he prepares lunch over what is surely, the rhythm of some old school funky beats all the way back
best-positioned barbeque ever! to Port Denarau.
In no time, we reached the Mamanucas and a sandbar, Again, we were serenaded, this time with a version of
where snorkelling gear had been spread out for our use. ‘Isa Lei’ as we disembarked. As the song goes, “Vanua
A slide on the boat drops straight into the sea, although rogo na nomuni vanua”. Our hearts were filled with
some passengers preferred to leap from the Sabre’s pleasure, and we will be back Sabre, next time with our
sides. children, who are so mad that they didn’t come along this
The snorkelling session was closely supervised by the time!
crew, who monitored everyone's whereabouts. As an
island girl, I love the ocean, and I have never seen so southseasailingfiji.com/
many fish in one section before, so I was lost in wonders
below the surface.
After our underwater adventures, we were summoned
to a buffet lunch that included grilled lemongrass chicken
and fresh herb marinated wahoo, kransky sausages
with garlic aioli, assorted salads and dips and more,
an endless supply of soft drinks and water, and for two
hours, beers and wine out on the sand bank.
"The food here is amazing, the fruits taste so fresh
and sweet; the onions, we love them; you cannot get this
in America, the fruits may look good but taste bland, you
guys are blessed," our American friend Patty enthused.
Soon we were told we had another 45 minutes in the
water, so I made like the little mermaid and slipped down
the slide back into the ocean. My husband, never one to
let food go to waste, well he preferred to linger over his