MANTA RAYS, TURTLES AND LOBSTERS
Around the world with the Aqualunies
Jonathan & Gabrielle Lyne
Thu 6 Jun 2013 04:18
6TH JUNE, 2013 The Sun came out!! so we set sail for the pass where we can snorkel and view Manta Rays. We were well rewarded, after nearly giving up, and came across a couple of Manta Rays one about 8' across and the other 6' across. They were beautiful and mesmerising to watch as they gently swam under us and around us, they eat about 25kg. of plankton a day! These photos were taken with my little camera from our dingy as last time we swam with my old camera it was swamped and destroyed so they are not brilliant but gives you an idea of what we were looking at. We did lots of swimming and snorkelling off the yacht and saw a very large turtle pop his/her head up to breath near the boat. Gilly and I also saw a small black tipped shark near the beach swimming in the shallows. Sadly we had to head back towards Denaru Marina to drop Gilly and Sam off and start sorting the yacht out. On their last night on board we called into Octopus Cove where there is a resort and also a very nice reef. Gilly and Sam suggested dinner ashore as their treat which was arranged. Lobsters were ordered by VHF and then Peter the manager came out by boat to see how we would like them cooked, so we said cold with mayo'. Talk about service with a smile it was amazing. Rather than take our dingy into the beach which had quite a bit of surf they sent a boat out to fetch us at 6 p.m. so enough time onboard to have a glass of wine and watch the sun set then ashore for cocktails before dinner. I took along a bag of fresh mint for Mohitos as last time they had no mint, I was very long on mint from my herb garden on board. We were expecting to have dinner in the restaurant which has a sand floor but discovered they had laid a beautiful table for us on the deck by the beach under a palm tree. Not only was the table beautiful but so was the seafood platter of shellfish and squid as well as a dish full of very good spiny lobster, champagne also served with dinner, the service was excellent and very friendly we were made to feel like VIPs. There was nothing to fault at all. Jojo the Manageress also came over and had a chat we learnt alsorts of things. Peter and Jojo were managers of a restaurant in Japan for a long time and else where. They have been at the Octopus Cove for 6 months. The hurricane last December swamped the resort in sand and almost buried it so it had to be dug out again. The resort is very simple, some with dormitories for the backpacking crowd and some other more up market burhs but all share the same restaurant. We also heard that the owner of the resort from NZ has set up another one further up the coast on another island but has had trouble as he employed some locals from a village that were in the middle of a feud with some other locals also working at the restaurant and so the army had to be called in to sort out the troubles, not sure what the result was over this. The locals are very territorial and you have to be very careful where you swim and snorkel as the village often owns the land and sea as far as they can see. One always has to be very diplomatic and introduce yourself to the head of the village and present good Kava root and other gifts always keeping your head below his. Nevertheless they are a hugely friendly people and always see 'Bula' hello when you pass them. Very sad to have to say 'goodbye' to Sam and Gilly last night at the marina, hopefully they will be able to join us on board again one day for more adventure. Back to reality:- because we had a leak with the salt water tap which swamped my dry lockers with salt water and the gas sensor so the gas alarm decided to go off during the night, then the air con in our cabin decided to play up again having behaved perfectly well when the engineer was here, so sleep evaded us I think I managed to get some sleep eventually in the main saloon where the air con worked well at about 5 am. ... bother! When out at anchor we don't use the air con as we have enough breeze and don't really want to run the generator for that length of time but in the marina where it is stuffy and noisy it is normally a godsend. Air con man coming on Saturday 'Fiji time' which is a clock with no arms. Must get going with the de-salter spray and clean out all the underfloor lockers under the galley again.  Manta Ray about 8' across swimming under us   Sam and Gilly with sunset sky in the background.  Mohito made from mint picked from my herb garden on board made by Rummy at the Octopus resort  Spiny Lobster dinner  Table set up especially for us under a palm tree by the beach at Octopus resort.  Jonathan at his happiest!  P1030593 |