Musket Cove, Malololailai

Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Fri 23 Jul 2010 23:18
17:46.294S 177:11.608E
 
Saturday 24th July
 
We arrived at Musket Cove Marina on Tuesday afternoon after eye balling our way through the reefs as we've discovered we can't rely on the chart plotter because on a few occasions the boat hasn't been where it should be according to the picture on the screen. We were pleasantly surpised when we arrived as it is a lot nicer than what we all expected. We knew that there was a resort here but it is very luxurious! There is an island bar around 200 yards away from the pontoon, there is a beautiful beach 200 yards in the other direction and the resort swimming pool and restaurant is a few minutes walk along the beach. It's like we're on holiday from our big holiday!  
 
  
 
Reef spotting through the islands
 
  
 
  
 
Entering the marina
 
 
The island bar at the back of our boat
 
We treated ourselves to a meal at the resort on our first night and then Paul, Paul and Amy paid the bar a visit for a few night caps. Amy had already made friends within about an hour of being here so she ended up partying with them until the early hours, this trend then continued for the next 3 days and nights!
 
  
 
Having a meal..............Our entertainment
 
The next day was activities day, Richard had organised kayak racing. We were in pairs, one person was blindfolded and paddled and the other directed. Paul and Margie actually won their race and made it to the semi final but they didn't make it to the final. I was paired with Jaime, he rowed the first time but was too exhausted so I had to row the next race and we came a respectable second out of four.
 
  
 
Paul and Margie came into finish and were capsized by Pete
 
  
 
  
 
Linda also had a dunking
 
  
 
First Jaime rowed then it was my turn
 
 
Relaxing afterwards
 
This time the occasion was Charlotte who is visiting Blue Magic's 26th birthday and the theme was 'Hula'. As usual Paul got in the mood and dressed as a woman by wearing a bikini, a grass skirt and the renowned purple wig. The island bar is surrounded by huge BBQ's so you can either put your own food on or buy some from them, it's brilliant. We had chicken, steaks, sausages, salad, potatoes and garlic bread - yum! Another game of The Cardinal Puff was played and Sue from Camomile finally became a member. She has been determined to be a member ever since she found out about the game and as they leave the rally here it was her last chance.
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
Charlotte having 26 bumps..........Bill couldn't resist the wig
 
Paul and Linda left on Thursday so the morning was spent gathering their stuff together ready for them to catch the ferry over to the mainland at 12:15. It was an emotional goodbye, who knows what I'll be like when it comes to saying bye to Amy tomorrow! The whole rally was booked in to the resort on the evening for a delicious hog roast. Service was slow but it's something we've had to get used to in Fiji, it's referred to as 'Fiji Time'.
 
  
 
Bye bye Paul and Linda
 
 
We booked up to do a couple of dives yesterday so we were up bright and early to meet the boat at the end of the pontoon. The first dive wasn't very good! There wasn't all that much to see apart from a pleasant swim through a huge coral pinnacle but to make things worse there were about 4 dive groups down there at the same time as us so you couldn't see anything but people, it was difficult to keep track as to who was who. We then moved on to a different site but the boats started to follow us over so we kicked up a fuss and they took us to a different site. We didn't see all that much again but it was a very pleasant drift dive, at some points we were flying along, it was good fun!
 
Then last night was a farewell party for the boats who will be leaving the rally here. Again we had a BBQ at the island bar before we participated in a quiz hosted by Camomile. The final quiz, it was emotional!
 
Today I think we'll spend the day relaxing and organising Amy's stuff ready for her to leave in the morning.