We awoke this morning at sea and stayed at sea until lunchtime.We attended an interesting lecture on the migration into Melanesia and Polynesia,but that was far too complicated for me to remember and write about.
As we ate our lunch we arrived at the island of Fulaga,a picture book island surrounded by a coral reef.The water outside the reef was too deep for the ship to anchor,so it was allowed to drift just outside of the only entrance through the reef.The channel through the reef is only about 20 metres wide and led into a magnificent lagoon full of coral outcroppings,little islands being undercut by the sea action.My photos do not do it justice but they are all I can offer.
The coral outcroppings become raised above sea level by earth movements and then vegetation starts to grow and hold soil so the level of the mini island slowly rises,producing 'Champignons' just because they often do look like mushrooms.
As you see the sea was the most superb colour,and in some places near the rocks the corals on the bottom could be easily seen.
The lagoon was very wide,in excess of a mile,and we wandered across it in our zodiacs watching the Terns and the Frigate birds,admiring the colours of the sea and the glimpses of white sand.
Eventually we stopped in a small sandy bay,disembarked and walked a mile across the island to be welcomed by the chief and elders,and entertained by the ladies dancing.We were offered a drink of Cava,not the sparkling sort but a drink made from crushed Kava root,which is supposed to have the property of causing slight relaxation-we again avoided it as it looked and tasted,we are told,like mud.
As you can see the village was a rather poor affair but the houses all seemed to have some photovoltaic panels and a very large water butt filled from the guttering of the houses.Our guide assured me that there was a television in the school and everybody would go there to watch the rugby!
Having been welcomed and entertained we left to walk back to the sea to swim and snorkel.A truly magical place for a long swim.
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