From the Yasawa flyer, we jumped onto a small speed boat with another British couple, and made our way to the Matacawalevu Island. The ride was bumpy against the lapping waves, but we finally pulled up on to the most stunning beach.
It was exactly what we had wanted, miles and miles of deserted beach just for us, with crystal clear waters and never ending sunshine. We got our bags brought up to shore for us, and we entered into a small room where lunch was there waiting for us.
We ate our food whilst talking to the other couple, who were both teachers from up north.
After our food, we were taken to our rooms. It was bright and airy, and despite our pass covering potentially shared facilities, there was a large bathroom and we were in a small lodge that we had to ourselves.
In this resort they were strict with electricity though due to it being a small island, so the electricity and hot water were only on for certain hours of the day. Regardless of this, we still had the most amazing view from our front door, plus really friendly neighbours.
We unpacked and wasted no time grabbing a beer and lazing in a hammock for the afternoon.
That evening we went back to the dining area, where we saw Bea and Luke again (British couple), and we sat down to a small dining table. A German couple sat down, a British guy, and two Swedish model looking girls... and us. We were the only nine people in the whole resort, and we spent the evening chatting to them, in particular the lone English guy, as he had just come from New Zealand doing the Kiwi Experience which we were due to do next
.
The next day would be Sunday, so there would be no activities to do on the island. The resort was family owned, and they invited us to attend church with them the following day which was kind, but we didn't want to intrude on their day off. Instead, they said to listen our for drums in the morning, which would mark breakfast time.
That night we went to bed and slept peacefully to the sounds of the ocean.
The next morning we heard the drums, and to Steph's delight, pancakes were on the menu for breakfast, with fresh strawberries and chocolate spread! We dressed up for the beach before we left, and headed straight down to the beach to take it all in.
Apart from a few people fishing and getting on and off the boat transfer to theYasawa flyer, we were the only people on the beach for the whole day!
After about 5 minutes of getting too hot in the sun, Tom decided to rent out some snorkels, and explore the beautiful water. It cost 5 Fijian dollars to rent the stuff for the whole day, along with a word of warning from the guy at the kiosk, to watch out for sting ray in the shallows!
There wasn't much to see in the channel, but we both took the opportunity to swim in the crystal clear waters too cool off.
After lunch we explored a different part of the island, where the snorkelling was meant to be better. We headed round to a small beach that was alive with small crabs! We walked around the rocky parts of the island and found a coral graveyard, and also a coconut which we attempted to crack open with no luck.
We spent the afternoon sunbathing until sunset, and made our way to dinner. That day the Swedish girls had left, and been swapped with a nice Italian guy called Giuseppe. The company was good, and we played a few games of cards after dinner. The food at Long Beach was slightly hit and miss, sometimes being really tasty, and other times being a little strange. We were often served meat on the bone, and as it was a family run resort, there was only one choice of meal made with sides such as rice or salad, so vegetarians may find the food a little samey. After dinner, a really tall man sauntered in who was Fijian Chris. He was a laid back cool dude who was the activities organiser on the island, and he gave us a brief, half made up history of Fiji. He taught us a few Fijian words and gave us options of what to do the following day.
With Bea and Luke being teachers, they wanted to go to the local village in land to see the school. Although the following day was our last on Long Beach, so we would have rather been shown how to open coconuts (which we obviously needed practice in) and make palm leaf baskets, but we went with the majority vote to go to the village.
The next day we packed up our bags to get ready to leave the island. We met everyone at breakfast, and walked up the beach to the opening into the forest. As we walked in, the sand slowly vanished and rocks started to appear underfoot. Chris told us due to a Tsunami a few years ago, you would often find jagged shells in the main land. He told us this whilst he wandered through the forest with no shoes on whatsoever! The further we walked in, the more and more palm trees would surround us, making the blue skies look particularly tropical.
We walked through various bits of farmland, and we saw coconuts starting to sprout into palm trees which was interesting!
After about half an hour of walking through mixed terrain, we reached the outskirts of the village. Chris gave us some sarongs to wear, to cover up any flesh that may have been disrespectuful to the villagers.
We walked into the village where everyone was really friendly and welcoming. It was a small and family orientated village with only about 100 people living there. Chris even stopped in to see his Aunt, who was making a traditional palm rug. She invited us in and welcomed photographs to be taken.
It was also here that Chris noticed the children running around, and suddenly came to the realisation that the school was shut for half term! Everyone was slightly disappointed as the school we had come to see would be deserted, but we agreed we would go and see it anyway.
We walked to the top of the hill where the school was, and had a look around. It was incredibly clean and there had been a new building open in the last week that the community was particularly proud of.
We went into various classrooms to see what they learned about, to find it looked exactly like the normal curriculum we were used to as kids. The only difference in this school however, was the fantastic views out of the windows.
We almost felt sorry for the poor children who would have to look out onto the tempting images of the sea whilst being stuck inside at school!
We walked around the school and bumped into one of the teachers who didn't look much older than ourselves, and he explained how there were still some students around despite it being half term. He was running a holiday club for students who felt they were struggling. He brought us round to see them, and they were all sitting around on a terrace.
We sat down with them and introduced ourselves and told them where we were from. They all seemed very interested, and asked us questions about London and liked posing for our pictures. The teacher also showed us the staff room, and we sat in there whilst he told us a little bit about Fijan education.
In Fiji, unfortunately up until only 2012, corporal punishment was still legal and encouraged, but the teacher said it's recent abolition has caused some problems, as the children can be more disobediant as they know they can't be punished now. He said the week before, a child had touched his hair which is a sign of huge disrespect in Fiji culture, and he explained that even though he disagreed with corporal punishment, he had trouble trying to discipline the child because of it, as the threat of physical punishment could not scare the children anymore.
He also said that whilst at school, the students are encouraged to speak English the whole time, and they can be told off if they do not. Each of the Fijian Islands community dialect is slightly different, so they encourage English to be spoken to create a common language. It was very interesting to hear about the education system, and we were glad we ended up going on the trip.
As we left the school, an old white man in a beige suit teamed with a hawaiian shirt shouted in the voice of Michael Caine "hey Chris are you going to the beach? May I join you?" We were a little confused as to what he was doing there, but on the walk back he told us how he was a teacher at the school.
He had been an air force pilot but unfortunately had to leave due to being diabetic. His wife had died a few years before and he decided to up sticks, do something crazy, and teach at a small school in the back of beyond. He was a really interesting man, and we enjoyed talking to him, and did so the whole way back to the beach. However, our conversation was cut short, and a man from the resort specifically called to us, to say the Yasawa flyer would be passing through at any moment so we had to leave Long Beach on the speed boat.
We thanked Chris for his educational trip into the village (tipping is unheard of in Fiji) and ran up the beach and got on the speed boat. We sped off into the distance and waved good bye to everyone on the island.
We had had a lovely couple of restful days on the Long Beach resort, but little did we know it was only going to get better!
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