Vulaga Island (Fulunga) by Ella Richards
by Ella Richards / Island Cruising NZ 25 Jul 2019 23:00 BST
Vulaga Island (Fulunga) © Island Cruising NZ
We are anchored in the beautiful atoll of Vulaga Island, in the southern Lau group of Fiji, with a few of our rally boats: Amphitreete, Athair, Casteele, Close Encounters, Moxie, Moon River and Willpower.
Vulaga Island is amazing, the pristine water is as clear as glass, the coral stands strikingly proud with louds of attractive fish swimming in and out of its beautiful curves, holes and crevices. There are rocks of different sizes all around the bay that look like giant mushrooms from where the water over time has washed away some of the stone.
The people of Monacake Village are very friendly. After you do Sevusevu, each person or family gets their own host family from the village. So your host family will look after you while you are at the island, take you around their village, sometimes invite you to eat with them,or you can invite them to eat with you. They can also help you with certain things, and you can help them. Sevusevu is a Fijian custom where an offering of Kava must be made to the chief of the viIlage, in return for permission to anchor in their bay and visit their village. I am really enjoying my time here in this tropical paradise.
We went to this stunningly beautiful sand bar in between two islands, for a wonderful and fun beach barbeque. The adults and children each built their own bonfire to keep away the mosquitos, which was successful, yay! The water was marvellous to swim in, but after a while it got a bit cold. That is where the wonders of fire comes in. The pleasant sensation of coming out of cold water and sitting around a camp fire is lovely. Everyone brought something tasty to share and we celebrated a couple of birthdays.
We were invited to the end of term kindergarten activities in the village. The children danced, the ladies laughed and the men drank Kava! It was all very colourful and entertaining. We also had a tasty lunch with them. It has been lovely to be included in the villagers daily life.