Since we need to confirm our private picnic departure date with the dive bure, …
Dive bure
… we decided to drop by early in the morning …
… to book for our Monuriki Island tour, the island made famous by Tom Hanks’ movie ‘Cast Away’.
After getting everything confirmed, we head over to the restaurant for a sumptuous breakfast.
Coffee to start off the day
Tokoriki breakfast with bacon, sausage, egg, tomato and mushroom
French toast (but without egg) with pineapple and vakalolo sauce
As time got closer, everyone started to head down to the dive bure for the Monuriki Island tour departure ...
… and off we went on the speedboat.
Us!!
From Tokoriki Island …
Tokoriki Island Resort
… to Monuriki Island …
Monuriki Island
… the boat trip took about 15 minutes, passing by the South Sea Cruises vessel (who was picking up passengers leaving Tokoriki) …
… Yanuya Island and Monu Island.
As we arrived into Monuriki Island, …
There were only 9 of us on the whole island!!
… we were taken on a 20 minutes tour to the filming location of Cast Away.
Since Monuriki is a stunning uninhabited island, with a pristine white sandy beach and swaying palm trees, all of us on tour agreed that Tom Hanks might have actually enjoyed the island paradise, instead of the suffering shown in the movie.
Anyway, as we explored the island by foot through the coconut palms jungle, …
… we were told about the making of the movie and also the key locations filmed, such as the place where Tom first broke the coconut …
… the place he buried the pilot, Captain Miller, …
… and his calendar.
Besides showing us and telling us about the movie, Will (our tour guide and also the “assistant producer” of the movie) also showed us the Ghost Eye Crab, …
Digging deep to catch the crab
… the hermit crab found crawling below Tom’s calendar …
… and an egg of a deep sea bird that is only found on Monuriki and Tokoriki.
After the land tour, …
… we had the chance to cool ourselves off with a snorkel or swim in Monuriki’s marine reserve.
Swim …
… sun bath …
… or enjoy your company!! (something for the honeymooners to do)
As long as one can swim over to the boat from the shore, …
… it was easy snorkelling, with coral and impressive small reef fish life only metres from the beach.
Impressive reefs just off the beach
As time passed by, more boats from other resorts brought in a huge crowd of people into the island.
Tourist pollution
Hence, we decided to leave the island for a cruise around the impressive coastline of Monuriki ...
A cruise around the island before we head home
… before heading back to the resort …
… for lunch.
Lunch menu
Salt and pepper prawns
Chicken Quesadillas
After lunch, we had a little bit more of exploration around the resort by visiting the chapel, …
… walking along the beach …
… to check out the Sunset Pool Villas, …
… and hiking up the hill.
Due to cyclone Mick’s visit a week before, most of the path on the track were destroyed …
… and on hindsight, I don’t think its a good idea to hike up the track ...
… although it provides a bird’s eye view of the resort and its surrounding areas.
There is mobile phone reception up there, but probably not worth the risk climbing up!!
Great views from the top
After the tiring hike, we decided to snooze off in the hammock.
But I guess sleeping in the air-conditioned bure with music from my iPod was a much better choice.
Although the bures are of 5-star standards, there are no digital gadgets such as clocks, radios or television.
As sunset draws closers, …
… we head over to the restaurant for dinner, …
Pork cutlet with mash potatoes
Prawn curry of the day with dhal, rice, crackers and roti
… but this time with long pants and insect repellent. As usual, we got to see the fire lighting ceremony by the warrior …
… and were entertained by the Tokoriki’s staff.
After dinner, we head back to our bure, and again were glad that everything was prepared for our bedtime.
The only disappointment this time was, the insect repellent didn’t quite work out as we still got bitten by the mosquitoes.
