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.
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 …
… to 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, …
… 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, …
… 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 …
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.
As time passed by, more boats from other resorts brought in a huge crowd of people into the island.
Hence, we decided to leave the island for a cruise around the impressive coastline of Monuriki ...
… before heading back to the resort …
… for lunch.
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.
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.
As sunset draws closers, …
… we head over to the restaurant for dinner, …
… 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.
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