September 14, 2013
From our new anchorage, it was a only a short dinghy ride to the pass into Fulaga’s lagoon; so we decided to check out the snorkeling in that area. It turned out to be pretty nice, but it was what came next that was really special. We’d noticed an intriguing beach on the arm of the atoll dividing this area from the outer ocean. Now after snorkeling, we decided to go and explore it.
To get to the beach, we needed to weave our dinghy through shallow water amid numerous small rock islands, a magical experience. (Click to enlarge and scroll through any of the galleries below.)
We soon landed on a white sand beach, maybe 100 feet long and 6 feet wide in the current tide, backed by a tall limestone cliff. Bushes and small trees clung to its sides, and we could hear the calls of the birds that lived within them plus the distant rumble of surf hitting the reef outside the atoll.
We beached our dinghy and the first thing we noticed was the sand! It was so soft as to be almost mud-like in places, but white and lovely. The shallow pale blue water here was so warm and inviting that I felt compelled to plunge into it, swimming amidst motus. This was about as beautiful place as I’d ever seen. Rich and I don’t always agree on the merits of beaches, but we both agreed that here we’d found the perfect Fulaga beach.
After spending some time here, we both thought the same thing: “Bob and Linda have to see this!” They still had their boat at the sandspit anchorage but would have no problem getting out here in their dinghy. We headed back to our boat to call them and soon discovered they were already on their way! We turned around and followed them back, anxious to give a tour of our beach (is it really a tour if you’ve only just seen it yourself?)
Soon everyone was into their own exploration and discovery. Linda found the sea snake coiled and resting in the rocks, sort of a scary and exciting thing to find. I was into playing in the warm shallow water, discovering a motu with a hole up through the middle. The last picture is of me sitting inside my motu “cave” and watching everyone else on the beach. Who was having the best time? Each of us in our own way.
After awhile, we headed back to our boat to shower and do some boat cleanup as we’d invited our friends over for drinks in our new neighborhood. High on wine and the beauty of this place, we had a great time. Tomorrow we’d be heading our separate ways, but we knew we’d be seeing each other down the road.
Here, a quote from Rich that evening:
“Not every day is like this out here and even my ‘perfect day’ could have been improved if I had a couple of oil-change elves to do the engine work for me. But there are a lot of days like this and more than enough to color the average days and even the bad days with the hope of more perfect days to come.”
Nicely said! For now, with sunset soon to arrive, we’d have more of this day to enjoy. –Cyndi
