I hopped out of bed at 0630 while it was still quite dark to make a fruit salad for Laura’s breakfast. Laura sat and read while I whipped up some fried eggs on toast with a little ham and cheese. Classic breakfast, served with my ‘birthday card’ prepared last night.
We both then slapped on the sunscreen and then packed up for our move back to the main island.
Once all sorted we pulled out the canoe and took it down to the completely uninhabited island to the south of Akaiami. An easy paddle, Laura finished of her book while I splashed around looking for fish. We then paddled back to the snorkel area and spent a good while under water before heading back to the lodge.
We proceeded to pack and clean the place – I managed to cause massive panic by being unable to find my wallet and cards. After emptying both of our packs, I then remembered that I had hidden them from marauding desert island natives under the the cushion of a chair. Genius! Laura was not so impressed.
When we were ready we asked Sydney to ferry us back to the main island and on to Etu Moana.
There we were met by the hostess Joanne who presented us with beautifully fragranced eis of pink, yellow and white flowers. Joanne showed us to our hut and showed us around. Laura was taken aback by the luxurious villa and the beautiful location and earnt herself a hug from Joanne.
We then wandered down to the honesty bar and made ourselves a Malibu, Midori, pineapple and lemonade cocktail – on the house as a birthday present for Laura. When we returned to the villa, a couple of fresh drinking coconuts were on the balcony and the CD player had been loaded with polynesian music. We decided that the coconuts could do with a little rum (which didn’t prove to be as delicious a combination as envisaged) and then kicked back and relaxed with a cup of tea.
Tired from the heat and a busy morning, we took a nap before grabbing a lovely glass of wine from the honesty bar and prepared ourselves for our meal out at Tupuna’s. We were collected at 1900 and shared our taxi with a couple from Luxembourg and a Swiss fellow who looked like an explorer from the 1930s.
Cafe Tupuna was an open air restaurant with a sand floor – which sadly meant that we were bothered by a lots of small flying bugs, although the mosquitoes stopped bothering us as it got dark. We started with cod in lime with a coconut salad and a seafood cocktail, both of which were very nice. We decided to go for something different and plumped to share a parrot fish with rice.
It was a poor choice – Laura thought I was joking when I pulled a grimace after my first mouthful. The fish had a strangely metallic taste and a sludge like consistency – the lack of much sauce made the taste hard to mask. We did the best that we could, but when we were finished the waitress exclaimed “oh, but there is so much left!”. Tummy rubbing and protestations that we were full hopefully did the job.
The pudding was nice enough – bananas in brown sugar with cheap tasting ice cream. Overall we found the meal very disappointing, and at NZD$90 it seemed poor value. The Luxembourg couple were similarly unimpressed on receiving overcooked fish. While there are plenty of rave reviews on the internet, we would certainly try somewhere different on our next visit.
On returning to the villa after a NZD $20 taxi ride, we went straight to bed, although unfortunately not for the greatest night’s sleep. Laura was suffering from itchy mosquito bites and I was perturbed by the lizards rustling through the thatched roof – probably all thanks to the wine!
