Matagi Island / Resort and Qamea
02 November 2020
Diane Brown | Rainy and overcast
Matagi Island
22 October 2020
We had a headwind at 25 knots all the way across from Taveuni but well worth finding this romantic little horseshoe shaped bay. We've been content here for three days doing laundry and other boat chores when sunshine allowed. The water is pristine and visibility of our anchor to 60 feet depth.
We had a good scare when the propane stop stopped working totally as I attempted to start breakfast. The trouble shooting took several hours as John traced wiring and the hose from the full tanks to the stove. Sounds simple right??? Not when you have to tear out everything stored in between the two plus pull the oven out onto the floor. I fled the scene as soon as possible to explore the reefs around the bay on my SUP. Fortunately we have fair wifi here so he was able to trouble shoot wiring around the thermal coupler since it has intermittently been having a problem but always lights first thing in the morning for coffee. Then he ran across another article talking about oil build-up in the gas lines so he decided to check that first since the lines have been in use for about 20 years. He must have removed a half cup of oily fluid which took some time for gravity to work. So far burners light first time, every time.
The first night we saw some locals collecting snails and lobsters off the beach but nobody since then. It is really a treat to just hang out in pretty much ideal conditions. John asked if I was ready to leave yesterday and I decided we stay another day. So we rigged up a very small hand line like Marina used in the creek and I finally got to try it last night on the SUP. It worked pretty well as I paddle just off the reefs it jigs up and down. Something took my bait but I didn't respond quick enough to catch him so will try again this evening and bring along more scraps of bait.
25 October 2020
Qamea Island
John had a secret plan to explore the bay he and his exwife tried to buy so long ago; but I picked up on it somehow and asked him about the past before he told me we were about to enter his little bit of paradise. Qamea is tropical jungle much like the Marquessas' with tons of volcanic cliffs and rocks flowing into the bay. I was surprised that with the winds he was going toward this fairly shallow bay when on either side were some very deep protected harbors.
Once he fessed-up and we anchored and set up all our rain covers, it was too windy to row to shore. One of the long boats stopped by and Ali who was doing some construction on one of the places gave us permission to visit the island. Next morning John had the dinghy off the foredeck and into the water quickly. It has a spectacular sandy beach even at high tide to land and tie-off on a palm tree and a little stern anchor to avoid water in the dingy. We spent a couple hours touring around the three home sites that had not been there in the late 90's. They were all vacant, likely due to Covid. One was very much a bachelor/surfer pad style which I actually prefer with the outdoor kitchen palapa and a separate palapa on the beach for drinks and entertaining then a very small coral stucco enclosed house for the bedroom. Two of the places had outdoor showers. The gardens covered over 3 acres and could sustain a good sized family. John was a bit disappointed as it was not his vision for the place. I could live here quite easily and it is only a 20 minute local boat ride over to Taveuni for supplies. Oh, the twists and turns our lives take.
Another mission was to find the Mitchell family and Irene who are related to George and Marissa from our creek hideout. So we moved to a more protected harbor to avoid some wind gusts in the 30's and I enjoyed listening to the singing from the church services ashore. A local boat stopped by the boat and invited us to hike on Sunday afternoon but the didn't materialize so we headed around the corner to another big bay that had several active families- but not the Mitchells.
Guess we should have asked more details but it is really a very small island.