There's a group of us walking through a village on a remote Fijian island. Ladies sitting on their doorsteps wave and smile, a few puppies gambol around our feet.
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I can't help but wonder what the villagers are thinking. I suggest it runs something like this: "Why are these people photographing my washing line?"
But it's such a picturesque washing line, with its backdrop of curved white-sand beach, brightly painted houses and thatch bures, the island's high ridge rising up behind little Yalobi village, the largest of four villages on Waya Island.
Waya is the most northerly point of our cruise through Fiji's southern Yasawa islands, up the country's west coast on the "big small-ship" MV Reef Endeavour. The string of volcanic islands that make up the Yasawas stretch for 80 kilometres and enjoy celebrity status among islands of the world. Need a photo? Think Tom Hanks' Castaway, which was filmed on Monuriki Island. Or how about Blue Lagoon, which catapulted Brooke Shields to international stardom? It was filmed on Turtle Island back in 1980, and the island's resort still specialises in dishing up cocktails in the Windex-blue lagoon.
Today, however, the Yasawas are just not turning on the glow. While the rest of the world sees dolphins as just flippin' cute, in Fiji they're harbingers of storms.
"The captain saw dolphins yesterday, so we're in for bad weather," warned Freddy Mercury lookalike and staff member Zahir before we sailed. True to the legend, our three-night cruise is marred by heavy skies and lashing rain. The scheduled and apparently blissful swim from a pristine sand cay is a churned up mass of choppy, cold-looking water. Shall we take a look at the cocktail menu, instead?
Barman Sefo seems to divide his time between dandling my three-year-old girl on his knee and devising such drinks as today's Iguana, an ambitious mix of Galliano, Drambuie, amaretto and blue curacao with pineapple juice. Each night, canapes are served at the ship's bar, and it would be easy to fill up on pakora and spicy little deep-fried rolls while we wait for dinner, served at an uncharacteristically sharp 7.30pm.
"Our shore excursions do not operate on Fiji time," says the purser, Janette. It's a warning to be punctual. "However, our Wi-Fi is on Fiji time." It's a warning to also be patient.
The ship can sleep 130, but this trip is only just half full, with 77 guests on board, including a few families with a bunch of childrenfrom eight to 13.
Despite the small sample, there are all the usual cruising types: the library lovers who curl up on rattan lounges to read, pausing to catch a talk on marine life (which we inevitably steer around to firewalking, witchcraft and the benefits of eloping). Then there are the map readers, who lurk about the captain talking wind directions, route alterations and cruising speeds. There are also the partygoers, brightly clad and first in line to try kava, or yaqona, the muddy drink of the Pacific that turns wild gatherings into slumber parties.
But it's the children who get the maximum out of this cruise. They don't care about water temperatures or gloomy skies: they snorkel, swim and play hard and on uninhabited Monuriki Island, spell out the word "HELP" in coconuts on the yellow sand. Each evening, the staff spirit them away for an early meal and movie while the rest of us sit down for dinner. It's a delightful arrangement that has everyone happy: after all, who wants kids whinging through a three-course meal?
There is no casino and the dancing girls are more likely to be the ship's male staff in traditional dress performing truly menacing traditional dances, pausing to smile sweetly for the cameras, clubs in hand. In fact, one family gets off the ship after 24 hours, dismayed by the lack of chandeliers and the absence of TVs in the rooms. It's a first in the ship's experience, but spells out what the ship is not.
While we could do Bula nights (don't forget to pack your tropical shirts!) and snorkel till we're blue in the lips, it's the village visits that set this style of cruise apart. On the ship's pre-trip advice, I am lugging a bag of children's books to donate to a local school. The purser's office suggests Ratu Naivalu primary school on Waya Island.
When we arrive, the schoolchildren are lined up ready to sing and dance for us, then they tear off their uniforms for shorts and shirts, and we're fought over by fever-pitch kids wanting to show us their rooms. Many are boarders from other islands, even little six-year-old Kolota and cheeky Vida, aged eight. They pose like Kardashians (but with more smiling) beside posters titled "Australian People" on which they've pasted photos of Megan Gale and Dora the Explorer, then wave goodbye to the handful of us who decide to work off our excessive eating regime with a climb up the volcanic range behind the school.
Covered in a slime of sweat and sunscreen, I run back down the ridge and straight into the warm water, fully clothed, to join the headmaster's stately wife, who bobs calmly alongside me, her floor-length cotton print dress ballooning around her. It's said that in the tropics all grievances and gossip are aired underneath the mango tree, but I reckon it all happens in the water. She chats about the 144 students, how they'll go to high school on the main island, Viti Levu, how the school's water tanks are currently empty and of their reliance on government tankers to deliver fresh water.
And on Yanuya Island, a short hop from Tokoriki Island, which TripAdvisor rates the country's best resort, we join a Methodist church service. It's the second service of the day and the wooden church is only half full. A tall woman shares her hymn book with me, and I try to sing along. Even though I don't know the song, and my Fijian falls somewhere between "rusty" and "non-existent", the surge of music is powerful and uplifting.
A recent poll found Fiji is the happiest country in the world, with 93 per cent of those polled describing themselves as either happy or very happy. Sure, no country is perfect, but even despite the weather, this comes pretty close.
TRIP NOTES
MORE INFORMATION
GETTING THERE
Fiji Airways, Jetstar and Virgin Australia fly direct from Sydney to Nadi. Fiji Airways and Virgin Australia fly direct from Melbourne.
GETTING AROUND
Captain Cook Cruises' three-, four- and seven-night Yasawa Island cruises depart weekly from Denarau Marina. Early Bird Saver fares for the three-night cruise start from $996 per person in a twin cabin with bunk beds or from $1200pp in a stateroom, twin share. Children 5-17 years cost from $290 when sharing with adults. See
Belinda Jackson was a guest of Captain Cook Cruises and Fiji Airways.
