Nudey Beach

Thursday 28^th August 2014.

2^nd day at complete leisure. So what do we do? After another very leisurely breakfast, (when we sadly farewelled Aline who is going ‘off island’ for a few days and won’t be back till after we leave) we trek around to Nudey Beach, Nudey in name only – it’s not a nude beach! By no means as bad as hiking to the summit yesterday but our legs did not appreciate being made to work even the slightest bit. Again, worth the effort, it’s the only sand beach on the island, but you still have to pick your way through the broken coral piled up on the high tide mark, so reef shoes came in handy again. It got deep rather quickly, so even on a lower tide it would be a good place to swim and/or snorkel. The coral is not spectacular but there are many and varied fish of all sizes. It’s more exposed to wind and tide so we were worried that we’d freeze when we got out but it was ok. We used the current to our advantage too, we went into the water fairly close to the point headed straight out to the reef then just drifted on the current and back into shore. Much less effort. The underwater video camera got a workout again, had a quick check after lunch, I think we got some worthwhile footage. The water temperature was a bit cool but fine once you were in.

Lunch at Foxy’s was the plan and as it was getting on for midday and we had a 20min trek back to ‘civilisation’ we dried off and packed up. A pre lunch drink (of course) and then we ordered a small serve of salt and pepper calamari, a dish by which I judge an establishment. This dish did not disappoint, it was extremely tender and if we were here longer, we’d have it again. Half a kilo of prawns finished us off and that was lunch.

The only other spot to snorkel that we hadn’t tried was out the front of Foxy’s, so that was our après-lunch activity. Let me say right here and now – there is no need to trek over to Nudey! Unless you want to lay on the sand in the sun. No thanks! This will be our one and only snorkel spot on Fitzroy. It drops away quickly like Nudey so it will be good in any tide, possibly even slightly better on a lower tide. At one point I was swimming along in the middle of a school of zebra fish! So cool! Eventually it started to get cold, another reason to work on getting into a wetsuit, so we had to call it a day and head for home.

I think we actually had a half hour of doing nothing! After we downloaded the latest photos and video. Then before you know it, it’s Happy Hour time at Foxy’s! Which, by the way, is THE place to watch the sun set.

Dinner at Zephyr’s was another seafood buffet and tonight prawns were added to the bugs and oysters. So, not wanting to offend our hosts, we got stuck in! The oysters were different to the ones we had the other night and I thought they were nicer, so I had a few. Trevor thought he’d died and gone to heaven – there were ribs too!

Now might be a good time to pay compliment to the waitstaff at Zephyr’s who have made a big contribution to how much we enjoyed this holiday. I got the impression that Illy was the leader and she certainly led the way with her welcoming Samoan warmth. We talked mostly with Aline, who is from France, and Jade an Aussie. They were both so much fun, Aline is planning a trip back to France and Jade and her boyfriend are toying with the idea of chucking in their jobs and backpacking in Asia, so we were able to give her the name of a good guide in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Taylah is a petite little flower child, but don’t let appearances fool you, she’s got a quick wit and knows how to use it! Brittany, another Aussie completed the team. They were all so friendly and happy and worked really hard to make sure all the guests had everything they needed.