Andrew Stone
checks into Matangi Island resort, Fiji
Location: Matangi is a small, lovely Fijian island about 350km northeast of Nadi. The resort is a high-end, kid-free destination, which stretches along a tropical beach.
Getting there: If time is not an issue, you could catch the overnight ferry from Suva to Savusavu, which doesn’t offer cabins but space on the deck. Then you’d face a four-hour bus ride, another boat trip to Taveuni, a 30-minute bus trip and another boat. We went by plane from Nadi to Taveuni, got a transfer to Qeleni landing and hopped on the resort’s launch for the final 20-minute trip.
Check-in: Something else. As we waded ashore in the bath-warm water, staff gathered under a coconut tree and joined in a welcome song. Christene Douglas, whose family has owned the island since the late 1800s and who runs the 100ha property with her dad Noel, was among them. She told us we were booked into a treehouse.
The treehouse: One of three at the resort, our shelter for the night was a hut attached to a huge rain tree. A tap at the foot of two flights of stairs delivered fresh water to wash sand from your feet. The hut had a large deck, a small lounge with a sofa and bar fridge, a bedroom with four-poster bed, wraparound mosquito net and small air conditioning unit, a bathroom with Fiji Pure products and through a backdoor, an outdoor shower with a dolphin mosaic on the floor and 2m high volcanic rock walls for privacy. Off to the side was a Jacuzzi, but that seemed a step too far with the beach barely 20m from the deck. Inside the hut the wooden walls were dark and cool. All the windows had netting, through which carried the sounds of birds in the trees.
The neighbourhood: A hut was somewhere up the back and an oceanfront bure apparently 30m further along the sandy track in front of the deck. They had guests but l didn’t hear a thing. What was intriguing was the sound of a cow. Except it wasn’t a cow, it was the ruve or Pacific pigeon. The bird makes a throaty purr. It sounded like a cattle yard but it was the jungle. I did, though, spot a wild goat skipping along the track and a vivid bune, an orange fruit dove that makes a “tock, tock” sound.
Exercise facilities: You can scramble up a slippery bush track to the ridge that runs the length of Matangi. In 100 per cent humidity it doesn’t take long to get up a sweat. The sea is another option, with coral close to shore. We shot round by boat to Horseshoe Bay, which Patricia Shultz lists in her book 1000 Places to See Before You Die. It’s a sliver of sand set in the remnants of a U-shaped volcanic bay. The bush drops down to the turquoise water and those goats wander the beach. There’s a hut with a platform, suspended by ropes, which sways gently. You get the bay and a picnic hamper and a chilled Marlborough sauvignon blanc all to yourselves for the afternoon. Perfect. And we squeezed in half an hour of snorkeling over a 30m coral reef. A turtle swam past and the water teemed with small tropical fish.
The food: Up there in quality. I tried quinoa porridge at breakfast and rack of lamb for dinner. The coconut icecream at lunch was delicious. They have cold beer, blend tropical cocktails and feature New Zealand wines. It’s five stars from me.
Any surprises: One of the black and white historic photographs in the immense dining room showed a necklace of human teeth. It’s a reminder that in this neck of the woods, the Taveunian warriors had a fearsome reputation. In an aviary, a handful of rescued fruit bats hang upside down while their wounds recover. The bats were collected by staff after being knocked about in a monster storm. One of them was a friendly critter and clambered down the net for a sniff and to be stroked. Sileni, who was showing us around, said one bat enjoyed being rocked like a baby. Who’s there: Mostly Americans, with a scattering of honeymooners. The US dollar puts the place in closer reach to them than to us, especially with the strong Fijian dollar. Mega-retailer Costco does travel deals for these folks, which helps when an overnight stay is upwards of $1000.
The bottom line: Patricia Shultz got it spot-on. Contact: matangiisland.com