Musket Cove is on the island of Malolo Lailai, which was once an uninhabited island. It is a large resort with a small marina and mooring field, and so it was a bit of a culture shock to arrive after our recent more remote adventures. Even the Fijians who work there seemed caught up in Western Ways, too busy for a smile and a conversation. The woman at the yacht club was all business and obviously Tim was also feeling my need to slow down because he smiled a big smile at her and asked where in Fiji she’s originally from. She smiled, and it was like a switch was flipped as she told us she was from Kadavu and we were able to tell her that we had been there, but not to her actual village though. So, maybe it’s not that the Fijians are too busy for a conversation it’s just that most of their western patrons are too busy to care.
Yacht Club. Apparently, the owner of the resort has a soft spot for yachties, and there is a “yacht” club that costs only $10 to join for life, and in order to join you had to arrive by boat in Fiji from a foreign port. Joining gave us access to basically ALL of the resort amenities. So, we took advantage our last day with the Bellinis and enjoyed an expensive lunch and expensive beers, but on the plus side we also enjoyed nice beaches, the pool, hot showers, and Robin even went to a basket weaving class. Overall, this was a really good deal.
Ice cream after lunch at Musket Cove
Ferry Service. There is a high-speed passenger ferry, The Malolo Cat, that runs several times a day between Musket Cove and Port Denarau on the mainland of Viti Levu. So, the Bellinis took that back rather than hauling up Exodus and motoring upwind for a few hours. Also, we used this ferry service when my mom arrived. Mom took a taxi from Nadi airport to Port Denarau, and I took the ferry from Musket Cove to meet her there. Then we both took the ferry back together. You get a pretty good discount on the Ferry being a Musket Cove Yacht Club member.
Malolo Cat ferry
Provisioning. Provisioning at Musket Cove was very, very limited. There is a small grocery store with limited produce and overpriced dried and canned goods. We were still pretty well stocked up from Suva, so we just topped up to have enough to get through the next couple weeks. They did have fresh bread and eggs, so that was nice for us.
One day when I was in the store with mom I was piling potatoes, really nice small golden ones, into a bag when behind me I hear a lady say, “well, I guess we won’t be having potatoes tonight.” My first thought was, “What a passive aggressive bitch!” but then I turned around and told her if she’d like some go ahead. But then she said, “No, no, go ahead, you take them all.” OK, I thought it again, “what a passive aggressive bitch!” but I didn’t take them all. She was obviously not a cruiser.
Laundry. There is a very small do-it-yourself laundry facility with two washers and two dryers. However, you don’t put coins or tokens into them yourself, rather you go to the store and pay for the laundry you want to do, and then at their convenence, someone from the store will come and start the washer or dryer for you. This was kind of a pain because sometimes you had to wait quite awhile for someone to come after you paid. I learned that with the dryers, if you unplugged them and then plugged them back in you could start them yourself, so I ended up taking advantage of this. Not that I skipped out on paying, I always paid for the laundry I did, but I just didn’t wait for them to come start it for me.
Trails and Running. My favorite part of musket cove was the circuit of trails they had all around the island, up and over hills, and flat around the periphery. We weren’t there long enough to get into any sort of routine, but I enjoyed the running opportunity a few times while we were.
Pools. My second favorite part of Musket Cove was the pool. Not that I spent any time in the water, it was just fun to relax resort style at a pool for a while. After a grueling haul-out at Vuda Point (a marina on the mainland) and working their butts off, our friends on Nautilus, who rarely slow down enough to just relax for a day, hung out with us by the pool one afternoon. Good times.
Gresham Family Exodus 