TURTLE RECALL

Reconnecting with Fiji after many years, Kirstie Clements disembarks on tiny, sustainably run, astonishingly beautiful Turtle Island, which instantly conjures memories of The Blue Lagoon

WELCOME HOME.” It’s the first thing the hotel staffer says as my husband and I disembark from the seaplane onto the beach on Turtle Island, Fiji. Mama Laite gives me a long hug and drapes shell necklaces around our necks. “I will be your Bure Mama during your stay,” she tells us, smiling. Our luggage has been whisked away, as have our shoes. As it turns out, I will not give the wearing of shoes another thought until I leave the island a week later, and then it will be reluctantly. Mama leads us up the beach to our bure, as she and I get straight into talking about the important stuff, like our children, our favourite colours of hibiscus and, oh, where would my husband and I like to have dinner tonight, on the beach, a private terrace or a pontoon?