DAY 35---LAUTOKA, FIJI

                                    LAUTOKA ON THE FIJIAN ISLAND OF VITI LEVU

        Our location (yellow arrow in lower right corner).  Mostly sunny in the morning for my tour but clouding up in afternoon and 88 degrees.  My guide thanked us for bringing good weather as it rained here last couple of days.

Historical/Background Info:

        Fiji is 1500 mile due north of Auckland, New Zealand.  We were here on our 2010 & 2017 world cruises also.  Fiji is an archipelago of more than 330 islands, of which about 110 of them are permanently inhabited.  The total population of the islands is 925,000 with 87% of them living on the two major island of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.  A majority of the islands were formed by volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago.  Fiji has one of the most developed economies in the Pacific through its sugar, abundant forest (mahogany trees grown now), mineral, and fish resources.

        The British ruled Fiji from 1874 to 1970 when it was granted its independence.  The British influence still remains as they still drive on the left side of the road and the car’s drivers sit on the right side.

        Today we are visiting Lautoka which is on the west side of the island of Viti Levu and lies in the heart of Fiji’s sugar cane growing region and is known as “Sugar City”.  It is the second largest city in Fiji with a population of 71,600.  The first European sighting of the Lautoka area took place in May 1789 by Captain William Bligh of “Munity on the Bounty” fame.  Back then Fijians were cannibals. The city is the birthplace of PGA golfer Vijay Singh.  We were here in 2010 and 2017 on world cruises back then.

LAST EVENING

                              Sommelier Murphy serving my South African pinotage red wine.

                                  We both had the chicken & vegetable spring roll.  Very good.

                                    We also had the crispy duck ala orange with broccoli.

I also had a baked potato and tried another entree the slow braised pork belly.  We both liked it so will have it as our entree next time it is on the menu.

                                                              Tonight's Christmas tree

                        I had two of the three chocolate profiteroles with chocolate ice cream..

                                            This is Chef Edward the Compass Rose chef.

                                              At the table next to us were all of our friends.

TODAY

Some photos of the market in Lautoka.

                                                            Tour buses ready to go.

We are docked at a commercial pier.  Regent will provide a free shuttle bus into town just a couple miles from the pier.

This is my 3 hour tour today.  The buses were very nice and AIR CONDITIONED!  Our guide said these same buses and guides will be driving to Suva for tomorrow's tours there.

This is our guide Epeli.  Also on my bus was Marge and Greg & Susan Jones.  We have cruised with them before and Greg & Susan are just a few door down from ours.

Exiting the port there were huge piles on pine chips.  They will be loaded on ships and exported to Japan.

      This broken down building was the first sugar cane building dating back to early 1900's.

Sugar cane field.  The plants are good for 10 years then have to be replanted.  Minimum wage here is $4 per hour.

                                                                    Muslim Mosque

                                                  It took us an hour drive to arrive in Nadi.  

This is a Hindu temple.

The bus let us off at a Jack's souvineer store.  I walked around the corner and down the street  to this pharmacy.  I got Rebecca some Nasonex and some antibiotics.  Nasonex in the US sells for $125.  Here I paid $25.  My guide told me to be very careful as Fiji has crime issues.

                                                     Greeters as we entered Jack's.

        Jack's has several different specialty stores.  Across the street was a sports wear store.

                                                              Found him outside a cafe.

                                                               Found her outside Jack's

                                            Marge, Linda, and Susan.  I did not know Linda.

They call this the "sleeping giant".  Can you make it out?  Marcia was taking a tour to a garden there today.  Apparently, there is an orchid garden there.

                                          The 330 Fijian islands were formed from volcanoes.

Roofs on the island are low profile (flat) so as to withstand cyclones (hurricanes in our hemisphere).

Oil and gas are imported here from Australia.

                                         We are arriving at our final stop here at Vuda Marina.

         Our guide must have yelled "Bula" a hundred times today on the bus.  Bula means "hello".

                                       Here we were served fresh fruits and cold drinks.

                                                              Views at the marina

                          Looking out at a mangrove area.  Mangroves can grow in salt water.

Here is where we had a demonstration of coconut husking and offered coconut water and coconut milk.

He is removing the husk from a coconut.  He said "don't try this at home".  The skirt he is wearing is called a "sulu" and normal for men to wear.

Green coconuts is where coconut water comes from.  Coconut milk comes from the more mature brown ones with white meat inside.  He is opening the brown coconut with his hand.  Slamming hand to a certain spot on the coconut.

                      The above two photos show how the pine chips are loaded on ships.

I had this baked salmon with small rice in a pastry for lunch.  I make a better recipe of it at home.  It has sauteed shallots, garlic, spinach and cream cheese in with the salmon then wrapped in pastry.

        The satellite antenna parts and technician showed up today and was working on it this afternoon.  I managed to get all my photos taken today uploaded (above) and put on this blog post before they started working at 1pm.  So I could not work then so took the shuttle bus into town to go to a pharmacy.  There was one close by the shuttle drop off place.  I had what I wanted (except they had no nasonex).  Bill was $40 but they did not take my credit card (their equipment was broken) and I did not have that much cash on me.  So it was a wasted trip.  I will try again tomorrow in Suva as the pier is just next to downtown.  Not sure if I'll have any luck as tomorrow is Sunday.

        Mariner Lounge again for cocktail hour then Compass Rose for dinner.  Last night when Chef John passed by our table I asked if we could have French fried soft shell crabs tonight for our entrees.  Of course he said yes.

                                                Regular Compass Rose menu for tonight

        We will be going to tonight's show as it is featuring Bruce Hammond.  We loved his first show as he is a great singer.

        We are sailing again at 6pm and will be in Suva tomorrow morning by 8am.  It is on the other side of this island.  More about it on tomorrow's post.  There are only two tours offered tomorrow and neither appealed to me.  I will walk into town.

DAY 34---AT SEA IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC

 

        Our position at 11am today getting closer to Fiji.  We are now actually in the Kora Sea of the South Pacific.  It is another overcast hot and humid day with some passing showers.  87 degrees.  We will be sailing around the north then west coast of Fiji tonight as Lautoka, our next port, is on the south west side of the island.

        We have been sailing past many small islands today as there are 332 of them around Fiji.  Only 105 of them are inhabited.  In the distance on this photo is one of the larger ones.

LAST EVENING

                                                                      Mariner Lounge bar

                                              Marge and Marcia joined us for cocktail hour.

           Eddie and Lyn invited these folks for their stuffed lobster dinner.  It was incredible!!

Hosting the table are Eddie & Lyn Zito

     Rebecca and I could only eat half of this.  Very delicious.

                                                          Bread pudding for my dessert.

     

   I went to the show featuring Phil Tag's show.  He was VERY funny and glad I went to see him.

SERENE SPA & FITNESS CENTER

Here are some photos of the spa and fitness center so you have a better idea of what is available to us.

                           In the spa you can have massages of several types by these young ladies.

                                                   Or get your hair cut or mani/pedicures.

                                                           Entrance to fitness center.

                                                                        Spin bikes

                                                           Room for stretch classes

                                                   Stationary bikes and exercise balls

                                                                   Cardio equipment

                                                                           Weights

                                                                 Muscle equipment

TODAY

        So it is Friday as there is no Thursday for us since we crossed the International Date Line last night.  We also moved our clocks back another hour last night so it is now a 6 hour time difference from Central time.  When its 2pm on Thursday in Dallas, its 8am Friday here as an example.

        I called Melissa, our next door neighbor who is watching our house while on this cruise, this morning.  I had prepared a birthday card for my mother's birthday and left it ready to mail on our dining room table.  So I asked her to please put it in the mail now as mom's birthday is on the 16th.  Melissa says the house looks good but there is some ice in the roof valleys where I have heater tapes.  So I turned them back on as I have a wifi app that I can do that from my cell phone. 

        I got an email from a couple who were on our 2022 world cruise and are now on Regent's Voyager now in Ushuaia, Argentina.  He was asking me how the food and service is on Mariner.  He said there are lots of complaints about them on Voyager.  I was happy to report back saying we have not heard even one complaint here on Mariner.  Our food is very good and served hot.  Only complaint is about our internet, or lack thereof most of the time.

        Same routine this morning then lunch up in La Veranda.  Rebecca not able to stream her soaps due to bad internet today.  

        Planning cocktail hour in Mariner Lounge followed by dinner in Compass Rose this evening.  Show tonight is the second show by the violinist so you know we will not be attending it.

        We will be picking up the Lautoka pilot at 5:15 and should be docked by 8am.  I have a 3 hour tour beginning at 8:15.  Gonna be hot but just hope no rain.
 

          

DAY 33---AT SEA IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC

CROSSING THE INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE

Our position today enroute to Fiji.  It is cloudy with rain showers and 83 degrees.  Ocean is smooth again today.

                                                       Some of the rain showers.

INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE

We are crossing the International Date Line today.  It is located at 180 degrees longitude and extends from the North Pole to the South Pole.  It divides the Western and Eastern Hemispheres.  So what does it mean to us??  Well, this is hard to explain or understand.  We will go to bed tonight (Wednesday) and when we get up tomorrow it will be Friday.  We will lose a whole day--no Thursday!!  I told you this was weird.  Can you imagine the people on board with birthdays or anniversaries on Thursday, the 9th. No birthday or anniversary this year.  So are they a year younger???  Also we will be watching the Super Bowl on Monday morning our time just as you are watching it on Sunday evening.

YESTERDAY AFTERNOON

                                                         Touchup painting side of the ship

Lots of painting on our side of the ship this afternoon as we have not docked with our side (port side) next to the pier the last several ports.

Staff Captain Ivan is supervising the painting.  Staff Captains are responsible for the ship's maintenance.

    As we left the pier and the Captain turned the ship around I saw this big tuna processing plant.

LAST EVENING

This is Budi, sommelier in Prime 7, presenting my J. Lohr syrah.

     Dinner at our usual table in Prime 7.  Rebecca had this nice shrimp cocktail to start with.

I had this pan seared diver scallop served on cured pork belly with an orange-pomegranate sauce.  I thought the scallop small and somewhat tough but loved the pork belly.  I also asked for some clam chowder but sent it back and had some vidalia onion soup instead.  The clam chowder was not as good as usual.

Dominic, maitre'd, brought out some uncooked 6 ounce filets for me to select two for our entree.  I then coated the two I selected with the Lawry's lemon pepper we brought with us from home.  The chef cooked them a perfectly medium rare for us.

We also shared some truffle fries (on left), asparagus, and sauteed mushrooms.

Of course I could not resist this popcorn sundae

This is Ross, the resident pianist playing in Mariner Lounge after dinner.

We then went to the theater expecting to hear Bruce Hammond's second show.  It was advertised in Passages, our daily schedule.  We sat on the front row.  But instead of Bruce, this violinist came out to do his show.  We were not happy as we just do not care for instrumentalist shows.  So after his first number we got up and walked out.  Very embarrassing to do it so I will have a chat with the cruise director about it.

TODAY

                            Here are some views of the Prime 7 and Chartreuse restaurants.

                                   Entrance to Prime 7---A steak & seafood restaurant.

                                                      Wine display just after entering.

                                                          Looking in from entrance.

                                                          Photo to right side at entrance.

                                   Photo to left side.  This restaurant is larger than Chartreuse.

   A glimpse into the Prime 7 kitchen.  It is to the side of the restaurant.  The chef is in doing some prep work at 2pm.

                                                                 Entrance to Chartreuse

                  It is a smaller venue.  We do not care for French cooking so do not dine here.

  

        After our room service breakfast and treadmill time I did some more work on this post while Rebecca watched some of her Young and Restless streaming before it stopped.  Our internet is still bad.  There is an internet hotspot on the hallway ceiling about 20 feet from our suite but I have to keep our suite door blocked open with our trash can to get the signal.  Cus, the internet manager, is going to check the hotspot strength later today.  He is hoping for the internet satellite antenna repair parts and technician to be in Suva, Fiji, on Sunday to fix the internet.

        Eddie Zito stopped by this morning and invited us to join them in Compass Rose this evening for another of their special recipe crab stuffed lobster dinner.  YUMMY!

                                                   Tonight's regular Compass Rose menu

For lunch in La Veranda I had some fried shrimp, turkey schnitzel, beef goulash, and roasted potatoes.

        Our travel agency, Pavlus Travel, is part of a travel group called "Distinctive Voyages".  There is a host of theirs on board this segment who is hosting a reception in Stars Lounge at 6pm with cocktails and canapes.  Mike called me a few days ago to welcome us.  He said there is about 90 passengers who are part of this group.  Not sure yet if we will be attending this evening.  There will also be an exclusive shore event for the group when on Vanatu on the 15th.  It is a special 5 hour tour with local Kastom dances, BBQ lunch, and visit to the local markets.  We will be doing this tour.

        Tonight is Phil Tag's (comedian) second show.  Rebecca probably will not go but I may.  Sit at the back for a quick exit if need be.