Pacific Dawn Cruise/Tahiti - Fiji

We awoke through the night and thought the ship had stopped, as it was so calm and still. Our wonderful captain was early again so must have slowed down. We went out on deck about 7am to see land as we were being guided into Savu Savu harbour. A pretty town of the Island of Vanua Levu in Fiji. Green hilly mountains and many yachts in the harbour. The water is very murky, not the lovely clear blue we have become accustomed too. After brekky we boarded the second tender and arrived at ‘The Copra Shed’ marina. We had nothing planned for the day, just a wander around the town.
The main street is very small with a few shops, mainly Indian owned and selling all the same stuff, no bargains here!! We found a cafe called ‘Bula Re’ so went in and had a lovely fresh orange juice. The view of the harbour was lovely. Walked down the main street, it was very very hot!! We decided to check out the hot springs on our way to the Hot Springs Hotel. Bit of a let down, just a hot stream where locals were cooking food. We felt sorry for the passengers who had booked a tour here, as its only a 5 minute walk from the marina. A short hot walk up the steep hill and we were at the Hot Springs Hotel, an old hotel with a bit of charm. We bought a soft drink and had a lovely swim in their pool. Then the tour buses started to arrive so it was our cue to leave. Poor people who had paid for a tour here!! Walked further up the street to a Pearl shop, their Pearls were way expensive and not as nice as we have seen. We stopped into ‘The Planters Club’ and had a local beer for $2.50, a nice spot and a cool breeze. Walked back to the marina, looking at the market stalls along the way. It was about 2pm so headed back to the ship for a late lunch and afternoon nap. The tender queue was long so we enjoyed and ice cream while we waited and listened again to the whingers who all had a better system of getting passengers back on board.
As I write this I am sitting on the rear deck, sun is setting over the water, which is so calm. Savu Savu didn’t blow us away, but we didn’t expect it too after Tahiti!! Suva tomorrow, so an earlyish start.

Docked in at Suva Wharf at about 7am. We didn’t get up early to watch our entry as we knew there was nothing to see here. Suva was just as smelly and dirty as it was 25 years ago.
We got of the ship, put our heads down and walked to the Budget car rental place about a 10 minute walk from the ship, all the way being tooted by taxi’s. Picked up our rental car for the day, they upgraded us to a 4 door Suzuki, had airconditioning and a radio, for $59 FD, was better than a rip off P&O tour. I didn’t need a Fiji license to drive here either.
It only took 10 minutes before we were out of Suva and heading towards the Coral Coast, on the south west side of the island. Our plan was to drive as far as Korotogo, then sight see on the way back. It is a lovely drive, they have had lots of rain so many pot holes and the speed limit is 80 k’s and 50 through the villages.
We reached Korotogo, an area there called the Sunset Strip. We wanted to go and see the ‘Bedarra Inn’, the hotel we had booked to stay in when we had planned our Thelma and Louise overnighter. The lady there Yasmin remembered us and offered to show us around and in the rooms. It’s a lovely little hotel with a restaurant and bar and pool opposite the beach. Went up the road a bit and had lunch at ‘Le Cafe’, a little place on the waterfront. I realised Andy and I had been there in 2004!! I had fish and chips and Geri had a lovely Chicken curry and rice. We met 2 girls who do the hairbraiding and massage next door, they came over to talk with us. They were so funny, and they taught us some new words. As most of you know Bula in Fiji means Hello, and everywhere you go you hear Bula Bula.........well they taught us Bula Bula Bula Bullshit!! So as we were driving away Geri yelled it out the window to them, much to their laughter!
Back in the car, we drove 5 minutes up the road to the Outrigger Hotel, a huge 5 star resort. We walked through the main lobby and had a wander around the hotel, very nice!! Heading back towards Suva we stopped at a handicraft place and bought some t shirts etc. Geri found the old hotel she had stayed at many years ago with her sister when she was 12. It has fallen down now, and only the stone walls remain, but bought back memories and goosebumps seeing it that way.
On the drive home we drove through the entrance of a few resorts we had seen on the internet to check them out. Called into the Arts and Craft village at Pacific Harbour on the way back. Not much to see there, same same shops selling same same things very touristy. We had to have the car back by 4pm, the traffic was a little busy with school buses etc, so was a slow drive back to Suva. Handed the car back after we had filled it with $30 petrol. The day had cost us, $59 for the car, $22 for insurance and $30 for petrol, so around $100 for the two of us for a great day out of Suva. The weather wasn’t so good, we had bit of rain and it was overcast, but still hot.
We grabbed a taxi back to the ship and were dropped at the Handicraft markets near the ship. I had been looking at some nice handcarved wooden bowls and bought one from here from a lovely Fijian man, For those that haven’t been to Fiji, and Suva in particular, there is a very large Indian population. The Indians are rude and pushy, will follow you, hassle you and con you into their shops. Ignore them and don’t make eye contact. I will only buy from Fijians in Fiji, most are kind and polite and will not hassle you. Keep your bags close to your body and don’t wear flashy jewellery. It is not a safe place, but then there are not many large cities in the world that are, it’s just common sense.

Back on board, we sat out on our back deck with Donna, John and Alarna and watched as we pulled out of the harbour, nothing scenic here, although we have been spoilt with our other sailaways! Dinner with Noel and Jenny in the steakhouse tonight, what a feed!! Heaps of food and well worth the $20 surcharge for the extra service and peace.
We were both buggered so headed to bed early tonight, only 2 more ports then home to winter...............

I awoke this morning and said, “I’m not going ashore today”. I wasn’t feeling well and just wanted quiet day onboard. Geri still went with our plan to visit the resort in Denaru. Sh jumped on the Bula bus and had a great day visiting the resorts for a swim and drink. I spent the day hopping in and out of the pool, lazing around and reading.when Geri arrived back we sat on the back deck and had a beer for Sailaway. Another early night ready for our early morning at our final stop Dravuni Island.

Today is our last port, so up early as we didn’t want to miss any of it!! We arrived at Dravuni Island, a small island south of the main Island of Vitu Levu Fiji. The day appeared to be cloudy but it was still hot. Tom had wandered down during breakfast and got us first tender tickets. It was a 10 minute ride over, where a floating wharf had been set up. The island has a large sandy beach fronting it, with palm trees. There is a small village in the centre and the locals allow visitors to wander through their village. They had set up stalls selling sarongs, necklaces and tshirts, massage areas and tea coffee and cakes. There is also a small school and when we arrived they were having assembly, so cute!
We asked a local where the best snorkelling was and he said up near the rock, so Geri I began walking along the beach. Once there we realised that due to heavy rain and bad seas the snorkelling wasn’t going to be too good today. We wandered back a bit and found a nice shady spot under a tree (made sure there were no coconuts in it!!). I decided to don the snorkel gear and test the waters. After I had navigated my way through the mass of weed I began slowly swimming out to clearer water. The water was so murky I had a head on with a large bit of coral! Back to shore for me, after the beautiful underwater scenery we had seen already in Tahiti I wasn’t going to waste the day paddling around. We laid around for a bit then wandered to the main area where we caught up with Donna and John, Alarna was having her hair braided. John and Donna had become friends with the school teacher from previous visits and had organised a boat trip through her and asked if we wanted to join them, of we said Yes! Another lady sitting close by said she wanted to come too, so we gathered our snorkel gear and waded into the water to a longtail type boat. There were two bench seats at the back and middle and two plastic garden chairs sitting towards the front!! John had asked the local to take us to the reef where the snorkelling was supposed to be good. It was a long way out, we passed the ship, and kept going and going the waves getting higher..........finally he landed us a good spot and we got the gear on and jumped in, and that was the easy part...........the sea was choppy and it was deep ocean water, but we found some coral formations and lots of nice coloured fish, although it was a fight to swim and stay on course with large waves crashing around overhead. When we decided we had all had enough we swam back to the boat, where our little local was waiting. Now........getting back into the boat was going to take some effort, as there was no ladder. The boat was quite high out of the water and with large waves dipping it up and down, mmm....I was first and as John was still snorkelling, I tried to push up on the side of the boat, I got to a point where I was out of the water and my arms were straight, but only my boobs were over the side of the boat!! So we decided to get Alarna in first as she was the lightest, once in she could help haul us in. I had another attempt, but I was laughing so much, I just couldn’t get the strength. Then the driver said we will count 1,2,3, but when I counted 2 he counted 3 haha!! At last I got half my torso over the side of the boat, I hung there in limbo for a bit, with Alarna pulling one arm and the driver the other, I swung one leg over the side, poor Donna was down in the water and got an eyefull, lucky I had that Brazilian before I left!! I landed in the boat like a beached whale pissing myself laughing, Geri said she could hear me laughing underwater. Next was Donna’s turn, took her as many attempts, John was there now, trying to give legs ups from the water, with Alarna and I hauling Donna over the side, Donna landed like a whale too with her head in between my legs!! Then Geri was next, we all laughing so hard, with four of us now on the boat hauling her over, she landed, belly down like a fish!! Now the poor lady we didn’t know was starting to panic, there was only her and John in the water, Geri said lets get her in with as much dignity as we can, we got her half in before she fell back into the water again, the second attempt we had her half over, we were determined not to let her go, I said to John “Give her behind a big push” so the poor lady had John pushing her behind and all of us grabbing different parts of her, she made it in and we all had a good laugh. Even John had difficulty, although he climbed up the back near the motor. Our driver took us for a cruise around the islands nearby before landing us back on the beach. We were still laughing and thought it was well worth the $20 each for the hour of fun.
Geri and I were feeling a bit peckish, so for $5 had the local BBQ plate of a sausage, some kind of large chop which we joked must have been dog........and little bit of coleslaw and a piece of taro (like potato) then we tried a scone, a large cake looking thing and a lemon slice. The local ladies had gone to a bit of trouble today to cook up some food. I had a massage by John and Donna’s friend Mose’s wife of the school teacher, a 10 minute neck and shoulder massage for $10, well worth it he was very good, although I smelled a bit like coconuts and olive oil on the trip back! Back on board, we jumped in the spa and ordered a Beverly Hills iced tea (made with sparkling wine, not coke).
We ordered a bucket of Corona’s as this was our last sailaway...boohoo!! Donna and John were in the spa and Noel and Jenny stopped by for a chat as well as John and Haiati, yes, everyone knows where to find us!! We had decided earlier that we were going to have movie night in the cabin as there were a couple of movies we wanted to see, so after showers and putting some washing on, bought back a plate of cheese and bikkies and settled in the watch Fools Gold at 5.30pm with our beers. At 7pm, we went up to the buffet for dinner, then back down the the cabin to watch The Bucket List with our dessert, ah life is tough!! Manage to keep out eyes open for the entire movie, there is now a 3-4 metre swells so a lot of movement happening.