Day 23-24 (Feb13-14)

After Tonga refused our ship, the captain decided to go to Fiji one day earlier. We added an extra tour on Feb 13 to see traditional a Fiji village in the inner island. When the ship arrived at Fiji on the morning of Feb 13, the ship stopped 20 miles outside Fiji port. We knew something was not right. The captain announced that anyone embarking at Tahiti would need to fill out the healthy form before anyone disembarked. After an additional health inspection by Fiji government, we got off the ship around 11:30 AM, two hours later than scheduled. Our original tour was cancelled but we were very happy to be on the land again.

Once on the shore, we booked snorkeling with a local company. With $30 each person, they took us to a beach next to Intercontinental Resort. We paid $10 each for the equipment.  Since we were not used to snorkeling and scared of water, we paid another $20 each for a local guy to take us into the water. We felt we were rip off for that service but we were glad to have someone else with us in water. Finally, we did see FISHES in south pacific!

Next day (Feb 14), we were on the Garden of the Sleeping Giants tour. The garden is very nice, started by an American actor. We also did a quick walk up to two lookout views to have a panorama view of the island. The air temperature was 90 F with 95% humidity. It was hot and uncomfortable. Then we went to visit a Fiji village. We participated in a kava ceremony. Kava is a traditional drink made from a kava roots. After the ceremony, they offered us the drink. One of us tried it. This is not much taste and your mouth feels a little numb. The whole thing is very commercialized. After the tour, we went back to the ship to have a quick lunch and then took a shuttle provided Crystal to downtown.

Lautoka is the second largest city in Fiji. We visited a central marketplace selling vegetable, seafoods, fruits, etc. There is a large population of Indians in Fiji. They came there to help sugar plantation many years ago then they stayed. 

The ship was decorated with Valentine’s Day theme today. There were several dance parties throughout the night. The ship left Lautoka at 5:30 pm. Once the ship was in open water, it met high waves and >40 kts wind. Both us felt seasick again. After dinner, we went to bed and skipped all the night activities.