Lautoka, Fiji – February 18

not an ideal setting for breakfast!

Mostly cloudy, 32 degrees

We made it to Fiji and passed all of the clearance requirements. We had been told to expect clearance to take until about 1PM, but around 9:30AM we were free to leave the ship. Although the ship as cleared way ahead of schedule, the tour timing wasn’t changing. We considered going into town via a shuttle bus but decided against that.

stormy clouds and industrial port

While I didn’t break my breakfast on the balcony routine, the location and scenery left a bit to be desired! It was loud from the buses and industrial port and a bit stinky – smelled like coal, but I’m not sure. It rained a bit which was all there was for charm.

Once we did get going we went to the town of Nadi for a tour. Another thing we were told to expect in Fiji was buses without AC. We’ve been

sleeping giant

on non-AC buses in other places in the world (India) and it’s not ideal, but we cope. In the end the buses were great, well, not great, but they were air conditioned and we had seats to our selves.

The drive from Lautoka to Nadi was about an hour. All the while the guide gave us info about Fiji. We had one photo stop along the way to see the “Sleeping Giant”. The Sleeping Giant is a mountain that looks like…you guessed it…a sleeping giant. These mountains are very similar to the ones in French

Sri Siva Subramaniya Hindu Temple

Polynesia…not super tall, covered in vegetation and coming right out of the ocean (mostly).

We made one more photo stop before arriving in Nadi…The largest Hindu temple in the southern hemisphere - Sri Siva Subramaniya Hindu Temple. This being a photo stop

basket from coconut fronds

we didn’t close at all, and although the guide gave us loads of info about other things, we didn’t learn much about this place.

Getting off of the bus in Nadi was for shopping – we knew this. It was only 30 minutes and there were washroom facilities. We aren’t shoppers, so this was almost 30 minutes too long, but it was interesting to see what was for sale. Our guide told us there was a spot to have a beer, but we didn’t find it. Chris considered buying a beer shirt but figured we should only buy beer shirts for beer we’ve actually tried…no beer…no shirt – maybe tomorrow.

coconut husking

Our last stop was at Vuda Marina, a small resort on the water. It was very peaceful, we could have spent a lot longer here. After a traditional Fijian serenade, we had a snack of fruits while watching a coconut-husking demonstration and basket weaving demo. We also had a fresh coconut to sip. We were warned about the laxative properties of sipping fresh coconut…we weren’t worried. We’ve had this warning before and have not felt any affects.  

Most of today’s tour was panoramic. While these types of tours seem to be for people with limited mobility, they are good

it really was delicious

for seeing a lot of things in a short amount of time. While we weren’t off the bus much today, we saw a lot of the island. We saw schools – we were in Nadi when school let out and kids were running around in their uniforms. We saw a sugar factory – a large part of the Fijian economy and the biggest employer in Lautoka. We watched kids playing in their yards in front of houses on the road our bus drove down. We saw tons of goats, a few cows, horses, but surprisingly no chickens!

Fiji is more rural than I anticipated. I didn’t expect lots of development, I’m not exactly sure what I expected, but I’m surprised by the ruralness of it.

lovely spot

Bus tours (panoramic or not) are also excellent for learning information about the country from the guide – a guide can make or break a tour lots of the time.

We lucked out with the weather today. There were at least 4 downpours throughout the day that we were either under cover eating

we did it

lunch during or on the bus.