February 9, 2016 – Lautoka, Fiji

Since our last posting, we’ve crossed the International Date line, losing a complete day. February 6th did not exist for us. We’ll get the day back when we head eastbound in the North Pacific in April. Stay tuned.

We’re now visiting the Republic of Fiji, a nation consisting of hundreds of volcanic islands in the Melanesian region of the South Pacific Ocean – about 1,100 nautical miles northeast of New Zealand's North Island. We were told that 111 of the islands are permanently inhabited, with a total population of nearly 900,000 people. Its two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, contain the vast majority of the inhabitants, meaning the other islands are sparsely populated.

Yesterday (February 8) Crystal Serenity anchored off-shore near Yasawa-i-Rara, a small village on the long, thin island of Yasawa. This is definitely one of the most remote and unspoiled islands of Fiji. Ginny stayed on the ship, but Jim traveled on one of the first tender boat rides onto the island in the morning. Seas were relatively calm, so it was a pleasant ride from ship to shore. There are seven villages on the island of Yasawa, with a total population of about 600. Of that number, approximately 200 live at Yasawa-i-Rara near the pier where the tender docked. We were told that “i-Rara” means “village of the chief.” It’s actually quite an attractive setting, with a picturesque, white sand beach, palms trees, and clear, shallow tropical water. Jim didn’t go swimming here, but those who did swim reported very warm, pleasant water conditions.

Most of the passengers who went ashore walked down a string of small, primitive homes along the shoreline, where the local people were offering local craft products for sale. Jim was suspicious that some of these goods could have been mass produced in China. He found a small necklace made from a portion of a coconut shell to buy for Ginny, that he was sure must have been made locally.

One of the local men Jim talked to on the island told him that it had been 10 years since a major cruise ship had stopped here. Since the government lifted restrictions on tourism on Yasawa, a resort has opened on the extreme other end of the island from where we were. The local guy told Jim that there are no roads and it would be a long walk. Most native people would take a boat if they wanted to go to another part of the island. One other interesting bit of information is that areas around Yasawa were locales for filming of the 1980 film The Blue Lagoon, starring a young Brooke Shields.

Excitement for that afternoon was the telecast of Super Bowl 50 that we were able to receive on the ship. Yes, because we crossed the Date Line, it was Monday, February 8th for us when we watched the Super Bowl live from California. The game was available for viewing during early afternoon in the Stardust Club, the Hollywood Theatre, or on our stateroom televisions.

That night, the ship slowly cruised 110 miles to the island of Viti Levu and docked at the port city of Lautoka this morning, February 9. Lautoka is Fiji’s second largest city and is known as Sugar City, because it’s the center of Fiji’s sugar industry. Locals claimed that Lautoka’s Sugar Mill is the largest such mill in the Southern Hemisphere.

We signed up for a ship’s excursion tour called, “Private Homes & Gardens Discovery.” The tour started at 8:30, and it was already 92ºF. Fortunately, we were loaded onto a very comfortable, air-conditioned bus for the 45-minute drive to our first stop. We were very lucky to have an excellent tour guide named Sai, who had been leading tours in Fiji for 18 years. He made the trip very interesting – he was so proud of his country and passed along a lot of good information. As we drove along, we saw lots of sugar cane fields, as well as tall, craggy green mountains. Sai pointed out tapioca plants, which he said are a staple along with Taro roots in the native Fijian diet).

The private home we visited – South Seas Home & Gardens – was an 8-acre farm owned by Aileen and Don Burness. The great-great grandson of the original settlers (1864) from Scotland, showed us the family home, describing many of the European antiques brought with them when they emigrated, as well as other Fijian artifacts they’ve collected. The Burness family were pioneers in establishing a cut-flower business (mostly orchids) in Fiji. They now grow acres of orchids and antheriums, which they wholesale to florists and hotels on the island. None are exported internationally. They have inspired many other local growers by acting as agents to sell their products along with their own. After touring the home, we viewed the orchids where they were being grown. We enjoyed listening to a small local group who played island music for us while we were served small snacks (banana bread and tea) outdoors on a patio. We enjoyed the visit primarily because it wasn’t a tourist site, but rather an insight into the life of a single family who had been a part of the island’s history.

The excursion continued to another home – this time an Indian family (from the southern part of India). Currently, 44% of the people living in Fiji are of Indian heritage (while 51% are considered to be indigenous Fijian). The British imported Indians into the islands in the late 1800s to work in the sugar cane fields. These people and their families stayed after their initial labor contracts ended. This part of the tour didn’t go as well as the first. We were supposed to witness how curry, homemade bread (called roti) and dhal soup are made, as well as how to wear a sari, and an opportunity to gain insight into local customs.

Unfortunately, four busloads of people from our ship (on several different tour itineraries) all arrived at this small site at the exact same time. As a result, all they did was put everyone in a single serving line to feed them some curry. We skipped the line and sat on a bench, watching the confusion and listening to a local group playing Indian music which, interestingly, sounded a lot like bagpipes.

In our short visit, the Fijian people we met were warm, hospitable, un-hurried, and good-humored, unlike their cannibal forefathers of earlier times. We understand that cannibalism ended when Fiji became part of the British Empire in 1874.

There have been lots of ongoing activities onboard Crystal Serenity. A highlight for many of us was the World Cruise Special Event Elvis Show in the Galaxy Lounge back on February 5th (before crossing the Date Line). The show featured Simon Bowman (a star in West End theatre in London), along with the Galaxy Orchestra, Astoria Strings, and the Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers – a total of 20 performers on stage. This was a spectacular show, recreating the magic of Elvis Presley in concert. High-energy is the right word to describe Simon Bowman in the starring role. He sang (in costume as Elvis) non-stop for a full hour, putting everything he had into it. Everybody we spoke to said, “Wow, what a show. How did he do that?” He came back three nights later and sang totally different music from Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera (in both of which he had starring roles in London), as well as James Bond movie theme music.

Four more production shows on stage in Galaxy Lounge were also great – “My Life: The Music of Billy Joel”, “Across the Pond”, “Curtain Call”, and “iLuminate: The Tourist.”

Four of the entertainers who have been on board ship left us in Lautoka – Lovena Fox (vocalist), Amy Lee (violinist), John Joseph (comedian), and Simon Bowman (vocalist). We hate to see them go, but we assume replacements will be appearing soon.

The weather is nice enough now that we can eat breakfast outdoors on the at end of the ship. In case you’re interested, we are now 8 hours earlier in time from Florida (on the following day). Example: 10:00 pm on February 9 in Florida is 2:00 pm on February 10 for 

us.

Jim & Ginny