Hi, everyone!
After Tonga, we cruised west to the biggest island in Fiji, Viti Levu. Our first stop was on the northwest side of the island, at Lautoka. We had the morning free to walk around town. Lautoka is in a sugar cane growing area, and the tracks for the sugar cane trains run right down the middle of the main street! We stopped at the local market to see what the local crops were. There were lots of roots I didn’t recognize, some pounded into flour. I think they are cassava. We stopped at the local post office to mail more postcards to my friends, then we saw a poster for the New Zealand Blacks team. South Pacific warriors stick out their tongues to look fierce! It is very warm and humid in Lautoka, so I was glad to go back to the MS Marina for lunch!
In the afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa took me on an island adventure! We took a small boat from the main dock out to a little island inside the barrier reef. Savala Island has lots of fun things to do! I posed in the pirate picture, then I lay in the sun in a bean bag chair under a round thatched canopy. After that, I tried the kayaks, too! Grandma and Grandpa went snorkeling, but I got to see the coral from a glass bottom boat without getting wet at all! We saw lots of blue starfish!
When it was time for afternoon tea, we had tea and fruit and cake. Then the crew of Oolala, the boat that took us there, played guitars and sang for us. Guess what? They sang “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” especially for me! And my new friend Tigger was on the adventure, too! After all that attention, I needed to take a rest on another bean bag! Then I made friends with a cousin of Monster Rock as the tide came in. We took the boat back to Lautoka just as the sun was setting. I had a lot of fun on my adventure!
During the night, the MS Marina cruised around Viti Levu to the biggest city in Fiji, Suva. We got there just as the sun was rising. We were on the wrong side of the boat to see the sunrise from our balcony, but look at the pretty rainbow we saw, instead! After breakfast, we went exploring in Suva. We went to the native handicrafts market to look for Christmas ornaments. A very nice grandma told me all about tapa cloth! Then we took a walk along the shore. The water is so clean that there are colorful reef fish right next to the breakwall! While we were walking, we met a reporter and photographer from the Fiji Times who wanted to know about our cruise. Maybe this time, our interview will get used!
In the afternoon, we took a bus ride up into the hills behind Suva to Colo-I-Suva national park. The park has a series of waterfalls and pools and is very pretty! Colo-I-Suva is in a tropical rain forest with lots of vines and trees, but we had sunshine while we were there. I was glad Grandma helped me on the path, because there were lots of slippery, big steps!
When we got to the lower falls and pool there, we were all hot and sweaty from our hike. Grandma went swimming in the pond and said it was very refreshing. My new friend Wilton was on the hike, so we sat by the pool and watched the swimmers. There was a rope hanging from a tree, so people could swing out over the pool and drop in! We had to walk back to where we started to board our bus for the trip back. I wanted to play in the playground by the parking lot, but it was locked and had barbed wire around the fence. I guess they don’t want little lions in their playground! When we stopped for tea at a nearby eco resort, though, the tiki was very friendly to me! I was tired after all the hiking and happy to get on the bus again to go back to MS Marina!
MS Marina set sail right after we got back. The pilot boat came out to show the captain how to get MS Marina safely through the barrier reef and back to open sea. By the time the sun was setting, we were cruising through rain showers, but we could still see some color in the sky! When Grandma and Grandpa went to dinner, my crew member friend gave me more ideas of things to do. First, I reminded Grandma and Grandpa that we were moving through another time zone and had to turn our clocks back again. Then my crew friend showed me how to order room service!
Today we are at sea all day, on our way to Noumea, New Caledonia. That’s the last island stop before we get to Australia. We won’t get to Noumea until sometime tomorrow, and today is cloudy and rainy. That’s a perfect time to do some laundry!
This afternoon, we had a very special tea time! The Gala Tea was very fancy! There was a chocolate castle and some ice sculptures! I made friends with a fish ice sculpture! There were so many sweets that the waiters had to learn their names before tea service started! Look at all the fancy sandwiches and tortes the chefs and bakers made for tea today! And guess what? My friends Seumus, Leech, Mappo and Tiny came, and so did Wilton! It was fun to see them all together again! I helped Grandma pour her green tea, and then I had to pick which sweets I wanted to eat. It was a hard choice, but I really liked the Russian pistachio cream torte! The string quartet played Tchaikovsky ballet music today and I told them how much I enjoyed their music. A cloudy rainy day without a sunrise or sunset can be nice on MS Marina when there’s a Gala Tea on board!
Love,
Lion-san
It looks like you had quite an adventure what with the glass bottom boat, the trip to the rain forest park, the market, the crew that sang your favorite song and getting back through the reef. The tea sounded really good and all those goodies to eat. Moose-san was envious.