January 21, 2026 Lautoka, Viti Levu, Fiji Islands

The change to the schedule had the ship arrive a day and a half early, giving an added bonus of the ship being docked overnight in Lautoka on Viti Levu, Fiji.

The sky was sunny this morning, temperature 26°C, Wind ESE 8 km/hr and humidity 83%.

We were awake in time to have breakfast in the dining room with a couple from Pensacola, Florida who had lived in North Dakota. It was a surprise to find that there was a long line to get tour stickers that stretched past the Casino and Billboard Onboard (about 35 meters) and we were 25 minutes early. There were a lot of excursions leaving between 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. There were tours to snorkel, swim, kayak, zip-line, explore a cave, hike in sand dunes, visit Bula Coffee HQ, thermal mud baths & hot springs, Raymond Burr’s Garden of the Sleeping Giant, Sabeto village, Nadi city or Kula Eco & Wildlife Park.

About 200 people, divided into five buses, chose the excursion to Nadi along the Kings Highway with views of sugar cane fields and grazing cattle and horses. Our knowledgable guide was Kamini and Isiah was our driver.

Bula means Hello, a pronunciation like Pee-nau-kah means Thank You and a pronunciation like Ee-oh means Yes. The first people to inhabit Fiji arrived about 3,500 years ago, known as the Lapita people, ancestors of indigenous iTaukei people. The British occupied the island from 1874 to 1970 and introduced sugar cane plantations bringing to Fiji indentured labourers from India to work on the plantations until 1916, some stayed in Fiji. Cannibalism was practiced in Fiji until Christian missionaries arrived and the custom soon vanished.

Lautoka is the second largest city in Fiji and is known as the “Sugar City” because of its 100 year old sugar mill which is still in operation.

The Port of Lautoka is unusual as it is located on the open Bligh Water, not the usual bay or harbour.

Tourism is a major industry with over one billion visitors in 2024. Exports are Fiji water and Kava to other islands and the states. The Fiji military sends 500 soldiers to the middle east annually for peacekeeping.

Fiji encompasses over 330 islands. The largest islands are Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, which account for most of the nation’s land mass and population. Next in size are Taveuni and Kadavu islands, then groups the Mamanuca Islands (20), the Yasawa Islands (20), the Lomaiviti Islands (7) all not far from Viti Levu island. The Lau Islands (60) are closer to Tonga.

Fiji has 14 provinces with Suva, also on Viti Levu, as its capital. The provinces are grouped into administrative divisions - Central, Eastern, Northern, Western.

Each village with a Christian church and the whole Christian population attend church on Sundays at 10 a.m. School is free including university. Once a person is employed after university, they must repay their tuition to the government. Familiar businesses that we saw were IGA grocery stores, McDonalds and Burger King.

Explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to find the island in the 1643 and in the last quarter of the 18th century, James Cook passed by in 1774 and Captain Bligh 1789 (Mutiny on the Bounty) mapped some of the islands. The main languages are English, Fijian, Fiji dialects and Hindi, due to the large Indo-Fijian population. The Indian population in Fiji owns a majority of the island’s businesses. Unleaded gas in Fiji is $3.24 per litre (about $2 Cdn/litre). The newer houses are built using concrete blocks rather than wood, to stand up to the winds of cyclones. 86% of the land is owned by Fijians and can be leased for 99 years to built businesses and homes, 8% of the land is owned by the government with the remaining 6% being freehold. Mel Gibson owns an island, which is freehold, where cattle are raised. Canadian actor Raymond Burr (Perry Mason / Ironside) owned land where he developed an orchid garden that he willed to the people of Fiji.

Once the bus exited the port, we travelled past the sugar cane mill then through the industrial area and past Fiji’s International Airport on the King’s

Highway to the town of Nadi (pronounced nandy). It was a panoramic drive through rural Viti Levu, Fiji. Our first stop was at Vuda Marina and the Boat Shed restaurant and bar for a welcome by song and shell horn, fruit and soft drinks and a demonstration of husking coconuts and extracting the coconut milk with the option to sample some coconut milk. The scraping of the coconut is the same technique that we witnessed at Masurina Lodge for the cooking class near Alotau, Papua New Guinea, on January 11th. Vuda Marina’s location is near where the first Fijians, the Lapita people, landed about 3,500 years ago.

Back on the road we passed through a small village and the village chief’s house was pointed out. All villages have a chief. Further on the mountain feature the Sleeping Giant appeared and our guide pointed out the head. We arrived at Nadi a city of 80,000. It is the third largest city in Fiji. We saw familiar North American restaurants McDonalds and Burger King and grocery store IGA.

The bus stopped at the colourful Hindu temple of Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Thiru Kovil . Its vibrant Dravidian architecture shows it off as the largest Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere, dedicated to Hindu Lord Murugan. We were only allowed to take pictures from the edge of the property. There was not enough time to to visit the temple which has an admission charge.

The final destination was the Tappoo shopping Centre for half an hour of shopping therapy. There were many good quality souvenirs and clothing. Larry bought a Bula shirt, which is a short-sleeved, traditional Fijian patterned shirt.

Back at the ship, we enjoyed frappés in the Library Café and chatted with the presenter, Gerald Carney, who has been speaking about James Cook’s voyages.

Then we walked eight laps of the Promenade Deck since our morning tour had very little opportunity for walking. We made a detour to the Photo Shop where the Lautoka Community had set up a currency exchange to change Australian or American money for Fijian currency. The same courtesy is being organized for the next two days in Suva.

The Captain announced at 4:30 p.m. that all were onboard and the ship would be leaving shortly for the 115 nautical miles voyage to Suva to arrive about 8 a.m. The fast speed ferry can make the journey in less than four hours. Captain Bant mentioned that the ship would make a short stop in open water to switch the position of two tenders, one from each side, since repairs to the tender can only be made on the other side of the ship. The crew is still making repairs from damage from the squall in Kiriwina a week ago.

At dinner Margaret and Ted told us about their evening dinner and cultural dances at the resort lat night. Sandy and Sue told us all about their excursion today to the Fiji Natural Thermal Mud Pool which included a welcome by the village chief and a kava ceremony before being immersed in a mud pool then rinsing off in natural hot springs.

After coffee with the group, we went to the Explorers Lounge to listen to the Vivace Duo, Daria on Piano and Inna, playing violin. It was not the full house for the concert like on the Tasmania cruise. The entertainer in the World Stage this evening was soprano, Clarissa Spata, who sang show tunes, popular opera and classical crossover tunes.

Steps today 11,653