April 27th Again?

 This is the second of 3 sea days and I must say it has been a bit confusing.

Because of the date line we did not have an April 22nd and we are in the middle of 2 April 27th . Having 2 Sundays is a bit confusing at any time.

Yesterday we did very little we  slept, sunbathed, ate... it was formal night and the menu included Lobster and escargo so both Ken and I were pleased.

After dinner we planned to go to the show but service was slow and there were no seats available. The 5 of us decided to stop in at Club Fusion. We had our first cocktails of the cruise. Ken had a Ultimate Mai Tai and I had a Dark and Stormy.

The show tonight is a Tina  tribute and so we will leave without dessert if necessary to get a seat. 

Tomorrow is the last sea day before French Polynesia.

Can you see the duck???

We did see the tribute and it was grand.

Can you see the duck now? This one may never be found it is hidden so well. I will check back each day and let you know..

Pago Pago

Pago Pago Bay is one of the most dramatic harbors in the South Pacific, a region known for dramatic landscapes. Eons ago the massive seaward wall of a volcano collapsed and the sea poured in. Today , dramatic mountain peaks encircle the deep harbour.

The capital of American Samoa, Pago Pago is more village than city. The town is dominated by looming My Pioa, whose summit draws moisture bearing clouds , earning it the nickname "The Rainmaker" Indeed PagoPago draws more than its fair share of rain- the island of Tutuila is a vision of deep verdant green

Pronounced Pango Pango , this island paradise awaits exploration. 

Lautoka

,Lautoka, the second largest city of FIJI, is located in the west on the island of Viti Levu. It is nicknamed The Sugar City due to its expansive sugarcane plantations producing the island's most important crop. Its soft sand beaches are fringed with swaying palm and coconut trees reflected in the crystaline turquoise waters. A drive through city center allows glimpses of tree lined streets, colonial houses, colorful markets and a vibrant local culture.

First Look

There were no dancers this morning but they were playing local music and there were lots of vendors.

For this port we have decided to head to a resort and a beach. We will be visiting the Hilton Resort which is based on the 2.5km beach on Denarau Island . This will give us a chance to unwind and enjoy sun, sea and sand. This tour is inclusive of transfers, sun loungers,

umbrella  and towel.

The journey to the Hilton Resort will take approximately one hour each way. This will also include lunch and a beverage so we are all set. I am looking forward to a good day.

We made our way to the buses and discovered that it is the same company as yesterday. These bus drivers spent 4.5 hours to travel from Suva . We were pleased to see that the buses were not the 3 on a side but were the usual 2 and 2. We saw Tim but he would not be our guide today. The guides name was Jone, pronounced Johnie. He did a good job of pointing out the places of note. 

We arrived and did not get a real good view of the outside of the resort because of all of the trees. There was a bright, modern open air lobby, lovely grounds and pools and restaurants.

It is very modern and reminds me of a time share.

The location of our buffet was rather grand. It was open air with breezes and a wonderful view of the beach.

That orange looking thing is actually a lime comquot. Actually I don't know how it is spelled. 27 years ago I had to come up with a name for e-mail purposes. It was before the day of putting numbers with your address. After several unsuccessful efforts I thought of the word comquot and tried that. It was successful. I knew it was a fruit of some kind but I had never seen the word so I could not spell it. Today I saw a real comquot for the first time. The staff member told me what it was and told me to squeeze it and put the juice on my vegetables. So now I know what a comquot looks like but I still can't spell it correctly.

Our time at the resort ended around one and the trip back included more information on the area.

When we returned to the ship I considered doing some shopping with the vendors who were on the dock. However I decided that we really did not need anything so instead we went up to Swirls and got some raspberry ice cream. It was creamy and delicious. Each day they have a different special. Once it was eggnog flavour and I liked it also

Originally sale away was to be at 3:30 but they changed it to 4:30. We enjoyed the sights and sounds from our balcony , and got ready for dinner. As the ship moved away the people on the dock waved and shouted good bye as we left.

We have 3 sea days coming up until we get to French Polynesia.

Fiji....Suva, April 25th

 This is the first of 2 days in Fiji.This was our first view of the island. We will actually make 2 stops here , Suva is on the south side and then tomorrow we will move to the west side and the city of Lautoka.

I was surprised to see derelict rusting ships anchored in the harbour

Having been spoiled by Samoa we were expecting a welcome with singers and dancers. But that was not the case. We had a room service breakfast and went to the theatre to wait for time to board our bus.

Unlike Samoa the busses did not have wooden seats, they were bright and shinny and new. BUT the seats were not wooden but they were sooooooooooo crowded. The bus was the same width but instead of being 2 on each side there were 3 seats on the left and 2 on the right ,

. That made it very crowded and also made to aisle very narrow. I could not believe that some people were actually able to get to their seat.

The bus was staffed by 3 people, a drive , a tour guide and an assistant to the guide.

Our guides name was Tim and he told us all about the islands and their system of education and government and he pointed out things of interest during our hour long drive from the port to the village of  Naililili.

We were welcomed to the village and then taken to the sight of the long boats. There were serveral helpers here. We were all fitted with PFDs and helped into the boat. Four guests and an operator were seated in each boat.

Our journey would take us to the tiny island in the Rewa River, in the Rewa Delta.  We have come to see the magnificent cathedral that was built over one hundred years ago. It was built using sand and coral which was collected at the ocean and transported by canoe to the construction site. This required amazing dedication and hard work

When the structure was finally finished it was fitted with 25 beautiful stained glass windows with Fijian inscriptions, 2 bronze bells and a bronze clock, brought from France.

Unfortunately the cathedral is a victim of climate change. The islands floods! The Rewa River has flown through it on several occasions. Some of the beautiful stained glass windows have been either broken or destroyed, the clock no longer works, but the bronze bells cast in France still call the faithful to prayer. Mass is held every morning and on Easter Sunday over a thousand made their was to the cathedral for mass. 

Restoring it is a vain hope because of the flooding.

We boarded the long boats and headed back to the village, which was a five minute bus ride,  where we were given a grand welcome and we were each given a flower lei.

. 

It was about a 5 minute walk to the community center. Along the way we passed local homes, some of which were raised up on stilts to escape the flooding. Several of the walkways were also raised. The village is very poor and climate change caused flooding is not helping at all.

As we entered we were seated and welcomed . We were served a beverage of either water or soda and a cookie. The ceremony was performed using 2 passengers from the bus to represent the group. There was singing and dancing. It was joyous with men women and children taking part. After the formal ceremony we were invited to join in on the dancing. I joined in.

Soon it was time to say good bye and reboard our bus.On the way back the driver choose a different route and Tim continued to educate us on the islands and their customs and history. 

At dinner there was an item on the menu which included molasses so Ken and Gordon asked the waiters to bring them some. They proceeded to load it on a well buttered bun and enjoy it. Ken was a bit messy so a cover up was necessary.

We were ready to call it a day. Tomorrow we are in Lautoka which is on the west side of this island. Another early morning.

Apia Samoa

 We are due to be in Apia today. I woke early and was able to view an amazing sunrise. The cloud formations are quite different here. This is something I would love to paint.

Yesterday we were in American Samoa and it is a territory of the United States . Today we are in Samoa and it is an independent country with its own parliament and government and prime minister. They are actually on a different time zone.

As usual we had a wake up call for 6:15 and room service breakfast delivery at 6:30. While getting ready and eating breakfast we were able to view the sail in and get early glimpses of where were would be spending the day.

We finished breakfast and headed for deck 7 to enjoy the performance of the dancers of  Samoa. It was just as special as we expected. The performers work very hard and we could see the perspiration on their bodies even though we were on deck seven.

The performance lasted almost an hour and then we headed back to our room to gather our things and head out to get out stickers and wait in the Theatre. Much to our surprise we were not long before we were on the bus.

We were pleased to see that these were modern buses with AC and padded seats. We waited until it was time to leave because the buses have to co-ordinate arrival times at different areas

Our guide was Sue and our driver could be called Mr Ed because pronouncing it would be difficult for us.

As we drove along Sue pointed out the land marks and the public buildings.

Mr Ed stopped at a shore where Sue explained that sea levels rising has made it necessary for there to be a wall surrounding the entire Island. It is a wall of what looked like bricks and there were volcanic rocks piled on the water side of the wall. Climate change is definitely real and you can see it in this part of the world.

Our guided tour continued and then we arrived at Sails by the Sea. This is where we are scheduled to have Hi Tea. We received a grand welcome by a young man blowing a conch shell

This is a fairly large open air restaurant. As we entered we were given a flower to wear in our hair and a glass of champagne. They also passed out bottled of water from Samoa. The restaurant was beautifully decorated with local flowers. As they got all of the food put out and made the tea we were entertained by 2 Samoan young men singing and playing drums.

A rite of passage for the men is to have their bodies tattooed. This picture shows the intricate pattern .Close up it actually seems to have texture.

The food choice included small sandwiches, scones, pastries and fruit. The supply was ample and you were free to go again if you wished. The tea was served in china cups and saucers.

The tour guides were allowed to enjoy lunch after the guests,

Ken and I had Julie take our picture.

The grand finale of this visit was a display of fire dancing. WOW!!

Then it was time to say good bye and head to our next stop.

We boarded the bus and headed to St Theresa Cathedral of the Child Jesus in the village of Lepea. The newly built awe-inspiring building is adorned with magnificent art work by local artists. The art depicts Samoan cultural stories on 46 stunning stained glass windows that feature Biblical stories with characters of Samoan descent.

At the end of the visit a priest from the church told us about the church and the circumstance of its creation.The labor was almost all volunteer which made this magnificent structure to be built.

Next our driver took us to the near by 100 year old cathedral. At first we were told we could only view from the outside but the timing was better so we were allowed to enter.

Our last stop was to the local market. It is large and you can buy almost everything there from clothes to food and the list goes on.

BUT for me the stop meant a chance to get an amazing tropical flower arrangement. 

I just love it and it cost only 18.00 US. Those of you who know how I love a bargain and how much I love flowers you know how excited I was about that.

We returned to the ship, had a nap, had a snack went to dinner and went to the evening show at the Princess theatre " Born to be Wild" and called it a day. Tomorrow is a sea day.