Monday 5th December 2011 - Port Denarau- Cruise South Sea Island

We arrived at Port Denarau early morning and today we are going on an excursion to South Sea Island...which is only 30 minutes from Port  Denarau. It is surrounded by coral reefs and crystal clear water. 

We stepped on to a huge high speed catamaran  for our tropical island adventure. 

During the cruise to the island we had a guide telling us all about the surrounding islands..

The Island looked magnificent as we got closer to it

We had a warm welcome as we step ashore onto the sandy beaches. The islanders were singing welcome songs..

 So many  activities  to enjoy. The hardest part was choosing what to do first!

You can do snorkelling, sailing, kayaking, have a massage or just laze around on the beach. It is one of the few islands where there is still good access to the sea at low tide or take a dip in the swimming pool.

We first got ourselves established under a cabana for shade as it was a very hot day today. 

Then we all ventured into the crystal clear warm water for a snorkel...just beautiful...
After a while  we came in and decided to have a row around the island in a kayak... I sat back while john rowed me around :)

I got talking to the locals and one of them was weaving bracelets out of the palm leaves ...he made me one plus he made me a beautiful hat out of palm leaves...which I took back to the ship with me ... but unfortunately when we arrived back in Sydney the custom took it off me as they said it was too green.

After relaxing for a while the drums were played to say lunch was ready.... and a  tasty barbecue and salad lunch was served under the beautiful palm trees, also provided was unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks throughout the day. 

While having lunch we were entertained by the islanders, singing and dancing.

After lunch we went for a  ride beneath the waves in the semi-submersible vessel to explore the coral reefs and see the magnificent tropical fish life in the surrounding marine sanctuary.

Later I found myself in the shallow waters amongest the reef sharks...playing in the water.

We had another stroll around the island and took some more pictures..

It was all over too soon and we had to head back to the ship...an absolutely GREAT day !

Finished off with a beautiful sun set over the tropical waters as we set sail to our next destination...

Sunday 4th December 2011 Suva

Today we sailed into Suva which is built around a reef protected natural harbour, which we were able to dock at...Suva with its colonial buildings nestled alongside modern commercial venues,shops and local markets, parks and residential sprawls,is home to nearly half of Fiji's urban population.

Suva is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is located on the southeast coast of the island of  Viti Levu, in the central division, Rewa Province. In 1877, it was decided to make Suva the capital of Fiji when the geography of former main European settlement at  Levuka on the island of  Ovalan proved too restrictive. The administration of the colony was moved from Levuka to Suva in 1882.

The Fijians have a highly developed culture that is truly amazing.Their building skills were impressive, from sleek, double-hulled canoes that could hold up to 200 men, to elegantly thatched temples woven of pandamus leaves. They also produce copra cordage,eleborate weapons, intricately carved wooden bowls and pottery, and beautiful tapa cloth from bark.

Entering the harbour early morning....

After breakfast we got off the ship and went for a walk around town...you had to be careful here as some of the people were not very nice .. we noticed someone following us...and after a while Pat noticed that he was getting very close to us and next thing she felt the movement of the backpack and turned around and confronted him as she could see he had her water bottle and made him give it back to her...other Fijians saw him and yelled at him and they came across the road and grabbed him ( we did not see anything further as we just kept walking to the town).

After walking for a while and taking in the sights , it was once again very warm and humid...we sat down for a rest...

Just across the road we noticed a taxi parked and approached him and asked how much he would charge to show us around, I wanted to see the local waterfalls and we asked how far etc.. he said not far and once out of the car the walk to falls also not too far.. so after coming to a price of $20 return we all headed out to the falls...

You have to take note that the only air conditioning in these old cabs is all the windows down :(

He was really good, he drove us around and showed us the rest of the sights on our way to the falls. The road, once we entered where the falls were situated was like a goat track.. we really needed a 4 wheel drive...god help us if it had rained we would have never got out...

once there, he decided to come with us as a tour guide...

Remember he said it was an easy walk to the falls..and I might add I only had sandles on...

Hummm you needed to be a mountain goat...lots of steps going DOWN so I was thinking hummm I have to come back up all these...and me being hopeless walking a slight hill as I get angina ... it wasn't looking good... but not wanting to spoil it for the others I plodded along...

It was extremely difficult under foot as it was a rain forest and the ground was damp, and the roots from the trees in the path were very slippy, I fell at one stage and Pat managed to catch me before I landed on my bum in the mud... John not so lucky he also went down and came up with a muddy bum...

We finally got to a small waterfall, which I thought was it... but the guide said NO it's further on ..but at this stage John said No ... that I wasn't to go any further..and I agreed...I told them to carry on and I would wait but they said no.. we will stick together so we returned back to the car...the guide was good as he held my hand and helped me up all the hill inclines as some were quite steep and John was at the back of me making sure I didn't fall... I'm so blessed to be looked after so well..

We headed back to the ship stopping at a lookout and viewing the ship moored at the dock

We said our goodbyes to our tour guide and headed back on to the ship..

Tonight is a casual night for dinner and we were thankful for that after such a hectic day, after dinner once again we strolled the decks and checked out the amazing sunsets...