craven morehead
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I have drunk this beer poured from the tap in the US and Canada, and they insist on serving it with a slice of Orange. I said, do I look a fruit bat
Cruising the South Pacific, no show tunes allowed
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I have drunk this beer poured from the tap in the US and Canada, and they insist on serving it with a slice of Orange. I said, do I look a fruit bat
craven morehead
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Colorado/Caribbean - same same but differentI have drunk this beer poured from the tap in the US and Canada, and they insist on serving it with a slice of Orange. I said, do I look a fruit bat
Blue Moon Belgian White is a Belgian-style wheat ale with a 5.4% ABV, brewed with orange peel and coriander for a bright, citrusy flavor
Blue Moon Belgian White is a Belgian-style witbier brewed by Molson Coors under the Blue Moon Brewing Company label. It was first introduced in 1995 in Golden, Colorado, and was originally called Bellyslide Belgian White. The beer is now brewed in multiple locations, including Colorado and Montreal, Canada,
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Quite common across the US these days. On tap, take it with a with a slice of orange.I have drunk this beer poured from the tap in the US and Canada, and they insist on serving it with a slice of Orange. I said, do I look a fruit bat
Blue Moon Belgian White is a Belgian-style wheat ale with a 5.4% ABV, brewed with orange peel and coriander for a bright, citrusy flavor
Blue Moon Belgian White is a Belgian-style witbier brewed by Molson Coors under the Blue Moon Brewing Company label. It was first introduced in 1995 in Golden, Colorado, and was originally called Bellyslide Belgian White. The beer is now brewed in multiple locations, including Colorado and Montreal, Canada,
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June 17 Samoa
We'd gone to sleep on June 15 and woken up the next morning on June 17. This was causing many people great concern. "How have we a lost a day?" Oh dear.
It was also something that the NCL app couldn't cope with. When we'd booked the specialty restaurants I'd booked the Italian restaurant Onda for June 16. Early on in the cruise we'd had a call letting us know that the booking had been cancelled as the day didn't actually exist. We rebooked for our final night.
The weather forecast hadn't looked too good for either of the Samoas but it ended up being a glorious day with just some light rain as we crossed through the centre of the island.
Arriving into Apia
I'd booked a day tour with Adventour Samoa. Communication was all through Facebook messenger. I'd seen a cruise ship tour on GetYourGuide but contacted them directly to make sure they got the full cost without a cut to GYG. USD150 each for a full day tour icnluding luncha nd all admission charges.
I'd been sent constant messages from Steve the proprietor. When I'd originally enquired I asked if we could spend longer at Robert Louis Stevenson's house and skip the cathedral visit. Steve said they'd modify the tour to whatever we wanted. He'd sent a message on arrival morning letting us know where the van would be and what number it was. I could see it from our balcony. Steve and his vans
anotehr beautiful welcome from a local cultural group. The boys of American Samoa looked more like sumo wrestlers. Taus laughed and said us Samoans like our starch too much. These Samoans looked more like rugby players
I wasn't sure if we would be on our own or others had booked the same tour. It was the latter. A group of four USAians joined us - mum, dad and two late teenage kids. Steve introduced us to our driver as Ranger Tagaloa. I asked him if Ranger was actually his name and he said no, it was Aitasi.
The family happily sat in the back of the van and chatted amongst themselves. First stop was to exchange some cash into local currency for any incidentals, then on to Robert Louis Stevenson's house. When we go back to Samoa. and we definitely will, we'll spend a lot longer here and walk to the top of the hill where RLS is buried. Just not enough time. It is a guided tour through the house and bAlt and I found it super interesting, the family not so much.
There are very few original items in the house. Pretty much everything was sold off after RLS died.
We'd gone to sleep on June 15 and woken up the next morning on June 17. This was causing many people great concern. "How have we a lost a day?" Oh dear.
It was also something that the NCL app couldn't cope with. When we'd booked the specialty restaurants I'd booked the Italian restaurant Onda for June 16. Early on in the cruise we'd had a call letting us know that the booking had been cancelled as the day didn't actually exist. We rebooked for our final night.
The weather forecast hadn't looked too good for either of the Samoas but it ended up being a glorious day with just some light rain as we crossed through the centre of the island.
Arriving into Apia
I'd booked a day tour with Adventour Samoa. Communication was all through Facebook messenger. I'd seen a cruise ship tour on GetYourGuide but contacted them directly to make sure they got the full cost without a cut to GYG. USD150 each for a full day tour icnluding luncha nd all admission charges.
I'd been sent constant messages from Steve the proprietor. When I'd originally enquired I asked if we could spend longer at Robert Louis Stevenson's house and skip the cathedral visit. Steve said they'd modify the tour to whatever we wanted. He'd sent a message on arrival morning letting us know where the van would be and what number it was. I could see it from our balcony. Steve and his vans
anotehr beautiful welcome from a local cultural group. The boys of American Samoa looked more like sumo wrestlers. Taus laughed and said us Samoans like our starch too much. These Samoans looked more like rugby players
I wasn't sure if we would be on our own or others had booked the same tour. It was the latter. A group of four USAians joined us - mum, dad and two late teenage kids. Steve introduced us to our driver as Ranger Tagaloa. I asked him if Ranger was actually his name and he said no, it was Aitasi.
The family happily sat in the back of the van and chatted amongst themselves. First stop was to exchange some cash into local currency for any incidentals, then on to Robert Louis Stevenson's house. When we go back to Samoa. and we definitely will, we'll spend a lot longer here and walk to the top of the hill where RLS is buried. Just not enough time. It is a guided tour through the house and bAlt and I found it super interesting, the family not so much.
There are very few original items in the house. Pretty much everything was sold off after RLS died.
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Then we drove up behind Apia and headed across the island. It was very foggy and drizzling as we arrived at the Baha'i temple. Chrches of any description just aren't our thing and I'm not sure it was that interesting to the family from Salt Lake City ;-)
next stop was Papapaptai Falls
then it was a decent drive to Togitogiga Waterfall where the family was keen to go for a swim. One foot in the chilly water was enough to dismiss that idea
while we were there I talked to Aitasi. It turns out he is quite the rugby player, good enough to be one three Samoan residents to be selected to play in the rugby world cup next year! Then he talked about his other interest - Pasifika contemporary dance. Aitasi lived in Guam for three years dancing in an international troupe there. He's travelled all over the world with his dancing. What a cool young guy.
Aitasi Tagalo. Keep an eye out for him
Time for lunch. This was at Miti Mininoa Ocean Club. We could choose anything and I of course chose the raw fish, this time in more of a cold soup, and served with taro chips. It was delicious.
a new beer!
next stop was Papapaptai Falls
then it was a decent drive to Togitogiga Waterfall where the family was keen to go for a swim. One foot in the chilly water was enough to dismiss that idea
while we were there I talked to Aitasi. It turns out he is quite the rugby player, good enough to be one three Samoan residents to be selected to play in the rugby world cup next year! Then he talked about his other interest - Pasifika contemporary dance. Aitasi lived in Guam for three years dancing in an international troupe there. He's travelled all over the world with his dancing. What a cool young guy.
Aitasi Tagalo. Keep an eye out for him
Time for lunch. This was at Miti Mininoa Ocean Club. We could choose anything and I of course chose the raw fish, this time in more of a cold soup, and served with taro chips. It was delicious.
a new beer!
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craven morehead
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Possibly alarmed that they’d missed a whole day of the drinks package!
It’s the same going the other way except it’s a “Ground Hog Day” situation.
I’m taking notes on the Samoa(s). We’re ticking off most of the same ports but over two cruises. Fiji, Apia and Pago Pago will be next year. We did Tahiti just before you guys - unfortunately we didn’t get to the Cook Islands. I would have preferred that over cold, wet Auckland stopover.
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We're enjoying your trip report as usual, from home - although sans coughtails as we're doing Dry July. We really enjoyed our trip to Samoa a few years ago, and will go back. And yes, rugby is a very big thing South Pacific - Here We Come
But we'll have to put all of the other places you've visited on that list too.
But we'll have to put all of the other places you've visited on that list too.
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The family had taken this trip for one reason - to swim at To Sua Ocean Trench. That's where we drove next. To Sua Ocean Trench, Samoa - The Ultimate Guide – Craving Adventure
There was a bit of backwards and forwards to get to places and we drove back past Tigotigoga waterfall to get to To Sua. Like with pretty much everything on this trip we'd done no research so this place was a complete surprise. A huge hole with a tidal pool in the bottom of it and a perilous ladder to go down to get to the water.
for me the ladder was terrifying. I just hate ladders. The picture above in no way shows how steep it was and eventually how many people were trying to go down, or up. But, once we did get down there it was super cool. The water was warm. A weird current flowed in and out. Lots of laughing people. Gentle rain. It was excellent.
Getting out was problematic as people wanting to come down wouldn't clear the top of the ladder. I literally had to shove one impatient women in the cough as she tried to start coming down while I was getting off it. Some people are just so cough*ing rude.
Anyways.
Our final three destinations were the cathedral, that I'd already asked to miss, the Samoan Parliament, and the market.
The family had found another possible place to swim - Piula Cave Pool - and asked Aitasi about it. He said if we go there we'd miss the cathedral and parliament stops. The family asked if we were ok and we were all for it. Parliament would have been interesting but needed more than a quick stop, and the cathedral was a big no for all six of us.
Initially the family had just talked amongst themselves but since lunch had chatted to us constantly. Dad had just sold his veterinary practice (six offices!) in SLC and was now working as a locum on contract. Not exactly worldy people but so many USAians aren't. They are so often amazed at much others know about the world. Nevertheless, really lovely people.
www.samoa.travel
The pool and cave are in the grounds of a theological college. From the pictures in the above link it can obviously get hugely crowded but it was not too bad when we were there. It's also fresh water. That seems odd as you are right beside the ocean but it is fed by a spring. You can swim through a small pitch black tunnel into another open pool. Dad and son went through but there was not a chance any of the rest of us were going through a rocky underwater hole. A nice place to visit for an hour.
We drove along the coast road back to Apia and then stopped at the market. The family wanted to spend as much of the local currency as they could. I had enough to buy an overpriced t-shirt.
so endeth a wonderful introduction to Samoa. I hope Aitasi does well at the rugby next year.
the cultural group was back to see us off and they were just as good as in the morning. So good that security eventually had to start asking us to get back onboard as we had gone past 4:30 final boarding
Goodbye Apia, we've loved our introduction to your amazing island
Fiji Bitter to cheers a great day. We'll be there in a couple of days
we didn't bother with a restaurant dinner. Instead, grabbed some Asian food from the buffet, and a couple of Tahitian beers
There was a bit of backwards and forwards to get to places and we drove back past Tigotigoga waterfall to get to To Sua. Like with pretty much everything on this trip we'd done no research so this place was a complete surprise. A huge hole with a tidal pool in the bottom of it and a perilous ladder to go down to get to the water.
for me the ladder was terrifying. I just hate ladders. The picture above in no way shows how steep it was and eventually how many people were trying to go down, or up. But, once we did get down there it was super cool. The water was warm. A weird current flowed in and out. Lots of laughing people. Gentle rain. It was excellent.
Getting out was problematic as people wanting to come down wouldn't clear the top of the ladder. I literally had to shove one impatient women in the cough as she tried to start coming down while I was getting off it. Some people are just so cough*ing rude.
Anyways.
Our final three destinations were the cathedral, that I'd already asked to miss, the Samoan Parliament, and the market.
The family had found another possible place to swim - Piula Cave Pool - and asked Aitasi about it. He said if we go there we'd miss the cathedral and parliament stops. The family asked if we were ok and we were all for it. Parliament would have been interesting but needed more than a quick stop, and the cathedral was a big no for all six of us.
Initially the family had just talked amongst themselves but since lunch had chatted to us constantly. Dad had just sold his veterinary practice (six offices!) in SLC and was now working as a locum on contract. Not exactly worldy people but so many USAians aren't. They are so often amazed at much others know about the world. Nevertheless, really lovely people.
Piula (Fatumea) Cave Pool | Upolu Island Sightseeing | Samoa
Piula Cave Pool on Upolu Island, Samoa, is a beautiful crystal clear freshwater spring that originated from an old lava tube.
The pool and cave are in the grounds of a theological college. From the pictures in the above link it can obviously get hugely crowded but it was not too bad when we were there. It's also fresh water. That seems odd as you are right beside the ocean but it is fed by a spring. You can swim through a small pitch black tunnel into another open pool. Dad and son went through but there was not a chance any of the rest of us were going through a rocky underwater hole. A nice place to visit for an hour.
We drove along the coast road back to Apia and then stopped at the market. The family wanted to spend as much of the local currency as they could. I had enough to buy an overpriced t-shirt.
so endeth a wonderful introduction to Samoa. I hope Aitasi does well at the rugby next year.
the cultural group was back to see us off and they were just as good as in the morning. So good that security eventually had to start asking us to get back onboard as we had gone past 4:30 final boarding
Goodbye Apia, we've loved our introduction to your amazing island
Fiji Bitter to cheers a great day. We'll be there in a couple of days
we didn't bother with a restaurant dinner. Instead, grabbed some Asian food from the buffet, and a couple of Tahitian beers
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June 18, sea day
Breakfast at Windows and bAlt convinced me to try the bene with lobster. It was quite delicious
the ship put on a crossing the dateline celebration around the main pool.
The unused kitchen and servery at the end of the pool deck was put to use as a bbq buffet. The locusts descended as soon as they realised there was going to be some free food. Hold on, nearly all of the food is free, but this was outside and free.
We sat up at the Biergarten, watched football, and waited until the crowds had had first, seconds and thirds. When we did get to it the food was actually quite good
new beer number whatever
For dinner it was specialty restuarant number four - Teppanyaki. It was ok. I've not ever been to teppanyaki and not had a Japanese chef. The patter of our learner chef was a bit forced but still funny. Luckily the food was tasty
The planets were again aligned
The first of our Fijian destinations tomorrow. Only two more days until we reach Lautoka.
Breakfast at Windows and bAlt convinced me to try the bene with lobster. It was quite delicious
the ship put on a crossing the dateline celebration around the main pool.
The unused kitchen and servery at the end of the pool deck was put to use as a bbq buffet. The locusts descended as soon as they realised there was going to be some free food. Hold on, nearly all of the food is free, but this was outside and free.
We sat up at the Biergarten, watched football, and waited until the crowds had had first, seconds and thirds. When we did get to it the food was actually quite good
new beer number whatever
For dinner it was specialty restuarant number four - Teppanyaki. It was ok. I've not ever been to teppanyaki and not had a Japanese chef. The patter of our learner chef was a bit forced but still funny. Luckily the food was tasty
The planets were again aligned
The first of our Fijian destinations tomorrow. Only two more days until we reach Lautoka.
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June 19 Savusavu Bay, Vanua Levu, Fiji
An ominous red sky greeted us as I pulled back the curtains on the approach to Savusavu Bay.
I had found a tour in Savasavu that looked like a cracker - River Tubing and Volcanic Hot Pool tour including picnic lunch. It was with a local operator called Naveria Heights Lodge. Sharon the proprieter advised that this would be one of two tours they'd be operating and that they'd have a table outside the tender area to check in and pay at. Adventures | Naveria Heights Lodge Fiji
I contacted Sharon as we were sailing into the bay to let her know we were arriving and she responded by telling me that she hadn't had enough bookings and was not going to be operating the tour. I was confused as she'd told me she didn't take bookings. She Saif her tour was very active and woudn't suit cruise ship passengers. I let her know this was a ship full of pretty active people with the gym above our cabin kicking off at 6am to which she reponded if you find a total of 10 people let her know. Wtf??
So, we went ashore and looked for anyone else offering tours. Sharon had said any of the local taxis would take you around for the day. We bumped into one of the couples we'd met at the IC in Papeete and asked what their plans were. Cab they said. We found a cab operator parked in a carpark near the boat harbour that was mentioned on google. We spoke to him and he organised us a cab for a few hours.
The lovely Hemant turned up about 15 minutes later and off we went.
First stop would be the hot springs in town, then Vuadomo waterfall, then a lookout, coconut oil factory, across the island to a beach for a swim, coffee plantation and factory, botanic garden and maybe pearl factory.
Then the messages from Sharon started. She'd been contacted by others from the ship and would potentially be running a half day tour. Too late I said, we're already in a cab. Did we know any others who might be interested.? What an odd way to run a business.
To our tour. We drove towards the hot springs and when we saw buses lined up we told Hemant we'd come here last.
To the waterfall instead. When we'd been in American Samoa we'd noticed a large leaf vine that was literally covering half of the island. Tau said they could do nothing to stop it and it was literally taking over the island. Then we saw it on Samoa and now here it was again in Fiji on Vanua Levu. Hemant said it was doing the same here as American Samoa. Surely there's research being carried out on how to kill this vine off?
The waterfall is owned by a local village and the chief meets you at the gate to take a sevusevu (cultural gift). We didn't have a bag of kava root to give him (weirdly) so we paid FJ$15 each instead. It had been very wet the day before so the grass, and path were super slippery, and bAlt was on his butt before we'd even gotten off the driveway!
that was miraculously the only fall of the visit. I am reknowned for ending up on my cough but somehow avoided it.
The falls were quite pretty and the water was not exactly warm. That concrete slab to the right of the fake grass was like a skating rink. As we were heading back to Hemant and the taxi we warned everyone we saw coming towards us not to walk onto it.
halfway back along the path we walked into the missing Irish couple K&M. Pretty much at the same time we said to each we reckoned that they/we weren't actually on this ship and finally here we all were again. We agreed to meet back on the ship that afternoon.
The lookout, and coffee shop, was overflowing with three bus loads of cruise ship passengers so we took some quick snaps and got on our way
Sea Legs, a great little brewery at Kangaroo Point. Shameless plug
Hemant was very quietly spoken so only I heard his running commentary as I was in the front passenger seat. Lots of interesting info on the different government buildings we went past. About his family. He'd come back from Nandi withi his family. Vanua was where he wanted to be. From the back the couple from San Diego were making comments I'd heard too many times from USAians - why don't they paint their houses, why don't they maintain their gardens, why is there so much rubbish, why are the roads so rough. Mmm... maybe their priorities aren't so superficial. Have they not ever been to West Virginia or small town Kentucky? Same things could be asked there.
Hemant took us to the coconut oil factory but they had no coconuts so had halted production. Just after this I saw a mongoose run across the road. Who knew that had them in Fiji? Hemant said they were native but surely not?
We headed up the road in the middle of town and over the centre of the island to the 'resort' area. Hemant pointed out a couple of resorts. One private resort owned by I'm sure he said the boss of google but I might have gotten that wrong. Another resort we drove past Namale is USD6000/night.
Hemant took us to Sigisiga Sands House and vacation bungalow rentals in Fiji Islands where we paid USD10 each to have a swim and use the toilets. The water was not much more than knee deep for a very long way out so we all got wet and that was about it.
I think Namale was hidden in the headland to the left
An ominous red sky greeted us as I pulled back the curtains on the approach to Savusavu Bay.
I had found a tour in Savasavu that looked like a cracker - River Tubing and Volcanic Hot Pool tour including picnic lunch. It was with a local operator called Naveria Heights Lodge. Sharon the proprieter advised that this would be one of two tours they'd be operating and that they'd have a table outside the tender area to check in and pay at. Adventures | Naveria Heights Lodge Fiji
I contacted Sharon as we were sailing into the bay to let her know we were arriving and she responded by telling me that she hadn't had enough bookings and was not going to be operating the tour. I was confused as she'd told me she didn't take bookings. She Saif her tour was very active and woudn't suit cruise ship passengers. I let her know this was a ship full of pretty active people with the gym above our cabin kicking off at 6am to which she reponded if you find a total of 10 people let her know. Wtf??
So, we went ashore and looked for anyone else offering tours. Sharon had said any of the local taxis would take you around for the day. We bumped into one of the couples we'd met at the IC in Papeete and asked what their plans were. Cab they said. We found a cab operator parked in a carpark near the boat harbour that was mentioned on google. We spoke to him and he organised us a cab for a few hours.
The lovely Hemant turned up about 15 minutes later and off we went.
First stop would be the hot springs in town, then Vuadomo waterfall, then a lookout, coconut oil factory, across the island to a beach for a swim, coffee plantation and factory, botanic garden and maybe pearl factory.
Then the messages from Sharon started. She'd been contacted by others from the ship and would potentially be running a half day tour. Too late I said, we're already in a cab. Did we know any others who might be interested.? What an odd way to run a business.
To our tour. We drove towards the hot springs and when we saw buses lined up we told Hemant we'd come here last.
To the waterfall instead. When we'd been in American Samoa we'd noticed a large leaf vine that was literally covering half of the island. Tau said they could do nothing to stop it and it was literally taking over the island. Then we saw it on Samoa and now here it was again in Fiji on Vanua Levu. Hemant said it was doing the same here as American Samoa. Surely there's research being carried out on how to kill this vine off?
The waterfall is owned by a local village and the chief meets you at the gate to take a sevusevu (cultural gift). We didn't have a bag of kava root to give him (weirdly) so we paid FJ$15 each instead. It had been very wet the day before so the grass, and path were super slippery, and bAlt was on his butt before we'd even gotten off the driveway!
that was miraculously the only fall of the visit. I am reknowned for ending up on my cough but somehow avoided it.
The falls were quite pretty and the water was not exactly warm. That concrete slab to the right of the fake grass was like a skating rink. As we were heading back to Hemant and the taxi we warned everyone we saw coming towards us not to walk onto it.
halfway back along the path we walked into the missing Irish couple K&M. Pretty much at the same time we said to each we reckoned that they/we weren't actually on this ship and finally here we all were again. We agreed to meet back on the ship that afternoon.
The lookout, and coffee shop, was overflowing with three bus loads of cruise ship passengers so we took some quick snaps and got on our way
Sea Legs, a great little brewery at Kangaroo Point. Shameless plug
Hemant was very quietly spoken so only I heard his running commentary as I was in the front passenger seat. Lots of interesting info on the different government buildings we went past. About his family. He'd come back from Nandi withi his family. Vanua was where he wanted to be. From the back the couple from San Diego were making comments I'd heard too many times from USAians - why don't they paint their houses, why don't they maintain their gardens, why is there so much rubbish, why are the roads so rough. Mmm... maybe their priorities aren't so superficial. Have they not ever been to West Virginia or small town Kentucky? Same things could be asked there.
Hemant took us to the coconut oil factory but they had no coconuts so had halted production. Just after this I saw a mongoose run across the road. Who knew that had them in Fiji? Hemant said they were native but surely not?
We headed up the road in the middle of town and over the centre of the island to the 'resort' area. Hemant pointed out a couple of resorts. One private resort owned by I'm sure he said the boss of google but I might have gotten that wrong. Another resort we drove past Namale is USD6000/night.
Hemant took us to Sigisiga Sands House and vacation bungalow rentals in Fiji Islands where we paid USD10 each to have a swim and use the toilets. The water was not much more than knee deep for a very long way out so we all got wet and that was about it.
I think Namale was hidden in the headland to the left
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Savusavu's little airport and a twin otter coming in to land
we drove back to town and down to KokoMana Cocoa and Chocolate plantation and factory ABOUT | KokoManaFiji
We were told when we walked into the shop that all guided tours were booked out but we were welcome to have a look around. We all bought some chocolate then went for a walk up to the drying shed. Somehow one of our IC friends talked a man who turned out to be the owner into giving us our own free private tour. Richard Markham was a super interesting and generous host. He works/worked for DFAT and is actually an entomologist. Here's a link that explains the business https://www.usp.ac.fj/wansolwaranews/news/a-sustainable-model-for-fijis-cocoa-revival/
He talked butterflies and birds and cocoa and sustainable agriculture and only stopped when a bus load of people from the ship started walking up the path. Well worth a visit and the nothing less than 70% cocoa was delicious.
Hemant asked if we interested in going to the botanical gardens. We all said no, lets head to twon and the hot pools.
We'd had a lovely few hours and Hemant such a lovely gentle guy.
The hot pools were, hilarious. We all got out with towels and walked into a fenced area that had a few bubbling puddle. They weren't hot pools for bathing in, they were for cokking in. Hahahahahaha. Oh well.
Our US friends headed back to the ship and we went in search of t-shirts and beer. T-shirts were found at a mens large clothing store in the main street. Cheap and excellent quality.
Savusavu Bay
Beer was back at the tender jetty at Copra Shed Marina and who was sat in there? M&K of course!
Is that a new beer I spy? S16, quite delicious
new bff gang
time to head back to the ship, just about last tender too
KokoMana chocolate
bye Savusavu, not the day we thought we were going to have but an excellent day nevertheless
we drove back to town and down to KokoMana Cocoa and Chocolate plantation and factory ABOUT | KokoManaFiji
We were told when we walked into the shop that all guided tours were booked out but we were welcome to have a look around. We all bought some chocolate then went for a walk up to the drying shed. Somehow one of our IC friends talked a man who turned out to be the owner into giving us our own free private tour. Richard Markham was a super interesting and generous host. He works/worked for DFAT and is actually an entomologist. Here's a link that explains the business https://www.usp.ac.fj/wansolwaranews/news/a-sustainable-model-for-fijis-cocoa-revival/
He talked butterflies and birds and cocoa and sustainable agriculture and only stopped when a bus load of people from the ship started walking up the path. Well worth a visit and the nothing less than 70% cocoa was delicious.
Hemant asked if we interested in going to the botanical gardens. We all said no, lets head to twon and the hot pools.
We'd had a lovely few hours and Hemant such a lovely gentle guy.
The hot pools were, hilarious. We all got out with towels and walked into a fenced area that had a few bubbling puddle. They weren't hot pools for bathing in, they were for cokking in. Hahahahahaha. Oh well.
Our US friends headed back to the ship and we went in search of t-shirts and beer. T-shirts were found at a mens large clothing store in the main street. Cheap and excellent quality.
Savusavu Bay
Beer was back at the tender jetty at Copra Shed Marina and who was sat in there? M&K of course!
Is that a new beer I spy? S16, quite delicious
new bff gang
time to head back to the ship, just about last tender too
KokoMana chocolate
bye Savusavu, not the day we thought we were going to have but an excellent day nevertheless
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June 20 Dravuni, Fiji
Just a glorious day, with a pall of sadness over some of us later in the day.
Dravuni is tiny as you can see by the below image and scale
Pretty much the only thing to do here apart from get a massage, snorkel and lie on the beach is to walk up to the lookout, and NCL offers this walk as a shore excursion. I think it was USD80. I kid you not. If you used your $50 shorex credit it would'only' be USD110 for the walk. Good to know in advance that no nudity was allowed. I was so planning to free Willy, and Colin.
approaching Dravuni Island
relaxing brekkie out the back of the buffet
There was no rush to get off but when 9.30 came around and open tenders were called the stairwell filled. And the line didn't move. They had two issues. One tender had broken down on the double tender platform, and the swell had picked up making it difficult to get off or onto the other tender.
People grumbled and complained. Then more people started coming out of the lift down on deck 4 where the tenders left from, much to the annoyance of most Gee, it's an island with nothing to do. What's the worry? You won't be back in time for lunch? You'll be so thirsty you might need to pay for a beer on shore. Oh blah.
Eventually the line started moving and we were soon on a very bumpy ride to shore. We were suprised to see people already heading back before 10.30 but then lots of people on cruises want smooth concrete paths, spotless toilets and Costco. Dravuni was not that place.
We saved USD110 and walked up the hill unassisted. Just why would you pay? It was actually quite a decent hike and it was clear many were struggling with both the rough path and the steepness. The view was excellent.
We'd bumped into K&M (who for some reason had paid for the walk) and they said not to bother walking through to the beach on the other side. They said it was blowing a gale and not very pleasent, so we didn't.
Instead we went for a snorkel on the main beach where we saw about two fish and a lot of sea grass. The water was beautiful and warm though so we didn't care.
lots of little stalls all along the area up off the beach where the tiny community lived.
Mainly colourful wraps for sale. Some t-shirts and singlets. There were a couple of stalls selling beer, and some more selling food.
ALso lots of stalls offering massages. I think it was F$30 for 15 minutes neck and shoulder. I really should take more notice. It was a very good massage from a lovely older lady who massged while her husband talked to me. Just 90 people live on the island and they depend on cruise ship visits to generate the income needed to improve their lot. Sadly just one visit in May, two in June and none in July. They were a lovely couple.
We had bbq tuna for lunch. A few too many bones for us both but what we ate was super tasty.
then we lazed on the beach with K&M and had a few more beers. It was when we were sat here that they told us someone had died during the Savusavu visit.
One of the Chinese passengers had a heart attack when he was on a snorkeling excursion. He was travelling on his own as part of one of the large groups. They were told that they had brought his body back onto the ship. That sounded strange to me but who knows. I felt quite sad that someone had come all the way here but would not be going home to share their adventures.
nearly last tender again
Just a glorious day, with a pall of sadness over some of us later in the day.
Dravuni is tiny as you can see by the below image and scale
Pretty much the only thing to do here apart from get a massage, snorkel and lie on the beach is to walk up to the lookout, and NCL offers this walk as a shore excursion. I think it was USD80. I kid you not. If you used your $50 shorex credit it would'only' be USD110 for the walk. Good to know in advance that no nudity was allowed. I was so planning to free Willy, and Colin.
approaching Dravuni Island
relaxing brekkie out the back of the buffet
There was no rush to get off but when 9.30 came around and open tenders were called the stairwell filled. And the line didn't move. They had two issues. One tender had broken down on the double tender platform, and the swell had picked up making it difficult to get off or onto the other tender.
People grumbled and complained. Then more people started coming out of the lift down on deck 4 where the tenders left from, much to the annoyance of most Gee, it's an island with nothing to do. What's the worry? You won't be back in time for lunch? You'll be so thirsty you might need to pay for a beer on shore. Oh blah.
Eventually the line started moving and we were soon on a very bumpy ride to shore. We were suprised to see people already heading back before 10.30 but then lots of people on cruises want smooth concrete paths, spotless toilets and Costco. Dravuni was not that place.
We saved USD110 and walked up the hill unassisted. Just why would you pay? It was actually quite a decent hike and it was clear many were struggling with both the rough path and the steepness. The view was excellent.
We'd bumped into K&M (who for some reason had paid for the walk) and they said not to bother walking through to the beach on the other side. They said it was blowing a gale and not very pleasent, so we didn't.
Instead we went for a snorkel on the main beach where we saw about two fish and a lot of sea grass. The water was beautiful and warm though so we didn't care.
lots of little stalls all along the area up off the beach where the tiny community lived.
Mainly colourful wraps for sale. Some t-shirts and singlets. There were a couple of stalls selling beer, and some more selling food.
ALso lots of stalls offering massages. I think it was F$30 for 15 minutes neck and shoulder. I really should take more notice. It was a very good massage from a lovely older lady who massged while her husband talked to me. Just 90 people live on the island and they depend on cruise ship visits to generate the income needed to improve their lot. Sadly just one visit in May, two in June and none in July. They were a lovely couple.
We had bbq tuna for lunch. A few too many bones for us both but what we ate was super tasty.
then we lazed on the beach with K&M and had a few more beers. It was when we were sat here that they told us someone had died during the Savusavu visit.
One of the Chinese passengers had a heart attack when he was on a snorkeling excursion. He was travelling on his own as part of one of the large groups. They were told that they had brought his body back onto the ship. That sounded strange to me but who knows. I felt quite sad that someone had come all the way here but would not be going home to share their adventures.
nearly last tender again
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I'd missed a bunch of bAlt's photos from earlier in the day so here they are.
A wander round the deserted ship quite early
Magnum's
the art gallery full of rubbish art
photos that we didn't bother looking at
and the NCL store that we didn't step inside of (or any other shop for that matter)
island photos
I think this is a piece of turtle shell, found on the beach
when we got back on board we stopped at The Local and grabbed something to eat, because we could.
The servings at The Local were small, well that's my justification for either a very late second lunch, or an early pre-dinner. It was also our last chance to catch up with K&M as they were off asap in the morning. They had booked a day tour from Denarau before they flew out that night. Carry on only for a cruise! Whattttt????
We still hadn't had a swim in the main pool so got our gear on and went up to deck 12 and had a paddle. This pool was excellent. I wish we'd realised earlier. Super deep at one end and a beautiful temperature
I had to take a pic of this as we walked past the buffet on the way to Onda
We had our last specialty dinner. It was at Ondo by Scarpetta and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a lovely space on deck 12 opposite the outdoor area of the buffet. Food was simple and delicious.
and so with a few last drinks at Magnum's our excellent 12 night South Pacific cruise was very close to coming to an end
A wander round the deserted ship quite early
Magnum's
the art gallery full of rubbish art
photos that we didn't bother looking at
and the NCL store that we didn't step inside of (or any other shop for that matter)
island photos
I think this is a piece of turtle shell, found on the beach
when we got back on board we stopped at The Local and grabbed something to eat, because we could.
The servings at The Local were small, well that's my justification for either a very late second lunch, or an early pre-dinner. It was also our last chance to catch up with K&M as they were off asap in the morning. They had booked a day tour from Denarau before they flew out that night. Carry on only for a cruise! Whattttt????
We still hadn't had a swim in the main pool so got our gear on and went up to deck 12 and had a paddle. This pool was excellent. I wish we'd realised earlier. Super deep at one end and a beautiful temperature
I had to take a pic of this as we walked past the buffet on the way to Onda
We had our last specialty dinner. It was at Ondo by Scarpetta and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a lovely space on deck 12 opposite the outdoor area of the buffet. Food was simple and delicious.
and so with a few last drinks at Magnum's our excellent 12 night South Pacific cruise was very close to coming to an end
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June 21 Lautoka
Before we go ashore I thought I'd run through the entertainment.
Stardust theatre (ok, theater)
There was a magician called Zlwin Chew on twice. We walked out after about 30 minutes of his first show and didn't bother with the second.
The Broadway Cabaret. Pretty aweful. We lasted three songs.
Simon Palomares a comedian from Melbourne was on twice. We missed him the first time but watched his second show. I really liked him. Very 'Australian' humour. bAlt said afterwards gee he took some risks there with who he was performing to. Yes, yes he did.
One of two main production shows Blazing Boots. We made it through three songs and we were outta there. Def not for us.
Duo Sweet Serendipity were on twice and we went to both shows. Aerialists. Excellent and he had the most outrageously amazing body, usually sans shirt. Niiiiiiiiiiiiice.
Movie sketch comedy show. Didn't bother
Ignite the Night - main production show and again we didn't bother
Melbourne based singer Nina Ferro was the last performer. We missed this show as we were at our last specialty dining dinner
Henry's Pub was a great little venue that more often that not was impossible to visit due to May & Jun performing there. They were loud beyond belief and even worse were absolutely terrible. I watched their fans follow them round from venue to venue. If we saw them setting up in SPinnaker, we left.
photo stolen from the interweb
Spinnaker had all sorts of stuff in it - dance classes, bingo, singers, ballroom. We don't understand why the hour long 'dance parties' that they tried to squeeze into the Social Club weren't held there. Such a beautiful room.
the Social Club was where they held their dance parties, that bizarrely went for exactly one hour from 10-11pm. The bar outside lovely, the club itself so small. Dance parties - Welcome Aboard, Beatlemania Party Bash, Disco Groove, Motown, Awesome 80's, Rock the Night, GLOW (what a fizzer), ABBA and Bee Gees (actually in the Atrium and lots of fun), Latin,.
we stuck to Magnum's most nights. There was two soloists, Aldo and Justine, and both were really good.
Throughout the ship there was crafting and dancing and bingo and trivia multiple times per day. There definitely was plenty to do if you were so inclined.
The cruise director was not intrusive. There weren't constant announcements for blah is on next, followed by blah blah.
Tendering was on the whole managed well. We only went down that once after open tenders were called and it was a mess due to circumstances outside of the norm.
We didn't have to wait to have dinner in either of the main dining rooms. The spaces were both really nice although quite noisy in Taste and also noisy in Windows if you weren't sat in the area with the double height ceiling aft.
Specialty dining was excellent, especially as all five of our meals were included in our Free at Sea/More at Sea package. Only Teppanyaki was a bit ho hum. We didn't get to try Sushi but heard it was good. It is apparently made in front of you.
The staff right throughout the ship were excellent. They had real smiles. To us that showed that the ship was well managed. We both remember how unhappy nearly everyone looked on Quantum of the Seas and how ordinary the service was.
We would both have no hesitation on recommending a cruise on Norwegian Spirit. For us it was the perfect sized ship. It was full and didn't ever feel that way. Outside of US summer break I'd imagine the age and nationality demographic would change. We'd shoose a balcony on deck 10, pretty much anywhere. Our cabin 11036 was unfortunately under the weights room of the gym and as I've said people started using those weight machines (badly) right on 6 every morning. The weights machines are at the end of this photo near the mirrors
Back to our last morning and arrival into Lautoka.
We pulled the curtains back and we were already docked and people were already walking off the ship,
K&M included. I'll say it again. Two plus weeks from Ireland and carry-on only. We need to learn how.
We'd chosen the last time available (9am) to leave the ship as our hotel check-in time was 2pm.
Breakfast up at the buffet and a photo with our favourite greeter Abigail "washy, washy, happy, happy"
then it was time to go. Could I have turned around and gone back to Bora Bora? Maybe, but not definitely. I was ready to go home and move into our new apartment.
We made our way off the ship, grabbed our bags and were bombared by offers of transfers to the hotel. bAlt was ready to accept one that was USD30pp. Wtaf? I dragged him away and said we could walk the 15 minutes to Tanoa Waterfront Hotel for free
and that's what we did. Apart from a bit of rough unmade path inside the port it was an easy walk.
The ship from the park across the road from the hotel
Before we go ashore I thought I'd run through the entertainment.
Stardust theatre (ok, theater)
There was a magician called Zlwin Chew on twice. We walked out after about 30 minutes of his first show and didn't bother with the second.
The Broadway Cabaret. Pretty aweful. We lasted three songs.
Simon Palomares a comedian from Melbourne was on twice. We missed him the first time but watched his second show. I really liked him. Very 'Australian' humour. bAlt said afterwards gee he took some risks there with who he was performing to. Yes, yes he did.
One of two main production shows Blazing Boots. We made it through three songs and we were outta there. Def not for us.
Duo Sweet Serendipity were on twice and we went to both shows. Aerialists. Excellent and he had the most outrageously amazing body, usually sans shirt. Niiiiiiiiiiiiice.
Movie sketch comedy show. Didn't bother
Ignite the Night - main production show and again we didn't bother
Melbourne based singer Nina Ferro was the last performer. We missed this show as we were at our last specialty dining dinner
Henry's Pub was a great little venue that more often that not was impossible to visit due to May & Jun performing there. They were loud beyond belief and even worse were absolutely terrible. I watched their fans follow them round from venue to venue. If we saw them setting up in SPinnaker, we left.
photo stolen from the interweb
Spinnaker had all sorts of stuff in it - dance classes, bingo, singers, ballroom. We don't understand why the hour long 'dance parties' that they tried to squeeze into the Social Club weren't held there. Such a beautiful room.
the Social Club was where they held their dance parties, that bizarrely went for exactly one hour from 10-11pm. The bar outside lovely, the club itself so small. Dance parties - Welcome Aboard, Beatlemania Party Bash, Disco Groove, Motown, Awesome 80's, Rock the Night, GLOW (what a fizzer), ABBA and Bee Gees (actually in the Atrium and lots of fun), Latin,.
we stuck to Magnum's most nights. There was two soloists, Aldo and Justine, and both were really good.
Throughout the ship there was crafting and dancing and bingo and trivia multiple times per day. There definitely was plenty to do if you were so inclined.
The cruise director was not intrusive. There weren't constant announcements for blah is on next, followed by blah blah.
Tendering was on the whole managed well. We only went down that once after open tenders were called and it was a mess due to circumstances outside of the norm.
We didn't have to wait to have dinner in either of the main dining rooms. The spaces were both really nice although quite noisy in Taste and also noisy in Windows if you weren't sat in the area with the double height ceiling aft.
Specialty dining was excellent, especially as all five of our meals were included in our Free at Sea/More at Sea package. Only Teppanyaki was a bit ho hum. We didn't get to try Sushi but heard it was good. It is apparently made in front of you.
The staff right throughout the ship were excellent. They had real smiles. To us that showed that the ship was well managed. We both remember how unhappy nearly everyone looked on Quantum of the Seas and how ordinary the service was.
We would both have no hesitation on recommending a cruise on Norwegian Spirit. For us it was the perfect sized ship. It was full and didn't ever feel that way. Outside of US summer break I'd imagine the age and nationality demographic would change. We'd shoose a balcony on deck 10, pretty much anywhere. Our cabin 11036 was unfortunately under the weights room of the gym and as I've said people started using those weight machines (badly) right on 6 every morning. The weights machines are at the end of this photo near the mirrors
Back to our last morning and arrival into Lautoka.
We pulled the curtains back and we were already docked and people were already walking off the ship,
K&M included. I'll say it again. Two plus weeks from Ireland and carry-on only. We need to learn how.
We'd chosen the last time available (9am) to leave the ship as our hotel check-in time was 2pm.
Breakfast up at the buffet and a photo with our favourite greeter Abigail "washy, washy, happy, happy"
then it was time to go. Could I have turned around and gone back to Bora Bora? Maybe, but not definitely. I was ready to go home and move into our new apartment.
We made our way off the ship, grabbed our bags and were bombared by offers of transfers to the hotel. bAlt was ready to accept one that was USD30pp. Wtaf? I dragged him away and said we could walk the 15 minutes to Tanoa Waterfront Hotel for free
and that's what we did. Apart from a bit of rough unmade path inside the port it was an easy walk.
The ship from the park across the road from the hotel
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We were very possibly the first people off the ship to arrive at Tanoa Waterfront Lautoka | Fiji's Sugar City | Book Direct as it was gridlock getting out of the port in a taxi. We knew there was no chance of the room being ready at 10, and it wasn't. The hotel was full of people who were boarding the ship so the lobby and outdoor area was full of people who'd had to check out and wait around until 1 when they could board.
We'd bought Saily eSims for use where our Woolies roaming didn't work. Due to the settlements happening while we were away we needed internet on shore as well as the 300 minutes each we had onboard. The eSims worked great, as did Woolies Pacific roaming in Fiji. Once we got to the hotel we switched to their wifi to methodically check that everything had happened as it should have, and that we were ready for settlement on Thursday.
Then we went for a wander around sleepy Lautoka. It was Sunday after all
I still had some USD and also some NZD and changed it all into Fijian currency to spend wherever. We first tried the South Seas Club but it was closed and ended up at the Lautoka Club. This was quite an experience
yes, another new beer
we ordered goat curry for lunch and it took a very long time for the one person in the kitchen to get it out to us. It didn't seem that busy inside the club but she was constantly preparing meal after meal for whoever was in there.
While we sat and waited a strapping young Fijian fella came and sat beside us and asked if he could chat. One of the staff turned up straight away and told him to leave us alone but he looked harmless so we said it was ok.
Next thing he's up and back with beers for us and no matter how many times we asked he would not accept one from us.
bAlt asked what he did and he said sales and straight away I knew what. He was pretty much off his chops and eventualy fessed up that he bought and sold weed. At no time did he ask if we wanted to buy, it was just what he did to support himself and his young son. He asked about our lives and provided much mroe detail of his own. He was such a gentle soul.
Lunch eventually arrived and he moved back with his friends
It was worth the wait
By the time we wandered back to Tanoa it was close to 3 and our room was ready. It was not really what I'd expected at a 'waterfront' hotel, especially after the IC in Papeete. Nice room but a view of a park over a barbed wire fence. Sigh.
I was not happy Jan. I just wanted to sit and look out at water, so we went down to the bar so I could cool down.
bAlt went down and asked if anything else was available and for F$80 per night yes it was. He said I'll go move the bags. I can be a cranky old thing sometimes and bAlt is so patient, calm and kind.
I watched him move the bags into a room across from where we were sitting. For payment I ordered us a coughtail
happy now Jan
the new room at least could see the water even if it also looked right into the carpark.
More coughtails, maybe some beers, and then eventually decided we'd better eat
low carb even!
and what did I order? Surprise! Bloody delicious
bye Norwegian Spirit
We'd bought Saily eSims for use where our Woolies roaming didn't work. Due to the settlements happening while we were away we needed internet on shore as well as the 300 minutes each we had onboard. The eSims worked great, as did Woolies Pacific roaming in Fiji. Once we got to the hotel we switched to their wifi to methodically check that everything had happened as it should have, and that we were ready for settlement on Thursday.
Then we went for a wander around sleepy Lautoka. It was Sunday after all
I still had some USD and also some NZD and changed it all into Fijian currency to spend wherever. We first tried the South Seas Club but it was closed and ended up at the Lautoka Club. This was quite an experience
yes, another new beer
we ordered goat curry for lunch and it took a very long time for the one person in the kitchen to get it out to us. It didn't seem that busy inside the club but she was constantly preparing meal after meal for whoever was in there.
While we sat and waited a strapping young Fijian fella came and sat beside us and asked if he could chat. One of the staff turned up straight away and told him to leave us alone but he looked harmless so we said it was ok.
Next thing he's up and back with beers for us and no matter how many times we asked he would not accept one from us.
bAlt asked what he did and he said sales and straight away I knew what. He was pretty much off his chops and eventualy fessed up that he bought and sold weed. At no time did he ask if we wanted to buy, it was just what he did to support himself and his young son. He asked about our lives and provided much mroe detail of his own. He was such a gentle soul.
Lunch eventually arrived and he moved back with his friends
It was worth the wait
By the time we wandered back to Tanoa it was close to 3 and our room was ready. It was not really what I'd expected at a 'waterfront' hotel, especially after the IC in Papeete. Nice room but a view of a park over a barbed wire fence. Sigh.
I was not happy Jan. I just wanted to sit and look out at water, so we went down to the bar so I could cool down.
bAlt went down and asked if anything else was available and for F$80 per night yes it was. He said I'll go move the bags. I can be a cranky old thing sometimes and bAlt is so patient, calm and kind.
I watched him move the bags into a room across from where we were sitting. For payment I ordered us a coughtail
happy now Jan
the new room at least could see the water even if it also looked right into the carpark.
More coughtails, maybe some beers, and then eventually decided we'd better eat
low carb even!
and what did I order? Surprise! Bloody delicious
bye Norwegian Spirit
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Hotel entrance
and the new suite
June 22 Lautoka
There were plenty of things to do from Lautoka but we chose to do pretty much nothing.
I tried to move us to exit row seats on the plane on our flight the following morning but it went horribly wrong and at one point it looked like bAlt had no seat allocated. I called Fiji AIrways but they said they could do nothing and to get it sorted at the airport. I tried a couple more times and got us back together.
Lazed by the pool chasing the shade and read my book
for lunch and the afternoon we went to the South Seas Club
food was ordered at a place next to the club and they brought it to you
my ribs were apparently not very big so they gave me some moeny back when they brought the meal
Back to the hotel for dinner. One of the staff had suggested we go to the marina but we just couldn't be bothered
Lots of cats wandering around the hotel
and the new suite
June 22 Lautoka
There were plenty of things to do from Lautoka but we chose to do pretty much nothing.
I tried to move us to exit row seats on the plane on our flight the following morning but it went horribly wrong and at one point it looked like bAlt had no seat allocated. I called Fiji AIrways but they said they could do nothing and to get it sorted at the airport. I tried a couple more times and got us back together.
Lazed by the pool chasing the shade and read my book
for lunch and the afternoon we went to the South Seas Club
food was ordered at a place next to the club and they brought it to you
my ribs were apparently not very big so they gave me some moeny back when they brought the meal
Back to the hotel for dinner. One of the staff had suggested we go to the marina but we just couldn't be bothered
Lots of cats wandering around the hotel
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We booked a taxi through the hotel to take us to Nandi. Our flight was 8.15 and with the drive only being 20 minutes we booked the car for 5.45. Our lovely driver was waiting for us when we came out. Sugar Taxis
has contracts with a number of hotels to provide fixed rate vehicles. It was I think F$40, maybe 50 for a near new Camry compared to the assortment of old and bashed Toyota wagons that tout outside the hotel. He told us that some of the touts pull up and say they are from Sugar when a guest says that's who they've booked through.
There was no line for our flight. There was a priority line but it didn't matter. The lovely check in agent found us some seats together that had both a window and supposedly with a shadow in the aisle.
No problem accessing the lounge here. It was a nice little lounge with lovely staff
We went to the gate a bit early and eventually we were asked to board by group. One of FJ's ATRs
Our Max had been swapped out to an 800
I'm not sure how long we stood at the top of the steps but it was at least 30 minutes while they loaded all of the people requiring assistance (the lift is on the far side of the plane).
another twin otter
we finally boarded and it was a bit chaotic. A really big (tall) guy sat in the row in front of us and then someone else turned up with the same seat on their boarding pass. He sat beside us while they sorted it out. He'd paid for an exit row and hadn't noticed that his boarding pass had a new seat number on it. Problem was soon sorted, our aisle shadow disappeared on this very full flight, and somehow we pulled back only about 15 minutes late.
Lautoka looks much nicer from the air
pretty uneventful flight. Ok crew. Breakfast was an egg roll. I'd hope their A350s offered better service on the long haul flights.
of course there was an issue with bags at BNE. They were coming out very sporadically and then they just stopped. Of course neither of ours had appeared even though they had priority tags. Eventually they made an announcement that ther was an issue and there would be a delay then about one minute later they started coming out again. How is this bag thing so hard? Is it the Brisbane Airport Corporation? Swissport? Just hopeless.
Nothing to declare so out we went. The car was where we'd left it (phew) with plenty of charge to keep us running for a few days.
Settlement of our new place was Thursday arvo and movers were booked for Friday so we'd booked a place at South Brisbane for the next three nights. If booked direct Cliix offers free parking so that's what I booked https://www.cllix.com/arthouse-apartments/
The apartment was ready when we arrived. Upgraded to a two bedroom with a view of the city, and the train line below. It also had the most ridiculously small carpark I'd ever had the misofrtune to park in. At least it was free!
as soon as we'd dumped our bags we headed for the nearest Suncorp branch. We had to set up the transfer to pay for our new home
Sure the trains were close, and noisy, but it was a cracking apartment for a short stay
and that's all folks. Settlemnt went through without a hitch. The movers hadn't managed to scuff too much of our big stuff when it arrived on Friday. We had our self-storage unit empty by Monday afternoon
and here we are, West End residents. with our amazing view of the city
![IMG_3555[1].JPG](https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/data/attachments/503/503456-af7b8476f9f65e13ea2e2f7156dd22fa.jpg?hash=3wl8DyrIjv "IMG_3555[1].JPG")
thanks for coming along. Longreach and Winton from early May next
has contracts with a number of hotels to provide fixed rate vehicles. It was I think F$40, maybe 50 for a near new Camry compared to the assortment of old and bashed Toyota wagons that tout outside the hotel. He told us that some of the touts pull up and say they are from Sugar when a guest says that's who they've booked through.
There was no line for our flight. There was a priority line but it didn't matter. The lovely check in agent found us some seats together that had both a window and supposedly with a shadow in the aisle.
No problem accessing the lounge here. It was a nice little lounge with lovely staff
We went to the gate a bit early and eventually we were asked to board by group. One of FJ's ATRs
Our Max had been swapped out to an 800
I'm not sure how long we stood at the top of the steps but it was at least 30 minutes while they loaded all of the people requiring assistance (the lift is on the far side of the plane).
another twin otter
we finally boarded and it was a bit chaotic. A really big (tall) guy sat in the row in front of us and then someone else turned up with the same seat on their boarding pass. He sat beside us while they sorted it out. He'd paid for an exit row and hadn't noticed that his boarding pass had a new seat number on it. Problem was soon sorted, our aisle shadow disappeared on this very full flight, and somehow we pulled back only about 15 minutes late.
Lautoka looks much nicer from the air
pretty uneventful flight. Ok crew. Breakfast was an egg roll. I'd hope their A350s offered better service on the long haul flights.
of course there was an issue with bags at BNE. They were coming out very sporadically and then they just stopped. Of course neither of ours had appeared even though they had priority tags. Eventually they made an announcement that ther was an issue and there would be a delay then about one minute later they started coming out again. How is this bag thing so hard? Is it the Brisbane Airport Corporation? Swissport? Just hopeless.
Nothing to declare so out we went. The car was where we'd left it (phew) with plenty of charge to keep us running for a few days.
Settlement of our new place was Thursday arvo and movers were booked for Friday so we'd booked a place at South Brisbane for the next three nights. If booked direct Cliix offers free parking so that's what I booked https://www.cllix.com/arthouse-apartments/
The apartment was ready when we arrived. Upgraded to a two bedroom with a view of the city, and the train line below. It also had the most ridiculously small carpark I'd ever had the misofrtune to park in. At least it was free!
as soon as we'd dumped our bags we headed for the nearest Suncorp branch. We had to set up the transfer to pay for our new home
Sure the trains were close, and noisy, but it was a cracking apartment for a short stay
and that's all folks. Settlemnt went through without a hitch. The movers hadn't managed to scuff too much of our big stuff when it arrived on Friday. We had our self-storage unit empty by Monday afternoon
and here we are, West End residents. with our amazing view of the city
thanks for coming along. Longreach and Winton from early May next
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