DAY TWENTY TWO & TWENTY THREE - FIJI

We are on our final leg of the cruise on the first of 3 days at sea before docking in Sydney at 8am on Tuesday. Today is Saturday November 15th and for the past two days we have been at our final two ports in Fiji. On Thursday we spent the day at Port Denaru and yesterday at Dravuni Island.
Port Denaru is a brand new stop for cruise ships and I think we were only the third or fourth cruise ship to stop here. The port is actually on a small, 3 sq km. Island and is reclaimed mangrove swamp now covered in fancy resorts and up market shops. There is also an abundance of tour operators offering fishing trips, snorkeling, sailing and other water based tours. We spent several hours on the island mainly watching the locals show. They put on a number of shows in a very nicely shaded area in the center of the shopping complex. There was a traditional song and dance show known here as a Meke. Part of the show was a Kava Ceremony that I avoided. Been there once before - foul taste and numb lips.
The other activity that is on offer here is the Bula bus. This bus simply runs around the island stopping at each of the 6 resorts and is used by guests and staff of the resorts plus the visitors such as us. There are no beaches to speak of here but the resort pools are all very nice and visitors are welcome.
Our next stop was Dravuni Island yesterday. The approach through the passage into the lagoon here is very interesting. The entrance , maybe 200 meters wide, is marked by two small red buoys, one either side. To make sure that ships notice these the local motor out in small dinghy’s and sit beside each buoy as an added indicator. I thought they were fishing until a fellow passenger who had been here before told me of there important duties. They were there when we left in the afternoon as well.
We dropped the anchor close to the island at 7am and stayed here until 3 pm. There are no Princess Cruises shore tours offered here. Instead it was simply a day at the beach. We live on the Sunshine Coast in Qld and are surrounded by beautiful beaches and didn’t really need to see another one so we spent the day by the pool onboard.
Dravuni Island is approximately 100klm from Suva within the Great Astrolabe Reef. It is one of many small islands scattered throughout this area and home to 200 or so native Fijians. There is very little on this island apparently. A small village, a school, a church and that’s about it. Yesterday was mainly overcast and while I’m told the snorkeling here is usually quite good yesterday the water was not very clear.
Our last sail away party this afternoon was a bit somber I thought. It’s been a wonderful cruise and like me I think a lot of people are sorry to see it end. There’s always the next one to start planning for.