This is our second stop in Fiji. We docked, well anchored, around 8:00 this morning at Dravuni Islands. The captain said that it is a bit tricky due to tall the reefs in the area. Usually the locals come out in their small motorboats and mark the edges of the reefs. However, today they didn’t so they had to bring the ship in old school.
We met at breakfast a bit early today, 8:30 due to the main dining hall closes at 9:00 on shore days. We all decided what we wanted to do. Kevin and Jim were going for a walk around the island, Gary is going to stay on board while Joe and I decided to go ashore and see what it was like. The island is similar to some of the other stops, not much to do here. On this island though, there are people that live here and they bring out wares to sell, boat rides, snorkeling, food etc. The local church put on a native song an dance for us. It was interesting and it’s always fun to see men dance in skirts, even if they are grass. They did get oiled up for us though.
Joe and I walked for a bit on the beach and into the surf a bit. The water was warm and very nice. Since this is a shell ‘sand’ it is very soft and doesn’t compact like silicate sand does in San Diego. This makes it very difficult to walk on because you sink in quite a bit. There were some patches of old reefs that gave a hard surface to walk. From the beach, we went back to the ship and took a shower. Then it was up to the Lido to grab some cold drinks and a bit of lunch.
Gary, Kevin and I had made plans to play bridge and Joe worked on his crossword puzzle. I played with Alan, Albert and Ronnie (SP) who is Indian and lives in Sydney like Albert and Alan. We had good time. Kevin and Gary ended up giving lessons to Peter and another guy that is taking lessons on sea days with the bridge directory Izzy.
After bridge, Gary and I joined Joe for happy hour. We have dinner plans for 7:30. I am hoping that the stars will be out again tonight. At 6:00 PM the sky is partly cloudy so there is hope.
After dinner Joe talked me into going to the casino...should have gone to bed. I left him playing one of his favorite machines. The casino host did buy hime a bottle of water. BIG WIN!!
