Tales of the South Pacific - Lautoka, Viti Levu, Fiji Day 2

Cruise Day 25

Friday, October 24, 2025

Today is our second day in Lautoka, we were originally supposed to be on Dravuni Island in Fiji, but a typhoon had severely damaged the tender dock so that stop was cancelled.

We slept in this morning, but I didn’t sleep in too long and tried not to disturb Val as she really needed the rest.  We have no plans for today in Lautoka which will give Val a chance to rest up.  I had breakfast in the Neptune Lounge and brought Val back her tea and a snack and then we relaxed until the room stewards came to clean our room.

We also decided that Val should see the ship’s doctor; it appears that she just has a bad cold, but we want to make sure she doesn’t have something she needs antibiotics for.  I asked Kyle to make an appointment for her, but evidently on a port day the medical office doesn’t open until four and you can’t get in touch with them until they open (unless it’s an emergency).

Val spent the rest of the morning resting and I started updating the blog.  Yesterday had been a busy day so I had a lot to write about.  We had lunch in the Lido and afterwards I went back to the blog and Val continued resting.  I also had a couple of days of photos to load onto my computer and back up, so I had plenty to do.

I had already told Arthur and Donna we wouldn’t be at trivia today, so we were ready when promptly at four, Kyle knocked on our door and escorted us down to the medical center.  We really didn’t need her to do that, but she insisted.  It turns out Val has bronchitis, which isn’t a good thing, but we were both relieved to find out what was actually wrong.  She was given some antibiotics and some cough syrup, so hopefully in a few days, she’ll start feeling better.

Val and I relaxed for a while and as dinnertime neared she decided she felt well enough to go to our usual dinner in the main dining room.  We also went to the casino afterward but stayed a very short time and then called it a night.  Tomorrow will be our last port in Fiji.

Looking out at the harbor entrance.  This island has homes on it and the only way to shore must be by boat as there is no bridge.

This is an industrial port, so this is what we see from our balcony.  That huge pile is wood chips from pine trees that are used by a company mainly for biomass fuel, but also for mulch, animal bedding and other products.  Caribbean Pine was introduced to the island in the 1960s and they grow really well on the island, so there is a constant source of wood chips.

We sail away from Viti Levu but not from Fiji as we have another island to visit.