A fond farewell to Fiji.....and plans for a possible return.

After saying good byes to all my fellow passengers on the cruise, I was surprised to see Joanne and David in the car behind me following me all the way back to First Landing.  And when I got there, Fiona and John were there ahead of me as their taxi driver had brought them for lunch on their way back to the airport.  So I was shown to my new room then joined Fiona and John for lunch before they were then whisked off to make their flight back to Sydney.

That evening over dinner, I met Peg and Fred, a couple from Seattle who have a boat in the marina and then along came Ken a Kiwi who I had met last time when I had champagne with Peter on his boat.  So we all had lots to talk about, everyone was keen to hear about my cruise and how it went.  It is such a small place, I spoke to Colin a Pom come Aussie who runs a small airline who was keen to pass my good feedback on to Tim at Blue Lagoon and Alex, the resort manager also wanted to make sure that my comments got back to Tim.  I was grateful for this as I had missed the chance to thank Tim before leaving Lautoka.

The forecast for the following few days was rain, so not weather for sitting out on a hammock so I decided to head into Lautoka city the following day for a spot of window shopping.  Masi behind the bar kindly arranged with Jim the resident driver to take me and it was settled that I would leave at 10am the following morning.  With an invited from Peg and also from Ken to pop by their boats at the Marina for coffee, I said goodnight and agreed to have dinner with Joanne and David the following night, their last night before they went home.
In the morning, I waited at the entrance to the resort at 10am for Jim to arrive but he didn't appear.  Salome arrived and asked where I was going, she called Jim and it transpired that he had been double booked and was actually taking Joanne and David to Denerau for the day.  I was about to resort to taking the bus, a bit of a brave move since I didn't know really where I was going although perfectly safe, but Ken arrived, announced he was going into town and offered to give me a lift as long as I didn't mind a quick stop at the chemical factory on the way!  Well how could I refuse a free lift and chance to visit the chemical factory.

He dropped me into Lautoka and gave me a brief overview of the city so I wouldn't get lost, which would have been a challenge since there are effectivley only 2 street built in a block pattern and he said I could either way and easily find my way back to where I started.  So I went straight across the road, down one block and then right.  I had only just turned the corner and heard someone calling my name.  It was Apenisa, crew from my first cruise (who had made my hat for me) coming out of a shop and on his way to join the ship after a week off.  How random.  If I had gone the other way or if Jim had been available, I may not have met up with him and he was as surprised as the others had been to see me in Fiji again so soon!  So I walked with him back towards Blue Lagoon Offices to catch up on the last few weeks and so I could call in to see Tim the CEO to thank him in person for the extras I had received.

I only had a couple of minutes with Tim as I was aware that he was waiting on the new bunch of passengers to head out that day, but I was pleased to be able to thank him in person and discuss ways to get a good deal if I were to return...and the answer was to contact him direct.  Always good to have friends in useful places!  And I will definitely be back one day!

After that, I made my way back into town, it was interesting to be amongst Fijians going about their daily business, different from being in a resort.  I bumped into Carol and Denis, another Kiwi couple I had seen briefly at First Landing and ended up joining them for lunch.  They had come into town on the bus and as they seemed knowledgeable, I went back with them towards the market and bus station via a couple of souvenir shops.  At the bus station, I met Inoke, another crew member who was having his week off and heading back to his family home, then we hopped on the bus, fully airconditioned which in Fiji means it has no windows.  Luckily it has shades which come down if its raining but it was a pleasant trip back to First Landing with school children on their way home.
My last full day in Fiji was a relaxing one, I had no plans to go out and as it turned out, the sun came out in the afternoon so I did manage to have an hour on a hammock with my book.  But when I returned to my room, there had been a power cut, a power line up the street had come down and the whole area was without power.  So Manasa gave me a candle to have a shower, then I returned to the bar to be among people until the power came on, which it did after about 3 hours, much to the relief of Alex and the staff who where concerened about the beer getting warm and food going off in the kitchen.

I had dinner with Denis and Carol who had been out for the day on a sailing boat called the Whale's Tail to celbrate Denis' birthday, then we were joined by Peg.  Peg had been having a small drama with crew to sail with her down to Auckland and was pleased that she had eventually found someone to sail with them.  She told me she had been that desperate she almost asked me if I would crew for them.  I probably would have done it if I had more time, but as it was she had found an alternative solution, this time.  But she will need someone in May to sail back to Fiji and asked if I would be interested.  We exchanged contact details and will drop her an email.  I guess it all depends on what happens when I get home but its nice to have an opportunity like that offered.  We shall see. :-)


Manasa drmmed up a nice group of staff to farewell me for the last time and I managed not to blub too much this time.  Isa Lei does make my bottom lip tremble even when its not me leaving, such a lovely song but I held it together, just!

Tiu, Joka, Masi and Manasa, Bar Team Extraordinaire!

More hugs before I left First Landing this time, but the departure was made easier by the fact that I met Lyn and Jamie from the cruise at the airport.  They were getting ready for their flight to Sydney departing an hour before mine, so we sat and had a drink before they were called to board.  

From the plane as we departed Nadi, I had a good view of the Yasawas and somewhere down below was the MV Mystique Princess with her new passengers for the week.  Until next time.
 

The Yasawas from the plane