Day 53: Savusavu, Fiji

Today was an uneventful day, and, try as we did, it’s hard to find a lot in Savusavu about which to be overly enthusiastic. We chose to not book a ship excursion (wildly expensive) that I’m certain would have livened up our day, but we opted not to see the rainforest or the waterfall and not to do a snorkel trip by boat, the two primary excursion options. We did, however, get an idea for snorkeling from shore if we get back here again. 

We were on a different Fijian island than yesterday,

the island of Vanua Levu. 

Still smack dab in the middle of a lot of 

South Pacific Ocean. 

I was only about 15 minutes behind G this morning in getting to the DaVinci Dining Room for breakfast. I guess I’m adjusting to the two time changes just in time to change clocks back an hour each of the next two nights. I need to be more flexible... we’ll be doing a lot of “two hours back and ahead over the next few weeks. 

Check out the new sugar dispensers on the Ruby Princess. They dispense

about a teaspoon of sugar each time they are upended. They’re nice, though a bit hard to grasp, 

and should make separating paper waste from food waste easier (and I’m biting my fingers 

here to refrain from typing about any inconsistencies in Princess’ environmental efforts). 

Look what I got a picture of today!

Day 9 breakfast menu 

After breakfast, we walked along the Promenade Deck to get a closer look at this spectacularly beautiful sailing yacht... 

...when we spotted a life boat on which we suspected headwaiter Mehai might be training (yes he was; he was the man standing up in front).  We were a little confused when we saw the life boat approach several locals (including a child) in a small boat.  It seemed unusual that they would train with locals but especially odd that there was a child involved. 

Mehai looking like George Washington crossing the Delaware

Approaching the small fishing boat

Securing it alongside the life boat

We couldn’t imagine what was going on, but Mehai filled us in tonight. This was not a training exercise.  These locals were lobster fishing when they lost their engine and were drifting out to open water. They waved the life boat down seeking help. That would have even more exciting had we known what was really going on. Instead we were just interested in getting some photos of Mehai for him to share with his family. We tendered over to shore right afterwards, disembarking our tender at the 19th century re-purposed copra shed which acts as a terminal and houses the Savusavu Yacht Club. 

Besides its jaw-dropping beauty, Savusavu’s primary claim to fame is its bubbling hot springs. The local legend is that a chief from a neighboring island came over to Vanua Levu with a bag carrying hot water. The local chief here threw a spear piercing the bag, and hot water flowed into the earth, but I think that the fact that the Vanua Levu is volcanic in origin might have something to do with it too.

Heat from beneath the earth's crust created a bubbling in a street...


...and along the shoreline. 

We re-visited the little grocery store where G had purchased potato chips during our last visit and did the same today, and then crossed the street to the same waterfront bar for a beer. When we returned to the tender pier, the line to return to the ship was long and winding. I was afraid it would take forever to get onto a tender, but we actually waited only 30 minutes or so and were kept well entertained by a local band playing a lot of hits from the 60s and 70s interspersed with some Fijian tunes. 

Making our way back to the Ruby Princess 

I am an old soul, and am not a fan of the new hull art on Princess ships.

I think the rust from the anchor on the Ruby Princess makes it look like

the sea witch is projectile vomiting. Nope, not a fan. 

The beautiful Savusavu Harbour

We grabbed a quick bite to eat from the Horizon Court Buffet (just veggies and watermelon for me, because I was leaving room for tonight’s dessert) and then I used the Terrace Pool and sat on the Terrace Deck enjoying the view until it was time to get ready for the evening. We met with Virginia in the Elite Lounge for some hors doerves before dinner. 

Day 9 dinner menu, page 1

Day 9 dinner menu, page 2

Day 9 dessert menu
I limited myself to just salmon and broccoli for dinner, leaving 

room for FOUR scoops of watermelon sorbet, my favorite

flavor by far. With as much watermelon as I consume everyday,

I’m surprised they had any left to make sorbet. ;-)

We went to the Princess Theater performance by Suzanne Prentice, not exactly sure what to expect. She was another ‘woman of a certain age’ with an amazing voice.  She’s from New Zealand and was made an OBE by Queen Elizabeth. Incredible voice and a great show, and I love to see women in their 60s as guest entertainers on ships. 

And that was our day.  I’m finishing up this post at 10:30pm and will hopefully be asleep soon. We have certainly enjoyed calm seas this cruise, and we’re taking advantage of it to get some quality sleep. The Tasman Sea awaits in less than a week.

Savusavu Port Guide, page 1

Savusavu Port Guide, page 2

Savusavu Port Guide, page 3

I am having the hardest time scanning the front page of the Patter 

when it has a blue banner. I had at least 8 attempts today that

look just like this one, with the banner cut off.

Day 9 Princess Patter, page 1
I finally got it to scan using my folded Patter in the dining room. It 

must be an issue with lighting. 

Day 9 Princess Patter, page 2

Day 9 Princess Patter, page 3

Day 9 Princess Patter, page 4

Day 27: Savusavu, Fiji

I think we really were wiped out last night. We both slept hard for over 9 hours and didn’t make it up to the Horizon Court Buffet for breakfast until 8:30am. I was feeling much better today with just occasional sneezes. It was warm even in the morning, and we were able to enjoy breakfast on the Terrace Deck, but we stayed under the covered part, because there were occasional rain showers. 

Savusavu (not to be confused with Suva, where we were yesterday) is located in the northern region of Fiji’s 320 islands (just over a hundred are inhabited) on the island of Vanua Levu. The population is around 5000, and it is actually a town, albeit a small one. It is located just south of the Waisali Rainforest Reserve, and the ship offered excursions there to see the reserve’s birds and orchids. 

We tendered over to Savusavu with only a couple of things in mind to do today. The tender pier is located right at a re-purposed copra shed (copra is dried coconut meat), so it’s rather unique in that we stepped off the tender and right into this historic building. We wanted to see the hot springs located on the west side of town, and we were told how to get to them, just a short walk away. After a stop in a small grocery store (G is always on the lookout for Mountain Dew, and actually found one in Suva yesterday), we walked up a hill to a small park where the two main hot springs were located. 

Golden Princess at anchor 

Typically Fijian buildings near the tender pier

Always, always a stop for potato chips for G

Well, sure enough, there was water bubbling up out of the ground in two places, but, unlike Yellowstone in the US, these springs did not have any smell at all. They were, however, very steamy. A representative of the local council was there to fill us in. The local legend is that a chief from a neighboring island came over to Vanua Levu with a bag carrying hot water. The local chief here threw a spear piercing the bag, and hot water flowed into the earth.

Somehow I think that the fact that the Vanua Levu is volcanic in origin might have something to do with it too. ;-)

Having seen the hot springs, our next stop was further up a steep hill at the Hot Springs Hotel, which had been recommended by blog reader Cheryl for a beer and a swim in their pool with a view. Unfortunately, since she and her husband had been here just over a month ago, the hotel has been sold to the Chinese and is in the process of being renovated. We saw evidence of Chinese investment in Suva yesterday also, where they are building two major bridges in the city to relieve some of the traffic congestion. Why are the Chinese investing in Fiji?  We think their vote in the UN might have something to do with it. 

Stymied on that count, we walked back down to the waterfront where we saw another steaming area, right on the edge of the sea. Just down from that was a restaurant that advertised cold beer and we could see it had a large patio directly on the water. We settled in there and G ordered a Fiji Gold beer (in a 750ml bottle!) for $5 AUD. We struck up a conversation with a couple sitting there who were originally from California (the Bay Area) but who had lived in Savusavu for 20 years. They recommended the fish and chips, so we ordered them and sat for a long while chatting with them about the thought process involved in moving to such a remote area and applying for Fijian citizenship (they are just a year away). Fascinating stuff, but not something that we would ever consider. They admitted that medical care was very lacking but they made a conscientious decision that they would live out their years in an area they love. 

Combination fish market, meat market, laundromat and waterfront bar/restaurant. 

More bubbling water along the shoreline. 

While we sat there on that covered patio, the rain and sun came and went intermittently, and the temperature and humidity soared. It’s the first time we’ve really felt uncomfortable in the heat, but I think the humidity was  more to blame. 

We wandered back to the Copra Shed/tender pier, perusing all the tables selling local handicrafts along the way (I was good, and still didn’t buy a thing), and, we boarded a tender back to the ship about 3pm. That first blast of AC as we stepped back on the ship felt heavenly.

After dinner in the Bernini Dining Room (salad, salmon, broccoli and a baked sweet potato) we rushed to the Vista Lounge to get good seats for the 6:45pm performance of production show Motor City. It’s the first time we’ve seen it this season (though we had seen a brief preview in the Piazza yesterday) and you know it’s a favorite. Apparently it’s the favorite of a lot of people, because the Vista Lounge filled up fast. 

We still had some energy and so joined the mass migration down to the Princess Theater where we were able to get seats for impressionist Keith Scott at 7:45pm. We had already seen him this year and he is very good, and though some of his impressions are of Australian politicians (which we totally missed), he also does several US presidents, actors and singers, and they are spot on. 

We swung through the Horizon Court Buffet on the way back to our cabin, where G grabbed a piece of pizza and ice cream and I had...crudités and watermelon (of course). We read the Port Guide about tomorrow’s port of Lautoka that came with our Princess Patter and were happy to see that the Golden Princess will be docked (so no tenders) but unhappy to see Lautoka is Fiji’s second largest city. We were hoping for another Dravuni Island experience, but that is obviously not going to happen. We have an early arrival and departure; we’ll check on the weather before deciding how to spend our day.