Lautoka, Fiji

Our original plan for this stop was to take a sailing trip to a nearby islet, but that was cancelled due to “lack of participation.” So we split up, with Thomas and I signing up for a ziplining outing and Liz and DJ doing a tour of the garden of the sleeping giants. Thomas was excited both by the prospect of ziplining again (we did it in Thailand) and by the fact that our friends Ken, Jennifer, Mike, and Sarah would be on the same tour. He made sure to arrange a meeting in the lounge so that we’d all get tickets at the same time.

That we did, and we piled on the bus at 8:30 for our departure. The writeup had said it would be an hour to the ziplining park, but the guide told us it would be an hour and forty-five minutes. Doing the math that meant either that we’d have much less time ziplining or we’d be back later than advertised. In any event, we were on our way. We made a pit stop at a gas station/market that would not have been out of place on a US interstate. Thomas and I hit the restroom and picked up some snacks for the drive. It was an interesting drive, passing through Fijian villages and giving us nice views of the coast and the interior.

Once at the ziplining park it took a while for everyone to get geared up. Then it was up the hillside to the first platform. The walking on this tour was more strenuous than anything we’d done on an Oceania tour. Lots of stairs and climbing. It was all good though; it felt nice to get the exercise and the weather was not too hot.

The ziplining itself was terrific. There were sixteen lines of varying lengths. The guides were terrific: very supportive, friendly, and enthusiastic, but not in a touristy fake way. Everyone enjoyed the activity, and by the end Thomas was going upside down on the lines.

We had lunch right there at the site and they had a nice vegetarian option for us. Often on these excursions lunch is a bloated affair that seems stretched out to fill a time slot, but here it was just right. Get your food, sit down and eat, and then it’s time to go. We skipped the pit stop on the way back and were back at the ship a little after 3:00.

I texted Liz that we were back and she and I met on the dock to take the shuttle into town. With a 5:30 departure time we didn’t have a lot of time to waste. We walked the downtown area a bit, which was fine. The best part was seeing the people out and about on a Saturday, playing rugby, going to a carnival, and doing their shopping. Then it was back to the ship for a terrific dinner at the GDR.Læs mere