Pacific Dawn review - Part 2 Ports

[Cruzer Nut]

My review Part 2

 

Fiji Adventure – 6-20 February 2009

 

Ports

 

Noumea – Day was hot and very very humid worse than last time, As we had been here before we knew what to expect in terms of people and what there is to do. 2 years ago we wanted to do the Aquarium but were told that it was closed for renovations, so this time we were determined to see it. We arrived in Noumea on a Monday which is the day that most tourist centres are closed, I enquired by email if we were able to visit the aquarium independently of the ship but was told no they only open for the ship on a Monday in fact we only every saw one employee there the whole time, so we had to pay inflated prices to see it.

 

We were not disappointed in going to the aquarium, the displays are fantastic, the fluorescent coral is amazing and we enjoyed out visit immensely, just a note for those who are going on the tour with the ship on a Monday, the aquarium shop is NOT open on this day, we were disappointed in this (as it is advertised as being available in the shore tours booklet) as we would have loved to get some souvenirs from there.

 

Transport was Air-conditioned bus that had a hard time coping with the humidity that day it seemed not to be cool in there, some passengers complained and told everyone around them loudly that they were going back to the ship at the end of the tour to demand their money back due to the bus not being cool enough (just wait till they get to Suva!!!!!) We also stopped at FOL Viewpoint to take pictures of the ship and city and Ouen Toro Lookout, both of which were beautiful and we managed to get some beautiful pictures.

 

We had free time so we popped into town to go to Ton Ton Jules chocolates, we found this shop 2 years ago loved their chocolates that we just had to go back there didn’t we (well that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it) :p:D

 

2 years ago they were also having a garbage strike so it this trip it was pleasant to walk along the streets without dodging massive piles of rotting garbage. Noumea may not be for some but I don’t mind it, and would love to next time do a tour of all the old buildings as I found history fascinating.

 

Dravuni Island – ahhhhhh bliss the day was hot and sunny, we loved this place last time and were glad to revisit, the place looks the same, they have a new meeting place closer to the pontoon that the men from the island sat there singing and eventually had a kava ceremony there as well, we saw the kids brushing their teeth at the school and dropped by to have a look in the school house, we noticed that all the vegetation on the hilltop has regrown after the eruption of the volcano 2 years ago. Did some great snorkelling here and got some fantastic shots of giant clams just off the main beach area. I also found an entire sheet of corrugated iron roofing covered in a thin layer of sand and some clothing matted with fishing line as well, amazing sights underwater.

 

 

Suva – Raining as we arrived but cleared for most of the day then rained for 10 mins in the afternoon. We didn’t get here last time due to the Coup that erupted just days before our cruise, I don’t think we missed much, The staff on the ship are now warning everyone in the Pacific Daily about the people outside the Wharf who find out your name and write it in a sword etc, we simply jumped on the free bus to Prouds/Jack’s to avoid them. We did however come across a guy who came up to us and said he had seen us at Dravuni the day before and tried to lure us into a shop to buy clothing. We shopped at Jack’s returned to the ship on the free bus, dumped our shopping and headed out to the supermarket to pick up some Fiji Water for our cabins, they were selling 1.5Ltr bottles for $1.50 Fijian so we stocked up!!!!! We found Suva as most people have said, dirty and depressing, it would not be a place that I would go to for a holiday and stay in Suva, but as a port for one day I would get out of town and visit the Real Fiji next time. We loved the buses that had no windows looked as if they were about to just drop the motor in the middle of the street. But their bus terminal seems to work efficiently even if their road rules are non existent!!

 

Savusavu – Sunny and Hot turning to Rain in the afternoon, After reading about the Black Pearl Farm tour I did a bit of Googling and found out more about J Hunter Pearl Farm. Justin Hunter is a native Fijian who returned to Savusavu to farm black pearls, he hires locals only, has scholarships to help Fijians to be better educated. I have always wanted a black pearl and decided to purchase one here because of his good work and would rather the proceeds go to help the local economy than someone sitting in a corporate office getting rich and not know the conditions the workers live in etc. I took an hour to decide on what pearl I liked best and was given vouchers to get a free drink at the Planters Club a few doors down. We didn’t do the tour as the ship had fully booked out the boats. I did get photos of the small pontoon and all the buoys’ in the water where the pots are. I was also amazed that in the office next to the showroom there was a shopping bag sized plastic bag full of pearls just waiting to be graded and also a reject bag just as big just sitting on the table in full sight. We didn’t stop at the hot springs as a bus just turned up the road to it and decided it was too crowded to see anything properly. You could see steam rising from drains that dumped into the bay from the hot springs as we waited for the Tenders.

 

This is where we started to have problems with the Tenders, 2 broke down it was an hour wait to get onto a tender and longer to get back on to them. It was annoying yes, but with a little forward planning you could eliminate your waiting time, we got our tender tickets on the way back from breakfast so by the time you brush your teeth pack your bag etc and wander down to the purser’s desk, have a coffee it’s not that long to wait. On the other side however take it in turns to stand in line whilst you have a look at the stalls then swap etc, makes it a little easier to bear.

 

 

 

Port Vila – Sunny Hot and Humid, vastly different from last time with torrential rain that saw nearly everyone’s tours cancelled. As previously warned by some about the shops closing early on a Sunday we were in town just before 9am to do our shopping, it was off to Fung Kei to get our Duty Free and then down to the Markets to see Elizabeth in room 8 (she was not there as she was attending church) but I left a card and a message to say hello, I ended up getting some beautiful sundresses for my nieces there before we left. We also stopped into the market (I still didn’t get the name of it sorry!) where all the ladies who make the shirts and dresses are there with their sewing machines, most were open but being a Sunday some were not, here I picked up a hand painted dress and shirt and matching father and son shirts.

 

Our tours in Port Vila were through the ship as they fully book out the vendors the day’s they are there. We did the Jet Boating (the business is for sale and the owners told us they are returning to England in March, they did not tell us if there had been a buyer just that is was for sale and they are leaving in March) we had a blast, we had booked this 2 years ago but it was cancelled due to the weather, it was worth the wait!!! We buzzed the ship and stopped to see a huge rock sitting up in the water near the dock, during the Earthquake they had there not long ago (don’t know the date) a piece of the mountain dislodged and rolled down the hill and across the road and landed in the water, it has fully grown trees and foliage on it very strange to see.

 

We also did the Underwater Walk and in a word fantastic thank you to all of you who recommended this tour and posted photos - it was great. I got some great shots of the fish feeding from my and Michaels hand and the coral growing on the bottles etc, even a photo of Michael sitting on King Neptune’s Throne (a toilet) it was amazing. A little freaky at first but the sight of all the fish took it all away in an instant I almost forgot to breathe.

 

I stopped off to see Chrissy and leave a donation in her pouch, she is coming to Australia in March sometime to purchase more equipment and see her Grandchildren, she is currently raising money for Vila hospital to have its first Intensive Care Unit, I have a photo of her sitting in her chair just outside the wharf precinct. She left us a message thanking us all for her donations in the Pacific Daily the next day.

 

 

Mystery Island – Hot and Overcast with glimpses of Sunshine, this was one Island I was determined to see if not this time I would just have to book another one (do I really need this excuse??????) the Captain (Lorenzo Paoletti) was all over the ship and you could just walk up and chat to him he was very approachable and loved to talk about his ship, I asked him if we were going to make it to Mystery Island as the weather was turning rougher and the wind was classed as gale force etc and he explained to me about how when he was Captain of the Fair Princess and Docked at Port Vila was asked to come and chart Mystery Island.

 

He then told us how they Flew him over the area to view the channel and he landed on the Air Strip on the Island, he did this complete with arm movements imitating a small aircraft and the wind etc he was quite entertaining, anyway he said he was about 95% sure we were going to make it.

 

Well it took him 3 goes but yes we made it. I woke up in time to get out to the Viewing Platform on Baja (I only made it out there twice I was so busy, must do better next time) we were just arriving and hadn’t even dropped anchor yet as we slipped into the bay between Anatom and Mystery Islands. I saw the locals from Anatom sailing across in front of us over to Mystery Island to set up before we got there. We dropped both anchors to prevent us from turning in the channel and it was off to the Island.

Michael had his photo taken in the Cannibal Pot (now $3) and we browsed through the stalls to pick up some souvenirs before heading off to the other side of the Island to go snorkelling again. I got some great shots of sea cucumbers just covering the Ocean Floor amazing.

 

We didn’t spend too long there as the weather was closing in and since we only had the 2 tenders again we left before it was peak hour. (note: we had a medical emergency that left us almost stranded on the island for longer as one lady was medivac back to the ship, I heard that she had slipped and hurt her back (can’t confirm this), one other guy slipped and hurt his knee and was let onto the next tender without waiting in line etc)

 

Isle of Pines – Partly Sunny, Hot and Humid, turned rainy in the afternoon. I woke up early and knowing that the Tenders were down to 2 I decided to leave early and get to the sacred rock for snorkelling before the masses did and it turned all murky. I snorkelled all around the rock and saw so many fish I didn’t know which way to look first.

 

I almost didn’t get off on the Isle of Pines because I never saw a word about the Sea Snakes!!!!! :eek::eek: The Pacific Daily reported on them and it took all my resolve to get into the water, this was not done until I had talked to nearly everyone coming out of the water around the rock and asked if they had seen a sea snake and not one told me yes.

 

Anyway it was well worth it, I stood up after going around and felt something brush my leg well of course I freak out but stay absolutely still thinking that if it’s a snake he may just think I am a rock in the water and swim around me. It was then that I felt many things brush my legs that I put my mask back on my face, snorkel in my mouth and calmly stuck my head in the water (if anyone was looking at me they would have seen me as white as a ghost as I did this), I found out that I was surrounded by a school of blue/silver fish thousands of them, I stuck my camera back under the water and clicked away absolutely amazed that they were so close.

 

As I had come over to the island alone I didn’t spend too long there and again there was the tender problem to deal with. I quickly dropped by the stalls and the boutique and was surprised at just how expensive it was to purchase souvenirs, worse than the prices in Noumea!!! I did buy a sarong with Isle of Pines on it; I like to use them to cover my Coffee Table so if the names on them it’s nice instead of just a pattern.

 

 

Conclusion; Did I have a good Time – Yes.

Would I do it all again – Yes.

Is there anything I would do differently – Probably not.

 

 

Thanks for reading, I know it was long.

[takeout]

Thanks Fi an extremely interesting and informative review

[kezza]

Great detail Fi, loved reading it. Sea snakes! Aaaahh!! Good to see that Isle Pines now has stalls and a boutique to purchase things. When we first went to Isle Pines there where no markets or anything, you had the resort but you weren't allowed to enter.

 

You haven't mentioned the shows or the night life. How were they?

 

We sailing on her on the 16th April for the first time and am sooo looking forward to it.

 

Kerri

[Kinkacruiser]

I enjoyed the read very much, Fi. Have to say that it's from review such as yours that I (and I'm sure many others do as well) plan our ports of call excursions. Thanks for sharing. I'm happy you have a A+++ holiday (but you didn't need the sea snake scare:eek:).

Cheers,

Anna

[Skyrules]

Have never seen a warning for Sea Snakes at Isle of Pines. Only time I've seen them, or a evena warning about them, is at Amedee Island.

[VicGuy]

Great Part 2 Fi,

 

Glad you enjoyed the Jet Boat. That was the one thing i was looking forwarded to doing again on my last cruise. Would be sad to see it closed down especially as they hire locals as the drivers.

[Drelix]

just wondering was this the cruise that left at like 1 am. and what was the reason and so i am assumin it left on the 21st of feb?

[bluegumflats]

love the review, it just makes me want to smell that blue folder again! :)

 

some of our friends saw a sea snake at IOP last year in March maybe they are there only some months of the year

[LOVE cruising!]

Great review. Was interesting reading about the ports that we didnt go to.

 

just wondering was this the cruise that left at like 1 am. and what was the reason and so i am assumin it left on the 21st of feb?

 

It was our cruise (W906 20Feb - 1Mar) that didnt leave until after 1am. They had the divers from America fixing the bow thrusters. Very cool to watch. We were firstly told we were leaving at just after 10pm when doing the muster drill. The crowd made a huge collective sigh. So my husband & I went on deck at about 9.30 to see sailaway. The lights etc were beautiful & we were really excited about seeing the Bridge & Opera house all lit up. We waited, & waited... for 3 hours on that deck. Until I couldnt keep my eyes open any longer (after 36 hours without sleep). We went to bed & I missed it. As did a lot of people. From the buzz at breakfast the next morning, it was well worth waiting for. Maybe the ships should leave after dark more often. We also made Vila as scheduled. Also noted that the divers were back when we disembarked. Hopefully the W907 left at night also.