Lautoka

Now that we are on the return trip across the Pacific, we have started to repeat some of the ports that we've been to before. Most of the ports are interesting enough that this is not a problem at all.

Lautoka, Fiji was one of our favorite ports on the way over – a bustling Indo-Fijian, non-touristy city. On the return, we did something that we hadn't done anytime on the trip so far – we didn't go ashore. Skipped it completely. We'd gotten a lot of sun the previous day on the Yasawa beach, it was really hot, and we were still tired. We felt guilty, but we just stayed in the cool of the ship and read all day. It was cathartic, after so much running around over the previous couple of weeks. And on the boat? blissfully quiet.

Vava'u

Our next stop was Vava'u, Tonga. Last time, we arrived in the middle of the afternoon, and few people were about. This time, it was early morning, and the little town was much more bustling – though that is still a relative term. We walked around parts of the little town we hadn't seen before, and Kathy did a bit of shopping.

Cookin'

Rarotonga, Cook Islands was next on the list of repeats. We've decided this is our favorite island in the South Pacific (of the ones we've visited). We had a short call at this port, so we mainly did the increasingly-usual errands – stocking our liquor cabinet for the long return across the Atlantic, and getting the latest edition of the Economist for Kathy. The rest of the time we spent wandering the backroads of Rarotonga.

In the evening an island dance troop came aboard to entertain us – they are fun to watch, and very good at what they do. The dancing is not just for tourists – there are very competitive inter-island contests to find the best dance troop.

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