Lautoka’s recent history is entwined with the fortunes of sugar, which gives rise to its other name, Sugar City. It has a picturesque esplanade, with Mt Koroyanitu providing a hinterland backdrop.

As soon as I saw the entry to the markets, I remembered it from 40 years ago. A wonderful array of fresh vegetables and fruit and handicrafts. Lautoka is 5 times the size, population wise, since my last visit but essentially unchanged. We wandered around the main shopping district taking advantage of cheap prices for pharmacy items we needed, and enjoyed an iced coffee while using the free wifi in a café.  Another good walk around town taking in the sights took us past a massive warehouse that looked like it had recently burned down.Cruise ship ports are not always the most interesting of sights. They are usually working ports with restricted walkways, dirty drums and lego like stacked rust coloured containers.

Lautoka gave us something interesting to watch however before and after our onshore visit. A massive mountain of woodchips lay in front of us and a single dozer worked moving piles over to another place. A dozer operator would work for hours then the shute would let forth another pile in a few seconds. To our mind it seemed if the shute was extended in height he wouldn't have to work so long moving it all!

Back on the ship we settled down with the red wine before quiz time. We thoroughly enjoyed the trivia and quizzes held on cruise ships and usually scored in the higher end. On this cruise we had a lovely group that mostly quizzed with us. 

Next is another relaxing day at sea then a big moment - our 100th country.