I ticked the box on the immigration form to confirm I was not bringing any swords into Fiji and was granted entry to the country. As we stepped off the plane we were greeted by pouring rain which was not an auspicious start. We delved straight into Fiji by taking a bus to Lautoka (Fijis second largest city) and from there a bus to Rakiraki, on the north coast of Viti Levu. From these journeys we quickly learnt that Fijian bus drivers like Boney M and Abba and that the weather was due to “low pressure” over Fiji, a statement that was repeated to us so many times over the next few hours that it felt like some sort of 1984 style mind games. In Lautoka we had just enough time to grab a few Indian snacks (chilli pakora) before heading further on. At Rakiraki the heavens had really started to open so we jumped in taxi to Ellington Wharf, just down the road. The taxi driver reckoned that if the rain didn’t stop the town would be flooded in three hours.
At Ellington Wharf we waited for a boat to take us across to Nananu-I-Ra island, a small island with a few quiet resorts on, a far cry from the luxury resorts catering to the masses heading to the Yasawas and Mamanucas, but then again, that was the attraction. The weather was so bad that by now we were wearing fleeces under our giant rain-coats!
On Nananu-I-Ra we stayed at McDonalds cottages, which we had chosen before we even arrived in Fiji. It was a good choice as the owner, Maxine, decided to upgrade us to a full Ocean-view bungalow due to the weather. Bearing in mind we had been on our feet for over 40 hours now on the trip from the UK we really appreciated this gesture and took advantage straight away by passing out in the master bedroom, only rousing for a pizza and a medicinal Fiji Bitter.
Luckily the weather did clear up and we were soon confronted with kitch scenes of turquoise waters, white sandy beaches and palm trees lolling about creating postcard perfect views. We spent a couple of days here swimming, sunbathing, snorkelling and kayaking around this tropical island, which we were sharing with just a few other people. No cars, no roads, no shops and no television it was very quiet and undeveloped, just like the rest of the northern coast.
Back on the “mainland” we continued around the northern and eastern coast of Viti Levu, and it was not how I imagined a Pacific island to be, lush green jungle, some interesting rock formations and mountains and cliffs falling away into the sea. We saw no sign of the racial tensions between Fijians and Indo-Fijians that have blighted the recent history, in fact on the buses the other passengers seemed to delight in living in such a society, which I guess goes to show that on a trip like this you can barely scratch the surface of a country.
We stopped for a few hours in Suva, the capital of Fiji and the biggest city in the South Pacific. It was as crowded, dirty and run-down as that sounds, attracting all sorts of drop-outs from all over Fiji and beyond. The saving grace was the colourful (as always) fruit market and the tasty Indian food served up in the small cafes around the bus station. Suva, Nadi and Lautoka all reminded me slightly of East African cities, or more precisely cities where Indian traders dominate but that are outside of India, they take all the best parts of India with them but leave behind the worst of the dirt and smells!
From Suva we ventured along the Coral Coast, stopping for a few nights at Beachouse, right in the middle of this stretch. One of Fijis oldest tourist areas but still fairly unspoilt, due to the isolated resorts spread out along the long stretch of coast. Beachouse is a typical backpacker resort but somehow feels slightly more opulent due to a few small details, mainly that it was big enough that you could get away from the group of gap yearers who couldn’t quite afford to follow the crowds onto the Yasawa flyer! Also, the weather had taken another turn for the worst however so it was a day or two before we could really appreciate it, at first the turquoise water disguised itself in the overcast conditions to resemble a muddy swamp!
I must say I was expecting Fiji to be much more over-run by tourism, and perhaps if we had visited the Mamanucas or Denarau then we would have seen the uglier side, but from what we saw Fiji has managed tourism very well, catering for almost all standards of guests without really impacting negatively on the livelihoods of the local people. Especially along the north coast you could be forgiven for thinking you had been smuggled into another country.
Apart from the fish curry in Suva the other culinary highlight of Fiji was grilled fish in coconut sauce which we had in both places we stayed. On Nananu-I-Ra it was served with cassava cakes and rou-rou, a Fijian vegetable similar to spinach. This, alongside the couple of really good curries we had, made up a good combination of Fijian cuisine. We searched in vain for somewhere to try the traditional ‘Lovo’, a pit barbeque and we also failed in of search for kava – the traditional drink of Fiji. It seemed something like Tedj in Ethiopia, everyone talks about it all the time but no-one ever seem to have any.
We finished our brief tour of Fiji by completing a circumnavigation of Viti Levu and spending a final night in Nadi. The main highlight of Nadi was the Hindu temple, built in the traditional South Indian Dravidian style, you know the ones painted in a thousand different colours. It really was beautiful, even if it was so hot it was hard to walk around barefoot, it was impressive enough grin and bear it!
Of course the Fiji weather could not let us escape without raising it’s ugly head once more so after visiting the temple and stuffing our faces with a final curry the heavens opened once more, leaving our hostel stranded and under several inches of water. It was as if the destiny of Fiji as described in Red Dwarf were coming true. Luckily it had cleared by the next day, I was concerned enough as it was to be flying on a Boeing 737 for a few hours over the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand, in bad weather it would have been the flying equivalent of a journey on one of those Philippine ferries!
