Fiji--The Friendliest Island

Fiji, as a nation, is comprised of over 300 islands and has a population of ~898,000.  The largest, Viti Levu, on which the capital, Suva (pop. ~158,000), is located, is 90 miles long and was too big to capture in one photo.  It is the largest island in the South Pacific.  This picture is of the most interesting part of its early morning silhouette to me--the volcanic plug called Joske's Thumb.  Others share my opinion as it is on the back of their 10 Fiji dollar bill.  

We had a short stay in Fiji, arriving at 7:00 am and leaving at 2:00.  It's over 1,100 miles to New Zealand and over 60 hours are needed to get there.

Fiji is sometimes referred to as "Little India".  In 1874 the British colonized Fiji and soon after, brought indentured servants from India to work in the sugar cane fields.  After the period of servitude was over, they could choose to go back to India or stay in Fiji.  Many stayed, and their descendants now form 38% of the population.

Our excursion took us out of Suva, so I don't have much to say about it, but this photo has one of the two shipwrecks that I saw in the harbor.  (Look in the middle of the picture, just this side of the shoreline.)

As the forecast predicted 90ᵒ, we were pleasantly surprised to board an air-conditioned bus.  Our last two tours have been on open-air vehicles.  This is our guide, Ben.  He was charming and full of information.  He explained that every school child learns English as a required subject--other subjects are optional, and that when sitting for exams to move to higher education, if one fails the English section, they fail the entire exam.  His English was very good with a lovely accent.  He taught us three Fijian words: Bula (pronounced mboola)--hello; Vinaka (vee-nahka)=thank you; and Moce (mo-they)=Goodbye.                                                                He wore a traditional "sulu" skirt made of suit-like fabric.  Apparently it is a style reminiscent of a kilt, but without all the pleats.  He made it clear that undergarments are also worn. Modesty is important to the Fijians--we saw that few women on the streets of Suva had bare shoulders.  We were instructed that when we entered the village community house on our excursion, we should have our knees covered, take off our shoes, and not wear hats, as only the village chief can wear a hat.  We were also warned that we should not touch the head  of an adult or child, as the head is sacred.

After a 45 minute bus ride, we arrived in Navua, where we boarded our 8 passenger long-boats.  They were powered by 25-horse power Yamaha outboard motors and we each had a helmsman.  It took about 9 boats to hold all of us from 3 buses. 

We were on the river for about 45 minutes.

The vegetation was so lush that the ground was only visible when there was a man-made cut.  At first, I thought these were trees with a very unique canopy, but later I realized they are clumps of bamboo.  I wish I had a local botanist sitting beside me to identify all the tropical species.

We saw several waterfalls along the way.  

At one point, we had to portage for a bit so the boat could get up a small rapid area.

We were brought to a small dock were we unloaded and walked up a narrow path to get to the largest waterfall.

On our river trip we were treated to a typical tropical shower--5 minutes of downpour.  Hence my "drowned rat" appearance.

After our hike to the waterfall, we headed back down the river to a village where we were welcomed by the blowing of the conch shell.  Before entering the communal meeting place, we were invited to take off our shoes.

Not only was the floor covered with mats, but the ceiling had mats and beautifully painted tapas cloth.  After the welcoming kava ceremony, we were no longer foreigners, but now part of the village community.

I admired this woven cloth hanging on one wall which had the name of the village on it.































We enjoyed watching both male and female dancers; different in their costumes and movements from those we had seen in Tahiti or Tonga.

I particularly enjoyed watching this group of villagers as they sat together to sing while we ate the lunch of their traditional foods that they served to us.

  Only the best bottled water is served on this island.

I like all the different currencies.  I didn't get any coins, though.

On the way back to the ship from the village located in the middle of a sparsely settled area, we traveled on a very rudimentary gravel road.  Suddenly, we passed the gate of the Fiji LDS temple.  We just barely caught a glimpse of the decorative boundary fence and the steeple up on the hill above the road.  It was another two miles until we got to the hard topped road.

Now we have two more sea days--a chance to work on my crazy quilt.  We have a about a dozen women that gather in the Wintergarden, every sea day at 2:00.  My Viking tote bag is full of fabrics that have been contributed to the project.  Best part of all is the friendships that we are developing.

Hitting New Zealand on Sunday will begin 8 straight days of excursions.  So far, with the very slow WiFi on board it's taken me an average of 1 1/2 days to put together each blog post.  I think I made a breakthrough today in simplifying the uploading of photos from my iPhone to David's iMac laptop, so I hope I can at least get some pictures on the page so I can share them each day, then I will try to add some narration when I get time.  We will have three days at sea between New Zealand and Australia.