Fiji Dec 12-29, 2023<\/p>\n

Fiji<\/strong> is a Melanesian country about one-third of the way from\u00a0New Zealand\u00a0to\u00a0Hawaii\u00a0and consists of an archipelago of 332 islands, a handful of which make up most of the land area, and approximately 110 of which are inhabited.
\nFiji straddles the 180-degree longitude line (which crosses land on the remote tip of Vanua Levu and again near the centre of Taveuni). The international date line is configured to pass east of all of Fiji, placing it all in one time zone and “ahead” of most of the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

Capital.<\/strong> Suva
\nCurrency.<\/strong> Fijian Dollar (FJD)
\nArea.<\/strong> 18,270km\u00b2
\nPopulation.<\/strong> 905, 949
\nLanguage.<\/strong> English, Fijian, Hindustani
\nReligion.<\/strong> Christian 58% (Methodist 36%, Roman Catholic 9%), Hindu 33.7%, Muslim 7%, Sikh 0.4%
\nCountry Code.<\/strong>\u00a0+679
\nTime Zone.<\/strong> UTC+12h
\nDrives<\/strong> on left.<\/p>\n

FIJI – WESTERN AND CENTRAL – Viti Levu <\/strong>(Nadi, Suva), Yasawa<\/span>
\nFIJI <\/strong>Dec 12-29 with breaks to go to Tuvalu, Tonga, and Samoa.
\nVisa.<\/strong> Visitor permits on arrival.
\nMoney.<\/strong> Fijian Dollar (FJD). 1US$ = 2.28FJD; 1A$ = 1.5FJD ATM at airport.
\nFlight.<\/strong> Nadi (NAN), Suva (SUV) No departure taxes.
\nDec 12 Air Vanuatu NF74 Port Vila (VIJ) \u2013 Nadi (NAN) @17:50-20:35
\nPhone.<\/strong> Country code +679 SIM at the airport.
\nAccommodation.<\/strong> Book hostels early as they sell out. Bluewater Lodge A$22\/night. I really Bluewater – amazing staff, good social interaction. Very cheap.
\nGateway Hotel (opposite airport) A$250\/night
\nGet Around.<\/strong> Fiji Airways. From Suva Airport:<\/em><\/strong> go out to the road and catch the bus to Nausori and from there into Suva city (F$2\/ride rather than F$40). From Nadi Airport<\/strong><\/em>, go out to the road and catch the bus to Nadi Bus terminal. Shahabut Dean bus goes to the “hotel district” (Bluewater Lodge, Bamboo and most large hotels (F$1.50\/ride rather than F$20). From the “hotel district”, the times are 07:30, hourly on the half-hour to 15:30 (misses 08:30). Rent a car on Vitu Levu Dec 25-29.<\/p>\n

ITINERARY<\/strong>
\nFlight. Dec 12 VIJ-NAN @17:50-20:35.
\nON Nadi Dec 12-14. Bluewater Lodge dorm A$21.50\/night x2 (Booking.com).
\nNadi\u00a0<\/strong>
\nSri Siva Subramaniya Temple, Garden of the Sleeping Giant, Orchid Falls, Big Bula Waterpark. Smugglers Cove \u2013 free shuttle)
\nTuvalu<\/em><\/strong> Dec 14-16. Dec 14 NAN-SUV @06:30-07:00. SUV-FUN @08:00-11:35 \/ Dec 16 FUN-SUV @12:20-13:50. SUV-NAN @16:30-17:00
\nON Nadi Dec 16-18. Bluewater Lodge dorm A$21.50\/night x2 (Booking.com).
\nTonga<\/em><\/strong> Dec 18-21. Dec18 NAN-TBU @22:30-01:00 +1 \/ Dec 21 TBU-NAN @16:15-16:50
\nON Nadi Dec 21-22. Bluewater Lodge dorm A$22\/night
\nSamoa<\/em> <\/strong>Dec 22-25. Dec 22 NAN-APW @11:15-14:10 \/ Dec 25 APW-NAN @16:00-17:00
\nItinerary <\/strong>Dec 25-29
\nDec 25.<\/strong> Pick up rental car (Europcar CA$281 #11694537767\/\/+6798924002) Dec 25-29 Drive counter-clockwise around Fiji.
\nSigatoka Sand Dunes NP (Tentative WHS. Dunes 20-60m tall, burial sites).
\nON Along the route.
\nDec 26<\/strong>. Tavuni Hill Fort, Savurua Botanical Garden, Wainuta Falls, Sovi Basin (Tentative WHS. Tropical lowland forest, birds), Bilo Battery WWII site, Suva<\/strong> (Capital, SUV, Suva Fiji Temple, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Quest Suva Hotel, Grand Pacific Hotel, Thurston Gardens, Fiji Museum), Colo-I-Suva Forest Park, Viwa Island,
\nDec 27. <\/strong>Lomaiviti group of islands, part of the Northern Lau Islands region. Levuka Historical Port Town WHS (former capital of Fiji), Sacred Heart Church. Venu Shipping (+679 7081847) St Mary ferry to Levuka, Ovalau Natovi Landing to Levuka 2\u00bd hours at 10:30 am Nat-Lev 11 am Tue-Sat. Lev-Nat 7:30 am Mon, Wed-Sat. Check-in 30 minutes before. Walk on with no reservations, pay on board.
\nON Levuka
\nDec 28.<\/strong> Ferry departs 7 am, arrives at Natovi Landing at 9:30 am. Continue drive to Lautoka town (Lautoka Botanical Garden, Lautoka Market),
\nON Lautoka.
\nDec 29.<\/strong> Orchid Falls, Koroyanitu NP
\nFlight.<\/strong> Dec 29 NAN-INU @11:35-18:10 A$657<\/p>\n

Day 1<\/strong> Tue Dec 12
\nFlight.<\/em> Air Vanuatu VIJ-NAN @17:50-20:35.
\nThe only way into Nadi was by taxi and they all wanted F$20. A young French woman was going to a nearby hostel (the area is full of hostels and hotels) and we shared the cost.\u00a0<\/em>
\nNADI\u00a0<\/strong>(pop 50,000). The third-largest city, it is located on the western side of Viti Levu, Nadi is multiracial with many of its inhabitants\u00a0Indian\u00a0or\u00a0Indigenous Fijians, along with a large transient population of foreign tourists. Along with\u00a0sugar cane\u00a0production, tourism is a mainstay of the local economy.
\nNadi International Airport (NAN) located 9 kilometres from the town, is the largest airport in Fiji. Thus, Nadi is the principal port of entry for air travellers to Fiji, even though it is on the opposite (western) side of the island of Viti Levu from the nation’s capital and largest city,\u00a0Suva.
\nON Nadi Dec 12-14. Bluewater Lodge dorm A$21.50\/night (Booking.com).
\n
\nDay 2\u00a0<\/strong>Wed Dec 13
\nSri Siva Subramaniya Temple.\u00a0<\/strong>Nadi is a centre for Hinduism and Islam in Fiji. The largest Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere and is a site for pilgrims. Subramaniya was Ganesha’s brother (son of Shiva).
\nI was given a skirt and removed my shoes. The exteriors were all garish towers and coloured columns. There are 2 medium-sized temples (one with a Subramaniya image and one with a lingam), and at least 5 tiny shrines, 3 with lingams and one with a Ganesha.
\nI then walked downtown, ate at a Chinese restaurant and got a taxi back to the hostel.\u00a0<\/em>
\nON Bluewater Lodge dorm for the second night. F$5<\/p>\n

Day 3 Dec 14
\n<\/strong>Flight.<\/em> NAN-SUV @06:30-07:00.\u00a0
\n<\/strong>I caught a taxi to the airport (F$20) at 05:30 to learn that my flight was at 07:30, but had it changed to 06:30. We all checked in and while waiting, were informed that the flight was cancelled as Tuvalu had had very heavy rainfall the night before and the runway had developed three cracks. There was reasonable hope that it would go tomorrow.\u00a0<\/em>
\nI went onto Booking.com and found a cheap hotel, taking it because it was rated 9.1 with excellent reviews. I got a taxi sharing the F$40 fare with another fellow.
\n<\/em>SUVA<\/strong> (94,000, urban 330,000). The capital of Fiji, is located on the southeast coast of Viti Levu. In 1882, the capital at Levuka, on Ovalau, in Lomaiviti was moved to Suva. Suva is the political, economic, and cultural centre of Fiji. It is also the economic and cultural capital of the South Pacific, hosting the majority of the regional headquarters of major international corporations, international agencies, and diplomatic missions. The city also has a thriving arts and performance scene and a growing reputation as the region’s fashion capital. Suva Airport (SUV)
\nFiji Museum. <\/strong>Emphasizes the Lapita culture that arrived about 1220 from PHG (originally from Taiwan) and originally settled on Bourewa on the western coast. Rohema served as a transit point for the Pacific. Many canoe models and a great drua, a double-hulled canoe. Indians came as indentured labourers in the 1870s. Chinese first settled at Levuka and many came from Australia in the 1890s. Many fishing objects, jewellery, traditional tattooing (only women at puberty), the Bounty rudder and a lot of climate change.
\nThurston Gardens.<\/strong> The museum is located in Suva\u2019s botanical gardens, a great area of grass and big trees, picnic tables, many people taking professional photos (graduation, weddings), but no flowers
\nGrand Pacific Hotel.<\/strong> In the NM Hospitality Legend series, it was built in 1915. Sitting on the water with a pool and grass to the water, it is a grand two-story building with porticos and a wide verandah on the second floor. The lobby is open to the decorative ceiling. Exhibit on the 1928 trans-Pacific flight ( from Oakland, California visa Hawaii with the last 5000 km leg to Fiji) of Charles Kingsford Smith. Photos of Queen Elizabeth’s visits.
\nI sat in a pool-side lounger and wrote these posts.
\nSacred Heart Cathedral.<\/strong> A lovely large grey-stone church with two bell towers. Inside is great stained glass (geometrics in the nave, large figures at the cross and a rose window behind the altar. There was a 6-piece band playing hymns (an 11-year old girl on the drums).
\nI then walked the 2.5 km back to my hotel stopping at a large shopping centre to buy groceries.
\nON Mishra Residence F$100 (A$67.42). I was surprised at the 9.1 rating as it was very bare bones – tiny room, shared bathroom, AC, shared common space was a small kitchen table, no table or chairs in the nonsmoking patio. Oh well.<\/p>\n

Day 4<\/strong> Fri Dec 15
\nUp at 5, I showered, left at 6, and walked 1 km to Ratu Meara Rd, and from there, a short walk to the Fuji Temple,<\/em>
\nFuji Temple.<\/strong> Church of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon). A grand building on a small rise surrounded by a sea of grass. Grey stone with a central tower and a gold Moroni statue on top. Non-card-carrying non-Mormons can’t enter any of their temples.
\n
\nI returned to Rata Mara Rd (changes to King Rd) and got a bus 15 km (40 min) to Nausori town bus depot (F$2 I didn’t have change and a man paid for me). After a 5-minute wait, I got the bus 4 km to the airport (the driver waived my fee) so with buses it was no cost as opposed to F$40!!. Flight. SUV-FUN @09:00-12:35. This flight was cancelled again as the Tuvalu Airport had still not fixed their runway.
\nI sat in the nice cafe at the airport and had lots to do. To reach Fiji Airlines, call +679 9906214 for updates. I phoned in the evening of the 16th but the runway was still not fixed. This was so disappointing as I doubt that I will ever come back to the South Pacific to see one country. And Tuvalu has virtually nothing to see. So I resigned myself to never getting to 193. The airport did not open until Dec 18th.
\nAt the same time, I rebooked my flight back to Nadi from 18:30 to 13:00.
\nI also had time from the 25th to the 28th to go to Tuvalu but all the flights were booked out. Christmas is not the time to travel through the South Pacific. Two opportunities are to try standby on the 26th or to go and try to scalp a ticket.\u00a0<\/em>
\nON Suva. Micha’s Residence for the second night. When I arrived, the owner gave me a real tongue-lashing about leaving the key in the lock and not locking the kitchen door. It is relevant that this is a very safe neighbourhood and the key would have been in the lock for a very short time.
\n
\nDay 5<\/strong>\u00a0Sat Dec 16
\nI hung around the guesthouse till 9:30, walked to Rata Mara Road and got the bus to Naosori bus station and a second bus to the airport.<\/em>
\nFlight<\/em>. Fiji Airlines SUV-NAN @13:00013:30. I took the public bus (F$1.50, hourly) to the Nadi Bus Station and a second bus ($1.50 Shahabud Bus Lines) to the hotel area.
\nI played cards with Jess and Mike all afternoon. Dinner at the Olive Tree (on top of the supermarket) and went to bed early.\u00a0<\/em>
\nON Bluewater Lodge dorm for the third night.
\nDays 4-5 Tuvalu<\/em><\/strong> Dec 16-18. Dec 16 SUV-FUN @09:00-12:35 \/ Dec 18 FUN-NAN @11:05-13:35. This didn’t happen.
\n
\nDay 6<\/strong> Sun Dec 17
\nA quiet rest day reading and playing cards. Six of us went to dinner at Swagat Restaurant Nadi, an Indian restaurant with a huge menu, good food but rather expensive.\u00a0<\/em>
\nON Bluewater Lodge dorm A$21.50\/night for the fourth night.<\/p>\n

Day 7<\/strong> Mon Dec 18
\nI hung around till 15:30 and caught the bus from the hotel district to Nadi Bus Station and then to the airport F$3.
\nFiji Airlines to Tonga. NAN-TBU @22:30-01:00 +1
\nDays 7-10 Tonga<\/em><\/strong> Dec 18-21. Dec18 NAN-TBU @22:30-01:00 +1 \/ Dec 21 TBU-NAN @16:15-16:50<\/p>\n

Day 10<\/strong> Thur Dec 21
\nFlight.<\/em> Fiji Airlines returning to Fiji. TBU-NAN @16:15-16:50
\nON Nadi Bluewater Lodge dorm A$22\/night for the fifth night.<\/p>\n

Day 11<\/strong> Fri Dec 22
\nFlight.<\/em> NAN-APW @11:15-14:10
\nDays 11-14. Samoa<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Dec 22 NAN-APW @11:15-14:10 \/ Dec 25 APW-NAN @16:00-17:00<\/p>\n

Day 14<\/strong> Mon Dec 25
\nFlight.<\/em> Fiji Airlines APW-NAN @16:00-17:00 I decided to not get the car until the next day. Europcar drove me to Bluewater
\nON Bluewater Lodge for the sixth night.<\/p>\n

Day 15 <\/strong>Tue Dec 26.
\nEuropcar arrived at Bluewater at 09:30 and I started my three-day drive counter-clockwise around Fiji. (Europcar CA$281 +6798924002).
\nSigatoka Sand Dunes<\/strong> Tentative WHS. Located at the mouth of the Sigatoka River 3km West of the town of Sigatoka. Covers 650 hectares with dunes ranging from around 20-60 m tall. One of the largest burial sites in the Pacific.
\nThe first National Park in Fiji, it was opened in 1989. The dunes started forming about 4000 years ago from sand blown from the Sigatoka River sand bar and sand on the beach. The highest dunes are 20-60 m high in the unstable area of dunes on the east end. There is evidence of human habitation dating from 2000 years ago \u2013 19 skeletons and pottery have been discovered. See the small museum and several storyboards.
\nThere are two main hikes in the park. The longer Yato Balavic Trail takes 2 hours and goes to the highest dunes on the coast and returns on the beach. The one-hour Yato Lkeataka Trail descends directly south to the beach. Both trails return on the same sandy path. Because of time constraints, I took the shorter trail but the dunes here are not very impressive. Free
\nTavuni Fort.<\/strong> This is 5 km off the highway on a gravel road. It is a national archaeological site. It was first inhabited by Fijians from 1700 to 1800. The second habitation was in the 1800s when the Tongan political refugee Maila Ltamai (1800-1876) occupied the area. It was last inhabited in about 1900. There is evidence of 56 houses (yavi) and 15 terraces.
\nWalk up the trail to a junction. Right passes several terraces ringed with stones, one with 10 posts still standing. The Left goes up to the Skyway also with several terraces ringed by stone. One has 6 posts and is round. The highest small terrace has 3 graves, one with a white cross. Views down to the Sigatoka River 90 metres below are panoramic in a 360-degree direction.
\nThe tiny museum has a brief write-up and several photos of cannibal Fijian warriors. Free
\nSavurua Botanical Gardens.<\/strong> Fiji is a biodiversity hotspot with lowland rainforest, upland rainforest, cloud forest, tropical dry forest, shrub grassland), mangroves, coastal strand forest and significant endemic plants, especially flowering trees and palms. Birds are common in the gardens. F$10
\nIt was then a long drive along the south coast. Most of the coast has flat reefs extending 100-200 m from the shore. As you go east, there are several beaches with no reef, most busy with long lines of cars parked along the highway.
\n<\/em>Wainuta Waterfall.<\/strong> Drive 31 km north from the highway on a narrow gravel road. The road is well designed to handle rain and water by being domes slightly in the centre. There was little washboarding and potholes only when crossing streams in the low areas. The road climbs up over a pass and then descends to a river. Many Tongans were swimming in the rivers passed. The steep sections have pavement. Come to a T \u2013 turn right for Sovi Basin and left, 12 km to the waterfall. This much smoother road passes several villages \u2013 Narukumbua, Nashatoka, a Catholic school and finally Namosi. Here there is a dramatic karst landscape with high cliffs and towers. The last two km is quite narrow with grass in the centre.
\nPark at the bridge over the stream. Oddly there was a small campfire burning but with no one around. Walk down the stream on a minimal route in the grass, cross the stream and finally reach the wide sloping rock area above the falls. One can only see the top of the high falls unless you were to lay on your stomach and peer over the edge of the cliff.
\nI returned the same way and continued to Sovi Basin.
\nSovi Basin.\u00a0<\/strong>Tentative WHS (26\/10\/1999).\u00a0Located on\u00a0Viti Levu, it covers approximately 19,600 hectares, the basin is blanketed by a well-preserved tropical lowland forest, which is Fiji’s largest and most biologically diverse. It contains the^{<\/sup>\u00a0Sovi Basin\u00a0Important Bird Area.
\nAfter seeing the intact rainforest and chatting with 5 kids from Waivaka, I returned the same way to the highway. The entire trip was a little over a hundred kilometres. It was worth it to drive high up into the mountains of southern Fiji and see all the karst.<\/em>
\nBilo Battery.<\/strong> The WWII battery sits high above the water about 2 km to the south of the highway. There was a locked metal gate but an opening in the fence to the side that had a partial roll of razor wire that was easy to step over. This place is unmarked and sees very few visitors. Climb up first passing a deep trench that leads to the two large gun batteries. The round metal base for the artillery was still there but the reinforced concrete was slowly decaying. I walked across the trench to a small pill box through grass past my knees. The view down to the ocean is obscured by trees.
\nAn Olive Garden Restaurant was just across the highway (just like the one near Bluewater Lodge in Nadi on the second floor of a large supermarket). I had a nice spiced chicken fajita.
\nI then drove about 16 km passing through the north of Suva to a hotel.
\nON Sirius Apartments and Hotel F$115. Something very unusual happened in my room \u2013 I was unable to access data on my phone when in the room but no problem out in the hallway. This is only 45 km from Natovi Jetty where I get the ferry to Levoka at 11 am.<\/p>\n}

Day 16<\/strong>\u00a0Wed Dec 27
\nI was up very early and started working on hikes so didn\u2019t go back to bed and ended up being very tired all day.
\n<\/em>Colo-i-Suva Forest Park\u00a0<\/strong>is a nature reserve near Suva with hiking trails, swimming, and birdwatching in its two-and-a-half square kilometres of verdant rainforests.
\n10 km east of the hotel, the road climbs up into the mountains. Opened in 1963, there is a whole trail network to explore the mature rainforest. Buy the F$5 ticket at the office across the street from the entrance.<\/p>\n

I then drove about 50 km to the Natovi Jetty for the Venu Shipping ferry to Levoka. One can park right out front of the buildings for free. Buy the ticket (F$18) on board the ship. It departed at 11 am. There are tons of seats so I think a reservation is completely unnecessary. 2 1\/2 hours from Natovi to Levoka.<\/em><\/p>\n

FIJI – EASTERN – Lau Archipelago (Lakeba, Tarakua)
\n<\/strong>NORTHERN LAU ISLANDS <\/strong>Lomaiviti Islands are the central group of islands between Viti Levu and the Lau Group.
\nFerry<\/em> to Ovalau Island at 11 am Natovi Landing to Levuka 2\u00bd hours:
\nVenu Shipping (+679 7081847) St Mary Ferry Nat-Lev 10:30 am Tue-Sat. Lev-Nat 7 am Mon, Wed-Sat.
\nOVALAU. <\/strong>The sixth\u00a0largest island, part of the Lomaiviti group
\nLevuka.<\/strong> (pop 1131). On the eastern coast of the island of Ovalau, in Lomaiviti Province. It was formerly the capital of Fiji, an economic hub and the largest of 24 settlements on the island.
\nLevuka Historical Port Town <\/strong>WHS. The town and its low line of buildings are set among coconut and mango trees along the beachfront of Ovalau Island against the forested slopes of the island\u2019s extinct volcano. It was the first colonial capital of Fiji, peacefully ceded to the British by Tui (King) Cakobau in 1874. From the 1820s onwards it developed as a centre of commercial activity by Americans and Europeans who built warehouses, stores, port facilities, residences, and religious, educational and social institutions around the villages of the South Pacific island\u2019s indigenous population. It is a rare example of a late colonial urban plan that merges local settlement traditions with colonial standards of supreme naval power in the industrialized stage of colonization, which was based on maritime extraction and export.
\nA low stone and concrete sea wall runs the length of Beach Street, with streets and lanes branching inland in a radial pattern following the contours of the land. Inland are the sites of two former indigenous villages Totoga (Vitoga) and Nasau located on one of the three creeks draining the slopes above the coastal plain. Copra sheds, warehouses, bond stores, port facilities and commercial buildings developed along Beach Street, and residences, religious, educational and social institutions grew up around the villages of the indigenous population. These are generally single or two-storied corrugated iron or weatherboard-clad timber buildings with hipped or gable roofs.
\nDevelopment continued after moving the capital to Suva in 1882 as companies continued to establish bases at Levuka. Key elements include the former Cakobau Parliament House site (now the European Memorial), Morris Hedstrom bond store, the Baba indentured labour settlement, the Hennings residence, Captain Robbie\u2019s bungalow, Sacred Heart Cathedral and Presbytery dating from the 1860s, the Royal Hotel founded in the late 1860s, Deed of Cession site, former Government (Nasova) House site, Port Authority, Post and Customs buildings together with their remnant tram tracks to the wharf, former Methodist Church and mission, Levuka Public School, Town Hall, Masonic Lodge, Ovalau Club, Bowling Club, workers cottages and the shell button factory site.
\nThe buildings are remarkably intact, largely due to the attention paid to the town\u2019s historic values since these were first recognized in 1973. The setting of the property depends on strict protection of the cliff terrain behind the town, which is vulnerable to storm damage and tourism development.
\nI sat all afternoon talking to Susan the owner of Old Capital Hotel and then went out at 6 to see the town.
\n<\/em>The town is not very impressive with a lot of tired-looking buildings in need of paint and few interesting buildings. Both the south and north end of town are a single street that widens to three streets in the centre.
\nSacred Heart Church.<\/strong> Surprisingly, it was open. There is an imposing 4-story stone bell\/clock tower in front of an unimposing small, blue-wood church. Inside are only 4 pews and 6 chairs. The Wof the Cross are photocopies of oil paintings. I went up to the balcony at the back and entered the bell tower where the clock mechanism is.
\nI then returned past the GH heading north. There are two large cenotaphs (WWI, one to the natives and one for the Brits), the destroyed cinema from the 2016 cyclone, 99 steps, and turned around at St James Anglican church, a large stone building with 14 stained glass windows, two damaged in the 2016 cyclone and with plywood over them.
\nAt 6 the streets were empty but on returning south to downtown at 19:15, the town was hopping with the four markets open between 7 and 9.
\n<\/em>Hurricane remnants. <\/strong>Cyclone Winston, in February 2016 was the most intense tropical cyclone in the Southern Hemisphere on record, \u00a0surpassed by\u00a0Cyclone Gabrielle\u00a0in\u00a02023. Striking Fiji at Category 5 intensity on 20 February, Winston inflicted extensive damage on many islands and killed 44 people. 40,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and approximately 350,000 people\u2014roughly 40 percent of Fiji’s population\u2014were significantly impacted. Though frequented by tropical cyclones in general, the main islands of Fiji\u2014Viti Levu\u00a0and\u00a0Vanua Levu\u2014are seldom impacted by intense storms.
\nKade Village was levelled, 788 homes were destroyed across Koro Island, Significant damage was reported across Ovalau, where maximum water run-up reached 7 m, Drauniivi village, Rakiraki Town, the southern coast of Vanua Levu was battered by a significant storm surge which inundated areas up to 183 m (600 ft) inland near Tacilevu Village.
\nThe damage still visible in Levaka was: the two-story cinema was destroyed on the inside and appears will never be repaired, and two stained glass windows in the Presbyterian church were damaged. A large ship ran aground about 3 miles north of Levaka.
\nON Old Capital Guesthouse, Levuka. A nice one-story house with several rooms extending a long way back from the street. F$70 + F$15 for dinner. Susan was a lovely host. She is well-traveled. She hosted Thor Pedersen, the Dane who saw all 193 UN countries without flying.<\/p>\n

Day 17<\/strong> Thur Dec 28.
\nFerry<\/em> Lev-Nat departed at 7 am and arrived at Natovi Landing at 9:30 am.
\nI sat on the upper deck on a bench for great views of Ovalau Island. At 3 km, pass a large ship beached on shore during the 2016 cyclone. I continued my drive around the entire north of Viti Levu with no sites to see. Ferry to Koruvau 13 km. From Koruvau, distances are Rakirahi 93 km, Tavua 139 km, Ba 164 km, Lautoka 199 km. With a speed limit of 80, I passed through 31 villages to Lautoka, each with a 50km\/hr speed limit and several speed bumps.\u00a0<\/em>
\nLAUTOKA<\/strong>\u00a0(pop 71,573).\u00a0The second largest\u00a0city\u00a0in\u00a0Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of\u00a0Viti Levu, in the\u00a0Ba Province\u00a0of the\u00a0Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji’s\u00a0sugar cane-growing region, the city has come to be known as the\u00a0Sugar City.
\nLautoka Market. <\/strong>A large market spread between two adjoining open-air structures. It is 97% produce with small shops selling eggs, grains and spices. Outside are more people selling veg on the sidewalk.
\n<\/strong>Lautoka Botanical Gardens. <\/strong>Long and narrow it is mostly grass and big trees with some hedges and a few beds of flowers. Free
\nSleeping Giant Botanical Garden. <\/strong>3 km on a gravel road, this has many flowering trees and bushes and a lush selection of other plantings. Free
\nOrchid Waterfall. <\/strong>About 6 km on gravel with a very narrow road for the last km, reach the Sleeping Giant Zipline (F$75) and the trail to the waterfall across a large pool (F$25). Climb steadily on a paved trail through the jungle for about 20 minutes to the base of the falls with a small pool that you can swim in. Take a short detour to the gigantic cannonball rock. <\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Koroyanitu National Heritage Park <\/strong>is a tropical dry forest that occupies the leeward northwestern portion of Fiji’s two largest islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. In the rain shadow of the central mountains, it is seasonally dry from May to November.
\nFrequent burning of the forest and subsequent erosion have reduced the dry forests to fragments. A sparse grass-fern plant community called talasiqa is widespread in degraded areas.
\nI returned the car to Europcar at 4 pm and made complaints about the no AC, non-functioning cigarette plug (to power my electronics) and I couldn’t recline the driver’s seat. I asked for a refund. They drove me to the airport where I sat in the Burger King (cool, good plug, food I am used to). I was warned to check in 4 hours before to beat all the Naurians with their huge amount of baggage.
\nMy flight to Nauru on the 29th had been changed from 11:35 to 1 am.
\n
\nDay 18 <\/strong>Fri Dec 29.
\nFlight.<\/em> Nauru Airlines NAN-INU @00:55-04:35 A$657<\/p>\n

Coral Coast Scenic Railway.\u00a0<\/strong>The station for the railway is at the causeway entrance to Shangri-La\u2019s Fijian Resort. It offers scenic rides along the coast in an old diesel sugar train, past villages, forests and sugar plantations, to beautiful Natadola Beach. The railway was once used for transporting cane and passengers to the Lautoka Mill. The 14km trip takes about 1\u00bc hours, leaving at 10 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and returning at 4 pm (adult\/child $92\/46 including barbecue lunch). On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, a Sigatoka shopping trip runs east and costs $46\/23.
\nManamuca Islands.<\/strong>\u00a0A group of tiny islands west of Viti Levu.<\/p>\n

YASAWA ISLANDS<\/strong>.\u00a0Northwestern island group popular for island-hopping holidays.
\nYasawa Beaches
\nSawa-i-Lau Caves<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fiji Dec 12-29, 2023 Fiji is a Melanesian country about one-third of the way from\u00a0New Zealand\u00a0to\u00a0Hawaii\u00a0and consists of an archipelago of 332 islands, a handful of which make up most of the land area, and approximately 110 of which are … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Ncip-3Kb","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14395"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19578,"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14395\/revisions\/19578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ronperrier.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}