Heavenly Fiji

Heavenly Fiji

The beautiful islands and wonderful hospitality of the Fijians make visitors want to return year after year.

It’s like our other home – a dream home,” croons Mary Stephens, a Canadian who has been bringing her family to Outrigger Resort for seven years.

“We have everything here – sensational food, heaps of action and really friendly people. We never want to leave.”

At Malolo Island, Mike Graveley, an electronic engineer from California, has just shouted drinks at the bar.

“It’s our second honeymoon,” he tells me with a twinkle. “Carla and I just love it – we’ll be back next year, for sure. Who’d want to go anywhere else?”

Idyllic life: Market day.

“Friends back home told us to come here,” says Laura, a backpacker from Germany. Karl, her travelling companion, chimes in: “Yes, they all said this was the best. So here we are.”

And 20 minutes later there’s Laura soaring 100m high above the beach, harnessed to a parasail.
What a way to swing into the holiday of your life!

This, of course, is Fiji, with its celebrated paradise-in-the-sun resorts that gleam like pearls strung along the west coast of the country’s biggest island – Viti Levu. Offshore are the too-idyllic-to-be-true Mamanuca Islands, many of which are entirely given over to holiday resorts. It is these getaway dream worlds that are the country’s major draw card.

Everyone knows why.

Fijian resorts are tops. Visually, their locations are simply stunning, especially the Mamanucas with their gleaming turquoise waters, dazzlingly white sandy beaches and tall slim palms bowing deference to the sea.

They look exactly like the glossy brochure photographs you’ve seen. There are no disappointments. And everyone is catered for – singles, families, couples and honeymooners, first time, second time and maybe third time around.

Hospitality is the key.

That’s something that the Fijians are famous for. Little wonder. Hospitality comes easy to these people. It’s intrinsic to their culture. Tribal custom has it that a visitor to a village is heartily welcomed with ceremony and song, and then lavished with attention.

Take a stroll in the shade of the coconut palms.

This happens for the visitor on holiday as well. You arrive to a swirl of delicious island harmonies and are made to feel special from that moment to the sad day you depart. Sad? Yes, I’ve seen some folk actually cry.

“The Fijians are great!” “I love the people here – they make the place.” “These people are fantastic – so friendly.” “It wouldn’t be the same without the Fijians.”

The guests you talk to are quick to let you know who has given them the best time of their lives. The attention you receive is not just confined to the services. Hospitality in these parts means entertainment too, and plenty of it.

You’ll be assured of heaps to do; or not to do, just as you please. A veritable army of staff are on hand to cater for your every whim. Expect to be offered scuba diving with PADI-certified instructors, snorkelling, fishing trips, water skiing and wind surfing.

At a number of places you can charter a yacht or a deep-sea fishing boat. Parasailing, tobogganing and volleyball are among the most popular pastimes among the Mamanucas. To slow things down apace, there’s coral viewing in glass-bottomed boats, picnic trips to Robinson Crusoe-like islets, mini golf, and simply lazing in, or out of, the sun.

The larger coastal properties offer golf, horse riding and tennis. Located on the mainland, they also have ready access to the towns. Urban centres such as Lautoka, Nadi and the capital, Suva, offer duty-free shopping – jewellery being a specialty – some wonderful old colonial buildings to peruse, and best of all, the markets.

These are fabulously vibrant and colourful places, with stalls for tropical vegetables and fruits, spices and local handicraft. They also offer a ready entrée into Fijian village culture and daily life.
You might also wish to rent a car. The Queens Road runs all the way from Rakiraki in the far northeast to Suva in the south. It’s a fantastic drive. You pass through the aforementioned towns, as well as the vibrant Sigatoka, which sits astride the wide Sigatoka River. Tours can be arranged to farms and villages upstream.

Back “home” in your resort, the cool balmy evenings bring a whole new bunch of tropical treats. These come courtesy of the nearby local village. The meke is the traditional Fijian dance, accompanied by a chorus of song.

Most resorts put on a lovo feast at least twice a week. Lovo is cooking the traditional Fijian way. It’s done in underground stone ovens. The food takes on a deliciously exotic smoky flavour, which is enhanced by the vegetables – sweet potato, casava and dalo leaves.

There is bound to be some kind of show, maybe fire-walking, fire-eating, dancing, or a good, old-fashioned sing-a-long.

A fisherman with the catch of the day.

You will also be introduced to kava. Locally known as “grog”, and officially as yangona, it’s a mildly narcotic drink made from the pepper root (kava). It is taken ceremonially – at official welcomes or chiefly events, and these days more and more simply as a means to get relaxed.

Just remember to clap once on acceptance and three times after drinking – that’s if you still can!
Of course there’s lots of eating to be done. Expect roasts on the spit and truly sumptuous seafood, most often the catch of the day. Chances are you will be served kokoda. It’s a local specialty – freshly caught Spanish mackerel or rockling marinated in lemon and served with coconut cream, capsicum and Indian spice.

You’ll want to get the recipe.

And later in the night when the kava’s passed around, and the silken island harmonies even further soothe your soul, we celebrate the fact that we are here in this island paradise, and have got to know a few Fijian ways.

Addresses are exchanged among the guests – hospitality extended to friends newly made. This, after all, is the true Fijian way. It’s what brings people back here every year.

As Graveley said to me on my departure: “I won’t say good-bye, Tom. I’m sure I’ll see you here again some time.”

“That’s right, Mike, you will.”

Getting there

Malaysia Airlines flies from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney daily. Pacific Blue flies from Sydney to Nadi daily. See: http://www.virginblue.com.au/

ACCOMMODATION

1) Nadi: Tanoa International Hotel: http://www.tanoahotels.com/Page/HotelMenus/Fiji/International/Introduction.aspx

2) Coral Coast: Outrigger on the Lagoon: http://www.outrigger.com/hotels-resorts/fiji/outrigger-on-the-lagoon-fiji

3) Mamanucas: Beachcomber Island: http://www.beachcomberfiji.com/

4) Malolo Island: http://www.maloloisland.com/

BRING ALONG Repellent, sunhat, sun-block, light cottons, swimwear and reliable sandals.

WHEN TO VISIT Best to avoid the rainy season from December to March.

HELPLINE Fiji Visitors Bureau, Nadi; Tel: +679 672 2433

REFERENCE Lonely Planet has a current edition on Fiji with good maps and extensive resort listings and appraisals.