NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Travel

Fiji: Warm welcomes and fruity smiles on sunny round trip

By Steve Sole
NZ Herald·
1 Nov, 2009 03:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Produce galore at the Nadi market. Photo / Alan Gibson

Produce galore at the Nadi market. Photo / Alan Gibson

The pawpaw looks ripe. Ready to eat. So do the bananas. And this supermarket, promising "We buy big - you save big", has a special on biscuits. The perfect provisions.

Thus, my partner and I depart Nadi on our 480km drive around Fiji's main island of Viti Levu in an
air-conditioned rental.

Within 25km, we slice up a pawpaw while watching the action at the Lautoka wharf. The fastest thing here is the tide. One bloke is busy repairing an outboard motor between interminable chats and helpful suggestions.

Over at the shed, men shoulder bags of ice on to utes, which ferry them to the rudimentary boats, all mango-red and parrotfish-green.

One of the many young men lounging under a boat's canopy tells me they go to sea for up to 10 days at a time or "until this is full," tapping the chest freezer he's sitting on.

We continue north, past the "rooster rearing farm" and a sign that "welcomes you to the soccer crazy town of Baa". We take their word for it.

But by Tavua, only 90km from Nadi, we're out of fruit. In the market we buy more pawpaw but decline the sugarcane juice.

Originally, sugarcane grew wild in Fiji and locals used it as thatch. But since the 1870s, its been farmed and milled and we drive through it all day. This extraordinary grass forms lawns up to 6m high.

We see groups of men bending, cutting, trimming, all dressed in long trousers, long-sleeved shirts, hats, gloves, and sweat. What they cut yesterday, they load on trucks or trains today. Fiji's 600km of narrow-gauge railway is there only to haul sugarcane and the highway is frequently dissected by railway crossings.

But, being signposted, they are not the road's greatest danger. Nor are the free-range children or the potholes or the exhausted old trucks crawling under 15 tonnes of sugar-cane, or the sections of dirt road where buses pass with such bluster and dust that they appear little more than a racing ghost.

No, the greatest danger are the cleverly concealed speed bumps. Every village has them. Some are just a ship's mooring rope dragged across the road. But it was the common mountain-of-earth variety that caught us by surprise, catapulting everything off the backseat and smashing a camera lens.

So, with one eye on the road and one eye on everything else, we don't see Ratu Udre Udre's tomb.

This 19th century chief was a cannibal whose legacy may be greater than his appetite because, depending on your source, he ate somewhere between 87 and 9000 people - that's one human every day for over 24 years.

But more disappointing was our ability to miss Naiserelagi Village and not see Jean Charlot's 1962 painting of a black Christ.

But turning south from the northernmost point of Rakiraki, it's impossible not to notice the dramatic change in country. Viti Levu's north-south mountain axis splits the island's climate in two and we suddenly leave the sun-burnt west and north with its sugarcane and enter the wet western side with its lush vegetation.

Every few kilometres, a roadside stall sells banana, pawpaw, eggplant, cucumber, beans, etc. In villages, children run beside the car shouting, "Bula! Cucumber!" thrusting their produce at you. It's retail at 20km/h.

The bulk of tourists don't pass this way and the famous Fijian friendliness, which frequently sits in the red of the greet-o-metre, is now peaking beyond the orange.

Not only are we greeted with "Bula!" by old men under the verandah, or children by the river, but by people 50m away as they wave frantically with both arms. It felt as though these hundreds of well-wishers had been planted there for our benefit. On one occasion, I waved back to a man ploughing with oxen only to realise that he wasn't waving to me, but whipping his oxen.

And if it wasn't for the New Methodists whipping up a storm in Suva in a Souls to Jesus parade, we would have got through this city a lot quicker.

The 200km from Suva to Nadi is chocker with resorts on beaches and commercial enterprise and when we stop for yet more pawpaw and a drink at the lemon-yellow Korovisilou village store, we meet Ponty. He's sauntering down the road, obligatory machete in hand. He decides to show us his village instead. Maybe he'll garden later. He explains 2m-high flood waters destroyed the village in the 1990s but a good thing came out of it - this new church.

We drive to the Nadi Airport more reluctantly than Ponty walks to his garden. And cursing New Zealand's tight food-import restrictions, there's nothing for it but to eat the last of our pineapple and pawpaw.

CHECKLIST

Getting there: Air Pacific offers daily flights between Auckland and Nadi. Visit airpacific.com.

Getting around: Carpenter Rentals can meet your flight at Nadi Airport. Visit carprentals.com.fj.

Further information: For more information on Fiji, visit bulafiji.com.

Steve Sole travelled courtesy of Air Pacific, Carpenter Rentals, and Tourism Fiji.

Discover more

Travel

Hot Deals: Skyrail a rainforest

09 Feb 11:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Travel

Travel

My search for whales on Australia's Sunshine Coast

Travel

Nervous to visit Egypt as a solo female traveller? Here's a worry-free way to do it

Travel

A visit with the grizzly bears of British Columbia


Sponsored

Your Fiordland experience, levelled up

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Travel

My search for whales on Australia's Sunshine Coast
Travel

My search for whales on Australia's Sunshine Coast

As winter malaise sets in, find warmth, cocktails and turtles on the Sunshine Coast.

15 Jul 06:00 AM
Nervous to visit Egypt as a solo female traveller? Here's a worry-free way to do it
Travel

Nervous to visit Egypt as a solo female traveller? Here's a worry-free way to do it

14 Jul 07:00 PM
A visit with the grizzly bears of British Columbia
Travel

A visit with the grizzly bears of British Columbia

14 Jul 07:00 PM


Your Fiordland experience, levelled up
Sponsored

Your Fiordland experience, levelled up

25 May 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP