February 12 - Some background on Fiji and a trip to Nadi

The oppressive heat and humidity continued today.  The temperature reached the mid 30s and the humidity was above 80%. I went for a walk along the beach and by the time I got back to the room all my cloths were completely drenched.  

During this walk, I had a rather embarrassing incident.  The walkway in front of the Westin hotel was under repair.  Somehow, I missed the path to take me around the repairs, so I had to step over a small picket fence.  I didn’t realize that my bad left hip was as bad as it is.  I couldn’t lift my left leg high enough to clear the fence and I became stuck between the pickets. When I tried to lift my leg with my arms, I ended up losing my balance and going ass over tea kettle into the sand.  I thought nobody had seen this folly but two of the bar tenders from the hotel came running over to make sure I wasn’t hurt.  After assuring them I was OK and only my pride was damaged, we all had a good laugh and I was on my way.

The Fiji Islands are located in the South Pacific and lies about two thirds of the way between Hawaii and Australia. One thing that is unique about Fiji's location is that even though the 180th degree meridian line cuts right through the Fijian islands, the International Date Line goes around it to the east, so that all islands can share the same date. Fiji is one of the first countries to experience a new calendar day.

Fiji is an archipelago which encompasses 1,290,000 square km of the South Pacific Ocean. Less than 1.5 percent of this is dry land. Fiji's two largest islands are Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, and they make up 87% of Fiji's total landmass. About 75% of the population lives on Viti Levu. 

We are staying on Denarau Island, which is adjacent to Viti Levu. Denarau is known for its hotels and resorts, with the 18-hole Denarau Golf course as its centrepiece.   I walked over to the golf course and I can see where the extreme heat has taken its toll on the fairways. The resort island includes international chains such as Hilton, Sheraton, Radisson, Westin, Sofitel.

The majority of Fiji's islands were formed through volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago. Today, there is still some geothermic activity occurring on the islands of Vanua Levu and Taveuni. 

Our shuttle driver yesterday, said there were 330 islands in Fiji.  On our trip to our hotel, we were on two of the islands.  He told us we only had 298 more to go.

Fiji has been inhabited since the second millennium BC and was settled by Melanesians, which explains some of the Polynesian influences that can be seen. Traders from Fiji eventually moved on to Hawaii and settled these islands. There is a similarity between the Hawaiian and Fijian cultures but they still very distinct from each other.

Europeans visited Fiji in the 17th century.  Captain Cook visited the islands on his expeditions and Captain Bligh, of Mutiny on the Bound fame, mapped out many of the islands The British established the Colony of Fiji in 1874. Fiji was a Crown colony until 1970, when it gained independence as the Dominion of Fiji. A republic was declared in 1987.

Fiji over the years has had several military coups, the last one being in 2006. When the High Court ruled in 2009 that the military leadership was unlawful, President Iloilo, whom the military had retained as the Head of State, formally tore up the Constitution and reappointed the head of the army as President. After years of delays, a democratic election was held in 2014. The FijiFirst party won with a large majority of the vote, and the election was deemed credible by international observers.

The people of Fiji seem to be very friendly.  They always greet you with a smile and their favourite greeting “Bula”.  Music seems to play a big part in Fijian culture.  The dinning room staff have a small choir and they are always serenading some table with their wonderful voices.  

The male population is huge.  Most males are easily over six feet tall, and are very broad in their build.  I guess that is why they are so good in Rugby.  The women also are very tall.

This afternoon we went to the city of Nadi, which is 7 km from our hotel.  Sorry to say, this was a waste of our time.  The main downtown is dirty and it reminded us of Tijuana Mexico with its dumpy stores and hustlers on every corner.  Most of the stores are run by Hindi immigrants and seem to sell the same junk in each store.  All the restaurants seem to be run by Chinese. I did have a pleasant fifteen minute chat with a Hindi gentlemen while Marg was shopping in flea market.  You could tell he was bored as he offered me his chair and basically begged me to sit down and have a conversation with him.  It was a nice way to end the visit to Nadi.  Unfortunately this is not the place to see Fijian culture.

This evening we had dinner at the hotel’s Italian restaurant. The food was great, and the view of the sunset was spectacular.  Marg had lamb shanks and I had seafood marinara. 

During the meal we were treated with a performance of Fijian tribal music.  I was struck by the similarity of this music to African traditional tribal music, that was played by Johnny Clegg and Juluka.  It seemed to have the same rhythms and harmonies.