Fiji
Solomon Islands
Vanuatu

Samoa
New Zealand

We had left London on the afternoon of Monday, February 16th. The previous weekend had been glorious, we had had beautiful clear blue skys and the temperature had reached 16C, and Friday the 13th had set all sorts of meteorological records. It was just the sort of weather to get us into the holiday spirit. Our flight from London to LA was remarkable in only one respect. The plane took a route that went over the southern tip of Greenland and not only was it still light but there was no clound cover. The view was spectacular, some of the mountains reach 17,000 feet and because the sun was low on the horizon everything was bathed in a yellowy orange light.

We arrived in Fiji at 5:10 in the morning. Fred, Lucy’s brother-in-law, was waiting for us at the airport. We went by taxi to the hotel Mocambo, which is only about 5 minutes from the airport. It has about 120 rooms set in 43 acres of beautifully kept grounds and the staff seemed very attentive to our needs. This could be because Fred is a regular guest at the hotel, but I tend to think it is actually indicative of the quality of service provided in Fiji.

After a cooked breakfast we took a taxi into the centre of Nadi, at a cost of $15. Nadi is a one street town but that one street is rather long. When we had asked the recptionist at the hotel for a map of Nadi but she burst out laughing and assured us that we would not need one; she was right.

It appears that the taxi drivers have arrangements with tourist shops. Our driver deposited us outside Jacks. We were greeted by one of the sales assistants who followed us around the shop explaining the significance of anything our eyes passed over and extolling the virtues of Jacks over all other shops and how Jacks was licensed by the government, and on and on. Nothing took our fancy so we carried on down the street, only to be accosted by an over friendly Fijian. He took us into an Indian tailors and tried to present us with a piece of wood in which he was going to carve the names of Tim and Susie (sic). We convinced him the this was not necessary. The impression left by these two encounters plus the attempts of other shop keepers to lure us in to their shops was of something akin to those maniacal Singaporean shopkeeper on speed. The only thing we ended up buying was a hat made of coconut leaves, from the Fijian crafts market in the centre of Nadi for $25.

We caught a bus back to the roundabout near the hotel this cost just 53 cents each. If you are on a restricted budget, then travel by bus and give the taxis a wide berth.

In the afternoon we went on a Rosies half day tour taking in The Sleeping Giant Gardens, an orchid garden created in 1977 by Raymond Burr and now owned by the American Hawaii Corporation. From there we went to a village that claims to be the first settled by the Fijians forefathers. It was explained to us that the Fijians believe that they originated somewhere in north-east Africa, an issue we will address later. We were shown around the village and the fundamentals of village life were explained. Lucy purchased a nephrite necklace from a small store selling locally made souvenirs for $20. Where the nephrite came from I do not know. After this we were taken to Vunda lookout which provides an excellent view of the area around Nadi.

When we got back to the hotel Fred and a number of his colleagues from around the Pacific were having drinks and nibbles on a lawn above the hotel swimming pool. We were both fairly tired after a days flying plus a days sightseeing, and the combination of alcohol, food and the unaccustomed heat ensured that we left the gathering many hours before it finished.