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Church Sunset Harbor
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Downtown
Suva, Fiji 10/14/08
Suva, Fiji is one of 333 islands that make up Fiji. The islands range in size from Voti Lenu at 7,150 square miles to just tiny coral atolls. Suva is the capital and is located on Viti Levu. Fiji is a republic and had political unrest earlier this year. Fiji is known for lots of rain fall averaging 200 inches a year. Our ship docked at Kings Wharf.
Suva, although it is the capital, is certainly not representative of the rest of this island country. The island has tall rain forests and mahogany trees. Local Fijian tours advertise canoes to take you up river to see villages that are accessible only by water. The Fijian tradition of fire walking is still done for visitors using a pit filled with stones that are heated for hours. A religious leader walks over the stones first with others following.
Some of the smaller islands have affluent visitors. Celine Dion leads the list paying $7,000 a night to stay on a private island. Mel Gibson bought an island for $16 million.
The Fijian is known for .an openness. and friendliness. They tend to open their doors and windows to the world and hope for friends to stop in. Some of the crew went in a Taxi to a spot outside the city. On the way, one of the crew needed to use the bathroom. The taxi driver stopped along side the road at a private home. He knocked the door and asked if they could use the bathroom. They were cordially invited inside.
We also experienced this friendliness as we walked through the city of Suva. After leaving the crowded downtown area we walked up the hills to see the Sacred Heart Cathedral. A funeral service had just completed. Most of the attendees wore black.
The Fijian greeting is Bula [Hello]. Everyone we passed greeted us with this. We passed government buildings and Victoria Park. In a neighborhood, a Fijian came out of his home and asked if he could help us find something. We told him we were looking for the Holiday Inn. He proceeded to guide us for two blocks. He pointed out a shortcut that was a foot wide path down the side of a hill. He watched until we found the path.
Several of the local buses passed us. These buses were what they call air-cooled. Instead of glass windows, they have open windows with canvas or plastic shades to pull down when it rains. The Holiday Inn is located on Victoria Parade. The location was right on the water and we sat on the bench and looked at the harbor. Local fisherman walked in the shallow water pulling nets to catch fish. Several feet off shore a small raft held other fisherman. The view of the mountains in the distance was beautiful.
As we approached our ship, I decided to spend the last of my Fijian dollars. Several booths were set up. I immediately got caught up in the sword game. I had heard about this on the ship but it happens very quickly. A vendor shook my hand and gave me two free swords and put them in a shopping bag. He showed me his permit. He then filled the bag with other products. He showed me the back of his permit and it showed that in the department store it would cost $90 and he would sell it to me for only $30. I realized what was happening and said no. He tried to convince me but couldn’t. He then took each of the items out of the bag and also tried to take what I had bought at a store. I stopped that and gave him the small amount of Fiji money that I had planned to spend. I now have two engraved Fijian wooden swords.
Suva, Fiji is one of 333 islands that make up Fiji. The islands range in size from Voti Lenu at 7,150 square miles to just tiny coral atolls. Suva is the capital and is located on Viti Levu. Fiji is a republic and had political unrest earlier this year. Fiji is known for lots of rain fall averaging 200 inches a year. Our ship docked at Kings Wharf.
Suva, although it is the capital, is certainly not representative of the rest of this island country. The island has tall rain forests and mahogany trees. Local Fijian tours advertise canoes to take you up river to see villages that are accessible only by water. The Fijian tradition of fire walking is still done for visitors using a pit filled with stones that are heated for hours. A religious leader walks over the stones first with others following.
Some of the smaller islands have affluent visitors. Celine Dion leads the list paying $7,000 a night to stay on a private island. Mel Gibson bought an island for $16 million.
The Fijian is known for .an openness. and friendliness. They tend to open their doors and windows to the world and hope for friends to stop in. Some of the crew went in a Taxi to a spot outside the city. On the way, one of the crew needed to use the bathroom. The taxi driver stopped along side the road at a private home. He knocked the door and asked if they could use the bathroom. They were cordially invited inside.
We also experienced this friendliness as we walked through the city of Suva. After leaving the crowded downtown area we walked up the hills to see the Sacred Heart Cathedral. A funeral service had just completed. Most of the attendees wore black.
The Fijian greeting is Bula [Hello]. Everyone we passed greeted us with this. We passed government buildings and Victoria Park. In a neighborhood, a Fijian came out of his home and asked if he could help us find something. We told him we were looking for the Holiday Inn. He proceeded to guide us for two blocks. He pointed out a shortcut that was a foot wide path down the side of a hill. He watched until we found the path.
Several of the local buses passed us. These buses were what they call air-cooled. Instead of glass windows, they have open windows with canvas or plastic shades to pull down when it rains. The Holiday Inn is located on Victoria Parade. The location was right on the water and we sat on the bench and looked at the harbor. Local fisherman walked in the shallow water pulling nets to catch fish. Several feet off shore a small raft held other fisherman. The view of the mountains in the distance was beautiful.
As we approached our ship, I decided to spend the last of my Fijian dollars. Several booths were set up. I immediately got caught up in the sword game. I had heard about this on the ship but it happens very quickly. A vendor shook my hand and gave me two free swords and put them in a shopping bag. He showed me his permit. He then filled the bag with other products. He showed me the back of his permit and it showed that in the department store it would cost $90 and he would sell it to me for only $30. I realized what was happening and said no. He tried to convince me but couldn’t. He then took each of the items out of the bag and also tried to take what I had bought at a store. I stopped that and gave him the small amount of Fiji money that I had planned to spend. I now have two engraved Fijian wooden swords.
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