Fiji is an English-speaking country, since it was colonized by Britain. It gained its independence in 1970, but still retained some of its British customs. Along with Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, Fiji is part of Melanesia. Located on the south coast of Vanua Levu Island, Sausavu is a harbor town, which was once a trading center for sandalwood, copra, and beche-de-mer (not sure what that is). Something of the sea, we assume. Tourism is their newest industry with many luxurious resorts with some of best diving or snorkeling in the world.
Shore excursions offered six tours to see the copra factory, where coconut oil is made, or visit a traditional village to witness the process of kava-making. Visit waterfalls and swimming holes with a hike through a rainforest. Snorkel to see marine life at a lighthouse reef. Two excursions were described as challenging and came with warnings like steep, slippery, muddy, and unpaved. Also a few village tours required the ladies to dress moderately – knees, shoulders, and midriffs covered. No shorts allowed as well. The best hint: restrooms are rustic. All of which is best known before booking.
This is our third visit here, and from what we see from the ship, not much has changed. Before we left the ship, we felt we better get some local Fijian money. Seems that we recalled the vendors did not accept the US dollars. However, we were told at the front desk that they had run out of money temporarily. So we went over without it. This was a tender port, and the guests had lined up to get their tender tickets. First the tour groups went over, then they announced the tickets by number and color. It was very early on, that an announcement was made that guests could go down without the tickets. There was no rush to go there since few things opened until after 10am.
On the way over in the tender boat, we practiced saying "Bula", the Fijian greeting. Most every native we passed greeted us with bula, meaning hello and welcome. The boat dropped us off at the Copra Shed, which was once the place copra was loaded onto ships for export. These days, it houses restaurants, small shops, and the Savusavu Yacht Club. A table was set up next to the welcome band of singers. They were handing out maps of the town and the outskirts. There was one main street full of typical markets like grocery, housewares, and hardware stores. Small cafes were also on this street with Indian and Chinese food among them.
We took a left turn and followed the main road where many locals had set up a craft fair. The tables were full of trinkets, mostly shell jewelry, some wood carvings, and knick-knacks from Fiji. One colorful sarong caught our eye, and the seller admitted she handmade all of her clothing items, adding that nothing was made in China. Why she said that, we don't know. Other things unique to Fiji are the carved wooden cannibal forks, which we already own. How many cannibal forks does one need? Gruesome thought….
Our first stop ws at their local produce and frozen fish market. Much smaller than the one in Apia, they still had the same assortment here. Some of the more unusual fruits we saw were passionfruit, pawpaw, jackfruit, and the prickly green soursop. They also sold the roots used to make the kava drink, a type of peppermint if our memories are right. Two sizes were sold, $25 to $50 Fijian dollars. That is $1.88 to one US dollar. Most of the fish we saw in their deep freezers were barracuda. One nice lady was selling some fashion jewelry, along with honey and jams. A necklace and earring set she claimed her daughter made was tapa cloth with a painted design. Quite unique, we purchased it for $10 US.
Continuing along the edge of the bay, we took photos of the pleasure boats in the sheltered cove while walking on a path under the shade of the trees. Locals stopped and greeted us, shook our hands, and asked where we were from. They were most welcoming. At the end of the trail, we joined the main road again. Across the street was the road to the airport, and the other side of this peninsula, where the high end resorts were built along the beach and hillsides. Too far to walk, although, the weather was more tolerable today compared to Samoa. The skies had started out overcast, but later in the morning, blue sky appeared along with a nice breeze.
We did pop in and out of the local shops, discovering that most places did accept US dollars, as well as New Zealand and Australian dollars. Credit cards were happily accepted, except for Discover. One of the nicer stores was Jack's of Fiji, which you can find in most of the larger cities on all of the islands. It is more like a department store, with a small section of quality souvenirs.
The sidewalks at the other end of town were being fixed, so walking became harder. With the traffic opposite ours (British), we were uncomfortable walking in the street to get around the barracades. So we headed back to the Copra Shed in hopes of getting some beers. We were seated on their patio over-looking the harbor, but there appeared to be no waitresses to take our order. We waited for 20 minutes, and decided to leave. The place was filling up with more customers, but with no servers, no one was going to have fish and chips or beers anytime soon.
We were back to the ship by 1pm, and eventually went to lunch in the Lido. The dining room has been closed most all of the port days on this trip. Guess it depends on the percentage of folks that book tours for that decision to close it. Besides the Lido, there is always the Pinnacle Grill (most afternoons), the Dive-In Grill, or room service. None of which we have done yet, except for the Lido. Have we mentioned how good the pizza has been? And their custom-made salads are the best.
All aboard was 4:30pm, and we left the harbor shortly after that, sailing along the coastline of the island. We are now headed to Vitu Levu Island, and the city of Suva, one of the largest commercial cities in the South Pacific.
We stayed on or veranda to watch the sailing out of the harbor, instead of going to the sail away at the Seaview pool. We doubt that having this veranda will be in or future, so we must take advantage when the best scenic sailing is on the port side.
Dinnertime had another favorite entrée for one of us…..chicken parmegiana with spaghetti and marinara sauce. Salmon was the other choice. Both excellent. More walking will be in order tomorrow. And a new singer by the name of Lumiri Tubo was entertaining in the Mainstage. She had a powerful set of lungs for sure.
Bill & Mary Ann
PS In regards to the question on the measles outbreak in Samoa, we have not heard anything about it.
