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Grey skies and rain greeted us in Suva, Fiji this morning. We learned that Fiji has been getting rain for the past 3 days and that parts of it are severely flooded. It seems that the flooding is worse in Lautoka, which is on another island and where we’ll be tomorrow.
Today we had an early morning excursion to the Pacific Harbor Cultural Extravaganza. I booked this tour mainly because it was billed as an “extravaganza”! We boarded our bus at around 9:00 am and were off on a 1 hour ride. Fiji is much bigger than we had imagined…it is approximately 500 miles from one end to the other in one direction and over 200 miles wide the other. The local folks are friendly (tourism is their largest economy) and they shout “Bula!” as we pass by (this means “hello” in the Fijian language). The typical greeting, therefore, is “Bula, bula”!
Major credit for the discovery and recording of the Fijian islands went to Captain William Bligh who sailed through after the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789.
The first Europeans to land and live among the Fijians were shipwrecked sailors and runaway convicts from the Australian penal settlements.
Lucky for us, cannibalism, which was widely practiced in these parts, disappeared as missionaries gained influence in the 19th century. I guess the shipwrecked sailors and runaway convicts had a bit of a surprise when they got here!
From 1879 to 1916 Indians came as indentured laborers to work on the sugar plantations. They were promised a trip back home and and other benefits when their “contract” was up. But, those promises weren’t kept and, after the indentured system was abolished, many stayed on as independent farmers and businessmen. Today they comprise almost 44% of the population and are well regarded by the native population.
This tour featured a program that included the ancient Fijian warriors engaged in the types of behaviors that ancient Fijian warriors used to do…and they did it in full costumed regalia. Lots of dancing about with spears in their hands, fire walking, mock attacks on warring neighbors, etc. Lots of drum banging and chanting type songs.
The weather was off and on – rain showers every 30 minutes or so but luckily we were in a covered outdoor facility in bleachers and it didn’t bother us too much. The down side of the cloudy conditions is that we were not able to experience the full brilliance of the verdant Fijian landscape.
After the show we were brought back to the ship. After lunch on board, we took a free shuttle to downtown Suva where we were dropped off at a large retail store. We were impressed with the downtown area…very modern and clean. On the top level of the store complex we found wireless Internet at a Vodaphone store and Dale was able to upload the 1st of five photography/blog books on our trip around South America! Great news! Also, just in time to have the book printed and mailed to our friends Sherrie & Nick who should get it before they leave to join us on the Regent cruise departing Feb 7th from Auckland.
We had dinner last night in the main dining room with some friends we met at the hotel in Moorea, Linda and Darryl. We had a fun sharing cruise experiences, they’ve done a lot of fun cruises on different types of ships, and we had a great night.
Trip Summary » Travel with Dale & Margaret - […] Suva, Fiji […]