Before coming to Fiji, we had a certain image in our mind of what it would be like. Probably these images had long been planted there by the pictures in travel brochures or on the television. Images of long stretches of sandy beaches, lovely green islands, thatch roofed huts and spectacular five star resorts interspersed here and there with the requisite number of super yachts anchored in the distance and sailing yachts just off shore with all sails up gliding smoothly across the turquoise ocean. Not unlike Tahiti ... another favorite honeymoon destination.
Contrary to what i first thought, Fiji is made up of two large islands and many, many small islands and archipelagos. You have to zoom in closely to see this on the maps, otherwise you would also believe there is only one island called Fiji. The two large islands are Vanua Levu which is the North Island and Viti Levu which is referred to as the South Island or the main island. Then to the East you have the Northern and Southern Lau groups, an archipelago of roughly 100 small islands. Life on the Lau group of islands remains very traditional and because of their distance from the main islands there are few visitors. Just to the South of Viti Levu you will find the Great Astrolabe Reef. There is said to be some world class diving around this reef; a place we definitely want to explore. And last, but not least are the Mamanuca and Yasawa Groups, home to world renown places such as Musket Cove and a favorite cruising ground for the rich and famous. It is easy to see how you could spend several years exploring the many and diverse islands of Fiji.
We had started our explorations at Savusavu which is on Venua Levu (the North island) and which is where we had to do our clearing in process. Unfortunately this means we passed right by the Lau group but hopefully we'll get to them a little further along on our journey. In the meantime, we learned a little more about Fiji and its population. Currently, about 51% of the people are of Indian decent having arrived here many years ago as labour for the copra plantations. Thankfully they stuck around and have provided us with some truly excellent curry dishes. The traditional Fijian cuisine is similar to Tonga and as I've said, I would be thin as a stick if that is all there was to eat.
For the past week we have been making our way around Vanua Levu. We did a couple of amazing dives in the Somosomo Strait having anchored in the very sheltered and picturesque Viani Bay. From there we moved on to visit the islands off Vanua Levu's Northern shores starting with Kioa Island.
As well as their high Indian population, Fiji has taken in a couple of displaced nations. The people of Kioa had left their island home in the nation of Tuvalu because during WWII they were being ravaged by the war in the Pacific. All the residents of Kioa (around 700 today) are Tuvaluan and have kept their own language, customs and traditions and although they are part of Fiji they have their own government as well. We visited the island, meeting the head of the administration which is a courtesy expected if you are anchoring in their bay. The island has neat and tidy homes, lots of children, its own school and even a network of paved sidewalks. The people here show a great pride in their island and have many small signs to remind their citizens on what is important. Signs such as "a mind is like a parachute, it only works when it is open."
That was our first visit to a small Fijin village that was not so Fijin.
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