Fiji Travel

The Mamanucas are movie stars, Fiji’s glittering jet set, forever photographed and fêted, valued more for their natural beauty than any contribution they make to the national culture. Tiny, uninhabited Monuriki (and not, ironically, Castaway Island) played the island in the Tom Hanks movie, Cast Away. The reality TV show Treasure Island was shot in the Mamanucas (although not, on Treasure Island). The Resort Walu Beach on Malolo featured in The Resort, another reality TV show. Survivor: Fiji was made on Bounty Island. There are about 20 islands in the group, basking in a large lagoon formed by the Malolo Barrier Reef and Viti Levu. Many of the islands take day-trippers from the mainland, who gorge themselves on buffets washed down with Fiji Bitter, and sunbake on white sand beneath coconut palms. The ocean around the islands has some excellent dive sites and Fiji’s gnarliest surf spots. The snorkelling here is generally fantastic with the clear waters offering fascinating windows into the undersea world. Most of the habitable islands support a tourist resort (on land leased from nearby vil-lages and/or a Fijian community). If there is a resort but no village, it is usually because there is no natural source of water. Most resorts bring in their water from the mainland by barge. A few of the smaller islands, such as Monuriki, retain significant areas of forest with native birds and reptiles. You often see heavy rain clouds hanging over Nadi and Lautoka while the drier, magical Mamanucas remain unaffected.

Shaped over 35 centuries, Fiji’s precolonial history is a complex blend of influences by Polynesian, Melanesian and, to a lesser extent, Micronesian peoples who came and either left or stayed. The original inhabitants of Fiji called their home Viti. These were Lapita people, probably from Vanuatu, who arrived about 1220 BC and stayed for only a short while before disappearing from the archaeological record. Their descendants, who became assimilated with people who arrived from Melanesia, were coastal dwellers, who initially relied on fishing and seem to have lived in relative peace. Around 500 BC a shift towards agriculture occurred along with an expansion of population probably due to further incursions from other parts of Melanesia – that led to an increase in intertribal feuding. Cannibalism became common and in times of war, villages moved to ring-ditched fortified sites. By around AD 1000 Tongan invasions had started and continued sporadically until the arrival of Europeans. Eventually the islands became known to Europeans as Fiji. The story goes that Captain Cook asked the Tongans what the name of the isands to their west was. He heard ‘Feegee’, the Tongan pronunciation of Viti: so ‘Fiji’ came from an Englishman’s mishearing of a Tongan’s mispronunciation! While there were extended periods of peace, Fiji was undergoing in-tense social upheaval at the time of the first European settlement in the early 19th century, and these regular tribal skirmishes lead Europeans to believe that it was in a constant state of war.

 

The best time to visit is during the so-called ‘Fijian winter’ or ‘dry season’, from May to October. This time of year is more pleasant with lower rainfall and humidity, milder temperatures and less risk of meteorological hazards such as cyclones. Consequently these six months make up the high season, when airfare and accommodation costs are at their highest. Expect costs to peak in June and July.Fiji’s ‘wet season’ is from November to April, with the heaviest rains falling from December to mid-April. This is when tropical cyclones, or hurricanes, are most likely to occur. Strong, destructive cyclones are, however, a fairly rare phenomenon in Fiji. The country has been hit by an average of 10 to 12 cyclones per decade, with only twoor three of these being very severe. If you’re travelling during the wet season it’s best to head to drier regions such as the Mamanuca and Yasawa island groups. That said, December and January are also busy months as they coincide with school holidays in both Australia and New Zealand, and Fijians visiting relatives. In February and March, and even November, however, Fiji sees fewer tourists and you’re more likely to get bargains on your accommodation. The temperature during these months is also fairly appealing so you get the best of both worlds. The Diwali Festival ( p248 ) is held in late October or early November and can be a fun, if manic time to be in Fiji.Fijian school holidays can have an impact on accommodation availability. They generally last for two weeks from late April to early to mid-May and mid-August to early September. Summer  holidays run from early December to late January.