Your Essential Guide to the Shores and Marinas of Fiji
Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems or also known as drones are increasing in popularity around the world. Similarly, due to the increasing ease of access to this technology, Fiji has started seeing an increase in the number of drones for private use.
June 7, 2014, 1000 am. It’s the start of the ANZ Sailfiji ocean race from Auckland to Denarau, Fiji. We’re as ready as a boat and crew can be and the five of us on board, AP, Bex, Lefty, Seamus and AJ, are looking forward to racing out of a soggy NZ winter towards warmer climes. The fleet numbers 20 odd, which is the biggest for some time and augurs well for both this race and the future.
Fiji has a fantastic cruising climate. It is situated in a tropical trade wind belt providing fresh steady winds for easy passage making. More info here…
As you travel from region to region and country to country, it is important to keep an eye out for rogue animals hitching a ride on the hull, in cupboards or within food items. Over the centuries, Fiji has fallen foul to many an introduced outbreak. From Cholera, to warfare and more subtle threats which take time to reveal themselves. While we appreciate you may be keen to get ashore and start exploring, it is imperative that you wait onboard for Biosecurity officers to board and inspect your vessel for such unwelcome hitchhikers.More info here…
“A wonderful affair” – these were the words that Thomas Williams, the Methodist missionary at Lakeba, used to describe the catching of the balolo worm around Nadawa passage just off the chiefly village of Tubou, Lakeba on 19th November 1841.
Between the islands of Fiji, our ancestors would trade goods for which they were famed. The people of Tonga would also trade colourful feathers of the kula bird (Collared Lory – Phigys solitaries) masi (printed bark cloth) and weapons with the eastern Fiji islands. Eventually, European traders began to barter metal tools, tobacco, cloth, muskets and gunpowder for sandalwood, and sea cucumbers. Trading today is still popular and is something you might like to try instead of reverting to cash…More info here…
Vanua Levu is second in size to Viti Levu yet it is unique in the absence of tourist infrastructure and the slow pace of life. The north shore of Vanua Levu is one of the most unexplored and undiscovered areas of Fiji. It presents lush, unspoiled tropical beauty with a spattering of traditional villages set on beaches surrounded by thriving forests and coconut plantations. The protected waters of the leeward north coast where the winds are lighter and seas flatter offers the opportunity for diving, fishing, snorkeling and surfing in season.More info here…
When I was a young lad growing up in the Midlands of England, people who met me for the first time would usually ask not, as some might expect, “What’s your name?” – “sunny Jim” or “Charlie” or “tubby” would do for that – or “Where are you from?”, “What team do you support?” Meaning what football (soccer) team did I follow, or ‘barrack for’ as some say in the Antipodes (since you ask, the answer is Coventry City, I’m a long-suffering Sky Blue fan). And I don’t think that much has changed over the years – today, for most English kids, and many adults, their football team is one of the main markers of their identity. Ethnicity is also important, but not something you would ask directly.More info here…
Distilled and matured in Fiji’s tropical climate, the finest local ingredients come together to produce our famous Fiji Rum Co. Rums.More info here…
In the heart of the Lomaiviti Group, lies the island of Makogai; not only abundant with biodiversity and beauty, but brimming with South Pacific history. From Leprosy Hospital, 1911-1969 to Government Mariculture Centre 2014.More info here…