Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cinema and vibrant Hindu festivals celebrated throughout the year. While Fiji is not renowned
for its towns or
cities
, three are definitely worth taking the time to explore: quaint, colonial-
era Levuka, yachting hotspot Savusavu, and Suva, the lively capital city and the best place to
party in the South Pacific.
However long you spend in the country you'll notice an unhurried, good-humoured life-
style. This is the essence of
Fiji Time
- an attitude that can be both inspiring and infuriating.
Away from the highly organized upmarket resorts, life runs at a different pace; bus and ferry
timetables serve more as guidelines and a simple meeting in a village can last for days. It's
best to leave your inner control freak at home - you never know, you may come back a calmer
person.
FACT FILE
• Fiji is made up of 333 islands and many tiny islets. Two thirds of Fiji's islands re-
main uninhabited.
• The name Fiji is an adaptation of the Tongan pronunciation of “Viti”, originally
written by Europeans as “Feejee”.
• Only four of Fiji's 27 airports have paved runways.
• Of a total population of nearly 875,000, around 512,000 are ethnic Fijians, 290,000
Fiji-Indians and the remainder Chinese, Europeans and various Pacific islanders.
• At New Year on the islands, women play a game called
veicaqe moli
- “kick the
orange”. The winners have to give new clothes to the losers, and the losers' job is
to serve the victors
yaqona
.
• Around a fifth of ethnic Fijians live a mostly subsistence lifestyle on tribally
owned native land (87 percent of all land in the country).
