March 9 - Suva

Bula. We arrived in the port of Suva, early this morning. Here we were greeted by the Fijian police marching band. What a wonderful way to start the day.

Suva is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It serves as Fijii’s major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu and is surrounded by volcanic mountains, with their sharp peaks. As of the 2017 census, the city of Suva, including its independent suburbs, had a population of 330,000 or about a third of the nation's population.

It is also the economic and cultural capital of the South Pacific, hosting the majority of the regional headquarters of major international corporations, international agencies, and diplomatic missions.

China is now a major player in Fiji’s development. Suva hosted the South Pacific Games in 2003 for the third time in the event's 40-year history. In preparation for hosting the event, the Fijian government, with the help of a $16 million aid package from the People's Republic of China, funded the construction of a new gymnasium, indoor sports centre, swimming pool, stadium, field hockey pitch, and grandstands in the area around Suva. The Chinese embassy dominates the waterfront along an exclusive boulevard close to the presidential palace.

But like most of Fiji, Suva is made up of the extremely poor and the very rich. In Suva it is even more obvious than in Laukota, because of the large number of professionals and the diplomatic corps.

As we had hoped Kir was our driver again and we were his only passengers. He started by taking us to a market in Nausori, which is a suburb of Suva, to visit a fresh fish, fruit, and vegetable market. The vendors were extremely friendly and appear thrilled to have Canadians visiting.  You could get Cava powder and traditional drinking cups here. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to bring this powder into Canada.

We drove along the waterfront and through the city, where we saw the presidential house, the parliament building and other historical locations. We stopped at the small Fiji museum in Thurston Park

. Across from the parliament building, they were playing cricket. There are 78 parks in Suva.

We stopped for lunch at the old Government General’s house which is now a restaurant known as Kanu.  Here we had several local dishes, which were delicious.

The bond with our driver is amazing. He was just about in tears as we said our goodbyes.

Marg spent part of the afternoon washing her bathing suit trying to get the mud from yesterday’s visit to the spa out. It just doesn’t seem to want the leave.