Suva (Fiji) - 11 March 2014

Today we arrived after a rocky night and day at sea in Suva (Fiji) at around 8 a.m. Unfortunately weather was not very could due to the tropical cyclone Lusi approaching.

We did a tour around the city with a well informed guide who gave us lots of information about Fiji's past and presence.




 

We also visited a museum.

Fiji consists of around 230 islands of which about a hundred are inhabited.

In the mid 1800s a group of entrepreneurs from Australia presented a business proposal to the great warlord, Chief Seru Epenia Cakobau, King of Fiji ( Tui Viti). Given permission by the King to form the "Australian Polynesia Company" the men acquired the Suva Peninsula and promptly began to drain and clear swamps and mangrove and lay the foundation of what is now one of the largest cities in the South Pacific. With trade as the economic engine it did not take many years for Suva to be named as the capital of the islands.

Built in the southeast corner of Fiji's main island of Viti Levu, Suva serves as the political, administrative and business center of Fiji. It is also the nation's largest port. On the west side of the peninsula is Suva Harbour and to the east is Laucala Bay. The city's population is around 85,000 within a regional population nearing 340,000. It has been estimated that one-third of the citizens of Fiji live in or near Suva.

Tomorrow we should be in Lautoka if cyclone Lusi allows it.