Suva
14 December 2009 | Suva, Fiji
Rainman
Suva
We (4) rode the boat back up the river from Thanksgiving at Robinson Crusoe to the rental car, compliments of Hafiz Abdul, and headed for Suva - more because it is there rather than any specific agenda.
Unbeknownst to us, the Miss South Pacific Pageant was underway complete with a carnival. All the downtown hotels were booked so we chose the Peninsula Hotel, about a mile up the hill. Nice place. Dining room, bar, pool... everything you need.
Suva has good shopping and a broad selection of restaurants; Chinese, Indian, you name it. The bay has some nice views and a selection of rusting Chinese fishing boats similar to Pago Pago. I think they're everywhere there are fish stocks to decimate. Seems to be S.O.P. Standard Operating Procedure wherever you find the Asian fishing fleets. Not that our tuna fleets are much better. They just aren't as rusty.
One of the highlights is always a trip to the museum and botanical gardens anywhere. Although small, the Suva museum has a nice collection of local modern and historic art.
On the way back to Vuda from Suva, we took a side trip up into the mountains to the Raintree Forest Park for some hiking. The Raintree Lodge is sited on a pretty little ten acre lake; a short walk from the park. It was raining (Duh... Raintree.). The people at the lodge loaned us umbrellas which of course we didn't need the minute we had them, but it was a generous gesture.
The hike was fun. Wild orchids seem to prefer roadside ditches to more aesthetic locations, but I'm sure they have their reasons. Besides the flora, the hike features waterfalls and a series of pools. It's just nice to get off the beaten track and spend some time in the cooler, wetter forests instead of a steady diet of sandy beaches and palm trees.