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The King's Highway |
Susan & Gina in the jungle |
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We decided we wanted to see more of Viti Levu, so Susan, Ashley & I took our divemaster-cum-tourguide Celestino and spent a couple of days circumnavigating the island. We left Lautoka and drove northeast on the King's Highway.
Sugarcane fields gradually gave way to rolling hills and increasingly lush vegetation; after a couple hours of driving, we were driving on a 65km. stretch of unpaved "highway" through the mountainous rainforest.
We drove through many villages, and as we did, children and adults both would wave and yell "Bula" (hello). At some point we stopped the car and climbed down the hill to the river. People on the opposite side of the river were trying to get us to swim across and come visit them! The car of course, eventually got a flat tire and we had to stop to fix it. A few villagers came over to help the boys change the tire, while several young girls came to talk to Susan and I. They kept giggling about our hair. Apparently I was the first person with funny-colored hair that these people had seen.
It took about seven hours to drive from Lautoka to Suva; about three of those hours were spent negotiating the dirt road. I was a little bit sad when we once again hit the paved road on the east side of the island because it meant that portion of our journey had come to an end. Everything was incredibly beautiful - the scenery, the friendly Fijian people, the smell of the jungle, the sound of nature undisturbed by civilization - I think this was the highlight of my trip.
 
Villages, northeastern Viti Levu |
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Sugarcane field |
Village children |
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