November 14 – 20, 2013
Our hoped-for weather window to New Zealand was not panning out; so we focused on getting to know the city better, trying some new eateries and revisiting the ones we liked so far. We also treated ourselves to another movie, this one a documentary about Edmund Hillary’s ascent of Everest. It was a slow movie, but the cold snowy scenery was refreshing during a warm tropical afternoon.
Of course we kept a constant eye on the weather. The photo below shows our usual lunchtime ritual: order food; then study the weather situation on our phone. Weather changes all the time, but patterns do emerge. We wait for a favorable pattern then check on it with increasing frequency–morning, afternoon and evening–as it gets closer. Here we’re at Ashiyana, a little Indian restaurant that had become (and remains) a favorite eatery in Fiji.
We also checked out a few new places, the first being a must-do for provision shopping: Cost U Less. It’s a relative of Costco in the United States and very similar, including carrying some of our favorite American food brands. We’d run across this store in American Samoa, but this one was bigger and better. In coming here to shop, we discovered a vibrant and interesting new area in Suva: Damodar City, a large open-air mall and entertainment complex.
Damodar City is very much part of Suva but separated from the main city (which lies on the west side of a thumb-shaped peninsula) by a hill ridge; so getting there involves a cab ride up and over the ridge. Perched on the slopes of the hill are scattered small business and houses; then down on the east side of the peninsula are lots of industrial-park sorts of businesses plus Damodar City and the neighboring Cost U Less. Below, a map:
Because of its cinemas, eateries, electronics stores and a rather nice grocery store, Damodar City attracts a lot of young people and feels especially vibrant in the evening. Since we discovered this area near the end of our 2013 stay in Suva, we didn’t spend much time here other than to provision at Cost U Less. But we’d be making many visits here in future seasons which is why I feel compelled to mention it now.
In midtown Suva we also checked out the Suva Curio and Handicraft Centre, a building that houses businesses selling souvenirs. It might have been interesting if anyone had let us look around in peace, but the merchants were all over us like ants to a picnic. We ended up having to flee the building before we got to see much.
Finally, we visited the Holy Trinity Cathedral. It wasn’t the cathedral itself that interested me so much as one of its trees. I’d read about it in Lonely Planet, which called it, “a showcase of pacific plants with cacti and ferns making themselves at home in its branches.” That sort of thing is right up my alley and did not disappoint. I wouldn’t say it’s right up Rich’s alley but once there, he was as impressed as I was with this large, beautiful tree, its branches cradling many tropical plants just as advertised. Below, a photo of the cathedral and a bit of the tree.
During our time in Suva we did get to put into practice some advice we’d been given: If any strange man comes up and tries to start some friendly-seeming conversation, generally starting with asking where you’re from, always answer, “Savusavu.” This is a way of telling them you have local knowledge and know their scam, which is to get your name and quickly carve it into a cheap wooden sword souvenir, then claim you have to buy it as they’ve personalized the item for you. At this point they get quite aggressive and often succeed at cowing unsuspecting tourists into buying these pieces of junk. It’s a terrible scam that seems to endure, but saying we’re from Savusavu never fails to work as these jerks literally wave us off and stalk away in disgust. “Savusavu” is truly the magic word.
In the evenings we always enjoyed the yacht club’s bar and restaurant (a tacos basket and beer are an excellent combination). We even got to attend one of their rare movie nights and see an independently-produced movie on the lawn’s big screen. The movie wasn’t very good, but the night was fun and festive and we met some very nice people.
Our most memorable evening took place on the boat. We’d come back early under a particularly beautiful sky and decided to sit outside and enjoy it. The clouds were dramatic, catching the evening light as the sun got low, making large swaths of pale yellow mixed with white and gray, a swirling mass of cloud formations against a blue sky. And what a blue sky it was! I’ve never seen a sky with such beautiful blues, distinctly going from a lighter shade near the horizon to a darker blue higher above. It was the sort of thing I would expect to see at a very high altitude, not at sea level next to a big city. Below, I tried to capture these blues in photos as best I could. (You can click to enlarge/scroll through both photo galleries to follow.)
We stayed out and watched this evening deepen, the sunset colors making a spectacular cloud show. After it got dark, the lightning came with surprisingly constant flashes of light. Since there was no thunder, we weren’t worried and just enjoyed the show. Then the rain started, squall after squall, giving the boat a nice rinse. It was a most dramatic and memorable evening. –Cyndi
