First Time to Fiji: Day 5

The next morning we were picked up by Sitiveni "Steve" Yaqona, who has had a long career of public service and visitor industry experience. As a young man Steve served in the Fiji Army and later was the General Manager of Air Fiji, one of the local island hoppers. He later ran the North American office of the Fiji Visitors Bureau, based in Los Angeles. His job was promoting tourism for the Fijian government. His territory was all of the Americas, so I imagine he was a very busy man :-) On the way to the airport he described what it was like growing up in Fiji going back almost 70 years, starting with the introduction of the telephone. We also heard a bit about his five kids and 22 (!) grandchildren. Steve is a fascinating guy. I wish we had had more time with him.

Steve was introduced to us by Rob Kay, who worked for Steve during his tenure with Air Fiji.

We jumped a puddle hopper to Taveuni. The view from the low flying 20 seat prop plane was truly breathtaking. I’ve never seen blue and aqua ocean quite like that. We flew over crescent shaped coral reefs, beautiful atolls and pods of jumping dolphins.

Upon arrival at the Taveuni Island Resort we were greeted by owner Do. This beautiful property is best described with photos.

Photos of Taveuni Island Resort

Lunch was an exotic treat. We started with papaya salad, not of the Thai variety, but with ripe papaya and a sprinkling of miniature chives in a cream dressing. Next came delicious ginger fish cakes followed by a desert of vanilla ice cream with fresh mint leaves and pineapple. Great stuff!

The property is beautifully manicured and the bures’ layouts blend organically with the scenery. The owners, Do ad Ric, initially bought the property as a vacation home about 35 years ago. The central structure now used for the bar and dining area was their home. Ric was in the construction industry in Auckland, NZ. He explained that he had “had enough of that business,” so they moved to Fiji to start Taveuni Island Resort. In addition to having built a beautiful resort, other owners in the area credit Ric as having developed the dive industry in Taveuni.

This resort is fantastic. The people, the property, our bure - everything is perfect. We never want to leave!