Editor’s Note: Back in the day….the mid-1980s, when I wrote my Lonely Planet Guide to Fiji, the Fiji Visitors Bureau had a wonderful slogan–“Fiji, the way the world should be“. It’s a phrase often attributed to Pope John Paul II during a visit to Fiji. It sounded a little corny to me at first but as time went by, I felt it was apt...
A few weeks ago I had the good fortune to be interviewed about Fiji by Tom Wilmer, on his “Journeys of Discovery” podcast for National Public Radio. Tom and I had both been members of the Society of American Travel Writers and the two of us had also been recipients of the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism award. Tom has one of the top rated travel podcasts...
Editor’s Note: No one personifies Fiji’s natural history space more than Paddy Ryan, author of Fiji’s Natural Heritage. Traned as a biologist, Paddy is an acclaimed photographer, skilled diver and underwater photographer, writer and chronicler of Fiji’s natural world. He’s back in Fiji now, updating his classic book. I think a cursury look at his art will blow your...
Editor’s Note: No one personifies Fiji’s natural history space more than Paddy Ryan, author of Fiji’s Natural Heritage. Traned as a biologist, Paddy is an acclaimed photographer, skilled diver and underwater photographer, writer and chronicler of Fiji’s natural world. He’s back in Fiji now, updating his classic book. I think a cursury look at...
Editor’s note: Kevin Sinclair, the Executive Sous Chef of the Holiday Inn Suva, is a rising star in Fiji’s growing culinary constellation. He’s been with the property for the last five years. Before joining IHG, which manages the Holiday Inn Suva, the Grand Pacific Hotel, and the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa (all owned by FNPF), he...
Editor’s Note: When it comes to Fiji’s natural world no one has chroncled it better than Paddy Ryan. One of my most prized books is Paddy’s magnum opus, Fiji’s Natural Heritage. Paddy is multi faceted photographer–his subjects are both terrestrial and underwater. Whether his camera lense is focused on a crab, a salamander, a kingfisher...
No one personifies Fiji’s natural history space more than Paddy Ryan, author of Fiji’s Natural Heritage. Traned as a biologist, Paddy is an acclaimed photographer, skilled diver and underwater photographer, writer and chronicler of Fiji’s natural world. In this interview or “Talanoa” with archaeologist, Fiji language expert and...
Guided Walks–a walking tour of Suva, is a new endeavor created by Fijian Poet, Peter Sipeli. He created it with a strong belief that Fiji needed to provide more depth and knowledge about its contemporary spaces and culture as opposed to traditional Fiji Tourism which is too often focused on sun, sea and sand. Suva is a city he grew up in and is passionate about...
As someone who just updated a travel guide to Suva (Suva a History & Guide) I presumptuously assumed that I knew something about Fiji’s capital city. Well, my hubris quickly evaporated when I started perusing Nicholas (aka Nic) Halter’s expansive new book, Suva Stories a History of the Capital of Fiji. Professor Halter, a lecturer in history at USP, has...
My colleague Fantasha Lockington penned a recent story for the Fiji Times which we have posted below. Fantasha is CEO of the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association, which is on the cusp of “re-inaugurating” the org’s annual tourism conference, heretofore delayed by Covid over the past few years. The theme of the event is “Rethinking Tourism”...
Editors’ Note: I recently re-connected with Roberta Davis, who owns and operates a B&B-style property called Makaira on Taveuni, Fiji’s Garden Island. The property consists of four bures (cottages) perched on four acres of a hillside, once the site of an ancient village. Located a few miles from an old dirt airstrip, the resort on Taveuni is...
My how time flies. Its taken over four decades, but the newest edition of Suva: A History and Guide is now for sale on Amazon–both as an eBook (on Amazon’s Kindle platform) and in paperback.. So what’s the story behind this book? And why did it take 44 years for a second edition to emerge? Suva: A History and Guide was first published in 1978 by my...
