Fiji town with a wild past

LEANNE WALKER explores the Fijian town of Levuka before heading to the mountains to hear the history of the Lovoni hill tribe and sample the country's famous kava.

After only five minutes' flying from the Fijian capital of Suva, we first saw Ovalau.

Through the windows of the 16-seater Twin Otter, the island soon filled our view - the immense volcanic peaks of the interior cloaked in verdant greens plunging to mangrove forests on the coast.

Small villages nestled in coral-fringed bays, patchworks of taro and cassava fields spreading around the shiny tin roofs and the occasional thatched bure.

We swooped down, almost, it seemed, into the tangle of mangroves, before the airstrip came into view.

Welcome to Ovalau, a tiny island off the east coast of Viti Levu, with a historical importance which more than makes up for its lack in size.

Levuka town is the island's focal point and is saturated in historical significance.

European traders first settled here in the early 1830s, a colourful mob of sailors, whalers, beachcombers and sandalwood gatherers.

It wasn't long before the town became a thriving port where clapboard shops lined the main street and pubs of much notoriety were on every corner.

Back then it must have been a wild town. It was said that ships' captains could navigate to Levuka by following the line of floating rum bottles.

By the 1860s European settlers began pouring into Levuka and the island's first newspaper, the Fiji Times, reported that the main nuisance in town was the constant report of firearms day and night.

In 1871, the same year that the Kingdom of Fiji was established, Levuka became the capital.

But it wasn't until 1873, when King Cakabau ceded Fiji to Great Britain from the shores of Ovalau, that law and order finally arrived at this South Seas outpost.

Since 1881, when the capital was moved to Suva, Levuka has reverted to a tranquil backwater, perhaps the most laidback in all the Fiji islands.

Yet its history is overwhelming - from the Cession Stones where Fiji was first handed to the British, to the colourful clapboard Victorian architecture of the main street and the genteel but somewhat dilapidated colonial opulence of the Royal Hotel (the oldest in the South Pacific).

As we booked into the Royal our gaze was captured by the extravagant hibiscus blooms that filled pots and vases everywhere, and by the gleam of the polished wooden floors. Beneath slowly rotating ceiling fans, rattan and rosewood chairs offered a cool retreat. From the dim recesses of the hotel the click of billiard balls could be heard. It seemed the perfect place to spend some time.

For our initial exploration of Levuka, we enlisted the services of Henry Sahai, who has lived there for 79 years.

We soon realised that taking to the streets with Henry was the best way to meet everyone in town. Every few metres someone would call out "Bula Henry" and stop for a chat.

Love and pride for his home town glowed in his tanned and whiskered face as he led us from one magnificent old colonial building to the next, entertaining us with local gossip and stories of old.

Levuka may well be a backwater, but there is no shortage of great places to eat.

The Whales Tale in the centre of town is an institution for delicious meals and copious rounds of yaqona. "How about some yaqona?" Arnold the proprietor is likely to say as you walk through the door.

Yaqona is Fijian for kava, and Arnold is also the town's main dealer. Fijians love to drink kava and do it all the time.

It's a great reason to sit down and chat. When it is offered, you clap once, then quaff the bilo (coconut cup) of kava down in one go, followed by three claps. It is impolite to refuse the first time and Arnold took evident delight at our grimaces of distaste as we dutifully gulped ours down. Our meal of mai mai in kumquat sauce soon washed away the aftertaste.

Back at the Royal, our attention was caught by a crumpled manila folder on the reception desk titled: Sign here for Epi's Lovoni Tour.

We'd already heard about the legendary Lovoni tribe and how it had never been defeated by King Cakobau, holding out in their fortress village high in the caldera of an extinct volcano. We signed up for the next day.

Epi is a storyteller extraordinaire and mine of information. It takes hours to relate his version of Lovoni history and the multitude of medicinal uses for plants, during which you lunch at his family home, swim in mountain streams, plough through jungle, scale crater walls and wind up back at the Royal for a celebratory beer.

Ten kilometres from Levuka is Ovalau's newest and most exciting attraction.

Devokula Cultural Village is a traditional Fijian village in every sense and was set up by Jeramaia Tukituku - a visionary whose aim was to maintain the rapidly disappearing ways of his ancestors, and to create jobs for his people using traditional skills.

Today, the village of thatched bures, meeting houses, craft working areas and towering bure kalau (spirit house), all built by the village youths, is a dream turned reality where visitors can stay and experience village life.

If your idea of an authentic cultural experience is to present a village chief with kava during a "sevusevu" welcoming ceremony, eat food that is cooked in a "lovo" (earth oven), experience the overwhelming energy of Fiji's finest "meke" dancing and spend an evening drinking kava and singing with the villagers, then Devokula is it.

Jeremaia and his people can be justifiably proud of their village project.

The wonderful people of Devokula, Levuka and Lovoni on the island of Ovalau exemplify the best of cultural tourism in Fiji, tourism that operates on a village level and warmly opens its arms to the world.

CASE NOTES

Getting there: Air Fiji fly Nadi - Bereta (Ovalau) daily.

Accommodation: The Royal Hotel oozes charm and character and is affordable. Cottages and dorms are also available. Epi's Lovoni Tour can be arranged through the Royal.

Devokula Cultural Village: A half-day cultural tour (includes sevusevu, lunch and meke). All bookings made through Ovalau Tours & Transport.

Further Information: Ovalau Tours & Transport, PO Box 149, Levuka, Fiji. Phone (679) 440611

Guidebooks: Lonely Planet Fiji Travel Survival Kit

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