Taveuni – As Green as you’ve ever seen

 

Central Taveuni

The 180th degree of longitude passes through a point marked Taveuni’s Time Line at Waiyevo.

 

Did you Know

The theory goes that one Taveuni trader overcame objections of missionaries to keep doing business on Sundays by stating that the international date line ran through his property, Therefore his theory was that when it was Sunday at the back door it was Monday at the front door.

European planters made their native labourers work seven days a week by having Sunday at one end of the plantation and Monday at the other. An 1879 ordinance ended this by placing all of Fiji west of the dateline so you could no longer stand with one foot in the past and the other in the present.

At Wariki there are a few Catholic missions with fascinating carvings where the congregation still sits on the floor Fijian style.

 

Make the steep hike to Des Voux Peak but be prepared for an all-day hike. Great bird-watching and the only place where the rare monkey-faced fruit bat thrives.

 
 

Bouma Falls, on Taveuni's rugged eastern coast, offer a cool and refreshing diversion for the weary traveller
 
 
 

A hike to the interior is well worth the effort you put into it
 
 
 
 
 

  Chiefly Village

 

At Somosomo lies the chiefly village of Cakaudrove and the home of the Tui Cakau, Taveuni’s high chief, the late Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau. Ratu Sir Penaia Kanatabatu Ganilau, GCMG, KCVO, KBE, DSO (28 July 1918-15 December 1993) was the first President of Fiji, serving from 8 December 1987 until his death in 1993. He had previously served as Governor-General of Fiji, representing Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Fiji, from 12 February 1983 to 15 October 1987.

 

The trail to Lake Tagimaucia is a full-day round trip and you may need a guide as there are many trails leading off in different directions. Wading through deep mud in the crater is a pre-requisite to achieving the lake’s edge, which is generally only around five metres deep.

 

Taveuni is a small island devoted to nature and her wildlife and welcomes all who share this sentiment in a world that is fast losing great tracts of natural forest and habitation.  Taveuni’s inhabitants will ensure that the island’s beauty will continue to remain untouched ensuring that it remains one of the last bastions against modern-day intrusion into Mother Nature’s affairs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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