Welcoming Gateway to Fiji

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32252, 21 March 1970, Page 5

Welcoming Gateway to Fiji

(Bu

KATHLEEN HANCOCK)

Nandi is the gateway to Fiji, and a warm welcoming gateway it is. From the moment you step off your plane to find that wide Fijian smile beamed at you from all directions, your tensions loosen, your cares slip away, you feel weightless in the balmy air of this north-west corner of Viti Levu.

And you’ve only to set foot in the Nandi Air Terminal building to note little touches that make you feel somebody, somewhere in this airport really cares whether you live or die.

Burly Fijians take your bags with a protective ait. There’s evidence of an understanding of the tashed female traveller’s needs in the women’s washrooms where you’ll find showers and pow-der-rooms to help dispel the cobwebs that seem to cover your face after several hours in an aircraft, And for the slap-happy tourist who just buys a ticket and takes off, there’s even a large noticeboard where he can find the names of the principal Nandi hotels, their daily tariffs, and an indication of whether or not they serve all-night snacks.

There’s almost an embarrassment of riches when you come to making a choice of a bed in Nandi. The Mocambo is still the most prestigious hotel and its smooth 24 hour service is first class. Sophisticates appreciate its cuisine, its beauty salon and barber shop, the boutique, and that useful adjunct, a branch of Hunt's Travel who know Fiji better than anyone, and will set you down anywhere by any form of transport for any length of time you care to state. And knowledgeable Jimmi Hunt sitting at her desk in the foyer makes the whole operation seem so effortless that I feel that somewhere inside that pretty blonde head lurks a demon computer.

New on the Nandi scene is the aptly named Gateway Hotel, right at the airport. For travellers coming in al those ghastly arrival times so beloved- of international airlines, this new hotel is a godsend. You can practically tumble out of the aircraft into your bed. The Gateway is a delight to the eye. Designed by the Fiji firm of Derrick and Derrick, it is set round three sides of a central court, overlooking the swimming-pool that's a sine qua non in Nandi. Nice use has been made of native woods. And the big second storey cocktail lounge gives you a sweeping view of the whole district. The Gateway is notable, too, for having as assistant manager Josaia Tavaquia, the first Fijian to enter the hotel management field. This tall Fijian was born in Vuda, not far from Nandi, and he knows the area like the back of his hand. And he is also the leader of the Kabu Kei Vuda Group, local entertainers based on Nandi. Look for their disc pressed by Salem Records. It’ll get right under your solar plexus. The tariff is more than moderate at the Gateway—and this goes for meals too. A continental breakfast more substantial than most will set you back only 55 cents. No mention of Nandi is complete without a rundown

of the cruises from Lautoka to the offshore islands. One day, three days, five days—take your choice. Tai Island, Castaway Island, the Yasawas, the Mamanucas. The Seaspray of TV fame will sail you to Castaway Island and back in a day, with a fabulous buffet lunch at the luxury Castaway Resort Hotel. Don Costello’s 64 ft Ratu Bulumakau will deposit you on Tai Island for five heavenly hours of beachcombing, including a barbecue of the famous Costello steaks on the beach. The longer cruises are real luxury jobs, with comfortable cabins and excellent food, covering the loveliest archipelagoes in the Fiji Group. Nandi also offers a refreshing change from the usual

island day-trip. A jeep with a thatched roof, looking rather like a surrey-with-a-fringe-on-top gone troppo, picks you up at your hotel and carries you up on to the heights of the ranges behind the rolling blue-green fields of sugar cane. This is a short excursion, led by a charming Fijian hostess—the kind of thing you can fit in between planes. And the view of Nandi Bay from the high plateau, with the lovely Mamanuca islands floating on the horizon, is well worth the rugged ride into the mountains. Bargain Hunting And of course there’s shopping—to end on a practical note. Nandi and Lautoka are a bargain hunter's dream.

In these sleepy sugar towns you can browse and shop at leisure. Transistors and typewriters, shells and shoes, big, barbaric tortoiseshell earrings: Indian saris and sequined tops from Hong Kong; Indonesian batiks and Italian espadrilles. There's a branch of “Tiki Togs" at Lautoka too, and close to Nandi you’ll find the Fijian Handcraft Centre where the bags and baskets are the finest in Fiji. Nandi has changed since the days when it was a necessary but unwelcome whistle stop on the way to Suva. The district is emerging as a base from which you can set out on day trips, cruises and shopping tours that give you a fresh and exciting taste of the essence of Fiji.