Apartments for holidays with a difference

Press, 31 May 1977, Page 26

Apartments for holidays with a difference

I was 58 when I visited Fiji, renting an apartment where 1 could cook food I bought from the market. I soon learned to bargain, and eventually, even the shoe-shine boys (who can be persistent)'accepted me and my dirty shoes, and left us alone. My first glimpse of my apartment on the island of Ovalau, however, was not propitious. My transport there had been by way of a local bus (full of mums, dads, children, fowls, and animals) and a launch. I took a taxi to my “first class” accommodation; but horrors! the place was deserted and shut up. 1 climbed up many steps, my courage ebbing. At last a bewhiskered man and an Island woman appeared. and told me I had been expected. It was just siesta time. My room, which was part of a verandah, was without a door and the facilities, at the end of the path, were shared by the fowls. But the people were so kind and clean that I relaxed and enjoyed three happy days walking amidst the lovely gardens and riding the bus to farther areas, taking in the scenery. It was a delightfully different holiday. — KAY BANKS.