Crossroads of the South Pacific

Press, 22 June 1981, Page 15

Crossroads of the South Pacific

. in a sense Fiji is huge. It covers more than 260.000 sq.km of the South Pacific; a vast expanse of ocean sprinkled with 300 islands, mostly -ivolcanic and not much more than 2 6 sq. km in area. Indeed, if you count any piece of land sticking up out of the water, there could be as many as 3000 "islands" in -Fiji. Together with the two main islands. 10.363 sq. km Viti Levu and 5535 sq. km Vanua Levu. these myriad paradises are the true crossroads of the South Pacific:

Australia is 2736 km southwest; New Zealand lies 1850 km south: Hawaii is 3540 km to the north-east.

Fiji is also on a line between the two main French possessions in the Pacific - Tahiti 3220 km east, and New Caledonia 1130 km west.

Scattered just south of the equator, all Fiji is blessed with a gentle tropical climate. Winter is just a fewdegrees colder and slightly drier than summer.

The scenery is more varied. Apart from the expected golden sands and sparkling lagoons the main islands have spectacular mountains.

The highest. Mt Victoria on Viti Levu. reaches an impressive 1304 m. It domi-

nates a rugged, sparsely populated hinterland vastly different from the lush beaches and luxurious hotels of the Coral Coast.

Another aspect of Fiji’s unique location is that half the islands lie to one side of the International Dateline and half on the other.

To prevent confusion, all the islands are considered to be on the w T est of the dateline. So Fiji is "where the day begins" rather than “where the sun sets."

But either way, these magical islands have an enduring charm that lures holidaymakers from all over the world