ISLAND PARADISE.

Waikato Times, Volume 120, Issue 19984, 7 September 1936, Page 9

ISLAND PARADISE.

A HOLIDAY IN FIJI. HAMILTONIAN’S VISIT. VARIETY OF ATTRACTIONS. That few New Zealanders realise the widely diverse attractions available to the tourist in Fiji, is the opinion held by Mr F. J. Moore, of Hamilton, who recently returned from a six weeks 4 cruise of the Islands. On his arrival in Fiji Mr Moore promptly discarded the' advice of handbooks and mapped out his own itinerary, journeying to many remote parts. Everywhere was to be seen the unusual and it brought home the realisation that the possibilities of Fijian Islands as tourist resorts were not being fully exploited. With beautifully fine weather —Mr Moore experienced 30 fine days out of 34 spent on thft Island —and the temperature in the vicinity of 70 degrees, the climate of Fiji during July and August was ideal. Unless the visitor left ihe beaten track it was difficult to appreciate the wealth of interesting places with which the islands abound. By means of a small cutter, however, equipped with an outboard motor, Mr Moore and p. party explored much of the inland area and made visits to outlying groups. Viti Levu, the main island of the series, was exceedingly fertile and the* growth of vegetation was very rapid. Dairying Activities. This, however, proved a drawback on the east side of the island, where dairying had been established. The farmers found it extremely difficult to cope with the rapid growth of weeds and scrub, which, when cut, would spring up again in less than three weeks. The rainfall in this area was heavy, due mainly to the moisture laden trade winds which struck against the range running practically from north to south in the centre of Viti Levu. As a result, the eastern side of the island was decidedly wetter than the western wheTe the different type of soil and dryer climate favoured the growing of sugar cane, immense quantities of which were refined in the Fiji mills. The reflne'ry at Lautroka, on the western seaboard, was regarded as the' largest in the world and its harbour was one of the busiest ports in the Islands. Navigable Rivers. A feature of the geographical structure of Viti Levu was the number of navigable rivers. On one occasion the small craft which Mr Moore and his party used travelled for some 80 miles up one of the larger waterways. Luxuriant vegetation lined the banks of the river which was tidal for a great distance. Of the outlying islands Mr Moore visited” Makog/is, where the leper station had been established. Excellent work was being accomplished here and many cases were being completely healed by means of modern medical methods. The community on Makogai was divided into three villages, one for the Fijian women, one' for the men and a third for the Hindus. During his stay Mr Moore formed a very high opinion of the Fijian people, who were hardworking and meticuously clean. All the manual labour of the' islands was accomplished by the natives, but shops and taxi driving were almost completely carried on by Hindus. Feeling ran very high between the 'Hindus and Fijians and there was little doubt that the Hindus imposed upon the natives. As taxi drivers the Hindus would shake the nerve of (he most nerveless Individual. They cut corne'rs with monotonous regularity and displayed most alarming recklessness. Cars were the only means of transport on the Islands, but most of the planters on the off-islands had small cutters and made periodical visits to Suva. “Cosmopolitan,” in Mr Moore’s opinion, most aptly describe's Suva, where a very mixed community lias assembled. Fijians. Hindus, Asiatics and Chinese predominate. Roads in the vicinity of Suva, as with the whole island of Viti Levu, are surprisingly good. A point which attracts the visitor’s attention when he leaves the immediate vicinity of the town is the tidiness of the native quarters, each dwelling being set out with a neat piece of lawn which the natives keep in trim with a kind of knife' used on the sugar plantations Principal Industries. Speaking of the main industries of the Islands, Mr Moore said that sugar cane was grown in great quantities, while banana growing, the production of copra, and to some extent, gold mining, were the most important. As yet dairying was in Its Infancy and some' difficulty was experienced In keeping pastures clean of tropical growth. The sugar cane plantations were run in the main by Europeans who employed native labour for all the manual work. This system was followed In the growing of oononuts and bananas and the production of copra. From what he had seen, Mr Moore stated that the natives were splendid workers and their services could be engaged for approximately 15s a week with food. In the gold-fields, which were situated at Tavua, Fijian labour was used exclusively. The mining of gold had been started onlv recently, but already good results were' being obtained and Ihe approximate gross? turnover was £IO,OOO a month. A peculiarity of gold-bearing ore in Fiji was the lad that, it- was volcanic, almost resembling road metal. Quartz was unknown. A Beautiful Church. one contintiously encountered the unexpected on the Islands and on one expedition to an outlying Island Mr Moore came upon a beautiful church conducted by two noman Catholic priests fmm France. The building, which had been designed by an architect. who had entered the church and | been sent to the mission station, was 1 a magnificent edifice built entirely of ! stone and concrete. Fronting ' Ihe : building was the glistening beach witlf i a steady roll of the surf. I The. visit had not been without, its | thrills and when the cutter in which the party were cruising became stranded on a reef the occupants had had the unpleasant experience of “baling out” into shark-infested waters.