For ColleenOz or anyone with info on Fijian food

8 years ago

Colleen, I checked your profile here, and it does not have a way to send you a private message, and so I thought you might see this message. Kevin and I are going to Fiji for our next trip, and I thought perhaps you have been there, since it is so close to Australia. It's also not terribly far from Los Angeles (a 10-11 hour flight). We will be staying at Mana Island Resort on Mana Island, which seems pretty small, and there are rather limited eating selections. A lot of what is on their menus is not all that familiar to me but much seems to have Indian influences. I guess I will have to find a bank somewhere in Nadi to change money, as there are no banks or ATMs on Mana. We're going to be there for ten days. I don't think I'll starve there, but I'm wondering what I should try or not try. There is some odd fruit called Noni fruit, and I'm curious about that. Have you had it, and should I try it? I'm afraid it might taste nasty, but one site I found said that it is 75% as powerful as morphine!

There is a Backpacker Hostel on the island also, but it looks pretty ratty, and from the photos I've seen of it, mostly young Aussies stay there. I might try it for lunch one day. I wonder if I can catch a fish and have it cooked for me. I think my hotel room will have a small fridge and/or wet bar, but I don't know if there will be any stores. I was considering another island to the southeast that has a very large reef (fourth largest in the world), and it is a much larger island but only has three hotels, and they turn off the electricity between midnight and 6 AM. That means no A/C, and so that eliminated that island.

We'll be going in our winter, and I am expecting a fair amount of rain there, but I also hope we will have some partially sunny days. I think it mainly rains in the afternoon. Are there any special precautions I should take?

You can message me here, and then I can send you my email address, if you get to read this.

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Comments (3)

colleenoz
8 years ago
Hi Lars, unfortunately I can't help you as it's been some forty years since I was last in Fiji :-) The Noni fruit looks interesting, I'd probably try one for the heck of it, I wouldn't think they'd be that expensive for a trial.

There's an active Fiji forum on TripAdvisor you could check out and ask questions, it's more of an east coast thing here because it's closer, while Bali is closer for we sandgropers :-). DH and I are off for a short break on Bali next week :-)

I should have a look at my Houzz profile: when it was GardenWeb people could message me so I had no idea that had changed. Thanks!

I hope you have a great time in Fiji. I don't recommend the kava ceremony though, that stuff is truly nasty.
Lars thanked colleenoz
Lars
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I did notice that most of the people on the Fiji forum on TripAdvisor were from Australia or New Zealand, and so I'll expect to meet people like that on the trip.

I'll make a point to avoid Kava, but since there is no village where I am going, that should not be a problem. People also did warn about the Backpackers' restaurant, and so I might skip that altogether, but then there are very few options where I am going, as the island is quite small. We might have to make some treks to some other island for some variety, and I guess we'll find out about that after we get there.

I posted a question on the TripAdvisor forum for Mana Island. I was surprised that they even had one, but I guess it is a fairly popular island. I've looked at the restaurant options again and think I should have plenty to choose from. Thanks for the recommendation!
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Lars
Original Author
8 years ago
I picked up some tuna from Fiji yesterday at the market, and it was extremely good, and so I am looking forward to having some of that when I visit. I wonder how much of their tuna they export. I'm pretty sure that there will be plenty left for visitors, however.

Tomorrow I am going to try to prepay my hotel via bank transfer, as the hotels charge 3% service charge when paying by credit card. I should save some money by doing a bank transfer instead, and once that is done, I will buy travel insurance (which I've never done before) because we will be going during cyclone season. I also found out that the island we are visiting will close to visitors the day we leave because a film crew will be taking over the day we leave. Earlier this year, they filmed the latest season of Survivor on that island, and they closed the island for several months for that last spring/summer. I've started watching that show to see what the island will look like, and it appears not to have much in the way of hiking trails, and so we will have to take boats to get around the island or else do some island hopping.

I got a lot of excellent advice from the Mana Island forum on TripAdvisor, and I have to thank Colleen for that link. That was by far the best source for info for my trip. I think there are about three restaurant on the island that we can visit, and I was concerned about having to go to the same restaurants over and over, but I think the chefs vary the meals daily, and so that should not be a problem. I might get tired of coconuts before we leave, but I do love coconuts!

For ColleenOz or anyone with info on Fijian food

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colleenoz

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