Blog Archives | Fiji Guide

Paddy Ryan’s new edition of Fiji’s Natural Heritage is a work in progress

Rob Kay — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 21:16:49 +0000

Editor’s Note: When it comes to Fiji’s natural world no one has chroncled it better than Paddy Ryan. One of my most prized books is Paddy’s magnum opus, Fiji’s Natural Heritage. Paddy is multi faceted photographer–his subjects are both terrestrial and underwater. Whether his camera lense is focused on a crab, a salamander, a kingfisher […]

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Paddy Ryan’s life and times as a Fiji wildlife photographer

Rob Kay — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 21:10:22 +0000

No one personifies Fiji’s natural history space more than Paddy Ryan, author of Fiji’s Natural Heritage. Traned as a biologist, Paddy is an acclaimed photographer, skilled diver and underwater photographer, writer and chronicler of Fiji’s natural world. In this interview or “Talanoa” with archaeologist, Fiji language expert and cultural knowledge holder Tarisi Sorovi-Vunidilo (aka Dr. T) he […]

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New Walking Tour of Suva by Peter Sipeli

Rob Kay — Sat, 12 Nov 2022 20:44:12 +0000

Guided Walks–a walking tour of Suva, is a new endeavor created by Fijian Poet, Peter Sipeli. He created it with a strong belief that Fiji needed to provide more depth and knowledge about its contemporary spaces and culture as opposed to traditional Fiji Tourism which is too often focused on sun, sea and sand. Suva […]

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New release: Suva Stories–A History of the Capital of Fiji

Rob Kay — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 23:45:41 +0000

As someone who just updated a travel guide to Suva (Suva a History & Guide) I presumptuously assumed that I knew something about Fiji’s capital city. Well, my hubris quickly evaporated when I started perusing Nicholas (aka Nic) Halter’s expansive new book, Suva Stories a History of the Capital of Fiji. Professor Halter, a lecturer in […]

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Rethinking Tourism — It’s all about authenticity

Rob Kay — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 06:44:50 +0000

My colleague Fantasha Lockington penned a recent story for the Fiji Times which we have posted below. Fantasha is CEO of the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association, which is on the cusp of “re-inaugurating” the org’s annual tourism conference, heretofore delayed by Covid over the past few years. The theme of the event is “Rethinking […]

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Taveuni Update–Roberta Davis reflects on the Covid Era in Fiji and reopening her property

Rob Kay — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 09:00:50 +0000

Editors’ Note: I recently re-connected with Roberta Davis, who owns and operates a B&B-style property called Makaira on Taveuni, Fiji’s Garden Island. The property consists of four bures (cottages) perched on four acres of a hillside, once the site of an ancient village. Located a few miles from an old dirt airstrip, the resort on Taveuni is […]

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After 44 years, “Suva–A History and Guide” is in print again

Rob Kay — Sat, 10 Sep 2022 08:42:27 +0000

My how time flies. Its taken over four decades, but the newest edition of Suva: A History and Guide is now for sale on Amazon–both as an eBook (on Amazon’s Kindle platform) and in paperback.. So what’s the story behind this book? And why did it take 44 years for a second edition to emerge? […]

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Savusavu unveils a national treasure in plain sight

Rob Kay — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 01:20:51 +0000

With great fanfare, on August 2, 2022 the town of Savusavu “unveiled” its long simmering hot springs, national treasure, that until recently didn’t get much respect. I’m talking about the Nakama Hot Springs located in the center of Savusavu, which have been gurgling piping hot water and emitting steam for centuries. Until recently only a […]

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On Fiji Islands–An Interview with author Ron Wright

Rob Kay — Sat, 06 Aug 2022 23:23:31 +0000

What a perfect opportunity to publish an interview with Ronald Wright. With the resumption of worldwide travel Fiji has once more become a favored South Pacific destination. The recent re-publication of his masterpiece, On Fiji Islands by Eland Books, our interview with Ronald Wright could not have come at a better time. Wright, a Canadian […]

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Vili Hereniko transforms Rotuman Myth into Digital Art with “Sina ma Tinirau”

Rob Kay — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 04:58:26 +0000

Vilsoni Hereniko, known to his friends as Vili, has come a long way from his native Rotuma, a Polynesian outlier in the far reaches of the Fiji archipelago. Inspired by the island’s folklore–we can call it Polynesia Mythology–as told to him by his father, the Honolulu-based filmmaker and Professor at the Academy for Creative Media […]

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