Savusavu, Fiji

We had big plans today to see the botanical gardens and then do a tour of the chocolate factory.

First up was a big breakfast, fresh juice, muesli and then eggs with freshly baked buns. We asked Radhika if she could cook dinner in the main kitchen so we could watch.

Places don’t open until 10am so we sat out on the deck and watched the boats go by. The forecast called for rain most of the day starting around 1pm, so we were hoping to tourist around in the morning, and then return back home and relax in the afternoon, so we didn’t get overwhelmed in the heat and humidity.

First we had an errand to buy our bus and ferry combo ticket to Taveuni. Found the ticket agent thanks to the handy Google map created by our Airbnb host. Bought our tickets from the very friendly agent.

Then drove west to the botanical gardens. Unfortunately it’s closed on weekends, as we thought it might be. We then tried the chocolate factory close by, but it too is closed on the weekend. It had a number to call to book tours so I took a pic to call later from our landline at the Airbnb.

With most tourist places closed, we instead decided to check out the lively centre of Savusavu. We parked on the side of the street once we got close to the centre (it’s only about a ten minute walk end to end).

We checked out the food market, which was busy. We’d seen similar produce in the Nadi market so I didn’t take many pics. Unlike Nadi, there weren’t any touts trying to sell excursions so it was a nicer experience.

There’s lots of little restaurants and plazas down alleys that had loads of character. We both agreed it’s one of the most charismatic little towns we’ve visited.

Stopped in at The Hot Bread Kitchen which seems to always have a line up, a good thing :) We bought some sausage roll pastries for lunch. The Airbnb breakfast is served at 8:30am and dinner at 5:30pm, so we’re trying to have just snacks for lunch. It’s unfortunate cause there’s so many restaurants in town that look amazing.

We had an iced coffee waterside at Copra Shed Marina, which is very popular in the evenings with live music. The bay was busy with boaters and sightseers.

The sky was darkening with the predicted thunderstorms so we called it a day, and drove back up to our place.

Relaxed the rest of the afternoon. Radhika showed up around 4pm ish and started cooking. For appetizers she made kokoda (although she cooks the fish in boiling water rather than lime juice), and for the main it was ginger fried fish (Spanish mackerel, alternatively called wahoo or walu in Fiji). Dessert was soufflé, everything was very yummy.