We planted one foot in yesterday and the other in today at Taveuni Island, one of the most northerly islands of the Fijian archipelago. Behind us was a large map split into two, which indicated that Taveuni, the Garden Isle, is bisected by the 180° meridian or the International Date Line. Though, technically, the International Date Line twists around the Fijian archipelago for convenience, minuscule Taveuni in the South Pacific is one of the few land masses sliced by the meridian. A deep channel in Millennium Park indicates this historic spot.
We are travellers who are easily thrilled when we make new discoveries. And so we jumped from one day to the other — delighted that we were on this minuscule volcanic outcrop where the sun first rises on the planet and it is the first land mass to experience New Year across the world...
Locals dressed in sulus (Fijian sarongs) with a hibiscus behind one ear gathered around us as we clicked photos of each other, straddling the meridian. It was at this spot in Millennium Park that international media and tourists gathered to welcome the dawn of the new millennium. Every New Year something similar happens... It allows revellers to cross over and celebrate the occasion all over again.
Our guide told us that, way back in time when the International Date Line did not deviate at all from the 180 Meridian, Taveuni experienced two days in one. A Chinese store straddled the date line and had two doors on each side. On Sundays, when Taveuni closed down, shoppers would be welcomed through the Saturday door!
But there’s much more to Taveuni than the dateline. In fact, this isle of just 12,000 people seems to languish in a time warp. We flew there in a tiny propeller plane from the international gateway at Nadi and landed at Matei airport that was little more than a shack; our luggage was delivered through a hatch and the waiting area was common for both arrival and departures.
Where else on the planet would a commercial flight become a scenic one — skimming over an azure ocean of shifting colours, with a bird’s eye-view of the third largest coral reef in the world, dotted with islands that resemble beached whales and fishing sites that brim with huge barracuda and yellow fin tuna?
The island is a slash of green, studded with tropical rain forests, highlands, coconut plantations and mangroves, and laced by some of the most glorious coral reefs in the world. The east coast is wild and uninhabited.
It was the owners of the swish Taveuni Island Resort, Do and Ric Cammick, who discovered the Rainbow Reef, a Mecca for scuba divers from all over the world. This Kiwi family packed up their lives in New Zealand because they fell in love with Taveuni. Do told us that little has changed in the over two decades that they have been on the island.
It is these qualities of romance, magic and desperate lushness that makes it hard to believe that this corner of the world, as quiet as a prayer, was once dubbed Cannibal Islands and the highest honour a villager would accord to his chief was the invitation: “Eat me, chief!”
We recalled these stories as we trekked up to the Tavoro Falls in Bouma National Park with views of mist-draped ridges and also walked part of the way along the Lavena Coastal Walk, where twisted old growth forests and white sand beaches make for a magical combination.
Our next stop was Matangi Island, a 20-minute boat ride away. In its lush environs snuggles the Matangi Private Island Resort where we stayed in a wood-panelled thatched-roof tree house.
As the sun rose the next morning, splashing the island with its molten gold rays, we felt the awe that came from the fact that we were the first people in the world to behold the sun rise on a new day. Indeed the pleasures of Taveuni are precious and unique.
Slideshow : >Wonderful Fijian Island
