HOTEL MACAMBO,NANDI, FIJI, 27th August.
Our Dear Darlings,
Saturday, 23rd August: (HONOLULU) After posting our letter to you all in the morning we strolled about the town and was attracted to a restaurant called WAIKIKI SANDS. We discovered that it was a nice Restaurant on the beach of WAIKIKI serving Cosmopolitan food. We went in. Food - Japanese, Korean, Chineses and a few others - was laid on the tables to be taken personally - no restrictions as to the amount and it cost only $1.45 each. We enjoyed the food very much as well as the water melon and pine apples at the end of the meal.
In the afternoon we went to the INTERNATIONAL MARKET PLACE to watch Polynesian Dances. They were very interesting indeed. In the evening while waiting for the time to be picked up for the Air Port we sat in the gardens of our Hotel watching and listening to Hawaiian dances and music. The orchestra comprised only three with only one dancer.
At the Air Port there wasn't the bustle of arrivals. HONOLULU seems to care more for the arrivals than for those departing! This gave the impression of commercial tourism more than anything else.
While Honolulu was beautiful, it lacked the "native touch". Shops were stocked more with imported goods. The streets ware splattered with tourists - mostly Americans - who went "native". The women dressed themselves in MUUMUU - a long baggy gown. It tickled us to notice how these tourists behaved and dressed. They looked very odd.
We left at about 12.30 AM - about two hours later than scheduled and after a twelve hour flight and stopping at CANTON Island we arrived at NADI at 10.30 AM on MONDAY. This was wonderful and exciting. We lost one day, SUNDAY. There is a geographical explanation for this of which I was not clear. We shall discuss this when we get home.
Sunday, 24th August: LOST!!
Fiji: Monday, 25th August: We stayed in our Hotel - MOCAMBO - all day to rest. This Hotel was not near any City. SUVA, the capital of Fiji, is 137 miles away. We do not propose to go there.
Tuesday, 26th August: We went out on a tour by taxi to LAUTOKA. Before we went we were told that this was the second biggest town on the Island. On the 16 miles journey we passed by some nice scenery. There were many sugar cane plantations along the route. They belong to Australian Companies
employing Indian labour mainly. We passed some Fijian Villages with poor type of houses. Here again we were told that the natives were not hard-working enough! There were still plenty of land but no one wanted to work it as these uncultivated areas were not supplied with roads! I don't think the Fijians could be blamed. They seem to prefer fishing to working the land.
We were rather disappointed when we got to LAUTOKA as the place was very small - even smaller than Kuala Kangsar Town. We were taken round the town and we were happy to see a Mosque - a pretty, though a small one. We bought some "muruku" from an Indian hawker and watermelon - just two slices - from the market.
On our way back we stopped at a beach where we met some Fijians. They gave us coconut water to drink. We took a group photograph and one old chap gave me his address to send a copy of the snap. We went straight on to NANDI Town which was even smaller than LAUTOKA. We found that there was also a Mosque in NANDI. After going round we returned for lunch.
At MOCAMBO HOTEL we found two Waiters who had been to Malaya. They spent most of their time in Batu Pahat. After dinner tonight we listened
to the Hotel 3 man Orchestra playing sweet Fijian hits.
Well, how are you all getting on? We will be home in 8 days. In the meantime we are anxious to receive some news.
We wonder if Yang, Ayah Nyah, Enjang, Dak, Chor and Pak Ni know of our date of return.
Love and lots + lots of kisses to Sayang, Adek, Intan, Kuntom, Nor, Adek Shor, Nan, Nah, Ajid and Yong. Sembah salam to Tah and salam to the others.
Yours Ever Loving,
Mak & Bapak
P.S. Some more photos.
