Kings Highway Fiji – A Road Less Travelled

For someday I have wished to journey to Suva from Nadi through the Kings Highway. Regrettably the possibility hasn’t offered alone. Even so conditions can transform and prior to you know it you are travelling along the Kings Hwy to Suva.

Nadi Assistance Station the conclusion was produced

We were examining the tyres for our journey to Suva through the Coral Coast (Queens’s Hwy) and just as we ended up completely ready to transform appropriate together the Queens Hwy, Gary (my manager) questioned me if I would you like to go by means of the Kings Hwy alternatively? (Silly issue) “Well this is the deal”, he explained “If all goes properly and we have a fantastic excursion it is my concept but if points change pear-shaped it is really your fault”!….I can stay with that. So we turned left on the street fewer travelled. We had been driving on acquainted street till we reached Ba we experienced been there the 7 days in advance of on the lookout at the stunning gold jewellery.

Rakiraki here we arrive

The rain commenced in earnest now pelting on the windscreen, absolutely nothing was said but probably this was not this sort of a excellent plan. Then the rain dissipated and a silent sigh of relief was felt. The street was honey-combed in some sections with potholes which is part of residing in Fiji. Following you get around the original shock of the state of the roads in Fiji you just get on with it. It was Sunday and there was pretty minimal website traffic on the Kings Hwy, most Fijians have been at church listening to their Sunday sermon. We practically had the roadways to ourselves.The shoreline was spectacular in spite of the dreary situations visualize what it would be like with sunshine and clear skies. The vegetation was lush and a vibrate eco-friendly, sugarcane arrived appropriate up to the roadside and gently swayed on the hillside it is breathtaking country.

Missed the switch for the coast route

Our intention was to stay on the coast road and switch off around Matawailevu Village, it would have been useful if we had a “proper road map” instead of a tourist map with restricted depth. In advance of we knew it we were being heading inland and passing by means of Rokovuaka Village it was much too late to transform back again. It experienced taken us 3 hrs to get this much with the inclement climate conditions, so we kept going.The nation was now turning into mountainous and to our correct was a rapid flowing and muddy swollen river that appeared as a result of the vegetation. Wanting at our restricted map reference it indicated that there were sections where the street and river satisfied. Up to this stage the road had been a really hard tarred area with just a pair of areas of gravel. All this was about to transform.

Grime observe – street deteriorates

The nice challenging floor rapidly evaporates and we are down to dust track! With nevertheless a significant distance to go abruptly every little thing turns pear-formed. The street abruptly narrows now it can be only one particular lane, with a deep ravine to the correct and muddy brown h2o flowing speedily beneath. The dust observe which is the King Hwy requires a sharp appropriate and stretched ahead of us is a prolonged slender a person lane timber bridge resembling something you may possibly see on the Discovery Channel in the Amazon crossing some raging river with impenetrable jungle on both of those sides. The slender timber bridge in entrance of us was terrifying.

• No guard rails
• Perched higher over a rapid moving human body of drinking water
• Crosses nailed to the side wherever an individual experienced appear to a sticky finish!

Gary negotiated the bridge… we experienced no preference it was much too late to change again. Two extended ongoing raised timber tracks the width of a car’s wheel base ran parallel to guide your wheels throughout. The only trouble was the timber bridge was muddy and slippery. The van couldn’t get adequate traction on the timber keep track of and kept slipping off. So we ended driving over on a slight angle the passenger aspect looking at a lot more of the h2o then I would have preferred. I forgot to thrust history on the video digicam, but I did get the up coming bridge. The future few of bridges didn’t seem so frightening, it can be wonderful how immediately you can change, but then I was not driving thank goodness!

The rest of the journey to Suva was uneventful

Right after our tangle with the timber bridges the rest of the journey was uneventful. There is upgrading getting place with overseas loans. More together the highway massive sections of rainforest and hillside had been taken off to make way for a significant improve of the Kings Hwy with a few of substantial bridges currently made. If you intend to push to Suva through the Kings Hwy check out ahead of hand with the nearby authorities.

We travelled on a Sunday and all roadwork were halted, having said that if this experienced been a Saturday or weekday there would have been extensive delays. It took us in excess of 5 hrs to get to Suva speed was down to 60km and underneath in some sections of the Kings Hwy.Conversing to some inhabitants who had negotiated the coastline road to Suva, they explained the views have been spectacular but the street was atrocious it was 4WD generate the dust monitor was slender and muddy, but what an adventure was the remark!

Catch you later…