12th of August, 2025.
I walk for a little while. Some locals tell me about taking the bus. A car stops down the road. Something inside me tells me I should keep showing my sign to the other cars passing but I don’t. When I get to the car, I see a woman driving with a man beside her. She makes me understand that they are going to Latoka but also that I would have to pay, so when I tell her I’m only asking for lift because I can’t pay, she asks me why. I don’t have the energy to tell her why, so I just say it’s alright and keep on walking.
I see a taxi turning around a bit ahead of me. The driver is a very nice man from Vanuatu but he has two costumers, Angela and Ben, from Australia. As they don’t say anything at first, I’m not sure what’s going on so I tell the driver that I cannot pay for the taxi, as I’m just looking for a lift. He tells me they are going to Nadi, and as they have already paid I can just jump in the back with my backpacks. Great! It’s a big car so there’s plenty of space. Angela and Ben are taking a couple of weeks’ vacations. They were not far from where I was, in a place called Shangrila, and now they are heading to Nadi and will visit the hot mud pools in the mountains. I talk mostly with Angela, she is very sweet, and quite surprised about my journey.
They drop me off on an intersection where I can walk towards Lautoka. I see a pick up intending to stop but not managing, so even though I keep on walking, I know they will come back. And they do. His name is Asas, Indo-Fijian, and he’s not really going to Lautoka but he wants to help. He has a shop around Nadi, and I think he will be going there soon. I made the mistake of not getting the proper direction for the entrance of the National Park last night. I have an idea of how to get there though. That’s what I tell Asas, but as he also doesn’t have data in his phone, the only plan we come up with it is he dropping me off in this other tourist attraction called The Sleeping Giant, which we can see in my offline map, and get information there. It’s a bit out of the way, but it’s my best shot.
Once there, I talk with a very nice lady, I think she’s the manager or something, because there’s another lady selling the tickets. I explain everything to her and she promptly starts to help me. Because she doesn’t have Google Maps on her phone to show me the directions, she shares her hotspot with me. We figure out the way together, and I get the direction on my offline map. Then she also tells me about her experience hiking to the view point, as she did it last month. Cool! She also offers me some juice. She’s very kind!
Once I make to the secondary road leading to the main road, a car is coming to save me. Muni is going to Nadi and he saves me a long walk to the highway. He’s a very nice man too and as we talk about my travels he’s surprised. Even though the drive is short, it would take me about 1 hour to do it by walking.
Only a few minutes on the road and a lovely family stops for me. Mary, her husband Revu, and their three kids are coming back from Suva, after a long weekend there. They are all so sweet, and apart from youngest, playing games in his phone, I keep on chatting with the other two young ones. They also get surprised about my travels. When I tell them my plans for the National Park, Mary tells me they can drop me off exactly where I need to be, and not only at the exit to that place, by the highway. That’s awesome! Again, they save me about one hour walking. This spot is by the road which leads directly to the National Park entrance. We take some photos just before they leave.
I realize I could stay here for a long time. No cars are coming apart from a few taxis driving the locals to their homes nearby. As I look in my offline map, I notice that if I walk a bit further, I will get to another intersection, and from there people could also be coming from another part of the town, so my chances basically can double it. But as soon as I start walking, a pick-up is coming and they stop. They seem very surprised when I tell them I’m going to Koroyanitu National Park. Actually, they laugh a little bit. But that’s because they think I will walk all the way there. They are two really nice men working for the land department of Fiji, and they tell me that after finishing their work they can take me to the entrance of the park. Great! What they are doing is finding some houses and talking with the locals about some changes about their properties. If I understood correctly, somebody wants to buy a big portion of land up here, where all these houses are, so arrangements must be made. It takes some time for them to finish the conversation with some of the locals, but I think that if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t make to the park anytime soon. They distribute some food which they brought with them to a group of people living in very simple conditions. And that’s on the way to the park so after that we carry on there. We also pick up a group of workers, they all climb up in the back of the truck, and come with us all the way to the entrance of the park.
On our way here, the driver tells me that perhaps I can stay with a man called Liam, from the United States, who lives in Abaca Village, sitting at the foot of the park, as he works for the Peace Corps and has been living there for about four years. That sounds great! We try to call him but he’s in a meeting. Later on, I would get to know that he’s actually in Suva for a few days.
There’s a tiny little tourist office and a local lady called Margareth is the one in charge. As we sit and talk, I tell her about my travels and the fact that I cannot pay the entrance fee for the park. She is kind enough and let me go for free. I also ask her about the possibility of camping behind the office, and she says it’s all good. I leave my backpack in the office, and also take whatever I don’t need from inside Candy and leave it there too, so I can do my hiking lighter. My biggest mistake was not filling my bottle with water. I still have a solid litre but those last 500 mL would be so needed.
Koroyanitu Heritage National Park is an undervalued gem of Fiji. There are several different hikes you can do, with waterfalls and different view points, including the main hike, to the main view point. That’s the hike I do. On average, it takes about two hours walking, and it’s all the way up. The trail is not marked but easy enough to be found and followed, just keep your eyes opened. There are a few lookouts on the way, and after some 30 minutes or so, most of the trail is through the jungle. It’s quiet and calm up here and I’m alone almost the entire time, apart from one moment when I cross paths with one other foreigner and his guide, coming down from the view point. I love that feeling of being completely alone in the mountains. I hear many birds and perhaps some monkeys, but I’m not sure.
When Margareth told me about the lodge up there, as I hadn’t searched anything about it, I thought it was a paid accommodation. Laugh. I had no idea and was taken aback by it. It’s one of those unsupervised places you stay on your own. It’s unlocked, it has several mattresses in a kind of bunk bed situation, it has cooking equipment and utensils, and perhaps even gas, but I haven’t checked if it was working. The one thing they don’t have is water. I was hoping to fill up my bottle here, do you see? Now, I’m glad I didn’t finish it on my way up. I’m not so sure if I would stay here even if I knew about it. But I guess if you come with a group of friends, bring enough water and some easy / simple food to cook, you can spend several hours by the view point and watch sunset and sunrise there too.
I struggle a little bit to find the view point, as the only visible trail leading to it, from the lodge, starts going down, and according to my offline map leads away from Mount Koroyanitu. But as there are no other trail, I decide to follow it anyway. Luckily, because in about 10 minutes I arrive to the view point. So here it goes: when you arrive to the lodge, the trail to the view point continue to your right side, passing in front of the lodge, and then starts going down right. When you pass by a portable toilet, you will know you are on the right track.
The viewpoint is astonishing! Really breathtaking! You can see the ocean and so much from up here. It’s absolutely beautiful! I don’t know what’s the best time to be up here, but I have a feeling that by the time I got it here, almost 15.00 hours, the visibility was still good but starting to get a bit fuzzy, if you know what I mean. With the sun shining bright the colours are amazing, and there’s a nice sense of vastness. It’s so calm and peaceful. It would be lovely to spend hours here, although you would have to be ready for the strong sun, as there is no shade at all. I stay for about one hour, take some photos and then start going back down.
When I’m pitching my tent, I spot a car down the street. I decide I will go there after and ask if, by any chance, they are going to Lautoka tomorrow morning, and if the answer is yes, can I come with them? I don’t want to miss the chance of a lift (perhaps even the only one on the day) for not asking. They might be leaving early morning, to go to work or something, so better check it today instead of waiting and missing my chance.
Margareth’s sister, Lucy, comes and invite me to have dinner with them, which is great! I ask her about the car down the street, and she tells me it belongs to some tourists who are staying in the home stay. OK. I didn’t know there was a homestay. Cool!
As I say “Bula” outside the tiny and cute house, I’m welcomed by a lovely elderly lady, and then a very young boy and girl come out of the bedroom. We start talking and I tell them about my request, at the same time the lady invite me to come inside. I quickly tell them my whole travel story, for their surprise. They are Benjamin and Zoe, only 21 and 18 years old, and they are here with their parents, Chris and Ann, from Canada and Australia, respectively. The parents are sleeping in another house in the village, but Chris comes over while we are still talking, and he seems like a very nice guy. The kids too, very calm and sweet. Christ tells me they are going to Nadi tomorrow, flying to Australia in the afternoon, so they are leaving around 10 o’clock. It’s great for me because then I can get a lift all the way to the exit to Vuda Marina. Perfect!
At Margareth’s house a wonderful set of food is waiting for me. It’s delicious and I wish I had eating more but I don’t, even though I haven’t eating anything since breakfast. Well, things happen for a reason and perhaps I shouldn’t have eaten any more than I did, and that’s why those thoughts crossed my mind. Margareth is only 26 years old and she has three kids already, one being only a few weeks old.
On my way to my tent, I engage in a conversation with some young guys. They were all playing Rugby earlier, while I was pitching my tent, so I could hear them. They are super nice and we chat for a while. They are going to bath in the river and invite me to join them but I kindly refuse because I am exhausted!
Behind the office building there’s toilet and bathroom facilities. I take a cold shower and then go to sleep.
I get ready early in the morning, and keep my tent out to dry, as it got wet through the night. Lucy invites me for breakfast in her house again. Another lovely meal and green lemon tea. We chat for a while after that. Margareth tells me that Liam, the man from the U.S.A., has helped them to build the community hall, and that soon there will also be electricity for the village. Right now they only have power for the street poles and some houses from solar panels. The construction of a power station has already started though, which is great.
I take a walk around the small but super cute Abaca Village. It’s super well tidy, with the houses built around in a very organized way, and the green grass growing all over, plus the view of the mountains in the background. It seems like a peaceful place to live.
After lots of goodbyes we leave. Ann tells me that they will drop me off at Vuda Marina, which is absolutely incredible. For some reason, I tell her I have to go to Lautoka later, to buy sunblock, and she tells me she can give it to me because in Australia is winter right now so she doesn’t need it anymore. Wow! That’s so amazing! I’m so grateful for that. This family is really special. The fact that they are staying in this homestay is super cool. During the drive they tell me that, even though they stayed in a hotel in Nadi, this experience in the village was the highlight of their travels. That’s so awesome!
When we arrive to Vuda Marina, they start giving me all their leftovers groceries, because they cannot bring anything back to Australia. It’s a lot of great stuff like coffee, tea, condensed milk, peanut butter, protein bars, snacks, ginger candies (which are great in case I feel seasick in the boat but also because I love ginger) and some fresh pancakes from their breakfast in the village, which it will be my lunch. That’s just perfect! I cannot believe in how lucky I am for having met this wonderful family. And so generous! I wish them all the very best, and I’m sure these kids will turn out into amazing adults, just like their parents. It’s thanks to people like them that future of humanity is guaranteed.
10 Years Around the World 