For some time I have wanted to travel to Suva from Nadi via Kings Highway. Unfortunately, the opportunity has not presented itself. Circumstances can change, however, and before you know it, you will be traveling down Kings Hwy towards Suva.
Nadi service station decision was made
We were checking tires for our trip to Suva via Coral Coast (Queens’s Hwy) and just as we were ready to turn right onto Queens Hwy, Gary (my boss) asked me if I wanted to go on Kings Hwy. Instead of ? (Silly question) “Well this is the deal” he said “If everything goes well and we have a great trip it’s my idea, but if things get pear shaped it’s your fault”! …. I can live with that. So we turn left onto the less traveled road. We were driving on a familiar road until we reached Ba. We had been there the week before to see the beautiful gold jewelry.
Rakiraki here we go
The rain started hard now hitting the windshield, nothing was said, but maybe this wasn’t a great idea. Then the rain dissipated and there was a silent sigh of relief. The road was honeycombed in some bumpy sections, which is part of living in Fiji. After getting over the initial shock of the state of the roads in Fiji, just keep going. It was Sunday and there was very little traffic on Kings Hwy, most of the Fijians were in church listening to his Sunday sermon. We practically had the roads to ourselves. The coastline was spectacular despite the terrible conditions; imagine what it would be like with sun and a clear sky. The vegetation was lush and a vibrant green, the sugar cane reaching to the edge of the road and swaying gently on the hillside, it is a breathtaking country.
I lost the turn of the coast path
Our intention was to stay on the coast road and turn around Matawailevu Village, it would have been an advantage if we had a “proper road map” rather than a tourist map with limited details. Before we knew it, we were heading inland, and as we passed the village of Rokovuaka, it was too late to turn around. It had taken us 3 hours to get here in inclement weather, so we kept moving forward, the country was getting mountainous and to our right there was a swollen, muddy river that flowed fast and appeared through the vegetation. Looking at our limited map reference, he indicated that there were sections where the road and the river met. Up to this point the road had been a hard asphalt surface with only a couple of gravel areas. All of this was about to change.
Dirt track: the road deteriorates
The nice hard surface evaporates quickly and we’re on the dirt road! With still a considerable distance to go, everything suddenly turns pear-shaped. The path narrows steeply now it’s just one lane, with a deep ravine to the right and muddy brown water flowing rapidly underneath. The dirt track that is King Hwy turns right and stretches out in front of us is a long, narrow, one-lane wooden bridge; it resembles something you might see on the Discovery Channel in the Amazon crossing a raging river with impenetrable jungle on either side. The narrow wooden bridge in front of us was terrifying.
- Without railings
- Perched above a rapidly moving body of water
- Crosses nailed to the side where someone had come to a sticky end!
Gary negotiated the bridge … we had no choice, it was too late to turn around. Two long, continuous raised wooden tracks, the width of the wheelbase of a car, ran parallel to guide the wheels. The only problem was that the wooden bridge was muddy and slippery. The truck couldn’t get enough traction on the wooden track and kept slipping. So we ended up driving at a slight angle on the passenger side seeing more water than I would have liked. I forgot to hit the record on the video camera, but got the next jumper. The next two bridges didn’t seem so scary, it’s amazing how fast you can adjust, but then I wasn’t driving, thank goodness!
The remainder of the trip to Suva was uneventful.
After our entanglement with the wooden bridges, the rest of the trip was uneventful. Overseas loan enhancement is underway. Later along the highway, large sections of rainforest and hillsides were removed to make way for a significant upgrade to Kings Hwy with a couple of large bridges already built. If you intend to drive to Suva via Kings Hwy, check with your local authorities beforehand.
We traveled on a Sunday and all road works were stopped, however if it had been a Saturday or a weekday there would have been long delays. It took us more than 5 hours to get to Suva; The speed was reduced to 60km and less on some sections of Kings Hwy. Speaking to some residents who had negotiated the road from the coast to Suva, they said the views were breathtaking but the road was atrocious, it was a 4WD, the dirt track was narrow and muddy. , but what an adventure the comment was!
See you later …