|
Fiji’s Fabulous FloraGarden of the Sleeping GiantBy Chris Millikan
Meeting us in the parking lot, our garden guide explained that the sleeping giant is actually the spirit god of the Fijian people. “Nestled here in this secluded valley, our fifty acre garden displays orchids, flowering plants and trees,” Mariama said. To our relief she added, “We won’t be walking it all today.”
Wooden walkways meandered over ponds. Butterflies fluttered above delicate pink and mauve flowers poking up from glossy lily pads. Little fishes wiggled in and out of sunny patches. Bird melodies permeated the thick bamboo groves and giant tree ferns along the way. Often 12 meters high, flame trees displayed flamboyant yellow and red blossoms. “In Fiji, this beautiful tree is called the Christmas tree, blooming profusely in December,” Miriama noted. The endless palm tree varieties dazzled: fishtail, fantail, foxtail, traveller, princess, umbrella, lady, silver, to recall but a few.
Enjoying sun, sea and sand is easy in Fiji, a paradise of crystal waters and cloudless blue skies. Our days spent in garden splendour provided paradise of a different sort. Photo Credits: Rick & Chris Millikan Air Pacific Sheraton Fiji Resort Rosie The Travel Service |
|
TM
Best
known as lawyer Perry Mason or Robert Ironside, actor Raymond Burr founded
the Garden of the Sleeping Giant in 1977. Curiosity and a love of gardening
inspired our recent visit. Once Burr’s private collection, Fiji’s famous
tropic garden lies below a distant mountain outlining a huge man’s profile,
lying on his back. I thought the “sleeping giant” resembled my hubby,
without the snoring, of course.
Crunching
along pathways, Miriama introduced remarkable orchid collections.
“Cultivating orchids was Raymond Burr’s favourite hobby. He even developed
one called Barbara Hale, honouring his fictional sidekick secretary Della
Street. While living on his own island, he spent much time here with his
orchids, which continually bloom. We now have over two thousand species.”
Multi-coloured, tiny freckled faces, huge frilly blooms and curious-tongued
blossoms danced in sunshine muted by protective netting, their names readily
rolling from Miriama’s tongue.
Boardwalks
wound upward past a picturesque open-air wedding chapel, through pine, giant
mango, mahogany and other lush rainforest trees before returning downward to
an airy bure. Styled as a Fijian temple, woven matting covered walls and
peaked ceiling. High above polished wood floors lazily turning fans cooled
late morning air. Ensconced in over-sized rattan chairs, we sipped icy guava
juice. In front of us stood a kava bowl. Mariama noted, “Chiefs once used
that bowl during village welcoming ceremonies, often serving over 150
guests.” Thanking her for our spectacular stroll together through the
extraordinary garden, we hugged Mariama goodbye.
Our
Bula-shirted driver swept us back to our hotel through nearby Nadi (NAN-DY).
Shops, cafes, and locally made handicraft outlets line its bustling
mainstreet. “This city was a community of farmers and shopkeepers not so
long ago,” Ponto remarked, “but today tourism makes it Fiji’s third largest
city.” At the town’s south end a colourful, artistic Hindu temple serves
the large Indian population. There, devotees worship nature through Lord
Muruga, guardian of seasonal rains. We drove through rolling patchwork
sugarcane fields where third and fourth generation farmers hand-harvested
and stacked dusty cane onto flat train car beds. Small yellow and red sugar
trains crisscrossed the roads, slowly pulling their sweet loads to Lautoka’s
mill, Fiji’s sugar city. Another farmer strode behind handsome bullocks,
readying his plot for cassava, a root crop basic to family meals. At
roadsides, smiling women in floral sulus and bare feet sold symmetrically
piled oranges, mottled green skins disguising the sweet, juicy fruit hidden
inside. Waving hands greeted us along the way. “Bula!” they called.
We
returned to our hotel on Denarau Island, itself a garden of 6oo landscaped
acres reclaimed from mangroves. Three integrated Sheratons boast a variety
of luscious plants and trees. We enjoyed several shaded wanderings at Fiji’s
original luxury hotel. Hundreds of mature palms, shrubs and flowering plants
fill the Royal’s grounds with colour and fragrance. Red and pink shell
ginger, philodendron, spider lilies and various lipstick plants are common;
the pink powder puff, giant ape and sea grapes are not so familiar.
The
Sheraton Fiji featured themed garden courtyards. Orchard Court included
curry, cocoa, Plantain, paw paw (papaya), mandarin, star fruit and guava
trees. Perfumed creamy white, red and pink frangipani (plumeria) dominated
Fragrant Court. The blossoms, combined with bougainvillea and hibiscus, make
salusalu, a traditional garland, but we put them in our hair. On a garden
tour we realized that the stately coconut palm is the South Pacific’s tree
of life. Remarkably, the entire tree is used: leaves for weaving or
thatching; wood for houses, boats and furniture; oil from the dried nut;
flesh and milk for delicious cooking, exotic soaps and cosmetics. Later over
scrumptious patio dinners, palms framed legendary south pacific sunsets.