What time is it there?!

Our next destination was Labasa on the north side of the island. There are two bus routes to get there, and we opted for the shorter two and a half hour trip which travels over the top of the central ridge of mountains.

Now, you can say what you want about the downfall of the British motor industry, but somewhere in the past (40 or 50 years ago by the looks of it) it produced vehicles that are still the backbone of Fiji’s public transport system. They seem to get regular refitting as well, because some buses have brand new seats (in attractive red vinyl!). Excellent air conditioning is also provided by the complete lack of windows on most of them.

Since neither of us are old enough to remember seeing these buses in England we can’t be sure whether the extra seats are a local addition or not. Down one side of the bus each seat has what first appears to be an armrest, when the bus continues to fill up these are then folded down so that the entire centre aisle is full of seated people. In case of emergency we assume you just dive through the non-existent windows!

The only part of the buses which seem to be showing age are the engines and gearboxes, which means that on a journey involving steep hills you are often reduced to little more than a fast walking pace. Perfect for sightseeing and photography! The bus of course stops absolutely everywhere, but we are well adjusted to ‘Fiji Time’ now so we don’t even notice.

About halfway along the route the bus stops for 5 minutes in what seems to be the largest village, this also doubles as the ‘refreshment’ stop as locals crowd around the outside of the bus selling sandwiches, nuts, fruit and drinks.