In its heyday in the mid-1800s, the island's only remaining population center was the bustling capital of Fiji. The Tui Viti or King of Fiji himself, British and American envoys, and ambitious traders traded in Fiji's assets while conmen, fugitives, and drunks milled about its wharf and filled its more than 50 bars. When the British relocated the seat of government to Suva in 1882, most everything else soon followed.
What remain today are a street of simple colonial wood-frame buildings that haven't changed in more than a century, a small, friendly population, and a rich history you can almost hear whispered in the wind. Around the island, there is scenic highland trekking and a welcoming village; off-shore are dive sites frequented by some of Fiji's largest fish species, dolphins, and whales.
