Nausori Highlands

The Nausori Highlands rise behind Nadi and form the dry western interior of Viti Levu: open grassland ridges, planted pine, deep valleys and villages strung along the tracks. Because the mountains take the rain out of the trade winds, this side of the island is brown for much of the year where the east is rainforest, and the light and the space are quite unlike anywhere on the coast. Navala is the best-known village in the range.

History

European settlers once thought of the Nausori Highlands as a hideout for cannibals, and missionaries later brought Christianity to the hills: at Navala, beside the chief's thatched residence, lies a cemetery associated with the conversion. The highlanders speak their own dialect of Fijian, most are Methodists, and they live mainly from farming cassava, keeping regular kava ceremonies (Wikipedia, Nausori Highlands).

What you'll find

• The grassland ridges - open hills in the rain shadow, brown in the dry season.
• The pine plantations - planted forest across parts of the range.
• The highland villages - communities along the tracks, including Navala.
• The views - the coast and the Mamanucas from the ridge tops on a clear day.

When to go

May to October is the dry season, when the grass is brown and the roads are passable. The wet season greens the hills and cuts the tracks. Mornings are clearest for views to the coast.

Practical notes

The roads are rough and a four-wheel drive is necessary; ordinary rentals should not attempt them. Villages are on customary land and visits require sevusevu and a guide. There are no facilities anywhere in the range.

Nearby

Navala is in the northern part of the range, Nadi is on the coast west, and Sigatoka is south.

Key facts