Behind the markets in Nadi
Nadi, Fiji – It’s hard to get a grasp on this town. It curls and fades and reappears like a ribbon of smoke through the landscape, without ever seeming to reveal its centre.
It’s easier to picture Nadi as a long settlement that stretches from the airport to the north all the way down to the main street about 10 kilometres south, with villages, sugar cane fields and resorts lining Queen’s Road.
Town itself is one long road lined with grubby curry houses, the ubiquitous Rups Big Bear department store and shops selling tourist tat.
God help any backpacker unlucky enough to stumble along here looking for a dorm bed for the night. Take your pick at any of the first floor sweat boxes.
Look beyond the main road, though, and there’s some gems. Bulaccino does the best coffee in town, as well as a mean breakfast of bacon and creamy scrambled eggs. All with a deck overlooking the bridge and river.
At the opposite end, near the colourful Hindu temple is Tata’s, probably the best curry house in the southern hemisphere. They have a sink to wash your hands, wall-to-wall flyscreen to keep the bugs out and big plates of curry, roti and rice for about FJ$7. What more could you ask for?
Behind the main street is the real colour and life of Nadi. The markets are stacked with stalls selling bunches of taro, cassava, breadfruit and all the other starches that bulk up Fijian cuisine.
We spent a morning collecting the essentials for that night’s marinated fish curry: cassava, coriander, coconut, a magnificent Trevally and nama – a kind of seaweed grape. All for just FJ$15. A feast fit for kings.
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