Centre

Levuka As A Tourist Centre Labour Shortage A Great Handicap

AN Australian visitor to Levuka, Fiji, writes: / The tourist possibilities of Levuka are most promising. As a centre of interest and beauty it has much to offer. A launch runs daily from Lodoni, on the Viti Levu coast, and small inter-island cutters and steamers leave Levuka for the outer islands at regular intervals.

Local launches may be hired to take parties fishing, or to nearby islands. The peaks of Ovalau, plantations, pineapple cannery, fine mission station and delight ful coastal road—all could offer a holiday of unuasual interest and at very moder ate rates.

While Levuka’s present hotel provides the cheapest accommodation one could wish for, it would not do for the modern tourist trade. It needs renovation and modern furnishings. The staff problem is acute a universal ailment which takes long to right itself. Anyway, a hotel which is probably 60 years old could scarcely hope to cope with tourist traffic unless a great deal were done to it.

There are many better sites for a hotel here—on the waterfront seems a better position.

I was amazed at the price of locally grown native vegetables and food. At the roadside market I was offered a poor variety of food at high prices. Two shillings were asked for 4 dalo (taro); bananas were eight for 6d.; coconuts four for 1/3; wilted Bilo (tapioca leaves used like spinach) was fairly plentiful; so were all species of local shell fish—but at 2/per leaf basket. Four small local crabs were 2/-.

Two young returned soldiers have, I believe, gone in for fishing in a large way. They have refrigeration and well equipped boats and should be a boon for local people. There was also one local man sufficiently far-seeing to send local fish to USA in a frozen condition, to have it canned. This week I tasted some of the Levuka canned fish, and it was equal to any imported fish. However, in spite of the fact that American capital is wil ling to invest 200,000 dollars in a fish can nery here, present labour conditions made the venture almost impossible.