Anne Z. Cooke | Tribune News Service (TNS)

NADI, Fiji Islands — “That’s Tom Hanks’ island, in ‘Cast Away’ the movie,” said the passenger sitting nearby, on the rear deck.

We’d seen him standing in line, a college kid in a red shirt, packing and repacking a knapsack while we waited to board the early morning ferry out of Viti Levu, largest of Fiji’s 330 islands. Leaning over the railing, he pointed at the horizon and a faint grey-green shape.

“Its real name is Modriki, and it’s small, just 100 acres,” he said. “But the beach is awesome. Tourists can’t wait to go.”

No surprise there. For most South Pacific travelers, nothing rivals Fiji’s sandy beaches, palm-shaded gardens, starry nights and Melanesian hospitality. We’d island-hopped over the years, tried a dozen different beach resorts, and liked most of them. Until 2019, when we joined a hiking group for a long look at the island’s mountains.

Finally last fall, with COVID in decline and Fiji open for tourists, we hopped a plane and headed back, this time for another look at what makes the country tick. Finding hotels wasn’t easy; Fiji is to Australians what Hawaii is to Americans. But we crossed our fingers, found five with rooms and struck gold at three places begging for a repeat visit.

The Fiji Orchid, a stately manor house near Viti Levu’s northwest shore and the former home of Hollywood actor Raymond Burr, star of the detective series “Perry Mason,” felt nothing like a hotel and everything like a home away from home. With an inviting living room and framed memorabilia, it beckoned at the end of a very long day.

Hotel Manager Deepika Dimlesh arranged an authentic Fijian dinner, and co-owner Gordon Leewie told tales of Fiji life in the early days. Though Nadi (NAN-dee) International Airport was 20 minutes away, our bure (BOO-ray, room, house), one of six in the lush tropical garden, was as quiet as a cemetery.

“We’ve had guests who stayed for weeks,” said Dimlesh at dinner. “One was even writing a book. But most are international travelers, businessmen flying through. We tell them, if you have a layover don’t try to sleep in the lounge. We’ll pick you up, you can use the pool, eat dinner or go to bed, and we’ll drive you back.”

Curious about Lautoka, Viti Levu’s second-largest town on the northwest shore, we hired tour guide and driver Kesho Goundar, who (like many Fijians) speaks Fijian, English and Hindi. Stopping at the town’s huge covered market, he bought a couple of kava “sticks,” the gifts we would need – for the chief – if we visited a village.

Then it was on to the Sabeto Mountains and the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. A popular park, it was founded by Burr, a worldwide orchid collector. Hundreds of orchids, planted along the trail to the summit, a huge head-like rock, are the highlight of a visit. And the adjacent forest — a tower of vines, shadowy branches and strange flowers — was a set waiting for a movie.

The next day we headed upcountry to Navala Village, the country’s last thatched village, driving past barnyards, gardens, sugar cane fields, villages, the occasional manufacturing plant and Methodist, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and Catholic-oriented primary schools.

At first glance Navala looked empty, until guide Mark Navaroka came out to collect our $25 entrance fee and a kava stick for the chief.

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“This is how we used to build houses,” he said, leading us inside the chief’s official structure, where a couple of village leaders sat cross-legged, talking. “They built it in 1954 when five dying Catholic villages joined together,” he continued, leading the way to the school and church.

Turning onto the Nausori Highland Road – not another car in sight – we lurched uphill over a rocky, pot-holed track for more than an hour, each hill steeper than the one before, until we rounded the top, a photographer’s delight. Finally, around the corner, we passed two hunters on horseback with rifles and dogs.

Moving to Viti Levu’s southwest corner, we checked into the Intercontinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa, a 35-acre landscaped property on Natadola Bay. And instead of salesmen in suits, the hotel was as busy as a country club on a holiday weekend. Dads and kids played volleyball; moms worked out at a fitness center. We spotted kids racing hermit crabs, and others learning Fijian words and Polynesian dances. Menus at the hotel’s several restaurants listed continental and some Fijian dishes, and our favorite, the lively Toba Bar & Grill, took our order in five minutes and served the food in 10.

Coaxed into trying the Jet Ski “experience,” we flew over the waves, riding tandem behind two watersports guides. But the skis were trumped by the hotel’s Coral Planting project, headed by marine scientists Lawaci Koroyawa and Luke Romatanababa. Joining them in the water, we learned how to plant healthy corals onto damaged reefs.

Most memorable was the river cruise with Singatoka River Safari. Wide and long, the river winds through an endless valley, weaving past rocky hills, farms and meadows. Children splashed in it and men scrubbed their horses, waving as we passed. Pastoral and peaceful, it was a nod to an older century.

The 35-mile-long trip ended at a village, with a tour, lunch at the community center and a kava ceremony — shared cups – with the chief and town fathers. Kava is calming, some say. Just more weak tea, say others.

How many villages are there, we wondered. “Hundreds, but that’s not all,” said the hotel’s desk clerk. Each indigenous Fijian family belongs to a village that owns the land its on. It’s like a clan, she explained. And only indigenous Fijians can own land. So add all the villages and their land and it’s nearly 90% of the country. “The government makes Fiji’s laws, but the villages rule themselves. That’s why they’re important.”

As our last week approached, we took the ferry to Lomani Island Resort – yes, an adults-only beach resort – on Malolo Lailai island, a single hour’s ferry ride to the mainland and Nadi International Airport. You can stay overnight and still make it to the airport on time.

But it wasn’t the beach that earned the gold star. It was the charming cottages, each with a private yard and plunge pool. The smiling waiters and creative, chef-designed meals, served at candle-lit tables. The “double-X” swimming pool and the water sports center.

“It’s peaceful here,” said Shelley White, the general manager, when we met at the cocktail hour. “And quiet. But with Nadi next door, we stay busy with weddings and anniversaries, and lately, even business retreats. We can order everything we need and get it delivered the next day,” she said.

“Still, we love to have visitors like you, people who know this place and like it,” she added, with a puckish smile. “Let me know the next time you travel. I might decide to come along.”

If you go

Fiji Airways flies from Los Angeles, with Fijian attendants and quality service, and includes dinner, breakfast and snacks. Departures leave just before midnight and arrive at 5:30 a.m. Fiji Airways also flies from San Francisco and Honolulu.

Air New Zealand flies from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu

American Airlines flies from Los Angeles and San Francisco

United Airlines flies from Houston

Delta Airlines flies from Los Angeles and Seattle

©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

“Whether in Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, Forest Hills, or Rego Park, the sentiment was the same: parks are great, but transit is needed more. If there is the opportunity for both, all the better.”

CityViews are readers’ opinions, not those of City Limits. Add your voice today!

March 13 was the culmination of 13 years of determined work by Friends of the QueensWay and the Trust for Public Land to accomplish the bare minimum of what’s possible. Their backwards effort secured a $117 million federal grant for the long derelict Rockaway Beach Branch, which would convert this disused LIRR line into a linear, High Line style-park.

While such a large investment sounds good on the surface, it physically and politically blocks a potential subway extension for Queens—leaving the borough divided. With South Queens bracing for the imminent impact of congestion pricing, this is the worst possible time to obstruct access for residents.

Our vision for New York City must be bold, widespread, and above all else, equitable—for we can not let the racist planning decisions of the past dictate our lives in the future. Our commitment to equity must truly uplift marginalized and underserved communities, expanding transportation infrastructure in places where it’s needed most. At every juncture, we must ask ourselves: is this decision truly what would benefit the most people? Perhaps that is why our organization was so disappointed to hear of the recent federal grant towards a project that would block transit expansion for Southern Queens.

QueensLink was developed with the understanding that not all places are equal. Areas in northern Queens have much better transit than those in central or southern Queens. While Forest Park is a priceless amenity, neighborhoods to the north and south lack large parks. The abandoned Rockaway Beach Branch is not an insignificant piece of city-owned land. Why not develop it with all citizens in mind?

Our organization is by no means the first to call for this generational investment in Queens’ transit; rather, it is the continuation of decades of advocacy for equity in underserved neighborhoods. Since launching QueensLink, our dedicated volunteers have worked to develop a comprehensive proposal that considers the needs of all stakeholders, including residents, local businesses, community boards, block associations, and politicians. We spent countless hours tabling at street fairs, conversing at town hall workshops, and spreading the word at neighborhood festivals. Whether in Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, Forest Hills, or Rego Park, the sentiment was the same: parks are great, but transit is needed more. If there is the opportunity for both, all the better.

If the mayor and the governor are serious about implementing policies such as congestion pricing, then a truly equitable investment like QueensLink surely should have been their first choice of investment—not an obstructionist park. Investing in a rails and trails approach would demonstrate that city and state leaders are using an equity-oriented strategy towards this new revenue source.

Yet Mayor Eric Adams seems all too enthusiastic about blocking generational investments such as QueensLink. Though he claims that the opposing scheme will not preclude a future subway extension, in reality, any park built today would surely need to be ripped up to incorporate transit. Bizarrely, QueensWay’s grant specifically funded a 1.3 mile stretch within Forest Park, near the wealthy neighborhood of Forest Hills. This is a community that has no shortage of park space, meaning that this project is not equitable by definition. Instead of placing new green space in neighborhoods that lack such amenities, the Adams administration is renovating a park for wealthy residents.

To compound these questionable investment decisions, Queens also stands to lose out on significant economic growth. Already there are projects in the works along the QueensLink corridor, such as the Resorts World casino expansion, JFK Airport expansion, affordable housing in the Rockaways, as well as large scale development along Queens Boulevard. These developments will bring needed jobs and housing, but without an investment in transit, they will only bring more traffic.

Residents in southern Queens already endure the longest commutes in the city. Neighborhoods like Ozone Park, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, Howard Beach, and the Rockaways all suffer from a lack of North-South connectivity in Queens, relying on the infamously overcrowded and underserved Q52/Q53 buses. Adding congestion pricing to the mix, these billion dollar investments will cement an over-reliance on cars, unless the city and state decide to fund QueensLink.

QueensWay supporters argue that we can have better park space and bike lanes today, and that the MTA has no interest in building the QueensLink. The truth is that, while the parks could be built now, doing so without properly incorporating future transit will effectively block transit. Imagine if the state was to propose bringing trains back to the High Line? It would never happen. Should the QueensWay be built today, without space for transit, no one would allow it to be destroyed in the future.

New York stands to relinquish an incredible opportunity to combine both parks and transit into a seamless design—melding programs to create the epitome of functional public space. Once, this city built transit to parks so residents could easily access these amenities. If built, the QueensWay would act as a privileged amenity for those lucky enough to live close by. QueensLink combines bike paths, abundant greenery, and transit access for those who live far from parks. 

In the years recovering from the COVID pandemic, New York has evolved from a city that commutes to Manhattan every day, to one that spends more time moving in between its neighborhoods. The subway we have today was built for a city that is changing rapidly. Only by building intra-borough transit can we attract riders back to the system, and our subways can evolve to survive this shift. This evolution represents the ability to work, play, travel, relax, and embrace neighborhoods and opportunities far beyond our regular reach.

What could be more symbolic of our collective draw to the city than the boundless access that transit provides? We must envision a broader and more equitable impact for potential investment: uplifting neighborhoods that would benefit the most. It will be a failure of not only New York City, but also our entire democratic process, if we can’t succeed in funding the most common-sense transportation project the borough has to offer.

Andrew Lynch, Noelle Hunter and Jasper von Seeburg are designers and volunteers with the nonprofit QueensLink.

Laurie Baratti | (TNS) TravelPulse

Leading vacation rental company Airbnb is updating its Extenuating Circumstances Policy, including renaming it the Major Disruptive Events Policy “to better reflect its purpose.” This will provide greater flexibility for travelers who may need to cancel their reservations when unforeseen circumstances, such as natural disasters, extreme weather events and government-imposed travel restrictions, affect their ability to complete their stay.

Under this updated cancellation policy, guests can cancel reservations and receive refunds in cases of “foreseeable weather events,” such as hurricanes, that would result in another covered event occurring, such as large-scale utility outages. According to Travel + Leisure, the policy already applies to other “unexpected major events,” such as declared public health emergencies, including epidemics, but excluding COVID-19. This revised policy, which will go into effect on June 6, overrides individual hosts’ own cancellation policies.

This updated policy also applies to mid-trip cancellations, making it so that travelers can receive refunds for the unused portion of their stays in the event of a covered cancellation.

However, it’s important to note that Airbnb’s policy does not cover all unforeseen incidents, such as injuries, illnesses or government-imposed requirements, like jury duty or court appearances.

“The changes to this policy, including its new name, were made to create clarity for our guests and Hosts, and ensure it’s meeting the diverse needs of our global community,” Juniper Downs, Airbnb’s Head of Community Policy, said in a statement. “Our aim was to clearly explain when the policy applies to a reservation, and to deliver fair and consistent outcomes for our users. These updates also bring the policy in line with industry standards.”

The introduction of this revised policy aligns with Airbnb’s recent efforts to bolster travelers’ confidence in booking home-share stays. For example, earlier this month, it banned indoor security cameras in its rental homes worldwide due to privacy concerns, and, in 2022, instituted a permanent ban on parties, a move which was initially instituted temporarily during the COVID-19 crisis.

Last year, to crack down on fraudulent listings, the company introduced a “verified” status and badge for its rentals in an effort to reassure customers that the specified property does actually exists at the address indicated and that the host is reliable.

In 2022, Airbnb also updated its policies and platform to provide greater pricing transparency, displaying total costs, including fees, in user searches and altering its algorithm to rank listings with the best total prices higher in the results. At the same time, Airbnb provided “guidance” to hosts, encouraging them to set only “reasonable” checkout requests and requiring them to be displayed in the listing.

“Guests should not have to do unreasonable checkout tasks such as stripping the beds, doing the laundry, or vacuuming when leaving their Airbnb,” the company wrote in a statement at the time. “But we think it’s reasonable to ask guests to turn off the lights, throw food in the trash, and lock the doors — just like they would when leaving their own home.”

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©2024 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. Visit at travelpulse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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