The Nausori Highlands are located in the interior of

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

's main island Viti Levu. One of the most picturesque villages is

Navala Navala () is a village in the Ba Highlands of northern-central, Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Paci ...

, although there are many other small villages too. The Nausori Highlands are a great place to learn about Fijian culture. The dryzone mountain rainforest contributes to its national significance as outlined in Fiji's Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.

History

The Nausori Highlands were originally considered (by European settlers) to be a hideout for cannibals. In Navala near a thatched house, the official residence of the chief, lies a cemetery where missionaries converted the highlands to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. The Nausori Highlanders speak a different dialect of Fijian, with most villagers speaking English as a second language. Whilst Fiji's main religious denominations are Methodism and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

, the main religion in the Nausori Highlands is

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...

, although there are also

Seventh-day Adventists The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

. They participate in regular

Kava Kava or kava kava (''Piper methysticum'': Latin 'pepper' and Latinized Greek 'intoxicating') is a crop of the Pacific Islands. The name ''kava'' is from Tongan and Marquesan, meaning 'bitter'; other names for kava include ''ʻawa'' (Hawaiʻi), ...

ceremonies. Most of the income comes from traditional farming of Kasava, which serves as a staple in their diet.

Joeli Vidiri

The Nausori Highlanders are very proud of being the village where the rugby union player Joeli Vidiri was born. His photograph is displayed on the village's welcome sign. Since the 21st century, the area has been a site of national significance.

History

Joeli Vidiri

References

Further reading