Not much is recorded in history literature about Nubukalou Creek except for rare references made to it while discussing the history of Suva and its early settlers. First published in The Fiji Times in This article hopes to give different perspectives of this famous stream and its links to events and landmarks in the early days of the capital, as found in a number of sources, including the pages of The Fiji Times.
Australian model Miranda Kerr once said that if one wanted true relaxation then “…siting in front of the creek…and having those still moments” can rejuvenate the body.
The same cannot be said about Fiji’s most famous creek, Nubukalou, now in a sorry state and often choked to capacity with single-use plastics, paper wrappings and heavy metals, among other things.
Back in the day, however, this polluted waterway was somewhat the lifeline and attraction of the Suva peninsula of the 1800s.
Several historical records concur that in the days prior to Suva’s settlement by Europeans, a village was situated at the Nasova end of Victoria Parade.
The royal household was located on the grounds of Albert Park, where there was a mound called Suva, on which the temple of the deity Ro Vonu stood majestically. The structure also housed a sacred stone called Vatubulia.
This old village site was burned down by the Rewa people on April 6, 1843, but was later re-built.
To make way for the second capital, villagers were later moved to Suvavou. Around this time, Suva was only a specific area within the chiefly courtyard, while the wider parts of what we now know to be Suva were known primarily as Nubukalou and Waluwalu.
The first serious exodus of Europeans settled in 1870. They arrived in the steamer “Alhambra” to take up land allotted by the Polynesian Company – a Melbourne association which had earlier obtained rights over a large portion of Suva.
Suva becomes capital
By 1877, when it was decided to move the capital from Levuka to Suva, the Polynesian Company planned to establish a township at the head of the Suva Bay between the Tamavua River and Korovou. This did not happen.
Negotiations were opened for the acquisition of land from the holding company and Government secured every alternate block within the township area.
In August 1880 public land sales were held. Shortly afterwards, work begun on the construction of roads and public buildings and in August 1882, the Governor of Fiji and his staff moved to Suva.
The cutting of hills and the reclamation of shore flats both contributed to the development of the town. During the 1913 to 1916 period, extensive areas were reclaimed and filled for the wharf and for industrial sites at Walu Bay.
According to Ronald Gatty’s Fijian-English Dictionary, Nubukalou came from the two i-Taukei words — nubu meaning a deep body of water and kalou meaning deity.
That meaning is supported by language scholar Paul Geraghty, who translated it as “pool of the god”.
Pool of the God
Given this meaning, it would be naïve therefore not to suspect the creek was linked to some kind of religious beliefs or customary practices, although no clear evidence of this is recorded.
Dr Geraghty, who edited notes by Coleman Wall, noted that Nubukalou Creek was not only a popular fishing ground but also a centre of attraction as a scenic addition to Suva in 1839.
“The waterway may not be much to look at now, but it was once admired and revered,” journalist Maggie Boyle, quoted him as saying.
“The ford across the Nubukalou is or was till lately marked by a blasted stump just above the bridge; the reason probably of the crossing being so low down was that it was convenient in the old days as it was a favourite fishing ground of the Fijians.”
Today, Nubukalou is specifically the 3000-feet stretch of creek that finds its head just below Holland Street.
The creek intersects the road four times at Stinson Parade Road, Thomson Street, Renwick Road and Vishnu Deo Street.
Some historians have argued that the modern center of Suva, following its settlement in the late 1800s, was the area around the stream.
The monument near the Ivi tree is erected at the apex of the triangle formed by the intersecting Thomson Street, Cumming Street and Renwich Road.
Nubukalou Creek demarcates one side of this historical triangle, suggesting its place in Suva’s string of historical landmarks.
A place steeped in history
According to The Fiji Times of November 7, 2019 “religious festivals were held at the bank of the Nubukalou stream” to honour the god Ro Vonu and “it was strictly prohibited for any person to turn around after the ceremony.”
W.McHugh, who was interviewed by The Fiji Times in the 1950s, said according to stories she heard, locals “went to the stream every year to celebrate the festival of the gods”.
On one occasion, one non-religious man turned around to look at the gods and was cursed by the deities who said he would be turned into a turtle tree and “straight away he became a turtle tree” , The Fiji Times reported.
McHugh had some turtle trees given to her by locals. The leaves were shaped like a turtle and were the size of a palm of the hand.
One report suggested Nubukalou may have been named after the source of the creek at Holland Street.
“The pool was very deep and although old resident do not remember seeing Fijians frequent it, they have seen people throwing into it jewellery taken from those who have been cremated,” The Fiji Times said.
Another account suggest that the head of the stream at Holland Street was known for many years as “Usaia Road”, named after a “weird-looking man with matted hair”. He was also known as “Mad Tom” and lived in a hut near the pool.
A haunted place
In the mid-1900s the road near the pool was said to be haunted.
The Fiji Times interviewed an elderly man of Suva in 1956, Anthony Grant, who reported seeing ashes thrown into the pool during his young days.
Furthermore, Grant said a woman was robbed of her necklace, killed and thrown over the cliff into the water.
The Polynesia Company’s first settlers set up camp beside the Nubukalou stream and presumably used water from it. Areas around it quickly sprung up to become popular melting pots.
R.A Derrick in The Fiji Islands – A Geographical Handbook, said early settlers were attracted to the rising land north of Nubukalou and decided to start a residential neighbourhood there.
Derrick said they named it Toorak, “after the fashionable suburb of their home city of Melbourne”.
Across the Nubukalou bridge, at the Thomson Street end, smiling Fijian women would sit under a flame tree (sekoula tree) to sell grass skirts and other handicraft items.
To the left of the Fijian women across the bridge was the bustling and narrow Cumming Street, previously called “All Nations Street”.
Cumming Street was once home of the Suva market (Terry Walk side) until the 1940s and famous for kava saloons, curry houses known as lodges and “dens of iniquity”, the equivalent to modern day brothels.
Cumming Street grew to become a shopping mecca for tourists from the 1940s and in the 1960s became Suva’s duty-free capita.
A highway for coffins
An article in The Fiji Times of January 5, 1961 said that a large soapstone hill above Nubukalou, along Waimanu Road was probably the site of Suva’s first public cemetery.
Old residents at the time said “before there was no bridge over Nubukalou Creek” and at high tide, “coffins had to be rowed across the creek.”
“At that stage of history, the creek became the Suva equivalent of the legendary Styx, with a Fijian boatman playing the part of the Greek Charon who ferried the souls of the dead,” The Fiji Times said.
Later the bodies of the dead were taken presumably to a cemetery up Waimanu Road. However, no early records have been found to show the identities and number of deceased people interred there.
There is some belief that the cemetery may have been moved to the Asylum Road (Reservoir Road) as people started to build houses atop the Waimanu Road hill, like Sir Henry Marks, regarded as someone who influenced the Fijian economy and political sphere in the first half of the 20th century.
The Fiji Times report seem to suggest that the identity and grave locations of 500 people were unaccounted for in the first register of deaths which recorded Sam Phale as the first official entrant in Fiji’s public burial site.
Phale’s funeral took place at 3:30pm on June 11, 1887 and his grave was recorded as number 509.
Fiji Museum records note that the original landowners of the capital, who named Nubukalou, Suva and Walu Bay areas were believed to have crossed the central tableland of Viti Levu from Ra around 3500 to 2000 years ago.
Their leader was Tabanimakoveve, believed to be a direct descendant of the god Degei.
Swept by the ebb of time
Suva people reached the district lying to the south of the Waimanu River, where they were stationed for a while before moving to the sea and stopping at Tamavua and Rairainawaqa for a time.
Because of its defence property, they finally settled on the steep grey rock called Uluvatu overlooking Walu Bay before building the town of Suva on the site of the present Thurston Gardens. It is estimated this occurred before 1820 under the reign of Tabukaucoro, the Tui Suva and a vasu to Bau.
The village rara (town square) is now the drill ground at Nasova Police barracks.
It is not clear when or why Suva was adopted as the name for whole city the area.
The Royal Suva Yachts Club was established in 1932 located between Stinson Jetty and Nubukalou Creek along Suva’s foreshore before the land was reclaimed.
First flag officers at the club included Commodore T. M. McGuire, Vice Commodore E. E. McGowan and Rear Commodore F. Reay.
The first official race was held on October 22, 1932, with the first cruising race held on January 17, 1933.
In June 1935 the first overseas yachts visited the club. Construction of a new site in Walu Bay commenced in September 1937 but wasn’t completed until August 1948.
Between 1913 and 1916 extensive areas were reclaimed and filled for the King’s Wharf and for industrial sites at the Walu Bay.
Many development papers were written around Nubukalou over the years to uplift its image as the pride of the city and the little Venice of the Pacific, but these have all collected dust on office shelves.
Today, Nubukalou provides a respite when in the heart of Suva.
It is a place to stop for a breather or a quick glance before continuing the journey through the capital’s expanding concrete jungle, its significance swept by the ebb of time and its true meaning, hidden in the pages of history.
History being the subject it is, a group’s version of events may not be the same as that held by another group. When publishing one account, it is not our intention to cause division or to disrespect other oral traditions. Those with a different version can contact us so we can publish your account of history too — Editor.
