Sixty-four years after being crowned Miss Hibiscus, Eta Uluvula Qereqeretabua returned to the Grand Pacific Hotel wearing the same bangles she wore on the night she won the title in 1962.
But behind the glamour of her historic crown is a story of humble beginnings, resilience and a life that changed overnight.
Now 85, Mrs Qereqeretabua recalled her childhood growing up in a rural dairy-farming family and the challenges her mother faced after her father died while she was in her first year at Adi Cakobau School.
Her mother was left to raise six children, with Mrs Qereqeretabua remembering a modest school wardrobe of “two red skirts and three white blouses” that served as her uniform for most of her eight years at the school.
Years later, as a second-year nursing student, she was crowned Miss Hibiscus, receiving strong backing from the Student Nurses Association, which sponsored her dresses, shoes and transport.
The September 22, 1962, ball was held at the Grand Pacific Hotel, where she wore the bangles bought for her by Dutch sisters.
Her prize was a trip to Australia, including memorable visits to Melbourne and Sydney.
Yet Mrs Qereqeretabua said fame came with a cost — the loss of anonymity.
“You’ve now become public property,” she recalled, as the advice she later shared with her daughter Lenora Qereqeretabua, who also became Miss Hibiscus in 1988.
