FIJI is not only known for its white sandy beaches and friendly personalities but you will be surprised with more pleasant discoveries once you take a tour around the country.
Nestled in the cool shadows of the Sleeping Giant mountain is one of the country’s best kept horticultural secrets in the South Pacific region — the “Garden of the Sleeping Giant”.
The garden is a wonderful spot to spend a day just wandering along the canopy-covered boardwalk, through gorgeously landscaped lawns, across calm lily ponds complete with trickling fountains and croaking frogs and finally into the heart of a dense rainforest.
Situated at the foothills of the Nausori Highlands, just a few minutes north of Nadi Town, the garden was originally started by the late Raymond Burr in 1977, known for his characters of Perry Mason and Ironside.
It is now owned by Mr and Mrs David Zundel and managed by Mukesh Kumar.
From his private orchid collection, the garden has grown to be one of the largest and most popular attractions for locals and tourists.
While the 2000 varieties of orchids are the focus of the garden, this is not a place enjoyed only by the horticultural inclined.
Carefully tended and well displayed, these fragile flowers are breath-takingly beautiful when seen in the golden light of early morning.
A visit to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant begins with a greeting from staff members, a brief description of the property and a little history of how this mountain valley was transformed into the fantasy garden it is today.
Guides are available at no additional cost, to walk you through the grounds and put names to the floral faces you’ll find around any corner.
The walk along the path cut through a tropical rainforest at the base of the Sleeping Giant mountain is worth the trip. Children of all ages will love the romp across the expanse of manicured lawns.
Of all the local attractions, Mr Kumar said the gardens drew visitors from all over the world to experience all the beautiful native plants and flowers that called Fiji home. After a visit this week, I would say there are several different Fiji gardens scattered throughout the islands but none quite as magnificent as the Garden of the Sleeping Giant.
And when you have explored the garden to your heart’s delight, a cool complimentary fruit drink awaits you as you leave.
Mr Kumar said the garden had more than 2000 types of orchids on display on a plantation, which encompassed 20 hectares of native lease with several rare Fijian orchids, making this the largest collection of orchids in the world.
While the garden had 20 local orchid types, it also had exotic varieties that were mainly imported from Thailand. The garden also has a very large nursery to breed the orchids.
Very strict to the sale of flowers, he said, they only sold the flowers to resorts and florists if they had flowers in excess. “We have a large rainforest where the visitors take a walk and stroll through. We have our own water source as well.
“The visitors that come to the garden are mostly from tour companies. We have 15 different companies that bring in guests from all the hotels in Nadi.”
He said they were also fortunate to have cruise ship guests from Denarau and Lautoka.
“We have good numbers coming in from cruise ships with an average of 75 visitors in a day. However this has changed with cruise ships bringing in about 400 guests in a day.
“The peak months of visitors are from January and February — that is the time we have most cruise ships.”
However, he said this was also the rainy season for Fiji and some visitors cancelled their tour because of the unfavourable weather conditions during those months.
He said tour companies had desks at resorts and hotels, which was their main marketing strategy apart from the website.
They planned to extend the garden depending on the number of visitors they had. However, the garden has been going through developments including initiatives to turn it into a wheelchair friendly garden, a project which is expected to be completed by June 1 this year.
For an entry fee of just $16, you can wander through the lush and fertile plantation to your heart’s content. The garden also provides the perfect venue for special events such as weddings, parties and meetings. It is open from Mondays to Saturdays from 9am until 5pm and Sundays from 9am to 12midday.
