An Expat Talks about Moving to Sigatoka Valley, Fiji

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Sigatoka Valley

Name three things that you wish you had brought and three you wish you had left at home.

3 things I wish I had brought: more Coffee, Stronger insect repellent & quality chocolate (4th thing would be my hairdresser !)

3 things I could have left at home were half my suitcase, shoes and makeup - no need

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What advice would you give someone preparing to move to your area about the actual move, choosing a neighborhood and finding a home?

Like everywhere be careful with giving away too much information. We could have easily been taken advantage of many times. Once in Fiji there seems to be a "Coconut grapevine" and if you want something or to rent somewhere somebody always knows how to get it or to arrange it for you. Anything we wanted there was a person for it. Again be careful about prices charged. Unfortunately where we were living was very disadvantaged and while we were not wealthy we did do a lot for the village and hence everyone thought we were rich.

What type of housing do you live in? Is this typical for most expats in your area?

It was a kit home brought over from Australia. No expats in the area at all, we actually lived in a fijian village and were the only white people in the valley

How did you choose your neighborhood and find your home or apartment?

Luckily through a friend we got onto a Fijian couple and we rented their kit home on 2 acres - we could not find anything on the internet for the area we wanted to live which was around the Sigatoka area

Are your housing costs higher or lower than they were in your home country? What is the average cost of housing there?

Costs were lower. Our rent was good, markets provided our fruit and vegies. The real cost was buying red meat and getting good quality meat. Got to know our butcher who informed me Thursday was good meat day ! Laws dont allow us to buy housing in Fiji.