B.M. Allsopp's Blog, page 6
January 13, 2021
Mysterious settings
I was thrilled and a bit awed when ,,Sisters in Crime Australia (SICA) invited me to write a blog post about the setting for my Fiji Islands Mysteries. I ended up musing a bit more widely, but the sisters didn't mind and my post appeared on SICA's excellent website just before Christmas. Today I'm sharing it with you.
Crime scenesFictional detectives find bodies in weird places: in trains, on cliffs, at bus stops, on altars, in kitchens, libraries, washed up on beach...
December 12, 2020
Coconut Christmas: a Fiji twist
I'm a sentimental traditionalist when it comes to Christmas food, particularly Christmas pudding. Most years I make my grandmother's Yorkshire recipe in November, steaming it for eight hours until the unpromising ingredients of stale bread, carrots, stout and beef suet transmute as if by alchemy. Okay, there are eggs, spices and dried fruit, too. Six weeks later I steam the pudding for an hour or so to heat it up and it always seems miraculous...
November 2, 2020
Fiji celebrates 50 years
Today I don't intend to discuss the current challenges facing Fiji. I simply want to congratulate the Fijian people on the golden anniversary of their nation's independence. With all my heart, I wish Fiji the best possible future.
On 10th October 1874, Fiji's chiefs led by Ratu Cakobau ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria in return for her protection. On the same date in 1970, her great great granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth, gave up that control, ceding government to Fiji's inhabitants under a mode...
October 25, 2020
Fiji's Indian story
Many visitors to Fiji are curious about the origin of the large population of ethnic Indians (around 37 percent) in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. No other Pacific island country has significant numbers of Indian people. Their presence is due to the response of Fiji's first British governor to the measles epidemic which killed twenty percent of the population in 1874, the year Fiji's chiefs ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria in return for her protection.
Gordon's policies
Governor Sir Ar...
July 13, 2020
Fiji in July: Covid-19 update
Three months ago I reported Fiji had 16 confirmed Covid-19 cases, all traced to two sources. There had been no deaths. Today, all of these sufferers have fully recovered and an additional eight people have tested positive. These eight were all among 107 Fiji citizens who returned from India on the same repatriation flight a week ago and are now in quarantine. None is seriously ill.
On the face of it, the people of Fiji have escaped. The population is protected by natural isolation and strict go...
June 14, 2020
Strangers in Paradise: Fiji's feral foes
How many native land-mammal species does Fiji have?
These species all belong to one mammal class. Any guesses?
The answers are six and bat. I hope I've surprised you, but I suppose the picture gives the game away. I first discovered these facts in Paddy Ryan's ground-breaking book ,Fiji's Natural Heritage, All other mammals you'll see in Fiji were brought to the islands by humans. Some introductions were accidental; others deliberate.
The First InterlopersAlthough we can't...
May 16, 2020
Fiji fishing: the one that got away?
How much fresh fish do you eat in a year? I know I don't eat nearly as much as coastal Fijians. The most recent survey I can find was conducted in four coastal villages on different islands. It revealed that indigenous Fijians eat on average 74 kilos of fresh fish, 9.5 kilos of sea invertebrates and 2.4 kilos of canned fish per year. Seafood consumption in urban and inland areas, where people must buy their fish, is known to be much less. (,Food and Agricultural Organisation (...
April 14, 2020
How Fiji copes: Covid-19 and Harold
When I posted a month ago, no cases of Covid-19 had been identified in Fiji. Inevitably, this has changed. There are now 16 confirmed cases which have been traced to two sources.
A young Fiji Airways flight attendant brought the virus to Fiji from Los Angeles on a direct flight. Despite orders for the crew not to leave their hotel rooms, he wanted to see relatives in the city and attended a party. After his return flight to Nadi he became ill and was Fiji's first confirmed Covid-19 case on 19t...
March 15, 2020
Fiji's viral epidemics
The Covid-19 pandemic is now demonstrating the meaning of "going viral" around the globe and has certainly overtaken the global media. But I suspect that news of a measles outbreak in the South Pacific last November may not have reached many of you.
Fiji's recent measles epidemic
Measles infections have risen around the world in the last two years. But younger doctors and nurses in Fiji, where vaccination rates are good, had never seen a case of measles until a few months ago. When measles took ...
February 14, 2020
Vijay Singh: Fiji's PGA star
If you've read any of my Fiji Islands Mysteries, you will know that Inspector Joe Horseman can never work undercover because he is recognised everywhere he goes as a star rugby player. The entire population of the glorious islands of Fiji is mad about rugby, but many other team and individual sports are played and followed with passion. Nevertheless, it may come as a surprise to many that Fiji's most world-famous, most successful and most enduring sports star is the golfer Vijay Singh, nicknamed...
