The Fijian island of Bau is seeped in history.
Its stone paths weave between well manicured gardens ablaze with splashes of tropical colour and homes set back against a backdrop of ocean.
It's not hard to imagine Queen Elizabeth walking through here in 1982 to open the Great Council of Chiefs meeting house.
Ratu Josefa Cakabau, a direct descendant of King Cakabau, who ceded Fiji’s sovereignty to the British in 1874, tells us with pride he was a kava bearer for the Queen.
“From this household that is part of our training it’s no ordinary Fijian that can be a bearer of kava for the Queen it has to come from the Cakabau household. I was born to do that job and it was an honour,” he says.
A house was built for her too on reclaimed land here – it took six weeks and she freshened up in it for 45 minutes. It’s been maintained beautifully by the people here and even the bowl she washed in holds a pride of place.
The island of Bau’s relationship with the monarchy started in 1874 with King Cakabau and when he died nine years later his body was preserved for three months so a British delegation could come to his funeral.
King George came to this island before Queen Elizabeth – and every year the Cakabau’s would receive a Christmas card from the royals until 1987 when Fiji became a republic.
READ MORE: Despite complicated UK relationship, Fijians mourn the Queen
But the links between the chiefs and Queen Elizabeth and the royals have always remained strong.
Ratu Josefa proudly shows the visitors book which Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip signed.
He tells a story of when his dad Ratu Sir George Cakabau was Governor General and his brother took Prince Charles for a swim in the pool and he was jumping off his shoulders doing dive bombs.
There was a huge fuss when security couldn’t find the young Prince, and Ratu Josefa laughs as recalls the incident.
“Imagine the now King of Britain jumping off my brother’s shoulders into the pool,” he says.
READ MORE: Queen Elizabeth warmly remembered in the Pacific
There are many stories, some told with a laugh, others with nostalgia, but all with pride.
There is great excitement on Bau as circulating on social media are photos of a young Fijian Ben Tubuna, a member of the Royal Company of Archers, chosen to be one of the Queen’s pallbearers.
He’s not just part of the Monarch’s Regiment in Edinburgh he is a boy from Rewa, one of theirs, representing Fiji.
The people of Bau tell us they would like to thank the late Queen for her service not just to her own people but to them too. Bau is a world away but today it seems close they say.
SHARE ME