Sigatoka is the town where the Queens Road crosses the river of the same name, on the southern coast of Viti Levu, Fiji's main island. The river valley behind it is known as the Salad Bowl of Fiji, a fertile strip of farmland where vegetables, taro and other crops are grown and trucked to the markets and resorts along the coast. On any given day, the town's market is full of piled-up pineapples, cassava, chilli and bundles of kava root, and it is a good place to watch ordinary Fijian life in motion.
For a rider, the Queens Road here is easy and enjoyable. It follows the coast with low hills on one side and the reef-fringed sea on the other, the surface is generally good, and the traffic moves at a relaxed pace. Fijians drive on the left, as in Britain, and village speed limits are low, with speed bumps at the entrance to most settlements, often unmarked until you hit them. Dogs, children, horses and cows are all part of the road. Rain comes in sudden tropical downpours, the best weather is generally from May to October, and the sun can be punishing, so cover up and drink plenty of water.
Just west of the town the Sigatoka Sand Dunes National Park runs along the coast, a ridge of windblown sand up to about sixty metres high, and an unexpected place to find ancient burial sites. Archaeologists have found pottery and human remains there that are thousands of years old, among the earliest evidence of settlement in the islands. Further up the valley, the old hill fort at Tavuni, built by a Tongan chief, shows how contested these lands once were. You can reach it by road from the river valley.
Sigatoka is the biggest town on this stretch of coast, with banks, supermarkets, a hospital and several fuel stations, so it is a proper place to fill up and eat. The Coral Coast resorts begin just east of here, and Nadi, with its airport, lies roughly forty kilometres to the north-west. Try a lunch of fresh fish in coconut milk, or a roti, a flatbread wrap that reflects the Indo-Fijian community, and a cold drink from a street stall.