Urban Sketching in Fiji
2025
Urban Sketching
7Day Sketchers RETREAT
Hosted By Erin Hill
Saturday OCTOBER 4th to Saturday October 11th 2025
7 Nights / 8 Days
Sketching in Fiji has to be one of the best rewards we can give ourselves.
Savusavu, in the tropical South Pacific, known as Fiji’s ‘hidden paradise,’ offers a unique blend of lush landscapes, coastal charm, and vibrant authentic local culture—a perfect setting for an urban sketching retreat.
The itinerary focuses on mornings for sketching, leaving afternoons open for relaxation, local exploration, or spontaneous adventures.
Erin Hill has been sketching on her travels for the best part of thirty years, and her vibrant impressions of the places she has visited are widely known and admired.
Erin, who is one of the Admin team for Urban Sketchers Gold Coast Australia is hosting an Urban Sketchers Retreat sketching in a place she knows well from numerous visits.
Fiji offers a fantastic range of subjects, from colonial era buildings to palm fringed Pacific beaches to working copra mills to thunderous waterfalls. Come and fill your sketch book with special memories of unforgettable experiences.
Erin will be sketching alongside you – she’s not teaching in any formal sense and although she’s happy to offer guidance, she knows that many of her fellow urban sketchers are extremely proficient artists and will love a week to immerse themselves in what they already do so well.
All Urban Sketchers at all levels most welcome. Put the dates in your calendar now.
By the way, keep an eye out for Air Fiji Flight Specials - definitely worth it.
All Bookings and Info through Paradise Courses
What’s included:
Pretty much everything! Incredibly good value!
We have our own organiser to look after us for the week.
Transport wherever we’re going every day.
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Your choice of Bure accommodation.
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Breakfasts, Lunches and Dinner daily all included - unless we sometimes choose to dine elsewhere.
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Welcome and Farewell dinners and traditional ceremony.
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Not included:
Sketch Kit or Art Materials
Flights to Nadi and on to Savusavu or Labasa Fiji.
Travel Insurance (essential)
Drinks, refreshments and personal spending
Note: the order of where we go sketching may vary depending upon weather conditions.
ITINERARY
SATURDAY: Arrival and Orientation
Arrive in Savusavu and check into your accommodation.
Some people will arrive in the morning and some in the afternoon so take it easy, have a swim, maybe walk down to the sea in front of the resort to sketch a palm tree.
5.30PM: We’ll all meet for a casual get together and cocktail in the lounge and Erin will run you through plans for the week.
6.30PM: A formal Fijian kava welcome ceremony
(and there is NO expectation for you to drink kava if you don’t want to)
7.00PM: Dinner
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SUNDAY: Savusavu Bay Waterfront
Morning Sketching (9:00 AM - 12:30 PM):
Location: Savusavu town. Savusavu is a jumble of old and new, with several charming old buildings in between the modern shops. Sunday is a far less busy day and many shops are closed, but this gives you a chance to sketch them with less chance of vehicles blocking your view.
Afternoon: Relax, enjoy some pool time at Daku Resort.
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MONDAY: Savusavu Harbour
• Morning Sketching (9:00 AM - 12:30 PM):
Location: The Copra Shed complex.
We’ll have our coffee in the cafe and consider the harbour views – Nawi Island Marina across the water, the yachts on their moorings, the Yacht club docks, and the scenic view of the bay framed by lush green hills.
The Copra Shed building, has been converted into restaurants and shops but still retains its historical charm.
Back to Daku Resort for lunch.
Afternoon:
A local craftswoman will show you the process of making and decorating
traditonal Fijian masi (bark cloth).
Then there’s a free afternoon to relax or carry on sketching.
You may decide to have a wonderful massage which is out of this world! ( Natalia can vouch for this)
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TUESDAY: Market and Town Center
Morning Sketching (9:00 AM - 12:30 PM):
Location: Savusavu Municipal Market
Sketch the bustling market scene with vendors selling fresh produce, seafood, and handmade goods.
Capture the vibrant colors, textures, and the lively atmosphere.
Return to Daku Resort for lunch.
Afternoon:
At 4.00pm we leave the resort to go to visit a local village.
You will be shown around the village and then treated to a thrilling traditonal meke dance before returning to the resort for dinner.
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WEDNESDAY: People Action
Morning Sketching (9:00 AM - 12:30 PM):
Location: Downtown by the river
There is a lot going on along the river pathway with small shops, taxis
coming and going, buses departing and some great people sketching opportunies.
Stay in town to have lunch:
We suggest the Planter’s Club which has a pleasant deck, decent cheap food and offers a bit of Savusavu’s colonial history (and is worth a sketch).
Afternoon: Relax. Snorkel outside the resort or take a boat trip to the reef (own expense).
THURSDAY: Out and about around Savusavu
• Morning Sketching (9:00 AM - 12:30 PM):
Location: Copra Mill, + Urata Lookout Cafe, + Vuadomo Waterfall
This is a busy day of quick sketches of a number of fascinating places: the working copra mill outside Savusavu where coconut flesh is extracted and processed; the iconic Urata Lookout cafe with its commanding views of Savusavu Bay; and finally, Vuadomo waterfall where you can plunge into the cool refreshing exhilarating water.
• Afternoon:
Relax and catch up on some of your sketches.
In the evening we’ll go down to the Copra Shed for a drink at the Yacht Club
and stay on for dinner at the Captain’s Table (own expense).
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FRIDAY: Palm fringed beaches
• Morning Sketching and lunch (9:00 AM – 2.30 PM ):
Location: SigaSiga Sands
We’ll drive 20 minutes down the coast to a beach with all the tropical scenery you’d expect in the South Pacific – a long sandy beach fringed with coconut palms, and old tavola trees with knotty roots at the far end.
We’ll take a picnic lunch and you can enjoy a swim in the Blue Lagoon as well.
• Afternoon:
Relax, finish off your sketches.
6.00PM: In the evening we’ll gather around to review what we’ve achieved during the week.
7.00PM: Farewell dinner
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SATURDAY. Leaving day.
After breakfast you’ll be taken to the airport.
Fly from Savusavu back to Nadi International Airport for flight home.
Sketch Kit:
Bring your own Sketch Kit/Art materials
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About Erin Hill
Erin Hill, of Erin Hill Sketching has been creative all her life. A graphic designer who has morphed through advertising to fine art to become an unstoppable sketcher and urban sketcher with a passion for travel, sketching and sharing her knowledge with others.
Erin is an International Sketch tutor with courses and workshops in Australia, Southern France,
UK, USA and Europe. Workshops also take place by invitation.
Erin will be hosting the 2025 Urban Sketchers Retreat.
Looking forward to seeing you all on our next tour.
Click here to see loads of my sketches on Pinterest which may inspire you