London

After passing out, Raratabu was sent to Salisbury where he was trained in radio signalling. He was eventually posted to the Royal Artillery at Woolwich, where his speciality is ground-to-air missiles. ‘I do think about being sent to Iraq but I will overcome any fears at the time.’

He commutes daily to Woolwich from his accommodation in Knightsbridge barracks, which he shares with his wife Eta, also a Fijian, and his two children, Jese, 18 months and David who is just six weeks old: ‘Knightsbridge is a great area. When I call home and people ask where I live, I say, “Oh, just next door to Harrods.” That’s my local supermarket.’ Feature continues

There are between 3,000 and 4,000 Fijians in the UK, many in the army and based in London, and they are a tight-knit bunch. On the first Sunday of every month, many attend a Fijian church service, held at various barracks around the country and followed by a Fijian meal. Cooking is done in a traditional earth oven – literally a hole dug in the ground and filled with firewood and charcoal. Chicken, lamb or fish are covered in a soya, garlic and ginger paste, dropped in the oven and left to cook for an hour. Raratabu often cooks up other traditional Fijian fare such as fish with coconut milk alongside yam and sweet potatoes. There are no Fijian shops in London but he recommends grocers such as the Africa Food Centre in Lambeth. He also gets up at 5am at the weekend to buy snapper, tuna, prawns and oysters at Billingsgate market. Food plays a big part in the most important Fijian celebration, Fiji Day, which is held on October 10 to commemorate the country’s 1970 independence. This is an opportunity for a knees-up: ‘Our dancing is a bit like the hula. We have the war dance, which is often done before a big rugby game, and the spear dance for big celebrations.’

Fijians also like a drink, a fact proven by a visit to the Walkabout in Shepherd’s Bush or Acton’s Redback club on a Friday night: the venues of choice for Pacific Islanders. Fiji has it’s own bitter and rum, at present stocked only by Harrods. The traditional Fijian drink, kava, made from the pulped root of the kava plant, has yet to reach our shores, which – considering it gives ‘a great high’ according to Raratabu – is a shame. Otherwise Fijian culture is sparsely represented in London. There’s no Fijian restaurant; Raratabu eats at Chinese restaurants (there’s a big Chinese community in Fiji) such as the China Buffet in Park Royal. For music, such as George ‘Fiji’ Veikoso – the Bob Marley of Fijian music – he has to order from Amazon.

‘I enjoy London and the history here,’ says Raratabu, who is also fascinated by the city’s modern buildings – so much so that he begins a degree in architecture with the Open University this autumn. But he does miss his old village life and says he would consider returning: ‘When I was growing up, if someone walked by your house it was bad manners not to invite them in. Fiji is much more friendly than London and you can leave your doors and windows open.’ And of course, there’s that pesky British weather.