Gau is an island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 belonging to Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

's Lomaiviti Archipelago. Located at 18.00° S and 179.30 °E, it covers an area of 136.1 square kilometers, with a total shoreline of 66.3 kilometers, making it the 5th largest island in the Fijian archipelago. Its maximum altitude

Altitude

Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...

 is 738 meters. It has one airstrip at Lovu at the southern tip of the island, which receives planes from Nausori International Airport

Nausori International Airport

Nausori International Airport . Also known as Luvuluvu, Nausori Airport is the second International Airport in Fiji. It is situated in Nausori on the south-Eastern side of Viti Levu...

.

A marine research facility was established on Naviavia beach on the western coast of Gau in 2005 by UK based NGO Frontier, commissioned by Dr. Joeli Veitayaki of the University of South Pacific, a native of Malawai on the eastern coast.

Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...

 legend and player-coach

Player-coach

A player-coach, in sports, is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. The term can be used to refer to both players who serve as head coaches, or as assistant coaches....

 of the Fijian national Sevens Team Waisale Serevi

Waisale Serevi

Waisale Tikoisolomoni Serevi is a former Fijian rugby union footballer, and coach. Although he played fifteen-a-side rugby throughout his playing career, Serevi is most notable for his achievements in rugby sevens....

 is a native of Qarani, a large village to the north-west, which also contains a post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

and nursing station.