Whitianga, Coromandel, Rotorua, Taupo, Wellington, NZ, 11 - 17 April 2012‏

We were picked up on the big Magic coach early Weds morning, and taken to Thames where we changed onto a little old local service looking bus to take us through Coromandel town and to Whitianga. It was a nice day, and the road from Thames (so called because the river running through it is murky and brown like in the UK, so Cook called it that) to Whitianga went around lots of very pretty mountain peaks, so was a gorgeous ride despite the dilapidatious state of the bus.

We got into our hostel called On The Beach (which was, surprisingly, on the beach), and as the weather was a bit crappy, and Jo was still a little iffy, we sat down to a movie (on DVD!!!). I then ventured to the corner shop to get some milk... An hour and a half and about 4 miles later I got back. I decided to try walk back from the town a different way to see a bit more of the town, but this quickly went awry and I wandered through residential streets, an industrial block, and a building site before finding my way back with the now tepid milk.
The following day we wandered to and from town loads whilst sorting out some bits to post home and other bits, then we went to the beach for a bit while the weather held, then when we returned to the hostel, Maike (met and travelled with in NZ and met up in Perth) had arrived! The evening was then lost to conversation and catching up.  

Cathedral Cove

The next morning was our last full day, and the three of us went on a little road-trip in Maikes rented car. We went North, going to little beaches and lookouts over the mountains, then ended up in Coromandel town for a drink. We headed back to the hostel, had a late lunch, and then headed off to hot water beach with an Austrian girl called Alex in tow. Hot water beach is a beach on some cracks in the ground which heat up, so as you dig holes in the sand, they fill back up with hot water, almost like a bath. It doesn't happen in many areas on the beach, and only at lowest tide, so it's always a bit crowded, but really weird. It was dusk when we arrived, and was quickly pitch-black. Very strange to be in boardies digging holes in the beach, but hopping around as if you stand in some places too long, you burn your feet! Great fun, and NZ tourism hasn't found any way to charge you to do it (yet), so always a bonus!

Foot spas in Rotorua parks

Next morning Jo and I were due to get the bus down to Rotorua, but turned out Maike was going there too, so we hopped back in her car, headed to Cathedral Cove which was great as the weather was lovely, and then carried on South. We thought we'd stop in Hobbiton on the way, but turns out you can't actually see anything unless you want the full tour, so all we saw was a statue of Gollum in front of a sign for Hobbiton in the town of Matimati. Had a quick drink, and carried onto the strange and bit smelly Rotorua. 
As it is a big volcanic lake with lots of bubbling mud puddles with sulphur coming out, rotorua smells of sulphur, which is the same smell as eggs. Not a nice thing to get a lung-full of, and we only had the evening and following morning before we moved on, so the three of us plus Emily who Maike shared a room with in Whitianga, went wandering around the parks which have lots of barriered off vents and bubbling mud puddles. They also have some public outdoor footbaths which are permanently naturally heated, which we lovely and pretty hot (bath temperature).
Next morning Jo and I got up early and headed around the lake and around the museum and government gardens before the Magic bus picked us up. Maike offered us a lift, but there was a walk to Huka falls we were eager to get to and do. In the end, no walking was required as the bus stopped at the bloody falls on the way to Taupo! We got into Taupo at about 3, and had an hour to sort ourselves out before a sailing trip on the lake.
We wandered down to the marina and got on the lovely little boat with about 8 others, and sailed out onto the huge lake, which is bigger than Singapore! We only sailed on 6% of it, and we were out for 2 1/2 hours! Was really great weather, and we saw some carvings in the rock some Mauri stoners did 30 years ago, saw the sunset over the mountains, and sailed about a bit. Was really cool, though we underestimated how cold it would get with windchill, and bloody froze when the sun went down!

Sunset on Lake Taupo

We headed back after a drink to warm us up in town, and whilst Jo emailed and blogged, Back to the Future 2 started just as I wandered into the lounge! Well happy!
Following morning we missed saying goodbye to Maike as she got up early to do the Tongariro crossing. I'm quite gutted we haven't got the chance to do it, but we just don't have enough time. We headed off to National Park via Waitomo for a few hours. We took a tour into some caves to see all the glow-worms and the fissures in the limestone. Was again bloody freezing, but a great little walk, and as the guide owned the land (well, leased, as no-one actually owns any farmland in NZ, they are employees), he had loads of knowledge on the place.
From there we headed off to National Park, stopping at some falls (Tawhai falls according to Jo!), then heading up a little way of Mt Rupahu(?) to look over the other mountains (including Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings next door). We didn't get into our hostel until fairly late after all of this, so we did some washing (rock and roll), and put on Avatar whilst we ate a salad dinner (hadn't had that in a long while!).

Purty photie I took

Following morning we were up early again to go off to Wellington. En route we stopped at a jandal fence randomly, and at another place with a giant carrot (I took photos of a tree instead as its leaves were bright red). It seems all towns in NZ feel they have to have something about them to be special. They can't just be, so they invent stupid stuff like the town called Bull, where every shop has a little tagline with the word "bull" in it somewhere on there signs or windows (like the tyre shop had "inflata-bull").
Anyway, we got into Wellington, went up Mt Vic in a gale, then to the houses of parliament (called the beehive) then dumped our stuff in the YHA before heading to Te Papa, the city museum. Te Papa is completely free and really good fun. Blooming big place, with lots on Maori history, and an interesting bit on the Greenpeace ship which was bombed by the French special forces when NZ opposed any nuclear testing in the Pacific and said they would not support any of their allies who wished to do it.
We wandered around the city for a bit, then headed back to freshen up and eat.
Following morning (18/4) we got picked up at 7 by the ferry shuttle, and were onboard by 8. As we walked up the gangplank, I could see the name of the ship in blue, but underneath, indented into the side but painted white were clearly the words "Pride of Cherbourg", an old cross channel ferry my dad had told me he used to get years ago when he was working in Holland! Felt weird that the old man would have sat in the same places as I did on the same boat, but 20 years previously and on the other side of the world!
Had a nice enough crossing, got picked up by Magic bus, and headed to Nelson where we stayed at Tasman Bay Backpackers which gave out homemade chocolate pudding and ice cream for free every night! When we arrived, we headed around the town, and did a little hike to the geographical centre of NZ just in time for sunset on a nice clear evening. Unfortunately, we were only staying for 1 night again due to time, so I didn't get the chance to see Abel Tasman which I'm really gutted about, but looks like I'll have a good list of stuff to do next time I come! Headed back for our free choc pudding, and to bed before the bus to Greymouth early next morning! 

Auckland, Paihia, Auckland, NZ, 31 March - 10 April 2012‏

Lighthouse at Cape Reinga

We eventually arrived in Auckland after a 6 hour delay at Nadi, Fiji due to the weather. Lucky we got out at all, as the weather in Fiji was on the turn to a cyclone, and persistent rain which would cause floods which we saw forming as we lifted off.

When we left Nadi, Jo was starting to feel pretty ill, and as we landed in NZ, she was only getting worse. For fear of being too far from a loo, and to speed up the journey to the YHA backpackers, we took a shuttle straight to the door. 
There's very little to report after this. I went out to get some food to cook etc, but didn't stray too far for about 4 days to keep an eye on Jo. Luckily the YHA wasn't too busy, and had a big tv room in the basement, so we weren't too bored. 
After a few attempts to change our flight so that we could leave NZ after only a week or so (very low on money, so planned to get to the cheap countries asap!), it proved too pricey, so bit the bullet and figured that the cheapest and easiest way to see the country was on the Magic bus.
Our plan meant that we put our application for a Chinese visa in at Auckland, then headed up to the Bay of Islands for a few days, then came back down to pick up the visa, then head South.

We headed North to Paihia in the pissing rain, and it stayed that way for the next day. Was lovely actually, felt just like home! By this point I had almost got used to wearing things on my feet again after being barefoot for so long!
En route, we stopped off at some waterfalls (began with a W I think).
We got to Paihia, wandered around town, and watched another film (on video! Never went out of fashion over here!), went on a short hike to a lookout over the town and some of the islands, and signed up to a tour to Cape Reinga for the next day.








Next morning was an early start on a bus tour to the Northernmost point of NZ that is Cape Reinga, which is a Maori sacred ground thought to be the lifting off point for Maori souls who die in NZ, whose souls must make the trip back to their ancestral grounds around Polynesia. Apparently if you have been good, your wings sprout and you take flight, but if you've been bad then your wings are piddly little things that won't hold your weight, and you plummet into the ocean to be eaten by the sea monster.
Anyway, it's got a lovely lighthouse, and is the point where the Tasman sea and Pacific clash, and you can actually see the swells and waves of different seas lapping each other. 
After wandering around for a bit we got back on the bus and went down to some sand dunes for some sandboarding. My first go I wanted loads of speed so didn't dig my feet in at all. This worked as I flew, but meant I couldn't steer, so went arse-over-tit halfway down. Second, third and fourth run were much better, though almost castrated myself going over a bump where the guy infront of me wiped out!

Tane

From the dunes we drove onto and along 90 mile beach (which isn't actually 90 miles but more like 60). We then stopped off at a Kauri manufacture place where they make furniture and things from the Kauri tree, but as it's protected they can't cut them down anymore. Luckily, a few thousand years ago something (tsunami, volcano etc) knocked over and buried a whole forest of Kauris just beneath the ground, which is perfectly preserved, so there is still a readily available source of the stuff. They're big impressive trees, but to be honest, it's still just like pine. 
Got back to Paihia, and took the Magic bus early the next morning back to Auckland (again) to hopefully pick up our Chinese visa. En route we stopped at Tane Mahuta which is a huge Kauri which Maoris say is the father of all Kauris, and is the child of mother earth and father sky (I think), and to push them apart, he put his back to the ground, legs to the air and grew as high as he could and push the sky up to allow other Kauris (his children) to grow. Maori stories are much better than the bible I think, so much nicer with more whimsy.
Anyway, we saw that, and a bunch of Korean women on the bus obviously liked it so much they thought we were going back, as one of them left her bag there with loads of cash in it, but didn't tell anyone until 2 hours later, and we were almost back in Auckland. God knows if she got it back or not, dozy sod. At least she'll know the way though, as she seemed to have a video camera pressed against the windscreen most of the journey whether we were on motorway, in towns or middle of nowhere. I'll admit NZ is pretty, but not THAT pretty.

Sky City early evening

Anyway, got back to Auckland, spent the following day wandering around the viaduct/marina, fish market, and the SW part of town, then next day headed to the museum which was really good, but massive, so we had to go back the following morning to finish it off before getting the bus out to nowhere to pick up our Chinese visa, which we got really easily, despite having no outbound flight from the country. When we got back into town, we went searching for the Victoria markets, and finally stumbled across them to discover they're having a major refurb and only 1 or 2 shops were open, so we wandered back and found a place on the way called Shed 5 Cycles, which is a cafe/restaurant, but where they custom and refurb motorbikes. Was so cool, loads of old British bikes, and about a third of them were Triumphs. Most were to be auctioned, and the guide prices were so cheap! I spent about half an hour dribbling and mumbling incoherently to myself whilst Jo looked on, then we headed back to YHA (and our freely upgraded room!) for dinner and to pack to head off around the country the following day! 

Tavewa, Naviti, Drawaqa & Waya, Fiji, 16 - 22 March 2012‏

 Whoops, meant to update more regularly than this as we're moving around from island to island, but seems my memory is pretty good!

So I last left you on Tavewa in Coral View resort. Our second day was spent in the sun, and I was already getting restless, so after breakfast I climbed the hill up to the top of the island in just my sunnies and boardies. Since I took off my flip-flops at the marina in Denarau, I haven't worn them since! The climb was pretty steep, muddy and rocky, then really long grass closer to the top. At one point the trail went straight into a solid mass of bush, so guess it isn't climbed often! Got some great photos, then realised it was about 40 degrees, almost midday, and I had no water, so wandered back. Afternoon was spent dozing in a hammock, and swimming in the bath temperature sea.
Dinner was lovely again, and afterwards we played some games, had some drinks. Whilst chatting to Lauren and Mel from London, I discovered that the following day was Sat and not Fri as I thought, so they were actually feeding the sharks on a dive the next day. I was in two minds, but not often I'll see it, so I signed up. Next morning we kitted up and headed out to the dive site. We went down to 18m, swam between 2 reefs, and at the end was a line to hold. Between 1 and 5m in front of us was a plethora of fish (including a big old wrasse munching on a fish head), and a lemon shark, a 3.5m nurse shark, a few black and white tip reef sharks up to 3m long, and two bull sharks, one of which was 4m long and almost 2m in diameter. It was really good to see, and so different from the usual way of shark diving where they chum the waters so you can barely see anything. The sharks come to this spot twice a week out of habit as they know they'll be fed (shark knows what day of the week it is but I don't, how bad is that), and there's no teasing them to get them close, they're just fed and we sit at the sidelines quietly and watch.
Very different dive to what I've done before, and really glad I did it.

We got back to the resort in time for a bit of lunch before the boat picked us up to take us to our next destination: White Sandy Beach resort in Naviti. This was right next door to another resort where a few friends were staying, amongst them, Luzian, who Jo had fully converted to her version of gin rummy.
We had another bure to ourselves, and were greeted with coconuts. It was nice, if a little small and basic, but had reefs right off the beach. Not much of a drop-off, but still lots to see, and some patches of really cool coral of loads of different, vivid colours, so plenty for me the while away the hours burning my back to a crisp!
Anyway, nice place, and that night we wandered up the beach for a drink with Luzian and Lauren, then next morning after checkout and breakfast of pancakes, fruit and warm polenta-bread, we went back up and loitered by the pool and played some cards until the boat arrived to take us to our next stop!

En route to White Sandy, we met up with Becky again, and asked her to text us as she was off to Barefoot resort, and we wanted to know what it was like. Apparently lovely, so we booked ourselves in for a one night to check it out.
Barefoot is on the island Drawaqa, and has 3 beaches directly attached to the resort and another 3 or 4 around the island. It's near a posh resort called Mantaray, which sells itself on the fact that it's near a strait where mantarays go in season. Turns out that Barefoot is actually on this strait, and there's no boat ride required; just hire a snorkel and you're amongst the 4-5m rays in mins right off the beach! Unfortunately we were at least a month early, so we saw none (didn't stop me looking though).
Barefoot isn't a new resort, it's not actually open yet; it's still being refurbished and putting its new brochure together. We arrived and the only guest was Becky! There were 6 members of staff, and Alesia and Gareth, a South African couple with their 7 month old daughter Jade, who were there as Gareth was in charge of the refurb.
Despite not technically being open, they were still taking bookings and were operating as usual. We were shown around, and told to our amazement that they had wifi which was free, kayak and snorkel hire was free, and tea and coffee was available all the time for free. These are all common add-ons at these resorts, so we were very happy! That afternoon we were taken on a guided snorkel by Tuay along sunrise beach, which had some great drop-offs from the reef about 1m below to about 5m, although the sea-lice were a bit bite-y, so felt a bit stung.
We had a lovely little bure with a huge bed right on sunrise beach. The food was amazing, with 3 course meals every evening, and huge buffet breakfasts.
Our first night after dinner we had some stories from one of the older guys from the village; Bucks, who told us all about the rules on families (you can't speak to any children of your small father, who are any cousins from an uncle younger than your dad), and how men "fix" women (little whispers and quite a bit of close-quarters stalking as it turns out! They're all scared of being beaten up by the girls dad and brothers).
Our second day at barefoot we did very little. Spent most of our time on the beach, I went snorkelling a couple of times, went walking around the rock, then that evening, we found a sea snake in some rocks, and Becky, Tuay and I went up the hill to look at the sunset.
Third day was our second day with pancakes as Jo fluttered her eyelashes at the chef and beat him senseless with flattery, then we made coconut bracelets, I went snorkelling again with Jo (Becky prophetically said "see you in a minute Jo, see you in an hour David"), then after lunch we took the kayaks out for a spin round the island with Tuay. The trip was a couple of hours including stopping for a snorkel a couple of times, and the second time we stopped, I got chased across the beach by a "dead" crab (or I thought it was til it jumped up and legged it after me!).
That night was our last night, and after dinner we had a fire show put on for us, then we sat around drinking kava. This wasn't the touristy kava ceremony they put on, but just the guys who work there sitting around having a few bowls after work, so was pretty strong, and after a dozen I felt pretty dopey too. I can see why they like it so much! Plus there's no hangover as no alcohol!
Our last day Jo and I got up early for sunrise only to see some clouds on the horizon blocking it, so we went back to bed. Was another perfect day though when we got up, and I went for a few paddles and snorkels for one last look in case there were any mantas about, but we were just a little too early in the season, so sadly didn't see any.
We got waved off from the beach by all the staff, Alecia, Gareth and Jade, and made our way to the boat to move onto our next stop; Octopus on the island of Waya.

Octopus was an island not included in our Bula pass, and cost us an extra 70fjd, but you could see where it went. It is a really plush resort, with swimming pool, and our own little bungalow with veranda that you could honeymoon in. As it's a bigger resort it also has a bit of choice for meals, and great food (pancakes weren't up to the scratch of Barefoot though).
We sat with Lara, Emma and Paige at dinner (along with Becky, Jo and I), and afterwards there were some games to win prizes. First up was limbo (little unfair on us tall people), Becky did really well and got to the last round, and we were all happy to see a stuck up American girl who loudly said it wouldn't be fair for her to compete as she'd beat us all as she is a gymnast, go out.
Second game was a balloon thing which Jo and I were terrible at, but Becky and Lara won, winning a free massage each!
We had a couple of drinks, then off to our luxurious room!
Next morning we made the most of the buffet breakfast, then hit the beach, and I tried out the snorkelling. Was good, very shallow close to the beach, so not possible unless high tide, but the drop-off of the reefs were about 6m, so plenty to see even at low tide. Not much else to report other than we were like pendulums between the beach and bar area for the whole day!
Next morning we took the walk to the village on the other side of the island, and went to the kindergarten where some kids "sang" to us (though it was a bit like the haka by the looks on their faces!), and we looked through some stalls the ladies of the village laid out. I don't know how they sat there in the sun though, apparently it was 44 degrees that day!
We got back to the resort and recommenced our perpetual movements between beach and bar.
The night was spent eating and drinking (surprise surprise), and then doing the quiz, which we were winning (despite losing a dance-off I had to do as a tie-break), then the final round was a talent contest, which no-one was feeling, so we lost out, but still stuck around to watch the American girl piss around showing off again, but they still lost to the loony Chinese man with a snorkel mask on and bedsheet behind him doing a Chinese dragon.
Following day both Jo and Becky were a bit poorly, and I tried to hunt down reef sharks with my snorkel and went bloody miles, but still didn't find one.
We topped up the tan til the last minute in the afternoon when we got on the boat to our next island!

Viti Levu & Tavewa, Fiji, 14 - 15 March 2012‏

 So, it appears we have landed in paradise. We lifted off from Melbourne at 12.30am, and landed in Nadi at 6am. Flight was bloody freezing (thought I was a pro at all this flying malarkey now, so just wore shorts, tshirt and flip-flops, and nigh-on got hypothermia - bloody showing off the power of the air-con, I swear), and I slept through the free food and beer, but at least I slept.
Even though I knew we were going to paradise, it still doesn't prepare you. As we got off the plane, we saw the sun rise over the mountains. Even with the airport in the foreground, it was still mesmerising.
We got picked up and taken to our hostel, which was next door to the big party hostel, shared all its amenities, but was half the price. Was perfect. £4.50 each, beer was £1 a bottle, and free breakfast, plus we got to go use all the stuff in Smugglers Cove; so that afternoon we had a few drinks, played cards and played in their pool, then went back for the fire show that night. Fire show was good, with 5 lads and one girl doing lots of Fijian dancing, and starting and finishing with some pyro and blade stuff. We were all then asked to join in what we thought was just a bit of hokey-kokey. Turned out to be part Fijian lesson, part conga with hands between your legs, and part dance off (I was lucky and got some northern girl in her early 20s, Jo had some old Indian man who really took a shine!). Was great fun, and after some buggering about with STA via the phone and email at midnight (we're now 12 hours ahead, so the difference can be a nightmare), we got our vouchers for Awesome Adventures to start our 2 week trip around the islands by boat the next morning.
The next morning, we were up early, packed, ate brekkie, and by 8.30 were on a boat bound for the northern Yasawa island of Tavewa. We chose an island resort called Coral View, just at a stab in the dark before we got on the boat.
When we got on the boat, we were blown away; every resort looked incredible: the tiny islands of the Mamanucas which barely fit on one resort, and the larger island of the Yasawas, where honeymooners go, with their rocky peaks and abundance of reefs all around, evident by the waves breaking in the middle of the sea.
As we traveled up the chain of the islands, we went past most of the resorts (we chose one as far away as possible so we just slowly work our way back), and I made a note of the ones I liked the look of (one is pretty big, and I plan to kayak around the perimeter).
After 4 1/2 hours on the boat, chatting with numerous people including Becky from Cornwall and Luzian from Switzerland, it was time to say goodbye to Becky as she went off to her resort, whilst Luzian, Jo and I, and several others got on another littler boat which took us to Coral View.
We were greeted by every member of staff singing, and shaking our hands as we got off the boat. We then were led into the bar/dining area with a juice, given a speech about the resort, and given a stir-fry lunch. We then checked in, and Jo and I were shown to our "bure" which is private double, en-suite, and worth about 4 times what we paid I think. It is beautiful place, and as we walked back out to get some sun and go for a dip (the beach is about 8m from the door), I was still struggling to believe we were here.
We sunbathed, then had afternoon tea, played cards with Luzian and 3 others we met, then dinner time!
Dinner was split-pea soup, chicken curry, veg curry, rice, roti, poppadums, and chutney. As there are a lot of indians in Fiji (courtesy of Britain - built our empire with slaves/as good as slaves) it was really good grub. Had a few beers and chatted, then as it quietened down and not many were left, we headed to our little bure. Great day, amazing island, and so many stars I keep tripping over as I walk around at night (most I've seen by far), so going to stay for 2 nights, then move on either to Blue Lagoon on an island not far away, or to another island down the chain.

So top tip to anyone booking a holiday long in advance - book a flight to Fiji and buy the Awesome Adventure pass when you get here, or if you're honeymooning, book it to Fiji. This place is like nothing I've ever seen. True paradise, and people who all seem genuinely happy to meet/see you!

TTFN

x

Auckland NZ, 3 April 2012

Ok, for the few of you reading this and checking for updates, I'm sorry but I've been writing the updates on the phone, and not been able to email it as we don't have the email stuff working on the phone in NZ and didn't in Fiji, but rest assured, I'm working on it.

As a very small update, Fiji was fantastic, and we got out just in time it seems before a cyclone hit, and Jo has been poorly here in Auckland for the past few days, but she's on the mend and we're off on a tour of the country starting tomorrow to the North, then back to Auckland for a couple of days to pick up our Chinese visa (hopefully), then off to see the rest of NZ!

TTFN

x