Divey Spidey

Work asked me to use up some of my annual leave, so Rachel & I decided to rent a campervan and go up northwards (it's warmer north, right?) So on the 12th we picked it up and set off. The first day was mainly driving. Funnily enough, this was the first time I had driven a camper at more than 10-15km/h, after 9 months of driving them daily. Being used to driving a Skyline, the campervan's lack of power (especially up hills) took a bit of getting used to. It was automatic too, and would do stupid things like stay in 3rd gear until 60km/h.... But to my amazement, the van was really comfortable! We had come prepared with extra duvets & bedding so we were warm enough (well, the 2 heaters helped too...) plus the ... read more

In early December, Israel & I went to Dunedin but I've been too lazy to write about it til now. I'd been really sick the days before (Omg, sick enough to take time of work!!!1!) so the drive down wasn't fun. When we got to Dunedin we first went to Portobello and got to go behind the scenes again. I took some cool underwater pictures in the rockpool tank. Then we briefly went to the albatross colony to watch birds from the carpark. Once we returned to the city, a petrol station attendant mocked me for buying 2 pies (Israel was in the car!) We ate these at the botanical gardens where I once again got to feed the ravenous ducks (We did the same last year on our Stewart Island trip). I love feeding ducks. ... read more

Israel and I took a brief roadtrip on my days off this week. The main reasons for the trip were to do Whale Watch Kaikoura, find the black kite (a bird) in Blenheim and visit the Picton aquarium. On Tuesday morning we headed off early to Kaikoura. We were on the waiting list for Whale Watch (We were getting on at a heavily discounted rate, so the paying customers had priority) but managed to secure seats for the 10.30 trip. The boat ride was good. Their is a slideshow thing playing so the 20 minute ride isn't boring and the seats are comfortable. Altogether we saw 5 sperm whales. A typical tour is 1 - 2 whales, so 3 and above is extra awesome. They weren't hugely exciting to watch, basically looked like big floating logs. ... read more

After returning to the main island, we headed back to Colo-i-Suva to stay at Raintree lodge again. Although I'd liked it here heaps the first time, I now consider it to be pretty average. Tovutovu Resort has just raised my standards so much ;-) It's funny, the cleaning/maintenance staff here are so much friendlier than the service staff (some of whom are very disinterested). The next day we bused to downtown Suva to do some of the things we missed first time. I wanted to do some souvenir shopping, so we headed for the curio and handicraft market. It was so awful here. Firstly the goods weren't that great quality. Secondly I suspect they were mainly made in Indonesia and all the shop keepers were Indian, so it wasn't supporting local Fijians. Thirdly, I really hate ... read more

So on the 2nd we left Kadavu and arrived on Taveuni. There's a lot more tourists here, mainly American and some Australians. We stayed at Tovutovu resort. This place was fantastic, really good value. Although it was the most expensive place we stayed, it felt like it should have been far more expensive. For only F$75 ($10 more than Raintree) we got a big bure with a private bathroom and hot water! The towels and bedding were changed daily. There were also tea & coffee sachets in the rooms. By the end of the stay here, the staff absolutely loved us and were really spoiling us. One woman in particular often gave us free drinks or extra large portions. The only annoying thing was that there was no kitchen so we had to eat out most ... read more