http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Psipsina/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Psipsina en-us Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:49:44 +0000 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:49:44 +0000 I think I have started using the term home in an increasingly flexible sense lately. Is England really home for me Or is Crete...or is Fiji as by December I had been living there almost a year. Well I think I can have many homes as many as I like in fact as long as there is a reason to call somewhere home and it feels like home then home it is. In this instance I was coming home to Englan http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Hampshire/Southampton/blog-293114.html I visited Nauru for the second time about six months ago and this is my much delayed account of that visit. I wanted to write this short description mainly so I would have an excuse to also post over 15 photos which I think show a different side of Nauru than my first blog entry. There is a lot of beauty on this island despite everything. This entry is dedicated to the beaches the ocean and the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Nauru/Yaren/blog-244730.html This was my first trip to Samoa and I was determined to make the most of it. I was rapidly realising that even though I lived in the Pacific visiting the many hundreds of islands in it within the next year was going to be tricky so every opportunity had to be grabbed by the horns so to speak. Samoa for me conjured up images of fierce warriors tribal tattoos and more recently a pretty decent http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Samoa/Upolu/Apia/blog-234685.html Rafting down the Upper Navua river was excellent I don't know if there's that much more to say really. Well OK here's a little bit more...This was another one day expedition with Rivers Fiji. It was great fun and I would recommend it to anyone. I guess itrsquos not the cheapest but in my opinion well worth the money. We set off from the Rivers Fiji office in Pacific Harbour and again see the http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/blog-232078.html Well conquest may be a tad of an exaggeration but still...it was a long way to the topAfter 7 months of residence in Fiji finally in September I embarked on my first proper hike up a mountain. This was Mount Koroyanitu in the North West of Viti Levu. The trip was organised by the Rucksack club an organisation that has been a lifesaver for me. Without them I donrsquot think I would have se http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/blog-231593.html This is my day kayaking down the Luva river in Viti Levu the big island of Fiji. It was a blast.I had probably hoped for a sunnier day but in Suva and the environs that is all you can do. Hope. Then you just have to wake up in the morning and go with the flow. As it was a cloudy day looked in the offing but at least it wasnrsquot raining. First things first I had to find a packed lunch to t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/blog-228125.html I had another opportunity to visit the Marshall Islands in August for the Pacific Power Association's Annual Conference. Doesn't sound like a holiday does it Well yes it was mainly work but there was time for a little hanging around on the beach too. As there always is when you are on a pacific island The occasion was a networking picnic or whatever you would like to call it. The substance http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Marshall-Islands/Majuro/blog-224232.html End of July and time for a trip to Palau to sort out some work stuff. I was also planning to take the opportunity to do a little more exploration around the island of Koror and hopefully some sea kayaking. But low and behold the day before I was to set off for the 1.5 days of travel just to get to Palau from Fiji I came down with the most horrible cold ever. My nose was well disgusting and I http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Palau/Koror/blog-211642.html After a wonderfully pleasant stopover in sunny Hawaii I arrived in the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the capital of Majuro to be precise to be greeted by torrential rain. Hangon a minute I thought aren't I still pretty close to the Equator Where's the sun Nevermind I knew my visit was going to be short and mainly work related so I didn't have high hopes of seeing the sights this t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Marshall-Islands/blog-202953.html I guess transiting isn't so bad when you get to spend a whole day at Waikiki beach as I did on my recent trip to the Marshall Islands. I arrived very very early in the morning and discovered that Honolulu airport isn't the most user friendly as far as finding the nearest bus stop into town goes. After a little wandering around dazed and confused because of lack of sleep and rude awakening I deci http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/blog-196169.html OK I was not that surprised that Nauru was not listed as a country in Australasia on this Travelblog but I am pretty surprised that I can't find Kiribati either Nevermind I only spent a day there afterall. I'll explain. My plan was to spend a week in Nauru and then fly on to the Marshall Islands. The only airline that runs this route is Our Airline Nauru's national airline a notoriously unr http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Kiribati/blog-178525.html Ha This travelblog doesn't even list Nauru as a country So where shall I start I think the first thing to know is that this is the smallest independent country in the world covering just 21 square km and with just 10000 inhabitants. On a single island rock. And it has a vote in the UN. It is also the only country in the world without an official capital well it is a single island with on http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Nauru/blog-168359.html I just wanted to share with you a little getaway near Suva. It's a rainforest park just a 20 minute drive from the city and perfect for a quick escape from town at the weekend. I've been there just a couple of times but it is lovely and I intend to visit as often as possible. It's easy to just turn up and go for a walk among the trees along the river and stop to admire lots of greenery and sma http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/Suva/blog-167621.html DAY 3 There was no escape. Cliche or no cliche. I had to pay a visit to the Opera House. We set out for the harbour in the late morning after a delicious breakfast in a little Newtown cafe just 10 metres from Katherine's door step which was just as well because Saturday night had been a late one. It was yet another glorious day. Sun shining. Not a cloud in the big blue sky. On arrival at th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Opera-House/blog-165904.html DAY 2 Woke up not too bright and early on Saturday ready for our major expedition of the weekend the 10km Spit to Manly walk. After the capoeira training the night before just getting out of bed was a challenge and I wondered how I would fair after a few hours of walking but hey nothing was gonna stop me It was another beautiful day as Kat Neil and I set out. The first part of the walk t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Manly/blog-161299.html DAY 1 It all started early a bit too early on a Friday morning. The 4th May to be precise...I had to crawl out of bed at 5am to get to the airport from the 7am flight to Sydney. I managed to catch up on some sleep by sleeping in the taxi to the airport and of course throughout the 4 and a half hour flight to Sydney. The plane arrived on time and having no checkin luggage I strolled right out http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Blue-Mountains/blog-157224.html Well I think we went to Namosi this weekend and I'm sure someone will eventually correct me if I have got it wrong. So I was finally making it out into the jungle everywhere is so goddam green around here. We parked our cars at the end of the dirst road and headed down towards the river. We walked up the river mainly actually walking in the water for about 30 minutes which was great fun http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/Suva/blog-154318.html The last couple of weeks have been excellent I've bought a brand new shiny bike which didn't cost me an arm and a leg and now I am happily cycling round Suva and hope to go on a ride to the hilly interior soon. Cycling along the waterfront is great. Very relaxing. Even when it is raining. Of course as soon as I had the bike I participated in my first Duathlon the supersprint version 500m http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/Suva/blog-151571.html Apparently WAI TUI means the oceanwavesthe sea in Fijian or something like that and the WAI TUI International is the onceayear international paddling competition in Fiji. Paddling I hear you say how can that be a competitive sport . Ah yes. We Europeans are not so used to this utilisation of the word paddling. What we are talking about here is outrigger canoes and I have included http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/Nadi/blog-146994.html Had a fantastic time on Monday when I did my first ocean swim a 1km race in a national competition It was a beautiful morning very sunny and also a little windy. I was pretty excited by the whole prospect even though I had done no training and never swum for 1km continuously in the sea but I figured how hard can it be Plus it was the shortest of the 3 races going on the other two being 2.5 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/Suva/blog-145220.html