Westernred

So, made it to Fiji and glad I made the trip. My gut response was it's like a combo of Hawaii, Tonga and the Whitsundays. No a bad start! The wqeather the last 2 days hasdnt been super duper but the sun has been pout all day today and I am makingthem ost of it. I lefty the smallest island- South Sea Island today after spending my first 2 days there. It's tiny and more like a Fijian homestay than anything else. Last night we sat around the table drinking cava which numbs your mouth and makde my limbs go all heavy. The food there was tyo die for and despite the cloudy weather I had a ball. Now i'm on Manta Ray island and tonight I'm going to see the sunset via a tube cruise. ... read more

I’m well aware that this saying usually refers to two year old toddlers but in my case it refers to my terrible Term Two. Perhaps terrible is a slightly more powerful word than is necessary but, it has undoubtedly been a very trying term with lots of challenges and… while it’s not quite over yet, since it’s nearing the end of Week 8 and I’m so over it - I have made the call to put an end to all the crap stuff. Classroom life has been unique - but the internet is not the place to discuss such matters. It is true to say that I have never been as tested behaviourally as I have this term, but fingers crossed vital progress is being made. The most unexpected part was how much energy I was ... read more

When the alarm went off at 4am I have to admit that it was a struggle to raise my head, but I had a feeling it was going to be worth the effort. Neroli and I packed our gear and headed out to the jetty for 5am. We met the guys, they had been there since 4.30 and were keen to get going. As we headed out it was kind of strange to see the jetty from the water side. When the sun started climbing with all the pinks, purples and reds it was truly beautiful. The trip out into the blue water was pretty rough, but only by Derby standards, I hadn't taken a sea sickness tablet and didn't feel sick but maybe that was becasue I was riding up the front. Poor Neroli got ... read more

I spent my last day in Perth on Rottnest with my wonderful sister and all the things I love best in the world. I swam and drank and laughed and was completely and utterly happy. It was a glorious day and the perfect way to finish up my summer. Australia day night was spent in our neighbour’s garage at the annual street party. The rain, thunder and lightning kept us all entertained and there was so much amazing food I wished I could have packed a lunchbox for the plane. I snuck inside to finish packing up my mountain of stuff. All I can say is thank god ill be back in march I had to leave so much stuff behind. I crawled into bed and was asleep before dad even had a chance to say ... read more

We kicked the day off with some serious energy food at the resort’s restaurant. Soffia ate more in this one meal than she had in the entire trip so far. I think that the colder weather and yummy toast helped a lot! We all felt a strange mix of anticipated nervousness and excitement all rolled into one. We walked to the beginning of the Mesilau Trail and met our mountain guide Rony. There was just enough time for some ‘pre-climb’ snaps and then we were off into the unknown! Obviously it was tough at times but in general I found it a nice walk. The last bit up to the rest point was steep and Soffia struggled with the effects of altitude sickness. We all made it to Laban Rata well before sunset though which we ... read more

After a simple breakfast of watermelon and dry toast we hung out in our room until our departure time of 10:45. We were all keen to get going earlier and felt the hanging around was a bit of a time waster. We entertained ourselves by drying out Soffia's daypack with newspaper and writing our free 'welcome to borneo" postcards. Eventually, we climbed into the van and set off on the two hour mini van ride bound for our Miso Walai Homstay along the Kinabatangan River. We made a quick supermarket stop for essential supplies (tigerbalm, bottled water, cremos and other snacks). We also made a pee stop where you paid according to your ummm.... requirements! (See photo for further explaination) Upon our arrival our homstay guide Otto, took us on an open fishing boat ride along ... read more