http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/jayscoh/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from jayscoh en-us Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:55:14 +0000 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:55:14 +0000 The last couple of weeks has been mainly a succession of lsquolastsrsquo for me and Ed as we prepared to leave Samoa. Last weekend away to beach fales last swim last visit to the fruit and vegie lady last day at work last mango smoothie last night out on the town in Apia last outrigger paddle last time to see friendshellipSome lasts came and went without us realising for example th http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Samoa/Upolu/Apia/blog-356211.html Itrsquos mango season now in Samoa and all over Apia you can see trees heavy with the fruit and hundreds of overripe ones litter the ground everywhere. The smell of mangoes to me means Christmas and it certainly feels like all my Christmases have come at once with this many mangoes available. I could eat mangoes all day every day which is pretty much what Irsquove been doing. Their juic http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Samoa/Upolu/Apia/blog-351151.html A couple of weekends ago we farewelled a group of volunteers our friends who had finished their year here and were heading home. It was something of a milestone as it was the first group we have seen leave that we were also here to greet as they arrived in country. Previous volunteers have left but they had all arrived before us wersquore now the longestserving Aussie volunteers in Samoa. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Samoa/Upolu/blog-334435.html I know yoursquove all heard our exciting news by now but I canrsquot write a Pacificlife blog and not include the story of a very Pacific engagement. I think we bombarded most of your inboxes with an account of the proposal already but we omitted most of the rest of the wonderful trip to American Samoa so I should add that in here. It was a surprise anniversary trip that Ed had planned http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Samoa/Tutuila/blog-314062.html Here's the second instalment of my trip to Tokelau for their series of women's events in March. See the first instalment for the painful boat trip and an intro to the intriguing atolls of Tokelau.Day six SaturdayI rose early to get to the handicrafts market the main event of the economic summit. Tokelauan handicrafts are quite coveted several of my Samoan colleagues asked me to pick them up http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Tokelau/blog-270058.html Tokelau trip 3rd to 15th March 2008Hands up whorsquos heard of Tokelau. Didnrsquot think so. In fact it wasn't even one of the options for 'location' on this travelblog site I had to specially request that they add it. Tokelau is actually a country but the reason you probably havenrsquot heard of it is that itrsquos made up of three tiny coral atolls in the middle of the Pacific Ocea http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Tokelau/blog-262502.html Hello Julia here and a very belated Happy New Year to allI recently joined a local soccer team having been invited by a colleague who plays with a bunch of his former workmates from a previous job. Itrsquos 11 a side with a minimum of five girls on field at any time and we get to play on the fields from the South Pacific Games so the set up is pretty good. Irsquom the only palagi fore http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Samoa/Upolu/Apia/blog-245792.html So where was I Oh thatrsquos right the best meal in the world prior to heading to the Massif Central region. Well the Massif Central is supposed to be you guessed it massive. And it would have been if it wasnrsquot completely covered in cloud. We headed first for le Puy de Dome one of the mountains that is supposed to be great to drive up for a fantastic view but unfortunately th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/blog-225171.html Who would have thought life in Samoa could get so busy Excuses aside Irsquove finally written the first instalment of our trip to the other side of the world. Europe really is on the other side from Samoa you can go either way around and it takes about the same time. So here you goHaving barely spent three months settling in to our new island home Ed and I suddenly decided it would be a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/blog-217980.html With your skulls blingYou make everythinghellipgroovyMeet our new 1993 ldquoSuzuki Sidekickrdquo a belittling model name for a car I know but this badass is no shrinking violet. We now cruise the streets of Apia with ferocious looking skulls lining both doors ldquoWild Thangrdquo plastered down the sides and the piece de resistance a diamantestudded dollar sign on the fro http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Samoa/Upolu/Apia/blog-211913.html So far so good with work for both me and Julia but we might as well write about that later when we know a bit more about what wersquore actually doing here so for now Irsquoll tell you about home sweet home. Wersquove moved into an old 2storey German colonial house which has been recently extended and redone to make four 2bd units. Wersquove got one of the top ones that overlooks a l http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Samoa/Upolu/Apia/blog-179884.html Julia here thought I'd give you the rundown on my work. The office is a bit ramshackle the roof leaks the floor is wonky and it hasnrsquot been renovated since it was built a good forty years ago at least but I have plenty of daylight streaming in and behind me through the window I can see away to the mountains. Although I'll be playing musical desks a bit for the next couple of months. T http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Samoa/Upolu/Apia/blog-185188.html Arriving back at Domain Road after a week at home in Oz we me and my two new housemates Wes and Janet were met with hugs from Kara and the family and went inside to discover that they had redecorated for us. The furniture throughout the house had been rearranged with some nice touches to welcome us back like sarongs on the walls and pot plants brought in. Previously we had had blownup phot http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Suva/blog-140736.html Irsquove had a few reminders recently about the differing status of women in Fiji. Having grown up in a city and family where I had all the opportunities available to me that men did except when I was in a surf club but thatrsquos a whole other story itrsquos easy to forget that gender equality still has a long way to go in a lot of places. A lot of it is not about overt sexism either i http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Suva/blog-148011.html Anyone with an impending wedding to plan and minimal dosh take note. Traditional Fijian weddings are so hot right now. Nothing like matching outfits for the bride and groom and a quick coating of coconut oil as the entire prewedding beauty regime to put a stop to any bridezilla fantasies. Although Irsquod stick with westernstyle giftgiving unless you want to end up with enough pillows blan http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Suva/blog-154555.html The day approached with excruciating slowness and speed at the same time. On the one hand I clearly remembered looking in my diary and seeing eight weeks to go until I leave Fiji and then all of a sudden there was a week left and it seemed that seven others had concertinaed themselves together in the intervening space without the good grace to warn me that they had decided to shrink. On the othe http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Suva/blog-165440.html I think I may have finally found paradise. Itrsquos an island called Taveuni also known as the Garden Island to the northwest of Viti Levu the main island in Fiji. Over the Easter long weekend Sally Emily and I headed to Taveuni for a girlsrsquo weekend. After conveniently leaving our flight bookings too late we had to take an extra day off work to get a spot on the plane back so lucki http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/blog-154337.html After doing our best headless chicken impersonations and trying to madly catch up with everyone and get organised over the last couple of weeks Ed and I finally scraped through checkin without having to pay for our ridiculously overweight bags and collapsed in a heap on the plane. Five hours later we stumbled off at the other end blearyeyed at 1am the morning before we had actually left alth http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Samoa/Upolu/Apia/blog-174370.html A few people commented on the morose tone of my last entry so Irsquom following it up with a cheery blog. Just to add another twist to the story I got the call a week ago saying my assignment was given the allclear to return so Irsquove decided to spend another three months in Fiji to finish it off. But more on that later first a rundown on one of the most amazing days Irsquove ever http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Kadavu-Island/blog-129569.html We really need to buy some carbon credits to offset all this air travel wersquore doing. In the blink of an eye events have come full circle and Ed and I find ourselves back in Fiji in a hotel in Nadi. A standard cheap Fijian hotel where the oncewhite sheets are now a uniform grey from the collective sweat stains of a thousand guests some of whom have certainly lain their heads here since http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Fiji/Viti-Levu/Nadi/blog-123521.html