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Published: March 20th 2008
Well, I haven't blogged for a while, but it's certainly not because I haven't been wanting to! It's too hard to find time to do everything online that I need to but anyway, here I am in New Zealand with much to tell!
Although we planned to spend three weeks in Fiji, we actually only spent 10 days. After lots of rain (who knew it was rainy season!), mosquito bites and sunburn we'd done everything we wanted to. We spent a lovely couple of nights on the mainland close to Nadi and explored the town centre and surrounding area. We were lucky enough to be able to make it to the garden of the sleeping giant, at the foot of a large mountain called the sleeping giant (of course!) where we could walk through the rainforestand we also went to the very first Fijian villageand were shown around by a lovely woman who told us lots of interesting cultural information. Over the next seven days we went on a boat trip up the Yasawas chain of islands and stayed on three different islands and a live aboard cruise. The first island was Tavewa for two nights and was where I had my first experience snorkelling - it was amazing, so many fish and a bright blue starfish! We also climbed a very big hill, ot sunburnt (my feet had to be seen to be believed, and unfortunately there are pictures!) and also went to some caves. There was the opportunity to go underwater in the dark through the caves but for some reason I wasn't feeling particularly adventurous that day! One cave was enough! The live aboard cruise was excellent and we went snorkelling and kayaking in the rain - might as well get totally soaked! We also took turns to jump off the side of the boat which was great fun. We moved on to Waya Lai Lai Ecohaven for two nights and witnessed some lovely rain storms! They were actually quite spectacular as the clouds were so low and covered the tops of the mountains. We didn't do a great lot those two days but I went to a Fijian Church service - little did I know the visitors were expected to sing in front of the locals! The service was wonderful in it's simplicity - even the choir performed sitting from their seatswith the conductor seated amongst them changing the tempo and dynamics by tapping his hands differently! Our final island was South Sea Island and was a lot of fun. The people were very friendly and we got some good weather aboard the Seaspray day cruise on the final day. We got to witness a Kava ceremony and visit Modriki island, where the film Castaway was filmed.After a night back on the mainland we changed our flight and headed to Auckland. Fiji is beautiful, the islands are all sandy beaches and clear waters but it's definitely a place for relaxing and we headed to New Zealand early to do more with our time.
We were lucky enough to get the same flight was some lovely people we met in Fiji and spent the two nights in Auckland with them. On something of a whim, we decided to rent a car for a week and travelled north to Cape Reinga where the Tasman Sea and Pacific ocean meet. We made it all the way there and back without crashing the car or killing anyone, and had some interesting stops along the way including Whangerei, Dargaville and many national parks. I have a picture of me standing next to the oldest and largest tree (I think) in the world! After our road trip we spent a few more days exploring Auckland and saw the harbour and sy tower and climbed Mount Eden for some incredible views of the city and surrounding area.
We began our Magic Bus journey a week and a half ago and our first stop was Thames, a small town on the Corromandel Peninsular, where we became Woofers - people who work on organic farms! This means we do some work in exchange for a bed and meals and is a good and interesting concept where I'm learning a lot. Our next stop was Kuaotunu (not, as we thought, pronounced 'cow and tuna'!) where there a re beautiful white sandy beaches and a very generous ice cream shop! On the way to Whitianga for an appropriate stay at the Cat's Pyjamas hostel, we saw Cathedral Cove which is a lovely beach sheltered by majestic cliffs and trees. There is a gaping hole in one of the cliffs that you can walk right through and the waves crashing over the rocks made for some wonderful viewing.
We are currently in Rotorua after stopping at Waitomo glow worm caves on the way. The caves were awesome, so old and vast with the opportunity for many different activities. My walk and boat trip through some of them was both interesting and eerie! Apparantly concerts are held in the bigger caves, which would be something I'd love to see! The glow worms are very pretty and in the darkness look like stars at night. We will be staying in Rotorua for a while now, before continuing with our journey south.
I hope this essay makes up for the lack of recent blogs and if you made it to the end without falling asleep - well done!
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dad
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Blog 7
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!! Oh, I've just woken up. Good to hear from you - did you meet Tom Hanks? Looking forward to Blog 8! Love, Dad. xxxxxx