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Published: December 30th 2005
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The Goonmobile
Meet the newest member of our family, a 1993 Mitsubishi Delica. Yep, we're in Auckland and we bought a van. It's awesome here, New Zealand is kickass. But first let me recap our last week in Fiji.
We left Lautoka and spent a night in Nadi on our way to Mana Island. Our friend Rio from Nananu-i-ra was there so that was cool. She told us that Dangerous Dave was staying down the road, so later that night we go to surprise him at his hostel and see what he's up to. We walked around to the back of the bar and find him in the front of a Fijian conga dance. Typical Dave style.
The next day, Dave flew to Auckland and Bryan and I hopped on a 9am boat to Mana. The ride was amazing, it took about 45 minutes to get to the island and we were going real fast through some bumpy water. Of course I was loving it, but there was a Japanese girl named Mimi who looked like she was about to throw up all over the place. Unfortunately for my amusement, she didn't.
We passed some of the most amazing scenery I've ever seen, there were tons of tiny islands that you
Boat to Mana Island
Me on the boat about to leave for Mana. could probably walk around in about 15 minutes. We finally get to Mana and it was absolutely beautiful. But we noticed some things that were lacking compared to the other places we'd been. For example, the beach was very small, there were no chairs or hammocks, and no shade. What can I say, we'd been in Fiji for a couple weeks already and got fully spoiled by the other places we stayed. But also there was garbage in the water, and Bryan found several huge pieces of broken glass while swimming. So we slowly were getting a not-so-great vibe about the place. Then it hit us - we decided to go back to the Beachouse the next day. It's awesome to be travelling like this and be able to make instant decisions. But we did meet a bunch of great people there and found old friends too. We had such a great time that night that it was actually a bit hard to leave so quickly.
But as soon as we got back to the Beachouse we were unbelievably happy with our decision. I absolutely love that place. We met more really cool people and it felt great to
Enjoying the ride
Here's Bryan and that's Mimi behind him who was about to hurl all over the place. be there. Our Fijian friend Ben stopped by and invited us to spend Christmas at his village for a lovo. A lovo is basically a big hole in the ground with hot rocks in it, and they put all kinds of meat in there, cover it up, and let it cook for a few hours. So we show up on Christmas day and sat down (on the floor) for a massive feast. It was such a bugout, eating all this really strange food with our hands and waving towels to keep away the flies. Then we went to Ben's friend's village and drank Kava for a couple hours and hung out. What a bizarre Christmas. Very different than the chinese food and movie ritual done by all the other Jewish New Yorkers.
Leaving the Beachouse was kinda tough. But we headed back to Nadi for the night and met up with Alan before our flight to New Zealand the next day. Auckland is great. Our hostel is awesome, the weather is perfect, the people are cool, and it's a lot of fun to be back in a city. Plus, I can finally enjoy a decent cup of coffee. And
Tiny island
This is just one of dozens of tiny islands we passed on the boat to Mana. I put on a pair of socks for the first time in a month. We met back up with Dave and so we're a group of 4 again. They day we got here, Bryan won the 9-ball tournament at our hostel and got a free Skyjump, which basically involves jumping off the Skytower in downtown Auckland attached to a wire. It's 192 meters high. I wanted to go too but it costs almost $200 so I'll save it for another activity.
Here in New Zealand just about all the backpackers wind up buying a car or van and reselling it when they're finished. So we went shopping and actually found a van that same day. It's a white 1993 Mitsubishi Delica with 150,000 kilometers on it. Perfect. Two seats up front and a bench in the back which can fold up and there is a double bed behind it. Hardcore yo. It's gonna be great.
So anyway, we'll probably stay in Auckland for the New Years festivities then hit the road. Dunno where we'll go first yet. We gotta buy a map I guess.
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Gianna
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I love getting the updates on your travels. Happy New Years! Miss you..