Nevin & Kristina's Trip to New Zealand

January 30th 2008

Bula from the windiest place on earth,

After a very long sleepless couple nights on the floor, there is word that the boat will come today, only to take travelers to the main island of Nadi. We had paid for two more nights on the islands but decided the best bet was to take the boat to the mainland as the storm seemed to be very unpredictable and there was rumor it may change direction again and come back North.
It was a debate whether to stay on the island that was becoming flooded, and short on supplies, but still fairly safe – or get on a boat that was travelling on the open water with waves crashing over the top deck of the 2nd storey. We boarded the small motor boat and headed out to meet the big boat, never felt so much like a refugee, trying to escape a country! As soon as we stepped on the big boat, we knew it was going to be a rough and unpleasant trip.
As I found a place to sit down on the boat, I smelled the familiar smell of Chinese food, and then immediately the familiar odours of Indian Curry. I thought, wow, their cooking us lunch! As I turned around, one of the girls sitting behind me was completely green and puking in a paper bag! Suddenly the thought of lunch was not so appetizing and I as I looked around I realized everyone was joining the Puckenfestin, as Jay would so perfectly describe it. We’ ll leave it at that, as I am having flashbacks just thinking about it!
When we got to Nadi (the main city) the cyclone had virtually drown everything and the streets were under curfew enforced by the military. We decided to head straight to the airport and try to jump on the first flight back to Los Angeles, even though our original flight was scheduled for three days later.
We were doubtful that we would actually get on a flight as there were many weary faces in the airport trying to get out of the country, as no flight had left in over 24 hours. It ended up being our lucky day and after 3 hours of standing in line and waiting on stand-by, we were called last minute to board a Air New Zealand flight to LA!
I think we lost track of the number of hours – however there was at least 2 stormy night of no sleep and then an uncomfortable 10 hour flight to LA, it felt like we were on the Amazing Race/Survivor and have never been more thankful for a hot shower and clean bed!

At this point we will wrap up our blog describing our travels. We are glad to be back in North America!
We have a few days before we fly home to the Arctic cold of Canada so we plan to spend our time recovering, relaxing and shopping!
Can’t wait to see everyone and sleep in our own bed.

Best of travels to all the new friends we made along our trip. Keep in touch and remember our door is always open for a visit!

Cheers,

Nevin and Kristina

January 28th, 2008.

Bula from Manta Ray Resort,

Today we were scheduled for our first transfer to another island. We are headed to Manta Ray resort on Nanuya Balavu Island. It is about a 1.5 hour boat ride south. We have also heard good things about this resort, people that have stayed in Manta Ray say the snorkelling is great! At certain times of the year you can swim with the Manta Rays, they are reported to have a 3-5 meter wing span! Unfortunately, we visited in the off-season, they are there from April to November. We arrived in the late afternoon and decided to get settled in to our new bure on the beach before dinner.
During dinner we were acquainting ourselves with the new group of travellers and had sat down to eat and visit with a couple we had just met from Denmark. Shortly into our meal, the resort manager advised us that a tropical cyclone named “Gene” was expected to hit the main island of Fiji (to the south of the islands we were travelling) and that we would likely experience high winds and heavy rain through the night. (Little did we know at the time that South of the equator this type of storm is called a cyclones, however North of the equator we call them hurricanes!)
The staff seemed fairly calm and indicated that they would keep us informed throughout the night if anything changed. We went to bed and locked down our bure, but it was a pretty sleepless night as the wind picked up. Around midnight the storm intensified and around 4am we woke up to hammering outside. We opened our door to see the staff nailing plywood over the doors and windows of the nearby bures. One of the resort personnel indicated we need to grab our valuables and head to the main office as the cyclone had changed direction and was headed for the islands! It was expected to hit us in a few hours.
From this point on it became a bit of a blur as we moved our belongings to higher ground and camped out on the floor of the administration building waiting between the next meal and for the next storm update, which arrived by fax about every three hours. At this point the winds were about 100km per hour and the rain was coming down in sheets. We were only scheduled to stay on this island for one night and then move to another island and resort island to the south. However, since there were no boats daring to travel the seas during the storm, we were stranded!
Unfortunatley, because of the intense wind and rain we did not brave the elements to take many pictures – at some points during the storm the wind was between 160-180km/hour!

Cheers,

Nevin & Kristina

We are just to the left of the center in the second ring!!

January 25th, 2008
BULA! (Hello) from the hottest place we have ever been!
W e arrived in Fiji just after two in the afternoon. We had arranged a shuttle to a hotel in Nadi for the first night, as the boat for the islands leaves at 8:30 in the morning. We waited about 20 minutes on a bench outside the airport until our driver finished visiting with his other driver friends and then we loaded up our luggage in a van and started on our way. Everything happens on Fiji time!! It was scorching hot in the van and of course no air conditioning! I would have liked to have a thermometer, as the van had sat on black pavement with the windows rolled up in the hot Fijian sun for who knows how long! I had to laugh at the driver when we asked about the weather and the seasons – he said there are two seasons: hot and dry and hot and wet. He then made the comment that we would love to go to a colder country such as Canada – because the sun makes him blacker then he already is!
We stayed in a very small hotel right on the ocean, called Aquarius Pacifica. It was very cute and a great little pool and hammocks on the beach. We decided to catch up some rest and have a quiet meal at the hotel on the patio. We both ordered dishes with prawns. We were a little surprised when we received our plates with whole prawns with heads, eyes and feelers! We had some interesting company at supper including: 2 toads, two stray cats, two stray dogs and a couple of geckos!
In the morning we will board a catamaran and cruise up to the top of the Yasewa Islands. I think there is about 15 islands in this group, however there are over 300 islands in Fiji!

This is were we spent the first night in Nadi Fiji.

January 26-27th, 2008

Bula!

We were picked up at our hotel at 7am and taken to the Denarau Marina to board the boat. This Marina is also where the ritzy vacation properties and houses of vacationers from around the world are. There is nice golf courses and resorts, along with a classy shopping center. The catamaran that we boarded takes the 4.5 hour cruise up the Yasewa Islands and drops people off at the various resorts on the different islands. At the same time, this boat delivers supplies to the resorts and picks people who want to visit another resort on another island. It was a beautiful day, so we sat outside and soaked up the rays and were able to take some pictures of the islands as we cruised along. I had no idea how small some of the islands are- and how they manage to fit a resort on them!
Our itinerary was 6 nights on 4 different islands. Our first destination was a resort called Coral view on Tavewa island which is close to the north end of the Yasewa islands, it took close to 4 hours to get to this first island.
I have to say we really enjoyed the cruise and the heat, as there was always a nice breeze when the boat was moving, however after getting off the boat we both felt a little heat/sun stroke even despite the hats and 30 & 45 sun block!
When it is time to get off the boat at your stop, the catamaran can not pull into shore at the resorts because it is often shallow and almost always full of coral. So two small boats come out from the resort and pick up the luggage and the resort guests. It is usually only a 5-10 minute boat ride into shore. The resort staff are all awaiting you on shore with a huge welcome and quickly unload your luggage and show you to your room – or should a say “bure”. At Coral View, our first resort we were very lucky as we had a private bure with running water, electricity and a king bed! The rumour on the boat was that this was one of the nicer resorts and many people chose to extend their stay here. The staff were incredibly friendly and attentive which definitely made it easy to settle in.

The main activities on the island were swimming, snorkelling, laying in a hammock or having a siesta. I would say we enjoyed all these!

Bye for now,

Nevin and Kristina

An example of how small some of the islands are.

Boat transfers bewteen islands, Fiji style.

View from Coral View resort. One of our favorite places to hang out.

Our pad for two days.

January 23th-January 25th, 2007
Hi!
The rain only lasted the one day, so before we left Dunedin behind, we stopped for an early morning run up Baldwin Street, which is claimed to be the steepest street in the world. It definitely got our hearts pumping before we got on the bus. One of the stops along the way to our destination was the Moeraki boulders, which are spherical boulders formed millions of years ago on the sea floor. Encased in sandstone, the earths crust moved and the coast rose up from the sea. Millions of years later, when the sea eroded the cliff face the boulders have been uncovered. A very unusual sight!
Our last stop on the tour was Lake Tekapo which was a very large glacier lake. The lake is a beautiful color of blue which is indescribable and difficult to capture even on camera. The glacier water picks up limestone and other minerals on its way down and turns it an amazing milky blue color. The building in the picture is a very small church called the Church of the Good Shepard, it the only building in sight that is close to the water’s edge. This is our last stop on the tour, from here it is on to Christchurch were we will need to do our last minute shopping and say goodbye to all our new friends that we met along the way! We will arrive in Christchurch around noon and then fly to Auckland in the evening.
Unfortunately, this will wrap up our time in New Zealand Boo-hoo..... It is such a beautiful and diverse country we definitely needed more time to see it all. Friday afternoon we will be off to Fiji! Looking forward to the sunbathing and snorkelling!

Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand. Claims to be the steepest street in the world!

Moeraki boulders

Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepard

Hello,

Sunday January 20th - Tuesday January 23rd

From the mountains, we moved a little further down the coast to Queenstown “ The Adventure Capital of the World” Queenstown would be similar in comparison to Banff. It also is the sight of the beginning of Bungy jumping, we stopped at the world’s first bungy jump site, and a few people from our tour bus jumped, I was also surprised that the jump was only 42m above the river, I thought it would be much higher! We had a great time in Queenstown as there was lots of nightlife and street performers along with beautiful views and sunsets. As a day trip from Queenstown we took a day trip through the mountains (literally!) There was a almost 2 km tunnel through a mountain on the way!) and out to Milford Sound, where we boarded a boat for a cruise around the Sound. It was amazing scenery and Nevin even had the opportunity to snap some pictures of the dolphins that came alongside the boat and the fur seals that were sun bathing on the rocks.

From Queenstown we headed up the East coast of the South Island to Dunedin, which is a Scottish settlement. Unfortunately, this was our one day of rain on the entire trip, so we did not see as much of the landscape, scenery and wildlife as we were hoping too. Instead, we headed indoors and toured the Cadbury Chocolate Factory. I am very glad that I do not work there as I would not be able to resist the incredible smell of chocolate that fills the entire building and factory! It was neat to see how the chocolate bars are made, but unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures. I was very surprised to see the wide variety of chocolate that Cadbury makes that is not available in North America. They make over 50 different kinds of chocolate bars and I think only about 12 of them are available in Canada! I thought of you all and wanted to bring some back for you to try, but I was afraid they would melt in Fiji!

Nevin & Kristina

This lake reflects the Southern Alps. Basically the same shot on a lot of post cards.

Quick stop at Lake Wanaka on the way to Queenstown.

One of guys from our tour, jumping at the original AJ Hackett Bungy Jump over a river.

Queenstown from the top of the gondola

Moon over Queenstown

Milford Sound on the West Coast of NZ

Dolphins in Milford Sound

Seals sunning themselves in Milford Sound