Location: Fiji
Fiji time!!!! 10 culture filled days in Fiji was the best way to end the trip. We bought ourselves a "bula pass" and island hopped 5 different islands on the Yasawas. Covey Potter (our amazing Santa Crus, USA) friend joined us the entire trip. To get to the furthest island...it was a 4 hour boat ride. There were a total of 8 of us staying there....here were learned the "bula" dance adn had home cooked meals. The islands closer to the mainland, Nandi, were far more "touristy", buffet style meals and more of a party. Bounty Isalnd has a particular place in our hearts and the staff went out of their way to make us comforatble (tents, beach volleyball, candle lit dinners, fire and traditional dancing....also a village tour and Kava for the cheif). Most of the islands had snorkling, hammocks, welcome and goodbye songs, and great people to hang out with. Some of the island took only 5 minutes to walk around, and looked really neat from the boat....as the looked like tiny green dots int he middle of the Pacific. Fijians are very proud of where there are from and don't seem to want to leave...people even come back just to live "the life"! By staying at any of the resorts...we are helping the viilage survive....they supply the village with is food, etc.
On the main land...we checked out the town on public transportation, went to a market and tried some seaweed, bought souveneir masks, and watched our new favorite sport RUGBY (being the only white people there). The cheering was unreal! Nandi Bay Backpackers treated us well....the band, Kava with the secuity guards, and the evening band, and the finale traditional fijian show...made it sad to leave.
To island sunsets and $25 resorts (includes bed and 3 meals)!!! Bula bula!!!
Location: Auckland-Again, New Zealand
So its been 2 busy, busy weeks over here in NZ since we last wrote.
After Nelson, we made our way back onto the North Island via the Blue Bridge Ferry and spent one night in Wellington. We took off for Taupo the next morning to do one of New Zealand's Great Walks- The Tongariro Crossing. The area we hiked was featured in the film The Lord of the Rings (all 3 of them). It was Mordor for those who follow the Trilogy. It was unlike anything we have done so far. The weather changed dramaticlly from the time we left our van to our return it was like experienceing all of Canada's seasons in 5.5 hours.
After Taupo we headed to The Waitomo caves where we took in some black water rafting-good fun. There are over 3000 underground caves at Waitomo; we ventured into a few of them, got to jump off of underfround waterfalls, and tubed through a system of underground rivers equiped with only an inner tube and a head lamp.
Minutes after the free soup at Waitomo, we shot off to Raglan. Raglan is a really well known sleepy, little surfer town on the west coast of the north island. Surfers come from around the world to surf there. We stayed only one night; long enough for Cal and Rob to do some surfing though.
The boys were running out of days in New Zealand so we hit the road for Northland (north of Auckland).It was a long drive from Raglan up to Whangarei, where we spent our next night. The hostel we found was a cozy little place with great rooms and comfy beds; we couldn't have asked for more. We left Whangarei early the next morning for Paihia, where we stayed for 4 nights. It was a great little sea-side town with a laid back atmosphere and loads of helpful locals. While in Paihia, we took a day trip to Cape Reigna (the northern-most point of New Zealand) where the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea meet-yes you can actually see them meeting...very cool! We also had the opportunity to do some sailing with a local for a day. It was one of the best NZ days we have had yet. A chill day of hanging out on a 120 year old sail boat, learning the ropes (a bit) and having a few beer-again, who could ask for more! While we were sailing the boys (Rob and Greg) went deep sea fishing and caught 2 massive King Fish (weighing about 16 Kg each); needless to say, we have been eating like queens ever since... Thanks Boys!
Now we find ourselves back in Auckland. The #1 thing on our list is to sell Mr. Pancake. #2 would have to be buying our ticket to Fiji (so we can restore our tans). After that... who knows????!!! As soon as we know we will let you know!
Location: New Zealand
We have been busy little petals since the last we wrote.
We made it to Fox Glacier where we did the "worlds most scenic skydive". (conehead helmet, yellow full body suits, and mitties). The 20 miute flight alone was worth the cash!
Equipped in our gangsta boots we hiked this glacier. It looks small until you throw a couple tourists on in and they look like little ants. We did a 3/4 day hike and were shattered by the end. Ever had lunch on a glacier???
We have stopped at Puzzle world, Bushman's centre (possums and hunting shtuff), and learned to play chess along the way.
Abel Tasman was our next stop where we got to LIVE IN TEEPEE's! Hanging out with our English friends...we have drank ALOT of tea, cards by candle light and cooked incredible meals. We hired sea kayaks for the day.....the kind with FOOT stearing!! Perfect weather although we didn't see any wildlife (the boys did try and fish out the back).
Now back in Nelson...out of the bush and went out on the town. Movie and email day. Check ya later!
Location: Wanaka, New Zealand
One word....BUNGEEEEEEE!!! We threw ourselves off a bridge with only a elastic tied to our ankles. (Just testing our sanity). Not everyday you can "pay" to be scared stiff. We did the bridge bungee...the world's first bungy! It was the perfect way to leave Queenstown. That's right...finally done work and are tourists again!!
Now in Wanaka... we did a 5 hour hike to the ROB ROY Glacier. It was incredible with tons of glacier waterfalls and the company was funny as ever. We are now travelling with the English boys Greg and Rob (met in Vietnem). Our plans are to head to Franz Joseph Glacier tomorrow and will be there for a couple of days. (skydiving, glacier hikes and climbing are some of the events planned)
In between the two places we visited Milford Sound, a scenic 5 hour road trip from Queenstown.....a New Zealand "must see"! The weather co-operated and the sights lived up to everything we expected. The mountains made you feel very small as they towered over us. As a extra treat we got to see seals and get soaked as our boat drove right up and under a waterfall.
And for a small fee (a.k.a. leaving us a message) you can check out the pics to the right of the page.
Location: Queenstown, New Zealand
Hey all you crazy cats and possums!! SO sorry we haven't updated our website.... we are going to travel like mad soon enough! Keeping very busy with our daily housekeeping workout, have become locals on the "where to to out each night of the week", and are experiening camping caravan style. Rain for our day off ....so no adventure sports today! (working for the hotel we do get discounts on the Queenstown living:) We are starting to hang out with the staff from work....each person is definately UNIQUE! We also have been hanging out with some professional cricket players. Lana has enjoyed "taking the piss out of them"...as a phys ed teacher from Canada, it is hard to appreciate watching grown men play a baseball-like sport on their WHITE pj's... one guy can bat for 5 days straight (the rest drink tea)!
We got snow on the mountains yesterday....looks pretty....pretty COLD! We are heading north within the next 2 weeks. $ and run! Take care xoxo
Location: Queenstown, New Zealand
We are now in Queenstown, back to the working world and meeting all sorts and nationalities of people. This is definately New Zealand's New York- this place NEVER sleeps. However, Cally and I do; our new job is quite physical and we definately need our full 8 hours to be up to par in the housekeeping department. We are working our tails off (though they don't seem to be shrinkling) in order to save some cash for the fun stuff- bungee jumps off bridges, sky dives out of perfectly good airplanes, jet boating down narrow rivers, drinking beer at tourist packed bars and paragliding off of the highest peak in the area (only to mention a few). as for our quality of life here in Queenstown, it is definately that- "quality"! Loving life, living in a campground, sleeping in a van...what else could a couple of canadian girls ask for!!?!?!!
Q-uite crazy
U-nbelievable scenery
E-very night there's a party!!
E-ating peanut butter sandwiches daily
N-never a dull moment
S-leep, we don't need no stinking sleep!
T-ourists...this place is full of us!
O-ut of this world adventures
W-ine, wine and more wine
N-OW SEND US A MESSAGE!!!!!!!!
Location: New Zealand
Happy Valentines Day xoxox! We are now in Christchurch and loving being done that working nonsense. (Although the way we are spending $, we may be working sooner than later). On our way down here, we took in a whale watching tour in Kaikoura. (Sperm Whales are massive!) Well in Christchurch we have many events planned including a gondola tour and casino night. We took in our first rugby game; it was great....big boys in tight shorts! It was a very fast moving game...lots of dog piles, no whistles, and if someone got injured the trainers simply ran on the feild and let the game continue! We are slowly making our way south and LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT!! Take care and as always we enjoy hearing from you. Much Love your NZ girls xoxo
Location: Furneaux Lodge, New Zealand
Happy belated Groundhog Day!! We both recently had a day off; Cally took in a music festival "Blues, Brews and Barbeques" (pics coming soon!) and Lana met up with Cal later in the day for an even of tomfulery (Spelling???). It is back to work for the two of us but not for too long; we have some definate changes coming up soon. We are planning on leaving Furneaux Lodge on Wednesday to head south down the east coast of the south island. We plan to take in Kaikora (spelling????) to do some whale watching/dolphin experience things, then it is off to Christchurch. We (Cally, Lana and Mr. Pancake) couldn't be more excited to get back out there and travel our fool heads off. Keep in touch!
Location: Furneaux Lodge, New Zealand
Hey everyone... sorry about the lack of photos. Believe me it isn't because we aren't taking any. This place where we work is so beautiful. We can't wait to share the sights with you; however, the computers and internet connection out here run on one speed only...snail speed. On our next days off, we will try to get into town to: a) rejoin civilization b) buy some more peanut butter and c) put some more pics on for our viewing audience!!! Over and out!!!
Location: Furneaux Lodge, New Zealand
So... we have joined the land of the working class once again! Cally and I have began working at a little place called Furneaux Lodge. It is a restort nestled in the Marlborough Sounds (Mountain range in the northern part of the sounth island). It took 1 1/2 hours to get here by water taxi (a fast water taxi at that); needless to say we are miles and miles away from any civilization. This place is absolutely amazing though. Check out the website www.furneaux.co.nz . We are going to be starting by doing some house cleaning and some training in the bar and restaurant. So far so great and we will keep you posted!
Location: Nelson, New Zealand
We have made it to the South Island. We are now in Nelson which is at the very northern tip of the south island; its a little city nestled in amongst some mountains...very pretty. The next few days for us are going to iclude a busy schedule of job seaching and liver recovery! Hope everyones New Year's was great... ours consisted of a full day adventure of swimming in the a.m. to hot tubbing in the p.m. and dancing into the following a.m.. We had a cheers for our Canadian friends last night and many, many cheers for our first ever Kiwi New Year. Here's to a fantastic 2007...stay warm (believe it or not we are struggling with that here as well!)!!!
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
Twas the night before Christmas
And all though the van
Cally was stirring, she had to use the can.
The towels were hung over the windows with care,
in hopes that old creepy men wouldn't look in and stare.
The ladies were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of hot food danced in their heads.
Cally in her sweat pants and I in my jeans,
We had just settled down for a nap whatever that means,
When out on the street there rose such clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter,
Away to the window I flew with a flash,
I tore back the curtains with a clang and a bash,
The street lights shone dimly on the streets of nil snow,
As cars tore by us with somewhere to go,
When what to my wondering eye would appear,
but 6 homeless men and 3 cases of beer...
Blah, blah, blah!!!
This is tougher than it looks and the poem is longer than I thought... Sorry, tried to be creative this Christmas... Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
3 sleeps till Christmas and it feels like October. Wellington is very well known for being super windy; thus, sleeping in our van makes it feel like we are sleeping on the ocean. So far in this city we have taken in some walks, tours, the zoo and are enjoying a less hectic lifestyle. Our plans are to go out for some Christmas spirits tomorrow night; so join us back at home and have a rum and egg nog (no such thing over here). Remember, our Christmas is a day before yours in Canada, so no late emails!! Hope Santa finds all of you happy and healthy...Merry Christmas!!
Location: The Coromandel!!, New Zealand
After many nights out in beautiful Aukland...we took Mr.Pancake on the road. We went east on the Coromendel; drove through Whagamata, Catheral Cove, Hahei, and are now in Mount Mauganui. We stumbled apon a festival, beautiful beaches, windy roads, a mountain.....all on our backpacker budget! (We are loving our peanut butter and banana sandwiches and double bed!) New Zealand definately has scenery down pat! Today on the beach we saw an entire school playing beach volleyball, taking surfing lessons, and sandcastle building.....very cool to see. Other common sites are kayaking, running, biking, and sailing...you can't wipe the smile off of our faces! Lots of variety in the weather...from rain to windburns or sunburns (like today) we are no longer continuously sweating like in Asia...it is actually a nice treat.
We will be continuing along the coast for a few more nights and then making our way inland for a bit. The ultimate goal is Wellington for Christmas (with an amazing local family that has invited us in) and Nelson for New Years (as we already have our ferry booked).
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Well, we are still in Auckland and are planning to head off south tomorrow. We have purchased our home for the next few months and named her Mr. Pancake. She is a 1985 Mazda campervan... and H-O-T.... silver and maroon. She is just in the garage right now getting a tune up. Today we took a FREE city tour and checked out a couple of great views and walked the harbor bridge. All in all, a great day. Other than that we have seen the inside of a number of pubs and bars... we were happy to get to NZ. Hence, napping has been essential as of late...haha! We will keep you posted after we move on south... till then... miss you all and keep in touch!!
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Well we are now safe and sound in New Zealand. Have not taken in too much here as the weather has not been cooperating. We will send a more detailed update later as I have just ran out of time on my internet account!
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Our last stop in South East Asia...Kuala Lumpur. We spent the day shopping in a ginormous shopping mall 6 stories high that was full of alternative, Value Village/clown costume clothing that no one in their right mind would pay money for. We, however, managed to spend 6 1/2 hours in this maze. After all of the miles that we have hiked over the past 3 months, we were still forced to search for the "X" in front of the "L"...turns out we aren't Asian afterall!! Feeling glum after the disasterous, but cheap, day we headed to the World's Tallest Towers and took some pics. Tomorrow night we are going to hit the towers again as they light up the skyline of KL. Day after tomorrow we are off to New Zealand; we are considering Malaysia our leap-frog to normalcy!
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Thailand....DONE AND DUSTED! We fly out to Malaysia today and then to New Zealnd for December 1st. (Very excited to get back to normalcy). We have also decided we like Bangkok; coming here a second time was a walk in the park and had met a great bunch of guys to hang and go out with. We hit up various clubs, bought lots of balloons, owned many dance floors and had tuk tuk races! We convinced them to come with us to the Tiger Temples....more than just large kitties. Khoa San Road has the energy that never dies and the venders who never sleep....$ says it's time for us to get outta here!
Location: Kanchanburi, Thailand
OUr short and sweet visit of Kanchanaburi consisted of Hellfire Pass, THe Death Railway and The tiger Temple. Hellfire Pass is the railway passage that the Japanese built from Thailand to Burma during the second World War using POW's and other Asian slaves. We saw the museum showing the conditions of the labor, the food they ate and the number of men that died making the railway. It is called Hellfire pass because of the torches that lit up the pass, as they worked around the clock to complete a railway for their enemy. The Death Railway is a section of the railway that killed 700 people due to rough terrain, weather (monsoon season) and poorly constructed wooden bridges. The tiger temple was the main purpose of this trip. It is a tiger conservation center that houses 16 tigers and many other wild animals that can come and go as they please. They money for the tourists feeds these animals, medicates them and funds their new giant litterbox. They were huge, beautiful and very sleepy (probably a good thing).
