Instead of writing hauds of emails, it does make much more sense to start a little blog about my travels. Where ive been/am. What ive done, who Ive met etc.
Im currency sat in the internet room in a hostel in Auckland City Centre, New Zealand. No time like the present to start my blog! So here goes...
I finished my Ski Season at the end of April. I was away for 5 months, which was great, but hard to be away from Family and friends for so long. This stint, is 8 months away. Missing family loads but luckily, got my best friend with me. Hattie. I hadnt seen Hattie for almost 6 months (She flew to Austraila, a month before i came back from Switzerland) so our plan was to meet at Nadi Airport in Fiji on the 10th May 2012.
I left London on the 8th May, 8 months of my life packed up in a tiny suitcase (I say tiny..I dont travel light, so 20kg for me is amazing!). I flew from London to Los Angeles (10 Hours flight) Then had a 6 hour wait at LA, before I boarded an 11 Hour flight to Fiji. I airrived in Fiji, 5.30am Local time. The heat, the second I walked off the plane was more than noticable.I made my way to passport control, where the passengers were met by a all male singing group welcoming them into the airport. Hattie's flight was meant to arrive around 20 mins after mine, so I planned to wait in baggage reclaim for our big reunion. I got through passport control (always a nervous prospect) and took the escalators down to baggage reclaim. As i stood at the top, there at the bottom was Hattie. Never have I wheld up so much is such a short space of time. Our reunion was something like the opening scenes of love actually-embarressing when we look back on it, but meeehh.
Our transfer was waiting for us in arrivals and we made our way outside to the car. A very swish black mercedes. I would just like to point out that this is not how we plan to travel the whole way, Fiji is the one place we have splashed out for and this was exactly what we wanted! The driver was great, he really was our personal guide as we started the 2.30 hours drive to our hotel. The weather was great, (like a sweet humid feel to the air..?) We had a break after an hour and a half and stopped at a local town market. Whites are very much respected and treated like royalty there. The people who worked in the shop, followed us around (about 4 of them) Carrying our purchases, and offering us anything to drink or eat. Anythiing we stopped by, they would linger behind us then follow again. We didnt really know what to do at first (did we have to dismiss them?) but we made friends and it all slightly relaxed a little.
We arrived at the hotel and WOW. Better than what we expected. The Pearl, South Pacific, was everything we thought it would be and more. Please do google it. We checked in, had a walk on the beach, had some lunch and cockatils (as one does) and explored our new home for the next 2 weeks.
Hattie had done her Open water diving qualification in Aus, so i was behind and was desperate to go diving with sharks. So i booked myself into do a 4 day course and started there and then! We did four shark dives over the course of the 2 weeks. Your thinking in cages right? Nope! Boat lowered anchor and we kitted up, and jumped in! 24 ft down to another world, where bull sharks, tiger sharks, lemon sharks, nurse sharks and more were awaiting us. One would be swimming over you as another below you and another beside you. A good 30 odd were down there. Along with all the other amazing marine life. I have never quite been so in awe. Hat and I had already made up our own sign language so it was hart to keep breathing and not laugh as we had a giggle under the water. Feeders were also down there to feed to sharls (stopping them from eating us). We got so close to them that you could see there war wounds from various battles they had obviously encountered! During my first dive, one of the feeders swam up to me and grabbed my arm and started pulling me into deeper water...towwards the bins they were feeding from. HELL NO! I didnt really understand what was happening so pulled away, he made me look at him and singed to me that it was OK and to trust him. did i have a choice? I followed him down, where at least 15 sharks were on top of each other desperatly trying to get to the food. These sharks were as big at 14ft. hugeee! Was he going to feed me to them?! At more than twice my size, the likely hood was large. But no, as the swarm of sharls dissapeared, a nurse shark (very calm, slow shark) was looking very sorry for itself at the bottom after being trampled by the Bull Sharks. The feeder signed to me that it was okay to touch it, and slowly took my hand and ran it over this 10ft nurse shark. It was very very rough, not like a sharks skin looks, but the nurse seemed totally fine with being played with, and we had a ball!
The two weeks in Fiji also consisted of numerous appointments at the hotel Spa. we had head massages, exfoliating procedures, full body massages and the rest. The weather wasnt as great as we hoped (rained about half the time we were there) but we found lots of things to do! We were invited to dine at a function evening the hotel was having by one of the guests, who actually runs the night. Rude not to go right? 90 dollers a head, for 6 courses and wine to match each course. Safe to say we were flying by the end of the night. The lead singer from the band then appraoched us and ask us to come outside and try some of Fiji's National drink...Cava, He told us it was a mild narcotic, but we would be fine. It sounds dodgy but we trusted him and off we went to try some! DISGUSTING! Tastes like soil and not what we expected. Hattie finished hers but I have to admit, I didnt. He asked us what we did, where we were from ect, and said we were perfect canditates to come and do some aid work in Fiji, which he is director of. So we swopped contacts details and made out way back to our room waiting for this 'mild narcostic' to sink in. We fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow, so maybe that was meant to happen?
We also had a day out in Suva City, which is about an hour from our Hotel. we were pre warned that we would be appraoched by scam artists (if thats what you would call them?) who would have on fake badges and offer to show us the city...and right on que, the second we stepped outside the main shopping mall, we were pounced on by a man who claimed he was from manchester and knows what the brits want to see and to follow him. If we was from manchester (and he claimed to go back there all the time) surly he could offered to have teeth instead of a flight across the world? Just a thought. So we decided the mall was the safest place for us and we spent our time trying on jewrelly we couldnt afford and pretending our 'Mum' would come back and pay for it. Well..When in Fiji....?
The Fijians really are THE most amazing people and they have such a strong culture. (something to do with four brothers and a sister coming ovr from south africa?) we discovered this during a 'Cava session', as they call it, with our scuba instructers who were so kind and so eager to tell us aout fiji and its history!
Our flight to NZ was booked for early morning on the 22nd May. So on the 21st we said goodbye to our amazing 5star hotel on the coral coast of Fiji (after a HUGE bill..slightly more than we hoped but truly worth every penny) and made our way to Nadi (the capital) for our last night in a hotel close to the aiprot. We really did come back down to reality with a bump! But it was due, from living like queens and kings to being eaten alive by god knows what bugs, in a slightly less....looked after room. We checked out at 5am on the 22nd (came downstairs to find the security guard asleep at the TV..I kid you not) and got a taxi to the airport for our 8.45am flight to Auckland. Goodbye our beloved Fiji!!!!
We arrived into Auckland very over excited from the view from the plane which was unreal, cant begin to tell you...just incredible, clear blue sea and gorgeous coast lines. Wow. We touched down safe and sound and made our way through passport contorl and off to the information desk! We grabbed as many Maps as possible and managed to find a bus heading our way into the city centre. We arrived at our hotel, unpacked and went straight out again to explore this AMAZING city! We are about a two minute walk from the centre, Queens street, which is really..I dont know what the word is...vibrant?! Modern?! Ive just totally fallen in the love with this country. Wow, really Wow! We did a bit of window shopping, and had a wander to the docks, had a coffee, and came back to the hotel. We met some people who are actually living here in the hotel ( I say hotel, hostel is mor like it). They are from the UK, got a working visa and moved here a few weeks ago, working in Scoffolding I think? They cooked us some food, which went down very well and we had some beers last night with them, and they told us where to go and what to do. (we are only in auckland for 3 days before we go in the Kiwi Experience, so need to fit in as much as possible). Ive eyed up the bungy jumping from Auckland bridge already, so watch this space! Weve got a friend who lives here who we met in the Uk a few years ago, so hes taking us sight seeng today and out tonight with some of his Uni chums! Time to logg off, and try and find Hattie (shes in the building somewhere), then get changed and go and see some more of this amazing place!
Catch ya lata!
