hey all it is i the travelling bum updating you once again on my adventures.
Upon landing in NZ on Wed we new where we were headed, Base Backpackers in the heart of Auckland. I am still with the boys from England. Our hostel actually got us so excited that we have dubed it a solid hotel! Complete with restaurant, club, cooking facilities and an observation deck on the 7th floor with spa. The view from this deck afforded views of the bay and shipping yard plus a great look at the famous Sky Tower, Aucklands version of the Space Neetle. Our first night was spent hanging out and not really doing a whole lot. Well except for going out on the town for a bit. Due to an Oscar the Grouch we requested a room change the next day and were moved into a room with more upbeat peeps. Actually a whole room full 7 of us in all.
Thursday was just a kick around the city. We spent about 3 hours in a cafe on the main queen street. After drinking instant coffee all week in Fiji i indulged in several latte's. A definite treat. We hit some of the cool book shops and i picked up a surf guide for the entire country. The city is really interesting and full of different people. I was surprised to find such an enormus Japanese population. Walking the streets was sort of like being in San Fran and LA at the same time, minus the dirt and excessive beggars. Not to From our room at the "hotel" we spotted a long white bus deal which appeared to be serving food. Our hunch was confirmed as we wolfed down tasty burgers. We attended the club attached to the hostel and had a great time.
Fri was another repeat of Thursday.
On Saturday we decided to be a bit more productive and look into renting or buying a car to get around the islands. Although we never really made any arrangements we got a lot of research out of the way. The night took a very interesting turn. We had been hearing some talk of a very hip bar which was totally made from ice. The minus 5 degree bar to be exact. After dawning our huge coats and gloves we were escorted into this giant freezer and found ourselves breathing fog and admiring the various ice sculptures which adorned the room. Everything from the bar to our glasses were made from ice. We enjoyed a cocktail and i chomped into mine when i was finished. This was a one off place that was fantastic and a totally cool experience. Dan and i even got a bit silly and tried to see who could last the longest without our jacket on. We are both fine, I think i won though. We all went out in the viaduct, a trendy strip chaulk full of nightclubs and fine dining. Super long night with tons of fun.
Sunday was another chill day that we spent kicking around and not doing a whole lot.
Today we went out to a couple of car buying shops that are set up specifically for backpackers. Almost all the cars appeared to be on their last legs and none fell into our target price range. We decided that the risk in buying the car was not worth it so we plan to rent a vehicle and head up the coast to pahia tomorrow!
Evything is going great, I am healthy and enjoying a relaxed time here!
hope everyone is great and enjoying life!
Monday, October 23, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
I'm Back
I have finally landed back in a place where i can give everyone this amazing update. here we go... After arriving in Singatoka by way of a 4 hour bus ride from Nandi we were directed toward our destination "club masa" by a little girl in the village. We, John, and Danny from England and I found ourselves in the middle of no where with amazing sand dunes towering skyward about 1/2 a mile away. Our guide was a bit off and our accomadtion was a room with 8 beds and a shady cast of hosts. Marijuana filtered in through the back window and the vibe was totally bizarre. Some surfers told us that club masa was uninhabitable becuase a film was being shot there, but we should try to get on as extras. We hiked throught the dunes to a rather large encampment at the only dip in the sand dunes. It was surreal to see an actual film set and walk through it so simply. Although we were denied due to overbookings of extra's we were directed toward a different place to stay. Shipwrek! And it was exactly that. A metal fence surrounded the delapidated compound and a coca cola was all that reminded us of civilization. We settled into a metal shack and were given 3 foam pads to place on the concrete floor. After chatting up a few bodyboarders from South Africa and enjoying our hosts "down home" cooking (actually quite tasty) we hit the hay for a 5 am surf sess. John, Dan and I crested the dunes around 6 and soaked in the spectacualar view provided by mother nature. We were all buzzing and tirpping out on the fact that we had arrived at the only beach break in the entire island. My mind was clear and i could feel the blood coursing through my veins in anticipation of the waves. Neither of the boys surf, but had a go with my 6'4". The waves were pretty much perfect. Waist to chest high clean lefts and rights which bowled up on the inside section. i was only joined by two beginner Aussies after about an hour into the sess and had no prob's. As they shouted from the shoulder of the wave of the morning i lost all connection to the land and felt myself drop into a perfect head high left which rode on for some distance. We hiked back and i paddled out with the body boarders for an afternoon sess into solid double over head surf. attempts to surf were fruitless in that the waves would suck backward after breaking and suck the lip of the waves up suddenly. The next morn brought the best waves of my whole fiji experience. Solid offshore winds and double overhead sets met Atti (bodyboarder) and i the next morn. i rode solidly on my 6'4" and pulled into a crazy barrel, but caught the lip on the head halfway through it. Getting barrelled is indescribable so i will not attempt.
The crew continued on to Suva on another grueling bus ride of about 3 hours. We had an excellent stay there, which consisted of frequenting a local nightclub, trekking throught the jungle and swinging from big ropes into refreshingly cold spring water!
Our bus back to Nadi was arduous, but our route along the coast allowed for great views of the ocean and the surrounding villages. We booked a trip up to the Yasawa Islands and spent the night on Sunday in Nandi in a crappy little hostel place.
Monday came too early and jumped on board a giant cat and took a crystal blue water island viewing ride for 6 hours. While aboard i met a self proclaimed master and his 2 students from Australlia. He was cool and showed me some moves. We talked at length about his Tai Chi background and the premise of his teachings which mostly realted back to Taoism. Due to my studies in college we ckicked and i felt as though i had met a life long teahcer. My trip had just taken a strange, but pleasant twist. Our first night was at Mel Bravo and we were joined by the kung fo crew. Overall our stay was a bit lacklaster due to the not so white beaches and dry host. The food was weird and just a bit sketchy. One day we hiked over the island for an hour and a half and landed in paradise. White sandy beaches, lined with plams on one side and crystal clear blue water on the other. It was so hot it was straight into the water with us. Dawning our snorkel gear proved intellegent and our reef viewing experience began 10 ft from shore. We saw hundreds of beautiful fish and healthy colorful coral which stretched out for about 200 yards. Later the Master showed us different techniques and stretches. We met some cool folks and actually 3 guys from san diego showed up and i knew them! CRAZY!
After three days on Mel Bravo we were ready to leave and headed toward Coconut Bay on Naviti. Beauty with our dorms on the beach, volleyball, snorkelling and dancing. I also had the opportunity to take part in a kava ceremony in a hut on the floor. The sunset that night was amazing and a rainbow fromed right onto the island about 20o yards from us as rain drizzled from the sky.
Manta Ray came next at the south island of Naviti. I will cut to the chase and say that we swam with two enormous manta's and enjoyed upper class accomodations.
Beachcomber was next and was rather uneventful yer relaxing.
Last stop was Bounty were Love Island was filmed. The snorkeling was mind boggling.
Out of time post again soon!
The crew continued on to Suva on another grueling bus ride of about 3 hours. We had an excellent stay there, which consisted of frequenting a local nightclub, trekking throught the jungle and swinging from big ropes into refreshingly cold spring water!
Our bus back to Nadi was arduous, but our route along the coast allowed for great views of the ocean and the surrounding villages. We booked a trip up to the Yasawa Islands and spent the night on Sunday in Nandi in a crappy little hostel place.
Monday came too early and jumped on board a giant cat and took a crystal blue water island viewing ride for 6 hours. While aboard i met a self proclaimed master and his 2 students from Australlia. He was cool and showed me some moves. We talked at length about his Tai Chi background and the premise of his teachings which mostly realted back to Taoism. Due to my studies in college we ckicked and i felt as though i had met a life long teahcer. My trip had just taken a strange, but pleasant twist. Our first night was at Mel Bravo and we were joined by the kung fo crew. Overall our stay was a bit lacklaster due to the not so white beaches and dry host. The food was weird and just a bit sketchy. One day we hiked over the island for an hour and a half and landed in paradise. White sandy beaches, lined with plams on one side and crystal clear blue water on the other. It was so hot it was straight into the water with us. Dawning our snorkel gear proved intellegent and our reef viewing experience began 10 ft from shore. We saw hundreds of beautiful fish and healthy colorful coral which stretched out for about 200 yards. Later the Master showed us different techniques and stretches. We met some cool folks and actually 3 guys from san diego showed up and i knew them! CRAZY!
After three days on Mel Bravo we were ready to leave and headed toward Coconut Bay on Naviti. Beauty with our dorms on the beach, volleyball, snorkelling and dancing. I also had the opportunity to take part in a kava ceremony in a hut on the floor. The sunset that night was amazing and a rainbow fromed right onto the island about 20o yards from us as rain drizzled from the sky.
Manta Ray came next at the south island of Naviti. I will cut to the chase and say that we swam with two enormous manta's and enjoyed upper class accomodations.
Beachcomber was next and was rather uneventful yer relaxing.
Last stop was Bounty were Love Island was filmed. The snorkeling was mind boggling.
Out of time post again soon!
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
FIJI
Oh my goodness!
Fiji this is actually the very first chance i have had to post anything. Thee plane ride was totally smooth all the way through and luckily i met a coouple dudes frrom enlganad in the line wwaiting for the pplane. while wating arounnd in LAAX theey told me of the pplace they were stayiing and that it came highlyy reccomended. so affter flying to the airrport we hopped into a cab aand headed out to our hostel. now wheen we told the dirveer tthe naame of our acccoomodation he said oh all tthe way out in the jungle...we were like ya wee guess. so we drove off for a half hour and eended up in the middle of no where and were all qquite suurprrised. needdless to say our check in time wwas 12 but we werwe there 5 hours early. the people were soo nice they let us check iin earlly and eaat breakfast. i mean this place was a real life rersort type of place. im talking pool views of mounttains, lush green aas farr as the eye could see and the mosst lovely workers. i mean theese people would ddo just aabouut anything to make sure we were all taken care of. the foood was aamazing and wee all haad a great time.. lasst night ii even drank a bitt of kava with the reest of the poeple sttaying at the place. ii am at the airport riight now with tthe ddudes from england and we are headedd down to the south weest coaast tto a ttown called Singatoka. hopefully wwe will stay and actually geet somme surf there at Cllub masa. TThen wwe should be off to annother place to the east caled waaidroka. anyway ii am safe and everything is awesome i aam so totally chilled out itt is great. by thee way a night at the hostel was only 15 buks! and beeer only 2.50 : )
hoope all is well and much love to everyyone!
Fiji this is actually the very first chance i have had to post anything. Thee plane ride was totally smooth all the way through and luckily i met a coouple dudes frrom enlganad in the line wwaiting for the pplane. while wating arounnd in LAAX theey told me of the pplace they were stayiing and that it came highlyy reccomended. so affter flying to the airrport we hopped into a cab aand headed out to our hostel. now wheen we told the dirveer tthe naame of our acccoomodation he said oh all tthe way out in the jungle...we were like ya wee guess. so we drove off for a half hour and eended up in the middle of no where and were all qquite suurprrised. needdless to say our check in time wwas 12 but we werwe there 5 hours early. the people were soo nice they let us check iin earlly and eaat breakfast. i mean this place was a real life rersort type of place. im talking pool views of mounttains, lush green aas farr as the eye could see and the mosst lovely workers. i mean theese people would ddo just aabouut anything to make sure we were all taken care of. the foood was aamazing and wee all haad a great time.. lasst night ii even drank a bitt of kava with the reest of the poeple sttaying at the place. ii am at the airport riight now with tthe ddudes from england and we are headedd down to the south weest coaast tto a ttown called Singatoka. hopefully wwe will stay and actually geet somme surf there at Cllub masa. TThen wwe should be off to annother place to the east caled waaidroka. anyway ii am safe and everything is awesome i aam so totally chilled out itt is great. by thee way a night at the hostel was only 15 buks! and beeer only 2.50 : )
hoope all is well and much love to everyyone!
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