Auckland to Welly, 12 hours on a train!

After my trip to the Bay of Islands, I had an overnight back in Auckland before catching the train at 7.30am the following morning to Wellington.  The Overlander had been recommended to me by a couple of people and since I had enjoyed the train journey in Canada, I decided it would be a nice way to go.  I was the first one on the train and was allocated a seat in the rear carriage by the window which was lovely, spacious and comfortable.  That was until a family with 4 small excited small boys joined the carriage and were seated directly behind me. On the third occasion that they leant forward against the window and shouted loudly in my ear without the parents doing anything about it, I  decided that it would be a bit much to put up with for a 12 hour journey and asked the train manager for another seat.  He moved me without hassle to another lovely seat with grown ups around me instead!!

The journey took us through suburbs, wetlands, hilly regions and mountains, the scenery all interesting and we did have commentary from the train crew so we knew where we were and what we were looking at.  Before we made a 30 minute lunch stop at National Park, we  travelled the famous Raurimu Spiral,  a single track spiral with 2 loops and 2 tunnels climbing 132 meters across terrain too steep for a direct train track.


The 12 hours passed quite quickly actually, I had books to read and other things to do but it was hard not to just look out of the window there was so much to look at and I didn't want to miss anything!


Once in Wellington, I was met by my friend Theresa who would be my host for the next 3 nights and tour guide around the city.  Theresa and her husband Ian are former Nokia colleagues of mine and in addition, Theresa's brother John was a colleague of mine at the company I worked at before Nokia.  Theresa had already left Nokia when I departed but Ian left the same day having accepted the same voluntary package as me.  When I told Theresa I was coming to Wellington and asked if she would like to meet up, the response was an invitation to stay and I'm really glad I accepted.  It is great to see the new life that they have embarked on in New Zealand but it was also nice to be back in a 'home' for the first time in ages.

It was almost 8pm by the time we reached their house and dinner was almost ready, home made 'spag bol' with garlic bread and a glass of red.  Just what I needed, something home made, delicious and normal, and I mean that with the greatest respect, Theresa chose that dish for exactly that reason.  And after a comfy nights sleep, I was woken with a cup of proper english tea brought to me in bed.  Such lovely hospitality.


The next two days, Ian was working but Theresa had mostly free time so she played tour guide showing me the best bits of the city, the view from Mount Victoria, Lyal Bay where Ian surfs and where he was lucky enough not to have been eaten by a great white shark which had been caught in the next bay only days before.  She took me up in the cable car and we walked back down to the city through the botanical gardens, we went along the coast and we drove along the beach, a proper off road track which led us to a fur seal colony for a look at the blubbery creatures!  The morning that Theresa had to meet with some fellow students to work on an assignment, she dropped me to the Te Papa museum for a couple of hours of education which was brilliant, the museum is very interactive, great for kids and big kids like me!

It was great to be with such lovely people and to spend a bit of time with them and the time there whizzed past and before I knew it, it was saturday morning and Theresa took me to the ferry terminal for the 3 hour ride across the water to the South Island.
   

 

Vinaka Vakalevu Fiji, Kia Ora New Zealand!

As I returned to First Landing after my cruise, I was pleased to catch up with my sailing buddies Peter (retired architect from Melbourne) and Mike (retired teached from San Diego) and while chatting, Peter mentioned that he had a bottle of rather nice champagne on board his boat and invited me to join him for sundowners the following evening, suggesting that it would be a very nice way to end my stay in Fiji. So after a quiet day planning my accommodation in Auckland and a boat trip at the bay of islands (and doing my laundry), I headed next door to the marina.  Peter and I were joined by a couple of the other yacht owners.  They were drinking beer, Peter and I enjoyed the a bottle of Moet.  And it was a perfect way to end a fabulous couple of weeks in Fiji.

It was an early start the following morning to the airport and before I knew it, I was touching down in Auckland.  I could tell from looking out of the window of the plane that I would be needing a jumper, brrrrrr!   In the shuttle from the airport, I sat up front and as I was listening to the radio, I was reminded of New Zealand's most popular band, Crowded House as their hit 'Weather with you' came on.  Well that's very true, 'Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you' and I really wished that I had brought a bit more Fijian sunshine, there was a definite chill in the air.

Now Auckland isn't a city that inspired me when I was there in 1998 and I have to say it didn't partcularly inspire me this time either.  I took myself for a long walk to remind myself of the places I had visited all those years ago and found myself at about 1pm at the foot of the Sky Tower and ready for a spot to eat.  My Cousin Grace had started something which I fear has become a trend on this holiday, to have dinner in revolving restaurants, so it seemed fated that I should do that in Auckland too.  Pan fried snapper, salad and a glass of chilled white went down a treat, once I had overcome the vertigo experienced in the lift with a glass floor and glass wall.  I was shaking when I stepped out at the observation tower!  But it was all worth it.  And coming from someone who doesn't really like fish, the Snapper was de-lish!

The following morning was another early start as I had booked an overnight boat trip to the Bay of Islands. The bus collected me at 7.30am and by 11.30 I was in Paihia for a little wander around until 1.30pm when I was to join the boat which had 30 cabins, much like the Mystique Princess I had travelled on in Fiji.  But this time, there were only 7 of us for the overnight cruise.  Yes 7, not 67!  So we were in for a treat.  The sun was shining as we departed the harbour and made our way towards the outer islands, learning a little bit of the history of the area, of Captain Cook, the Treaty of Waitangi and of some of the early settlers to the area. In the afternoon, we anchored off one of the beautiful sandy beaches and had some free time to explore the island, sit on the beach and kayak around the rocky coves. Ichose to kayak to the beach and  Shane, a Pom living in Sydney who was cramming the cruise into a business trip to Auckland did take photographic evidence of me in my kayak on the platform at the stern of the boat before we were lowered into the water.  However, it wasn't long before it was made very clear that no matter how careful you are, cameras and kayaks don't mix and the camera went over the side never to be seen again.  So as he said, that photo of me is immortalised somewhere at the bottom of the beautiful clear ocean.

Once back on the boat, the skipper moved us on around more beautiful islands while we all got cleaned up and dressed for what we had been promised would be a very special dinner.  Ordinarily it would have been a buffet, but I think it was a treat for the chef as well as for us that we were such a small number that he decided to prepare a 5 course feast for us.  Yes, rather a lot of food but it was as special as promised.  So as we anchored for the night and the sun set on the beautiful bay, we were served 70s style prawn and shrimp cocktail, roasted vegetable stack, dorey stuffed with prawns and smoked salmon and then finally steak with vegetables, roast potatoes and salads.  Desert was then a choice of several delicious looking puddings, but not many of us touched it as we were already quite full.


The following morning while we were having breakfast our skipper set off in search of Orca.  And we were in luck, its not by any means a guarantee and in fact we were told how unusual it was that we found a pod feeding in one of the bays.  So we were able to get fairly close to them without upsetting them as they surfaced from time to time, a large male of about 9 meters and among the group at least a few babies too.  I was on the top deck getting quite chilly with my camera and at the end of it, had rather a lot of photos of fins sticking out of the water but the experience was just out of this world, such graceful creatures.  I did feel very priviledged, it made it a very very good trip.

Cruising the Blue Lagoon

As someone who loves sailing, a cruise had never appealed to me but when planning my time in Fiji, I wanted to get out to see the islands and a cruise on a smaller ship seemed the best way to do it.  Being a small ship rather than a P&O sized mega-liner, I figured it would be a bit more personal and could be quite good fun.


Before I left the UK, I had been moved from the 3 night cruise to join the 6 night cruise for 4 nights with a cabin upgrade and a bottle of champagne thrown in, something to do with a block booking and I would be the odd one out.  Sounded like a good deal so I agreed.


On the day of the cruise, I left the resort with a send off from the manager and staff, having met people both at the Outrigger and the First Landing who would also be on the cruise so I felt confident it would be a good social experience.


Upon check in, they gave me a cabin number and on examination I discovered that it was not on the deck I had been promised but the deck below.  The CEO who was assisting with check in explained to me that they had stuffed up and on that basis was offering me a Fiji $100 bar credit.  'You can have more' he said, so I said '$200' being cheeky thinking he would say no, but to my amazement he said 'Done!'.   Thought I had a good deal there!


So we were ferried to the boat, stepped aboard and found our cabins and I am pleased to say they had upheld the champagne end of the bargain and a bottle was chilling with a welcome letter for me.  Happy Days!

We set sail and started heading out to the Yasawa Islands.  When I checked my arrangements for disembarking on day 5, I was told that I would have to be disembarked on day 4 and the company would put me up in a hotel.  Suddenly I realised why I had been given the extra Bar Credit!  I didn't have much choice but agreed to the change and just got on with enjoying the scenery.  We were invited to spend the duration of the passage on the Sky Deck where the bar was open, as it was a good opportunity to start getting to know our fellow passengers and in no time, I had chatted with quite a few people, fixed a Nokia mobile phone problem for one of the older chaps and repeated the circumstances of my employment status and travel arrangements several times, I was begining to bore myself!

The first evening was the Captain's champagne buffet, the champagne flowed and we established that early that the chef on board was pretty good.   It was buffet style but the food was delicious, fresh fish cooked a variety of ways, chicken, vegetable dishes, fresh fruit and deserts.  And then there was entertainment from the crew who played guitars and sang to us after dinner.  By this time, I has well and truly bonded with my fellow passengers and having a lovely time.

We were invited to sign up for the early morning swim each morning and I decided to go for it, what better way to start the day in paradise, and really there isn't much chance I'll be doing that when I get back to the UK - in December.  We were woken at 6am and were taken to the beach in tenders.  When we got to the beach we were taken for a little walk to have a look at the other side of the island, the path was uphill, sandy and a little rough and one lady was going to wait behind because she hadn't brought shoes....they hadn't told us we would be walking as well as swimming!  So I gave her my Crocs and continued barefoot.  Fifteen minutes later at the top of a fairly steep hill, we were overlooking the water on the other side of the island, a lovely view, and I had sore feet!  I took a bit of a ribbing from the Aussies because of my 'delicate Pommy feet' and continued down the hill for a swim.  The water was almost like bath water it was so warm.

After breakfast we were taken by tender again to the beach a little further along to have a look at the village of Soso where we would experience the Yaqona (welcoming) ceremoy, listen to the choir singing and then have a demonstration of dancing and taste Kava with the elders of the village.  The cruise company likes to support the local economy so we were encouraged to part with some Fiji$ but it was all worth it to taste the Kava, a drink made from the roots of the plant Piper Methysticum (which makes your tongue tingle) and to see the villagers dance and sing for us.  We were even encouraged to get up and dance with them which was all good fun.

Bhim

When we got back to the boat, we were on the move again to another anchorage a little further round the island where we were to spend the afternoon snorkelling.  While underway, we were to get ready for lunch and I was again taken to one side by Bhim, our cruise director who told me that I would be transferred that evening to the other boat, the one I was supposed to be on in the first place.  It didn't seem like I was being given a choice and I wasn't terribly happy as I had already bonded with my fellow passegers and crew!  Well everyone was up in arms, they didn't want me to leave either and I though there was going to be a mutiny!  But I decided to make the most of my last lunch on board and cracked open the bottle of champagne that has been chilling in my cabin.  We found a table to sit as many of us together as possible and the barman who had heard that I was leaving brought me a complimentary cocktail - delicious!  Next thing, over the tannoi I heard my name and cabin number being called by Bhim and it felt like I was in touble, don't know why!  This time Diana came with me to make her feelings known about the change in my schedule and Bhim told me that I could stick to the original plan if I wanted, if it would make me happy.  They seemed very concerned that they should avoid making any of us unhappy!  So all was well, I was to stay until the 4th day then return to my original hotel at the expense of the cruise company.  I returned to the dinner table, to my friends, my cocktail and the bottle of Champagne which went round 7 of us adequately and next thing I know, Bhim brought us out another bottle which we then put aside until dinner time.  I don't think they realised that trying to move one person would cause such uproar.  And I didn't realise that the uproar would mean that every crew member would be tasked to keep me super happy until I was to disembark.  And they did!

Once the drama was over, it was time for snorkelling!  The water was so clear and what I didn't realise in my enthusiasm to get into the water was that they were ferrying people over by tender from the beach to the other side of the bay, but what that meant was that the water off the beach was quiet and I have to say it was some of the best snorkelling in the cleaerest water I have ever experienced.  The number and variety of fish I saw was amazing and on top of that, at one point I found myself in the middle of a shoal of beautful, large silver fish who seemed not to be bothered at all by me swimming in the middle!

Day three started with another early morning walk along the beach and a swim which was definitely the best way to start the day.  There were sand crabs present in the sand along the beach and our guides pulled them out of the sand to show us.  In the mangroves behind the beach were mud crabs and we were lucky enough to see one of those as it crawled out to head for the water.  We spent the rest of the day on the beach, lunch was served there and there was more snorkelling to be enjoyed altough it wasn't as clear as it had been the day before.

The evening of that day was the hat competition where there were to be prizes for the most creative hat!  Many of the people on the boat used their creativity to ask the village ladies who were selling shells on the beach to make hats for them using flowers and coconut leaves.   I wasn't going to cheat, instead I was picking flowers and foliage to make a fascinator with a hairband I had brought with me but one of the crew offered to make me a hat and I felt it may be better if I accepted, it may be better than any creation I could make.  So as we finished up on the beach and were chivvied along back to the tenders to return to the ship, Apenisa was cutting cocnut leaves to make something for me.  When it arrived, delivered to my cabin a little later, it was a simple creation, a cocnut leaf crown with a decoration made from a trimmed Coke Can and I was certain no-one else would have one like it.  


Drinks before dinner were accompanied by entertainment from the crew, dancing and some more champagne to celebrate a 50th Birthday and a 25th Wedding Anniversary.  Then after dinner was the hat competition where the crew judged who had the most creative and the worst hat.  I am really proud to say that I won a prize.......but so did everyone else!  It was a Blue Lagoon Cruises Polo shirt and a welcome addition to my travelling wardrobe!

The morning I was to disembark, I went again for the early morning swim just off the Blue Lagoon Cruises private island, also the location for the slightly dodgy 1980s movie of the same name starring Brooke Shields.....and at this point, if you haven't seen it, no need to go rushing out to rent the DVD, it wasn't that special!!  The water was clear and there were lots of fish, most of which were not at all bothered by our presence.  Barracuda were chasing fish around the bay and out of the water, skimming across the surface.  As we were in the tender heading back to the boat one of the small Garr fish being chased beached itself in its attempt to avoid death in the jaws of the barracuda.  Jason, our guide from the ship hopped out of the tender and we all went 'Aaahhhh' thinking he was going to put it back in the water.  Oh how wrong we were, he was going to get it to use as bait to catch something larger off the back of the ship.  It was handed to me and I held it all the way back to the boat as it writhed and shook and then died.  Sad but a way of life in Fiji!

After breakfast we were taken to the local school to have a look around and to hear the children singing.  Another example of how the cruise company support the locals, the whole school was gathered for our arrival to sing for us.  When they started up, it was almost deafening, the noice which they produced was phenomenal, mainly through the enthusiasm they had for their singing.   They covered some hymns, some contemporary songs in English,some national anthems and some nursery rhymes recited by the really little children.  We were also treated to a tribal dance by some of the older boys dressed in grass skirts who seemed used to being recorded by us tourists and really played up for the camera.  Extermely entertaining.  Those passengers who hadn't already maxed out their luggage allowance brought with them some goodies for the kids, but as I had no room in my luggage, I made a donation which I have to say was well worth it given the rousing entertainment we had experienced.  Afterwards my ears were ringing as they are when coming out of a concert or nightclub!

Back to the boat we went and it was time for a quick snorkell, a spot of lunch whcih I didn't get to finish before Bhim was calling me because the transfer boat had arrived to take me back to the mainland.  A cocktail that Diana bought me was consumed in record time before I said my goodbyes to those who were not still on the beach.  And then the cruising experience was over.  It was sad that I was wrenched off the boat a little early and while people were still on the beach so I didn't get to say goodbye to everyone but hopefully they got my address from Diana and I will hear from them again.

As I stood on the top deck of the Yasawa Flyer, the yellow fastcat shuttle, the crew and friends on the ship were souting and waving to me as we departed and they were still waving as the MV Mystique Pricess became a small dot on the horizon.  Then I was swept up by the Yasawa Flyer crew because I didn't have a ticket which caused a small amount of concern about my onward journey, only to find Blue Lagoon had upgraded me to the Captain's lounge with air conditioning and complimentary beverages!

When I arrived at Port Denarau, representatives from Blue Lagoon were there to meet me and stayed with me as I was transported back to First Landing where I was again welcomed home.  And at the bar were the friendly faces of my sailing friends, Manasa the barman and Joe the dining room waiter and it was good to be back despite the fact I was still thinking about my cruising friends who were still on board and enjoying the last 2 days of their trip!

Marg & Steve

Stephanie & Udo from Germany

Diana & Gary

 

Bula! Welcome to Fiji!

The  guard outside the hotel, wearing a sulu, with a necklace of shells and a frangipani flower behind one ear stretched his arms out wide and shouted Bula!  Bula is the Fijian word for Welcome, it also covers hello and cheers, and became the word I have used most often over the last two weeks in Fiji.

This blog entry has been delayed not for lack of things to say about this beautiful country, but because there is so much to tell that being succinct is likely to be a problem, but it has been the most  fabulous experience I’m just going to go for it!

I arrived before the sun had risen on the morning of the 20^th September, having left LAX at 2330 hours on Saturday 18^th September.  I spent a lot of time trying to work out where the 19^th September went and in the end decided not to over-think it, other than I wasn’t sure what time and on what day I was supposed to be thinking of my friend Vic in the UK undertaking an Olympic Distance Triathlon...Brave woman!

But seeing the island in the early hours before it was fully light and before the roads were too busy was wonderful, lots and lots of sugar cane plantations, some avocados and bush land.  It reminded me very much of other islands I have visited, Tobago and Antigua sprang to mind although the roads were a little better than on both of those islands – doesn’t take much!  Then around a corner we came across a dead horse in the middle of the road.  I don’t know how long it had been there but not a pretty sight.

 

It was about an hour before we reached the first of my stops, the Outrigger on the Lagoon just outside of Sigatoka.  I had emailed ahead to let them know I would be arriving early (7am!) and that I would have been travelling for some time as I’d had a 9 hour wait at LAX after dropping dad for his flight before mine departed (no I’m not looking for sympathy because if that’s as bad as it gets it not really a problem!).  I had had confirmation that a room would be ready for me, they gave me the key to my garden view room, the porter took me down and I opened the door...to find a lady naked having just got out of the shower.  Clearly that wasn’t the room that was ready for me!  In the end, I had to wait a little and ended up with a room down by the beach which granted was on the ground floor, but had a view of the sea so I didn’t think I’d done too badly despite the wait!  And the room was lovely so the first thing was to get out of my travelling clothes and have a shower.  

I went to explore and find my way around to discover that there had been a super high tide the day before and there was no beach, the water came right up to the boundary wall of the hotel and the waves were still crashing over the reef and up against the garden walls of the beach front Bures (cottages).  The hotel grounds were beautiful, a heron landed in one of the water features right beside me and stayed for a while but not quite long enough for me to get my camera out.

The staff were extremely friendly but the place was full of Australian families and honeymooners and I struggled to make eye contact with anyone, let alone make conversation and for the first time in my travels, I felt a bit isolated. I’m pretty good with my own company and don’t have a problem striking up conversation but after four weeks of family and friends it was a shock to the system to be on my own again.  At breakfast on the first morning, I heard a woman say ‘That’s the girl who’s here by herself’ but she didn’t bother speaking to me directly.  It wasn’t all bad, I could have been stuck in LA and I decided it was ok because the sun was shining!  On day three I met Harry and Heather and their daughter Christie.  Harry is a ‘Pom’ who married an Aussie (Heather) and now lives in Melbourne and they took me under their wing so we then met for aperitifs and dinner for the next couple of nights.  They were great company and made it a lot more interesting than it had been!

I did enjoy listening to the groups of serenaders who graced us with Fijian songs from morning to night and on my last evening, I had the group all to myself while the Aussies (all of them) were pre-occupied watching rugby league on the TV.  They sang just for me which was a real treat and were keen to know when I was leaving.  The following morning when I went to breakfast, they were performing in the next restaurant, one of them came to find me and asked me to come through when I had finished my breakfast.  I did as I was told, they sat me down and sang to me the farewell song ‘Isa Lei’. It was beautiful and special to have them sing just for me.  I did record it but its a bit wobbly so I’ll probably not share it.

I hadn’t  got a transfer booked to take me to the First Landing which was where I was to spend the last two nights before my cruise up the Yasawa Islands, the travel agent had told me to take a taxi.  On investigation, the taxi would have cost me Fiji$140 so about $50 which was cheaper than the £130 the travel agent had been quoted.  I checked with the local travel desk and they managed to get me on a private transfer with a family going to Denerau Island on the basis that the driver could take me back to the airport and a taxi from there would be cheaper.  Once we dropped the other family off at Denerau, the driver offered to take me all the way to the First Landing for the price of a taxi fare, so I took him up on his offer and in the end it cost me only $70 which was a good deal.  Just an example of how kind and genuine the people of Fiji are.

After checking in at First Landing, I was greeted by Isimeli, my Porter, who said ‘Welcome Home’ and I really felt that I was at home, such a friendly place.  My room wasn’t ready so I sat in the bar area for some lunch and in the first hour, I had been spoken to by more people than I’d talked to at the Outrigger.  A different sort of place all together. 

Next to the Vuda Marina, I quickly gathered from eavesdropping on other peoples’ conversations that many of them were sailors just popping into the resort for lunch.  Peter, a retired architect from Melbourne who keeps a Halberg Rassey in the marina at Vuda actually joined me at my table and had a chat, keen to hear more about the timeshare boat arrangement we had and thinking that it was a bloody good deal.  Nice to hear that from a boating enthusiast from the other side of the world.

When my room was ready, Isimeli dropped me and my luggage to the room and again said ‘Welcome Home’, it was a beach front bure which offered a great view of the ocean and the Mamanuca islands with hammocks out front and a covered in deck area.  The bed was decorated with flowers picked from the gardens and the word 'Enjoy' written in coconut leaves.

It was the last Aussie Rules Football game of the season and had had a lot of hype in both resorts so I decided to join in the excitement even though I had no idea about the rules or who I should be supporting.  It turned out to be a good thing because I met two aussies called Karen on holiday together for a spot of sunshine, who explained the rules and who I should be supporting!  I also met Mike, a San Diego native and retired teacher who had sailed from San Diego to Mexico and then across to the Pacific Islands single handed.  I can’t remember which Island he visited first, but his longest passage had been 27 days and his accounts of the fish he had caught were more impressive than the fact he had sailed that far single handed in the first place.

 I had dinner with the Karens Squared and the entertainment was a Polynesian Dance performance with fire dancing.  Absolutely lovely and quite incredible to see the girls swinging balls of fire on long chains without burning themselves or each other.  All of this in a half day at the new resort made up for the lack of conversation at the Outrigger, that was well and truly behind me.

 

I spent Sunday chilling in my new environment, walked out to the edge of the reef at low tide looking for small fish and other sea creatures and spent time at the pool.  I had dinner with the Karens again, such good fun and after dinner we went for a dip in the pool and were served cocktails by Manasa, the wonderfully cheerful barman.

And then it was time to go, to say goodbye to some new friends who would be leaving before I returned from my cruise and to pack up for the next exciting chapter, my very first ‘Cruise’ adventure up the Yasawa Islands.