The End
And so we are now at home, suffering a little from post travel blues, trying hard to acclimatise and finding the cold difficult to bear.
Would we do it again? Yes we would.
Did we learn a huge amount? Yes we did.
In general, all of the people we met were kind and caring, in fact the spirit of human kindness we encountered was probably often more than we deserved.
We started out calling the whole expedition a holiday, but somewhere along the way it became a journey, we have a bucket load of memories which will last us for the rest of our lives.
The whole thing was truly educative. We now have a much better understanding for example of Australian politics, life in Bali and the current situation in Fiji.
In America it was clear to us that it is not all sweetness and light, seeing tent cities in Los Angeles brings it home to you.
It is impossible to pick one best place or best memory out of so many, how can you compare the temples in Angor Wat to the fiords in South Island, New Zealand?
Thank you to all those who put us up, helped us when we needed it, or greeted us with a cheery wave or a smile.
And does the blog continue? I am not sure but if it does we will rename it landrathome, I imagine it will be up and running in a week or so. Thank you to the 2200 people who have taken the time to read this blog, who have encouraged me to carry on writing, who have forgiven my typing mistakes and ignored the grammatical errors. I would have appreciated more of an interaction with some of you to try and understand what you found interesting in these meanderings. All I hope is that you have enjoyed our adventures, who knows there may be more in years to come.
Sunday 21 April 2013
Saturday 20 April 2013
And back to Cornwall
After all the horror stories about Heathrow we found it very easy to negotiate. We landed not at a walkway but out in the boondogs with coaches waiting to pick us up. This might have been partly because we had an extradited criminal on board and we needed to land some where so that the police could pick him up. There was certainly quite a hold up before we were allowed to leave the plane.
We were through immigration very quickly , found our bags, and went out through customs all in about twenty minutes.
A very kind gentleman at National coaches put us on the next coach to leave for the Central Bus station , where we negotiated for the sum of eight pounds a change to a 1.20 bus,two hours earlier than we had planned
This definitely made the expedition manager very happy.we arrived in Exeter at 4.45, where we were met by our very good friends Geoff and Mary who bought us home.we stopped at their hous e for a quick cup of coffee and were back in our house by 6.30pm. We were both very tired but we also had a certain smugness a out responding we had achieved. As we drove across the border into Cornwall it started to rain, who could ask for more?.
After all the horror stories about Heathrow we found it very easy to negotiate. We landed not at a walkway but out in the boondogs with coaches waiting to pick us up. This might have been partly because we had an extradited criminal on board and we needed to land some where so that the police could pick him up. There was certainly quite a hold up before we were allowed to leave the plane.
We were through immigration very quickly , found our bags, and went out through customs all in about twenty minutes.
A very kind gentleman at National coaches put us on the next coach to leave for the Central Bus station , where we negotiated for the sum of eight pounds a change to a 1.20 bus,two hours earlier than we had planned
This definitely made the expedition manager very happy.we arrived in Exeter at 4.45, where we were met by our very good friends Geoff and Mary who bought us home.we stopped at their hous e for a quick cup of coffee and were back in our house by 6.30pm. We were both very tired but we also had a certain smugness a out responding we had achieved. As we drove across the border into Cornwall it started to rain, who could ask for more?.
Thursday 18 April 2013
Tuesday, our last day.
In reality we only had half a day as we were being picked up at 2.20pm. We had requested a late checkout and had been given leave to stay in our room until 2.00.
After a fairly leisurely breakfast we headed off to the Beverly Centre again only to discover as we arrived at 9.40 am, that the shops didn't open u til 10.00. As they say open until 9.00pm you can't really blame them.
The expedition chief procurer of apparel went into overdrive and tried several dresses, trousers and tops on before making her choice. It was then my turn and I did manage to buy a couple of pairs of jeans. As a parting shot the expedition manager did manage to purchase a couple of pairs of shoes.
We purchased a wrap to eat back at our hotel and then took a cab there to make sure we were there in time to have a quick shower before we left. Obviously we also had to finish our packing and the master packer's skills were put to the test. Our new purchases were laid carefully on top of the packing that had already been done.
We left the room at 2.00pm paid our bill and lo and behold our lift arrived early, so we were suddenly on our way home. After a circuitous tour of Los Angeles we arrived at LAX airport at about 3.15. We found our way to the BA boarding area and stood in the queue. We were highly surprised to be beckoned forward by a gentleman who was operating the first class check in. We had a brief conversation and I asked him if there was any chance of an upgrade, he looked at our travel records and said "Well you certainly have travelled with us a lot" and then continued" however, it is avery full plane", before giving us our original seats as boarding passes. We honestly felt he had looked.
We went and had a beer and bought some duty free booze, before we had to get ready to board.
The same gentleman who had checked us in was collecting boarding passes and as we were in row 49 we were called fairly early, those at the back of the plane get on first.
As I got to the desk, I said " It doesn't look as though you have managed to do anything for us then" and he replied" I am afraid not, but let's wait and see". As he put my boarding pass onto the machine it was rejected and he then asked me to wait to one side whilst he called Rosemarie forward and the same thing happened to her boarding pass. After a couple of minutes we were given new boarding passes with the words that we still had a window seat but we had been moved further up the plane.
When we boarded we were very surprised to find that we were in "World Traveller Plus", with almost fully reclining seats, foot rests, calf support, and we were then given a choice of menu. It felt like real luxury to us, and I now need to write to Los Angeles to thank them.
We even got real metal cutlery with our dinner. The flight was good and we really enjoyed the comfort and the service we were given, it made the end of our journey very special.
If it is Monday it must be the Universal Studios
Never knowing what to expect or even whether or not we would like it, we booked for a day trip to Universal Studios. We knew it was a theme park and it is not something we would both readily do.
We were up again early to catch the 8.25 pick up and were taken back to Hollywood where we queued again and were allocated to a different bus.
That bus took us to theUniversal Studios about fifteen minutes away.
We got into the park and then had to wait ten minutes until it opened. We had decided to do the studio tour before anything else and walked fairly quickly to the trams that take people around. To give you an idea of the number of people there were we got on the first tram out, but were sat in the last of four coaches about two thirds of the way back. Say 50 people to a coach and you get the idea.
The trip was great and really extremely interesting. We visited several "lots" and stages, although apart from one TV show no filming was going on. We visited a Mexican town and were shown a flash flood, were taken underground to a tube station, which underwent an earthquake whilst we were in it, including another flood. We visited a Wild West set on which John Wayne had worked , and an aeroplane crash site, on which Tom Cruise had worked. We also had a 3d encounter with King Kong and saw an American city set that has been used in several guises. The whole trip lasted about an hour and a half. Surprise surprise we both really enjoyed it.
After the studios we went to see Shrek in 4d and again we really enjoyed it, this is the future of television and cinema, we even got wet as the donkey sneezed and the spiders that appeared to drop into our lap made Rosemarie jump. We both had a good laugh .
We did venture down to look at the rides but the expedition controller drew the line at getting on one so we made our way to the special effects show, which was also hugely enjoyable.
By now it was time for lunch and we had a beer in a really believable Irish pub, before getting a sandwich in what looked like a French restaurant.
This is exactly what the whole day was about, smoke and mirrors, all the sets are very small, filming is a land of make believe, you don't always see what you think you do.
After lunch we visited the house of horrors which we both liked although they certainly made you jump and saw a Blues Brothers live R and B revue which was very good.
So there you go, you travel somewhere expecting the worst and have a relatively good time.we were picked up at 3pm and taken back to our hotel.
After a short break we went off for some retail therapy in Macy's department store in the Beverly centre before finishing the day with a Mexican Meal, not too bad for the penultimate day of our journey.
Never knowing what to expect or even whether or not we would like it, we booked for a day trip to Universal Studios. We knew it was a theme park and it is not something we would both readily do.
We were up again early to catch the 8.25 pick up and were taken back to Hollywood where we queued again and were allocated to a different bus.
That bus took us to theUniversal Studios about fifteen minutes away.
We got into the park and then had to wait ten minutes until it opened. We had decided to do the studio tour before anything else and walked fairly quickly to the trams that take people around. To give you an idea of the number of people there were we got on the first tram out, but were sat in the last of four coaches about two thirds of the way back. Say 50 people to a coach and you get the idea.
The trip was great and really extremely interesting. We visited several "lots" and stages, although apart from one TV show no filming was going on. We visited a Mexican town and were shown a flash flood, were taken underground to a tube station, which underwent an earthquake whilst we were in it, including another flood. We visited a Wild West set on which John Wayne had worked , and an aeroplane crash site, on which Tom Cruise had worked. We also had a 3d encounter with King Kong and saw an American city set that has been used in several guises. The whole trip lasted about an hour and a half. Surprise surprise we both really enjoyed it.
After the studios we went to see Shrek in 4d and again we really enjoyed it, this is the future of television and cinema, we even got wet as the donkey sneezed and the spiders that appeared to drop into our lap made Rosemarie jump. We both had a good laugh .
We did venture down to look at the rides but the expedition controller drew the line at getting on one so we made our way to the special effects show, which was also hugely enjoyable.
By now it was time for lunch and we had a beer in a really believable Irish pub, before getting a sandwich in what looked like a French restaurant.
This is exactly what the whole day was about, smoke and mirrors, all the sets are very small, filming is a land of make believe, you don't always see what you think you do.
After lunch we visited the house of horrors which we both liked although they certainly made you jump and saw a Blues Brothers live R and B revue which was very good.
So there you go, you travel somewhere expecting the worst and have a relatively good time.we were picked up at 3pm and taken back to our hotel.
After a short break we went off for some retail therapy in Macy's department store in the Beverly centre before finishing the day with a Mexican Meal, not too bad for the penultimate day of our journey.
Tuesday 16 April 2013
Sunday must be a tour of Los Angeles.
No rest for the wicked, we are up at seven to get picked up at our hotel for a Grand Tour of Los Angeles. A little bus picked us up and whisked us off to Hollywood where we had to queue for twenty minutes to get a voucher to be put on a larger bus. We were taken to the Hollywood Bowl first a fantastic arena with tremendous acoustics. It was a great thrill to be there anyone is anybody has played the Hollywood Bowl. Then for a reason best known to the tour directors we were taken back to Hollywood and looked at the walk of fame and the prints outside Graumann's Chinese theatre. It was very clear to us that John Wayne had very small feet.
We also saw where the red carpet is put down for the Oscar ceremonies and all that goes with that, huge black curtains are draped over shop fronts so that they cannot be seen, all pure smoke and mirrors, it certainly doesn't look quite as grand in real life. Basically the Oscar ceremony takes place in the middle of a shopping mall.
There was quite a lot of history of Hollywood and we had lunch in the Farmers' market an area full of food stalls of different types. In the afternoon we visited the city centre and then went to see the oldest house in Los Angeles which dates back to the 1830's , the Adobe House was really interesting.
After five hours on the bus we were taken back to our hotel and we then decided we wanted a walk so we trolled off to Rodeo Drive, couldn't afford anything although the Expedition commander came very close to trying on a four thousand dollar dress, unfortunately they didn't have it in her size.
We spent a little while looking for a bar to have a beer in and eventually found one on the walk back to our hotel. This was the bar you see in every film, long, dark and with jazz playing , to cap it all the beer was very good as well.
Dinner was in a steak restaurant and was superb, steak just as you imagine it. A pleasant walk back to the hotel before jet lag kicked in and we were off to bed. A interesting day in LA.
No rest for the wicked, we are up at seven to get picked up at our hotel for a Grand Tour of Los Angeles. A little bus picked us up and whisked us off to Hollywood where we had to queue for twenty minutes to get a voucher to be put on a larger bus. We were taken to the Hollywood Bowl first a fantastic arena with tremendous acoustics. It was a great thrill to be there anyone is anybody has played the Hollywood Bowl. Then for a reason best known to the tour directors we were taken back to Hollywood and looked at the walk of fame and the prints outside Graumann's Chinese theatre. It was very clear to us that John Wayne had very small feet.
We also saw where the red carpet is put down for the Oscar ceremonies and all that goes with that, huge black curtains are draped over shop fronts so that they cannot be seen, all pure smoke and mirrors, it certainly doesn't look quite as grand in real life. Basically the Oscar ceremony takes place in the middle of a shopping mall.
There was quite a lot of history of Hollywood and we had lunch in the Farmers' market an area full of food stalls of different types. In the afternoon we visited the city centre and then went to see the oldest house in Los Angeles which dates back to the 1830's , the Adobe House was really interesting.
After five hours on the bus we were taken back to our hotel and we then decided we wanted a walk so we trolled off to Rodeo Drive, couldn't afford anything although the Expedition commander came very close to trying on a four thousand dollar dress, unfortunately they didn't have it in her size.
We spent a little while looking for a bar to have a beer in and eventually found one on the walk back to our hotel. This was the bar you see in every film, long, dark and with jazz playing , to cap it all the beer was very good as well.
Dinner was in a steak restaurant and was superb, steak just as you imagine it. A pleasant walk back to the hotel before jet lag kicked in and we were off to bed. A interesting day in LA.
Monday 15 April 2013
Our Last Saturday in Fiji.
The master packer had been very remiss as we had gotten a late check out at 4.00pm so we only had to wait an hour for our pick up. So a bit of Saturday morning was spent packing up. We left behind our plastic cups, cutlery and plates and left a note for the maid saying she could have them if she had a use for them.
We went kayaking and snorkelling and I met an Australian TV crew who were going to stay at the hotel for ten weeks, they were filming a top secret reality show in a deserted hut on a beach about three miles from the hotel. In the end they described it as putting ten pretty girls and ten pretty boys in the same room and see what happens. I assured them I was unlikely to see it on the BBC.
We had lunch in a restaurant overlooking the beach, finished our packing at came down to reception on time at four.
Imagine our surprise when we were told that our driver was there and we were on the road by 4.15. I had thought I would do the blog over a beer whilst we waited. Raj, our driver was very interesting and told us some home truths about the current political situation in Fiji.
We booked onto our flight to LA and got seats the expedition manager didn't like. We had a beer in the airport, bought a sarong, changed some money into American dollars and waited to catch our flight which was bursting at the seams. The Saturday night flight to LA from Fiji is clearly very popular.
The Air Pacific flight we caught was probably one of the worst we have been on. The food was not good, the inflight entertainment was very poor, the people in front of us had raging chest infections, I was sat next to a very large lady from Tonga whose arm made mine look like strings of spaghetti and who took up more than her fair share of room.
But still we were off to LA for more adventures so why argue?LA here we come!!!!!
Sorry Sorry Sorry
The blog has been a little quiet for the last few days as we have been rushing around.
Our last Friday in Fiji was spent, kayaking, snorkelling, swimming and sunbathing. In the evening we booked to see a demonstration of Fijian fire walking, don by a group of men from the island of Beqa.
When we arrived they had lit a fire and were heating the stones. The performance opened with some wonderfully harmonic acapella singing and then according to custom the stones had to be turned in a special way, before the fire walking could begin. Fire walking is strong in all sorts of communities, and I have to say this wasn't very well presented.
Something of the cynic in me tells me that we saw what we wanted to see several men, one at a time standing on hot rocks. At the end of the ceremony they covered the hot rocks with green foliage. Which did not immediately burst into fire!!!! In fact, it only just about managed rot smoulder. The hundred or so Australian who saw it first hand with us seemed to enjoy it.
There was a legend to go with the ceremony which was really interesting. After the fire dancing we went tot the Japanese restaurant and had a tepanaki grill which was lovely. after the meal eleven hotel staff sung for us, and only us, "Issolaye", although some of the men messed around it was very touching. The harmonies they achieve sounded wonderful and we were truly touched.
The ordinary hotel workers are desperate for people like Rosemarie and I to return and in truth I think we might one day.
The blog has been a little quiet for the last few days as we have been rushing around.
Our last Friday in Fiji was spent, kayaking, snorkelling, swimming and sunbathing. In the evening we booked to see a demonstration of Fijian fire walking, don by a group of men from the island of Beqa.
When we arrived they had lit a fire and were heating the stones. The performance opened with some wonderfully harmonic acapella singing and then according to custom the stones had to be turned in a special way, before the fire walking could begin. Fire walking is strong in all sorts of communities, and I have to say this wasn't very well presented.
Something of the cynic in me tells me that we saw what we wanted to see several men, one at a time standing on hot rocks. At the end of the ceremony they covered the hot rocks with green foliage. Which did not immediately burst into fire!!!! In fact, it only just about managed rot smoulder. The hundred or so Australian who saw it first hand with us seemed to enjoy it.
There was a legend to go with the ceremony which was really interesting. After the fire dancing we went tot the Japanese restaurant and had a tepanaki grill which was lovely. after the meal eleven hotel staff sung for us, and only us, "Issolaye", although some of the men messed around it was very touching. The harmonies they achieve sounded wonderful and we were truly touched.
The ordinary hotel workers are desperate for people like Rosemarie and I to return and in truth I think we might one day.
Friday 12 April 2013
Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
Life in Fiji as previously described albeit with a couple of rainstorms in the late afternoon. Kayaking, snorkelling, swimming, sunbathing, who could ask for more?
Last night we went to the sea food restaurant at the end of a small promontory here and this time we were given a table overlooking the sea which was just by a floodlight. As we sat down, the waitress pointed out to us a shark car circling below. At first we had trouble seeing it, but as our eyes grew accustomed to the light we were able to see not one shark but three. These were reef sharks about two metres long and circled for some time as we had our meal. It isn't everyone who can say they sat and had a meal above shark infested waters.
When we got back to our room we looked reef sharks up and apparently they have no history of attacking human beings, but there is still something quite chilling about seeing a shark's fin gliding noiselessly through the water. This after all is the lagoon we have been snorkelling in!!!
The expedition manager was very pleased with herself as she took a solo kayak for the first time and did really well. She exhibited a host of learnt skills, turned it nicely and parked it next to a diving platform so that she could have a long chat with the well muscled young man who was sat on it. So there you go, she will be taking up kayaking as long as both the air temperature and the water temperature are warm.
On Wednesday we went for a two hour walk along the beach heading East, in those tow hors we saw eight other people all but two of which were Fijians. The two were tourists having their hair braided just out side the hotel. We passed a small village and saw some people there, but coming back we came across a family of four walking on the beach. Other tourists in the hotel don't seem to want to leave its confines. This was exactly the same as when we walked the other direction last week. So who says Australians are get up and go explorers. OK we did do it in the late morning when only mad dogs and Englaihmen are about but you might have expected to see a few more fellow tourists exploring what is, after all, a beautiful coastline.
Our journey is coming to an end and there is an inevitable sense of sadness in the air, this has been a journey, on which we have seen so much, learnt so much and enjoyed the company of so many different people. It is not the time to look back now, but all the same the days seem to be slipping away.
Life in Fiji as previously described albeit with a couple of rainstorms in the late afternoon. Kayaking, snorkelling, swimming, sunbathing, who could ask for more?
Last night we went to the sea food restaurant at the end of a small promontory here and this time we were given a table overlooking the sea which was just by a floodlight. As we sat down, the waitress pointed out to us a shark car circling below. At first we had trouble seeing it, but as our eyes grew accustomed to the light we were able to see not one shark but three. These were reef sharks about two metres long and circled for some time as we had our meal. It isn't everyone who can say they sat and had a meal above shark infested waters.
When we got back to our room we looked reef sharks up and apparently they have no history of attacking human beings, but there is still something quite chilling about seeing a shark's fin gliding noiselessly through the water. This after all is the lagoon we have been snorkelling in!!!
The expedition manager was very pleased with herself as she took a solo kayak for the first time and did really well. She exhibited a host of learnt skills, turned it nicely and parked it next to a diving platform so that she could have a long chat with the well muscled young man who was sat on it. So there you go, she will be taking up kayaking as long as both the air temperature and the water temperature are warm.
On Wednesday we went for a two hour walk along the beach heading East, in those tow hors we saw eight other people all but two of which were Fijians. The two were tourists having their hair braided just out side the hotel. We passed a small village and saw some people there, but coming back we came across a family of four walking on the beach. Other tourists in the hotel don't seem to want to leave its confines. This was exactly the same as when we walked the other direction last week. So who says Australians are get up and go explorers. OK we did do it in the late morning when only mad dogs and Englaihmen are about but you might have expected to see a few more fellow tourists exploring what is, after all, a beautiful coastline.
Our journey is coming to an end and there is an inevitable sense of sadness in the air, this has been a journey, on which we have seen so much, learnt so much and enjoyed the company of so many different people. It is not the time to look back now, but all the same the days seem to be slipping away.
Tuesday 9 April 2013
A strange phenomenon.
Do you believe in something you can't explain? On our trip to the village our guide had told us about an island Beqa, just off the coast, which was famous for three things,one diving with sharks, two fire walking, this is the only island where fire walkers come from and three some of the people, on this island are renowned for having the ability to cure burns by touch.
It was explained to us that women in particular have this last gift and somehow absorb the heat.
When we were having dinner , as is our wont, we got chatting to our waitress who told us she came from the island, Beqa. I asked her outright if she had the healing gift and she explained she did.
She went to to tell us that this gift is passed down the female side of the family and is strongest if it comes from a great grandmother.
She went onto tell us that the gift was in her touch and in her present village, people came to her to ask her to cure burns and scalds. She also told us a tale about a neighbour's four year old who had been fairly badly burned in an accident and she had applied her gift over a period of four days, after which the remaining burns, by this time much reduced were treated in hospital. She told us that the girl, now eight, had no visible scars.
I can't explain this or how I feel about it, the cynic in me says it denies science, but who knows,our waitress was certainly very convincing. I share this story because is symptomatic of our journey, of the people we have spoken to and the learning we have had to undertake. Who am I to say that these people do not have such a gift?
Generally I found this encounter slightly more interesting than our trip to the village. The expedition manager and I sat down to discuss the village trip over a beers, and bit of us felt we had no better view of village life than we had had before.we weren't shown any farming, which is apparently how the village survives and we weren't shown anyone's house , all we saw was the meeting house and the school. Is it right that we expect people to become items of interest for tourists? I cannot imagine a school in England allowing tourists to visit four or five times a week, let alone bring the students sweet biscuits. So to stop this , what can I do? Not travel as a tourist or express interest in these things?
If you follow that line then obviously you deny people who need it a very necessary income. Ther are other issues about Fiji that at the moment I cannot comment on that also cause me some concern.
Disaster, a trip to remember and Redemption part two.
And in her outstretched hand were the expedition manager's glasses. Redemption. Joy of joys. The expedition manager even managed a smile. Who could ask for more.
After we had disembarked Maria explained that the diver had found the glasses in the bottom of the smaller pool. I was, of course, really grateful.
The spectacles were carefully examined and pounced to have survived their ordeal, so I was a very lucky boy indeed.
On our return to the hotel we had a swim in the pool to cool off, and then had dinner in the restaurant before heading to bed.
And in her outstretched hand were the expedition manager's glasses. Redemption. Joy of joys. The expedition manager even managed a smile. Who could ask for more.
After we had disembarked Maria explained that the diver had found the glasses in the bottom of the smaller pool. I was, of course, really grateful.
The spectacles were carefully examined and pounced to have survived their ordeal, so I was a very lucky boy indeed.
On our return to the hotel we had a swim in the pool to cool off, and then had dinner in the restaurant before heading to bed.
Disaster, a trip to remember and redemption.
We had booked a trip than inland village called Namaumau as a chance for us to see some of inland Fiji. There is only one main road here and that sticks closely to the coast. Apparently it takes 11 to 12 hours to drive around the whole island. So travel into the hinterland you either need a 4 x4 or you take a boat up one of the rivers. We chose the latter option.
We left our hotel at 9.10 but were held up by an Australian who we waited for but it turned out that he or she hadn't booked anyway. As a result we got away at 9.30.
After an hour on the us we arrived at Maria's house, where we could use the toilet and get changed I to our swimwear, it was made fairly obvious to us that we were going to get wet. We had imagined this staging post to be something grand but it was in fact only someone's house with the bedrooms used as changing rooms and two toilets, silly us.
After being given a life jacket the group was separated into eights and we were taken to our longboat, ours was called "Loverboy, the runaway." The journey up river was about an hour and a half, our outboard engine kept stalling,in a river swollen by rainfall the night before, which wasn't awfully comforting.
At one point we came to a fairly steep set of rapids. The expedition manger and I had watched to boat in front of us make an attempt up them and slip backdown again, so that gives you a small indication of the amount of water passing through. Our turn to ascend arrived, up we went, the engine stalled and down we came, this happened thre times, then the captain rearranged the seating moving some us back in the boat. Another attempt which failed, at this point four passengers in the front of the boat were requested to leave the boat and walk along a stony ridge to the right. They disembarked and we had another attempt which was successful although by this time we had shipped quite a lot of water.
After a hour we stopped at the base of a waterfall where there were two natural pools people could swim in. The expedition manager thought she would like to try this although I couldn't as the first people to go in reported that the water was extremely cold. Anyway I was put in charge of the manager's possessions, her watch and her glasses, hat and top ,whilst she went swimming, and very glorious she looked as well.
When she came out of the water I gave her her towel, top, watch and hat and was then asked for her glasses. As I was wearing swimming trunks I had very cunningly folded these and put one arm into the v shaped neck of my t shirt, so I reached for them only to discover that they were no longer there. Major panic ensued on my part, I returned to both pools but could not find them, the manager was slightly more than furious. Maria came with me to search for the glasses but we couldn't find them and came to the conclusion they must be in the pools where I had photographed Rosemarie swimming. Maria promised to find a pair of goggles in the village and have someone dive I to the pool to find them. I was disconsolate, having worn glasses all my life I recognise how important they are. By the time we had got back into the boat for the second part of the journey the expedition manager had calmed down a bit and we had come to the conclusion this was a s legitimate insurance claim. I was still inconsolable.
We arrived at the village, were given a traditional welcoming ceremony, were sung some songs and then encouraged to join in some "traditional" dancing. The first dance was called the "bingo" and when someone called out" Bingo" you had to change partners. The second dance was called " Disco", which is exactly what it seemed to be, the third dance was a version of the "Conga" and was probably the most traditional of all.
After the dancing we were taken to the village school for 85 children aged 6 to 13. It was very basic and almost Victorian. Sme people had taken the children sweet biscuits which we felt was condescending and there was something about this part of the visit I didn't like. Perhaps it is the idea that children become like zoo animals an item of tourist attraction?
After the school we had a "traditional" lunch which included tuna sandwiches,but also roast chicken, papaya, salad and a root vegetable served with a spinach sauce.
Lunch over we were treated to a market of the villagers' handicrafts, before some farewell singing and re embarkation to our boats. The journey down river was much quicker as we were travelling with the flow. We stopped for a ride on a bamboo raft ,which is the traditional form of travel, and after about half a mile of that we were put back into our boats to take us back to Maria's.
As we were in the last part of the journey, Maria's boat overtook ours and in her outstretched hand was
We had booked a trip than inland village called Namaumau as a chance for us to see some of inland Fiji. There is only one main road here and that sticks closely to the coast. Apparently it takes 11 to 12 hours to drive around the whole island. So travel into the hinterland you either need a 4 x4 or you take a boat up one of the rivers. We chose the latter option.
We left our hotel at 9.10 but were held up by an Australian who we waited for but it turned out that he or she hadn't booked anyway. As a result we got away at 9.30.
After an hour on the us we arrived at Maria's house, where we could use the toilet and get changed I to our swimwear, it was made fairly obvious to us that we were going to get wet. We had imagined this staging post to be something grand but it was in fact only someone's house with the bedrooms used as changing rooms and two toilets, silly us.
After being given a life jacket the group was separated into eights and we were taken to our longboat, ours was called "Loverboy, the runaway." The journey up river was about an hour and a half, our outboard engine kept stalling,in a river swollen by rainfall the night before, which wasn't awfully comforting.
At one point we came to a fairly steep set of rapids. The expedition manger and I had watched to boat in front of us make an attempt up them and slip backdown again, so that gives you a small indication of the amount of water passing through. Our turn to ascend arrived, up we went, the engine stalled and down we came, this happened thre times, then the captain rearranged the seating moving some us back in the boat. Another attempt which failed, at this point four passengers in the front of the boat were requested to leave the boat and walk along a stony ridge to the right. They disembarked and we had another attempt which was successful although by this time we had shipped quite a lot of water.
After a hour we stopped at the base of a waterfall where there were two natural pools people could swim in. The expedition manager thought she would like to try this although I couldn't as the first people to go in reported that the water was extremely cold. Anyway I was put in charge of the manager's possessions, her watch and her glasses, hat and top ,whilst she went swimming, and very glorious she looked as well.
When she came out of the water I gave her her towel, top, watch and hat and was then asked for her glasses. As I was wearing swimming trunks I had very cunningly folded these and put one arm into the v shaped neck of my t shirt, so I reached for them only to discover that they were no longer there. Major panic ensued on my part, I returned to both pools but could not find them, the manager was slightly more than furious. Maria came with me to search for the glasses but we couldn't find them and came to the conclusion they must be in the pools where I had photographed Rosemarie swimming. Maria promised to find a pair of goggles in the village and have someone dive I to the pool to find them. I was disconsolate, having worn glasses all my life I recognise how important they are. By the time we had got back into the boat for the second part of the journey the expedition manager had calmed down a bit and we had come to the conclusion this was a s legitimate insurance claim. I was still inconsolable.
We arrived at the village, were given a traditional welcoming ceremony, were sung some songs and then encouraged to join in some "traditional" dancing. The first dance was called the "bingo" and when someone called out" Bingo" you had to change partners. The second dance was called " Disco", which is exactly what it seemed to be, the third dance was a version of the "Conga" and was probably the most traditional of all.
After the dancing we were taken to the village school for 85 children aged 6 to 13. It was very basic and almost Victorian. Sme people had taken the children sweet biscuits which we felt was condescending and there was something about this part of the visit I didn't like. Perhaps it is the idea that children become like zoo animals an item of tourist attraction?
After the school we had a "traditional" lunch which included tuna sandwiches,but also roast chicken, papaya, salad and a root vegetable served with a spinach sauce.
Lunch over we were treated to a market of the villagers' handicrafts, before some farewell singing and re embarkation to our boats. The journey down river was much quicker as we were travelling with the flow. We stopped for a ride on a bamboo raft ,which is the traditional form of travel, and after about half a mile of that we were put back into our boats to take us back to Maria's.
As we were in the last part of the journey, Maria's boat overtook ours and in her outstretched hand was
Monday 8 April 2013
The weekend
Life in Fiji is hard, wake up, breakfast, swim, kayak, snorkel,go for a meal, bedtime. This is pretty much the story of both Saturday and Sunday.
We did manage to look around the gardens of the hotel on Saturday, which are lovely but not quite as big as you first imagine.they are immaculately kept,their whole purpose being to make the resort look impressive as you arrive. We found the health centre, the fitness gym, the squash courts sand the mini golf.
There are Australians here in vast numbers and a new batch arrived on Saturday as the some of the old guard left. Some are really nice but others are very brash and noisy. They seem to have left their manners at home and ask the staff for something without a please or a thank you. Australia is obviously a very important market for the hotel as every price is quoted in both Fijian and Australian dollars. They certainly seem to have no qualms at all about coming to a dictatorship.
Interestingly there are also a large number of Indians and Chinese here. It is clear to me that these two races will form the great majority of tourists over the next decade.
We did have a minor disaster on Sunday which was partly of my making. As I stood up on our balcony to get the expedition manager a banana for her after lunch treat, the elastic clothes line pulled the chair it was attached to,on which I had been sitting, into the table, tipping it over and sending a glass crashing onto the balcony floor and two beers over the balcony to the floor three stories down. The major casualty was our sharp knife, bought months ago in Australia, which also fell three floors. The handle on it is smashed and it will now not be making the journey home with us. It certainly owes us nothing. The maid, luckily for me was out in the corridor and she immediately came in and swept the balcony. According to Rosemarie when she saw me collecting the beers can and the knife she started laughing.
On Saturday night we went to the fish restaurant here and had a great meal, we were the last to leave the restaurant and went to the edge to look at the fish swimming in a spotlight deliberately set so as to attract them. Because we had shown some interest the kitchen staff gave us some bread to feed them and we spent a very happy twenty minutes or so feeding the fish which seemed voraciously hungry. The expedition wildlife spotter wa avery pleased with herself.
On Sunnday we ordered one meal in via room service and the guy who delivered it took great interest in the fact I had Rosemarie's pay as you go SIM card in his hand, he showed Rosemariemhow to get the Internet on her phone for 5 Fijian dollars about £1.80 for a week and he was very lovely.
Our meal was food and we retired early as we had a big trip planned on Monday.
Life in Fiji is hard, wake up, breakfast, swim, kayak, snorkel,go for a meal, bedtime. This is pretty much the story of both Saturday and Sunday.
We did manage to look around the gardens of the hotel on Saturday, which are lovely but not quite as big as you first imagine.they are immaculately kept,their whole purpose being to make the resort look impressive as you arrive. We found the health centre, the fitness gym, the squash courts sand the mini golf.
There are Australians here in vast numbers and a new batch arrived on Saturday as the some of the old guard left. Some are really nice but others are very brash and noisy. They seem to have left their manners at home and ask the staff for something without a please or a thank you. Australia is obviously a very important market for the hotel as every price is quoted in both Fijian and Australian dollars. They certainly seem to have no qualms at all about coming to a dictatorship.
Interestingly there are also a large number of Indians and Chinese here. It is clear to me that these two races will form the great majority of tourists over the next decade.
We did have a minor disaster on Sunday which was partly of my making. As I stood up on our balcony to get the expedition manager a banana for her after lunch treat, the elastic clothes line pulled the chair it was attached to,on which I had been sitting, into the table, tipping it over and sending a glass crashing onto the balcony floor and two beers over the balcony to the floor three stories down. The major casualty was our sharp knife, bought months ago in Australia, which also fell three floors. The handle on it is smashed and it will now not be making the journey home with us. It certainly owes us nothing. The maid, luckily for me was out in the corridor and she immediately came in and swept the balcony. According to Rosemarie when she saw me collecting the beers can and the knife she started laughing.
On Saturday night we went to the fish restaurant here and had a great meal, we were the last to leave the restaurant and went to the edge to look at the fish swimming in a spotlight deliberately set so as to attract them. Because we had shown some interest the kitchen staff gave us some bread to feed them and we spent a very happy twenty minutes or so feeding the fish which seemed voraciously hungry. The expedition wildlife spotter wa avery pleased with herself.
On Sunnday we ordered one meal in via room service and the guy who delivered it took great interest in the fact I had Rosemarie's pay as you go SIM card in his hand, he showed Rosemariemhow to get the Internet on her phone for 5 Fijian dollars about £1.80 for a week and he was very lovely.
Our meal was food and we retired early as we had a big trip planned on Monday.
Saturday 6 April 2013
And so to Suva
We had booked a coach trip to the capital city, Suva, as explained yesterday so we had to be up with the larks and ready in the foyer by 9.30. We took much I fan tile pleasure in baiting the lady in the travel office as we passed at nine twenty pointing out that we were ten minutes early and that it was Friday. She had the good grace to burst out laughing.
The journey to Suva was fairly interesting and about two hours long. The closer we go to the capital , the larger the houses became and we were shown the president's house, guarded with razor wire, the parliament building which has been closed since 2009, the Australian Embassy and several other important buildings.
We were dropped from the bus at a major department store, surprise, surprise, and then we had three hours free time. We decided to walk to the museum about a mile and a half, but after twenty minutes in searing heat, we gave that up as a bad idea and went and found some lunch.
We ended up in a food hall, which is pretty like the ones we had been in, in Perth , Sydney and Melbourne. Globalisation is ruining small businesses. The only Fijian food available didn't look all that appetising so we ended up joining a long queue for a noodle bar where we had the biggest portion of chicken chow mein for two pounds. There was so much food on our plates that we couldn't finish it all.
After luch we engaged in some contraband purchasing to the back to the hotel, some wine, beer, cheese, ham and crisps were all carefully packed in the two rucksacks we had taken with us.
On the journey home our guide serenaded us with some Fijian songs and the journey flew by.
Suva is like almost every other major city we have been too only on a much smaller scale, it has a population of about one hundred thousand.The shops and supermarkets could have been anywhere in the world, apart from the displays of highly coloured floral shirts and dresses which the Fijians specialise in.
On our return to the hotel we were so hot and sticky that we both wanted a shower, imagine our frustration and dismay when there was no hot water pressure. The expedition manager sprang into operation and telephoned reception, not such an easy task as might imagine as they had changed their number from the one printed in our visitors' book. Anger was clearly expressed and we were promised a plumber would be sent to investigate, nothing happened so after a while we walked to reception and made our points again, the plumber was again called for and we went off to the bar for a drink. When we returned to our room the cleaner was there and we asked her if the plumber had been and she said no, the plumber had not been on the floor at all.
The expedition manager had by now had enough and decided to go down to reception again, I stayed in the room, fifteen minutes later two engineers arrived and investigated our concern, and ended by saying there was nothing they could do and the hot water would be like that for some time.
Just after this Rosemarie returned to say that she had complained but that her complaint had been cut short by a telephone call from Emma. By this time it had gone ten o'clock.
The next thing we knew was that the phone rang, which is a bit strong, as to be more accurate it squeaked. The duty manager wished me good evening and then asked me if we had unpacked. I felt the sudden rise of anger in me and pointed out that we had been in the hotel a week. He explained to me, totally ignoring my cynicism, that the hot water problem could not be solved quickly and that he proposed moving us to the other wing of the hotel. He invited .us down to reception to look at the new room he proposed moving us to which he assured me was a much better room.
The expedition manager was not pleased, as the master packer was supposedly having a couple of days leave. There then followed a pantomime where the duty manager and the two engineers who had been in our room and condemned the shower took us round from room to room waiting for us to make up our minds. We were shown two very nice rooms to start with but both had showers in the bath, when we said we wanted a walk in shower we were shown three more rooms on a lower floor, none of which passed muster by the expedition manager. After much discussion we settled on the second room we had been shown, made noises about compensation which were treated with calm resignation and disdain and we then had to get the master packe rack off leave so that we could move. To be fir we were told that we could just take our essentials and move the rest in the morning but both us wanted to get it over with. Thirty minutes later we were packed up and with the assistance of a porter and his trolley we moved to our new abode, complete with dark mutterings from the expedition manager. Three hotel rooms in less than a week, who could ask for more?
We had booked a coach trip to the capital city, Suva, as explained yesterday so we had to be up with the larks and ready in the foyer by 9.30. We took much I fan tile pleasure in baiting the lady in the travel office as we passed at nine twenty pointing out that we were ten minutes early and that it was Friday. She had the good grace to burst out laughing.
The journey to Suva was fairly interesting and about two hours long. The closer we go to the capital , the larger the houses became and we were shown the president's house, guarded with razor wire, the parliament building which has been closed since 2009, the Australian Embassy and several other important buildings.
We were dropped from the bus at a major department store, surprise, surprise, and then we had three hours free time. We decided to walk to the museum about a mile and a half, but after twenty minutes in searing heat, we gave that up as a bad idea and went and found some lunch.
We ended up in a food hall, which is pretty like the ones we had been in, in Perth , Sydney and Melbourne. Globalisation is ruining small businesses. The only Fijian food available didn't look all that appetising so we ended up joining a long queue for a noodle bar where we had the biggest portion of chicken chow mein for two pounds. There was so much food on our plates that we couldn't finish it all.
After luch we engaged in some contraband purchasing to the back to the hotel, some wine, beer, cheese, ham and crisps were all carefully packed in the two rucksacks we had taken with us.
On the journey home our guide serenaded us with some Fijian songs and the journey flew by.
Suva is like almost every other major city we have been too only on a much smaller scale, it has a population of about one hundred thousand.The shops and supermarkets could have been anywhere in the world, apart from the displays of highly coloured floral shirts and dresses which the Fijians specialise in.
On our return to the hotel we were so hot and sticky that we both wanted a shower, imagine our frustration and dismay when there was no hot water pressure. The expedition manager sprang into operation and telephoned reception, not such an easy task as might imagine as they had changed their number from the one printed in our visitors' book. Anger was clearly expressed and we were promised a plumber would be sent to investigate, nothing happened so after a while we walked to reception and made our points again, the plumber was again called for and we went off to the bar for a drink. When we returned to our room the cleaner was there and we asked her if the plumber had been and she said no, the plumber had not been on the floor at all.
The expedition manager had by now had enough and decided to go down to reception again, I stayed in the room, fifteen minutes later two engineers arrived and investigated our concern, and ended by saying there was nothing they could do and the hot water would be like that for some time.
Just after this Rosemarie returned to say that she had complained but that her complaint had been cut short by a telephone call from Emma. By this time it had gone ten o'clock.
The next thing we knew was that the phone rang, which is a bit strong, as to be more accurate it squeaked. The duty manager wished me good evening and then asked me if we had unpacked. I felt the sudden rise of anger in me and pointed out that we had been in the hotel a week. He explained to me, totally ignoring my cynicism, that the hot water problem could not be solved quickly and that he proposed moving us to the other wing of the hotel. He invited .us down to reception to look at the new room he proposed moving us to which he assured me was a much better room.
The expedition manager was not pleased, as the master packer was supposedly having a couple of days leave. There then followed a pantomime where the duty manager and the two engineers who had been in our room and condemned the shower took us round from room to room waiting for us to make up our minds. We were shown two very nice rooms to start with but both had showers in the bath, when we said we wanted a walk in shower we were shown three more rooms on a lower floor, none of which passed muster by the expedition manager. After much discussion we settled on the second room we had been shown, made noises about compensation which were treated with calm resignation and disdain and we then had to get the master packe rack off leave so that we could move. To be fir we were told that we could just take our essentials and move the rest in the morning but both us wanted to get it over with. Thirty minutes later we were packed up and with the assistance of a porter and his trolley we moved to our new abode, complete with dark mutterings from the expedition manager. Three hotel rooms in less than a week, who could ask for more?
Friday 5 April 2013
A day of daring do.
One of the things we have fallen in love with here is the chance Togo out and kayaking the lagoon together, today was quite rough and we had some fun with the kayak in the waves.
Imagine our surprise at one point in the trip when we spotted an empty canoe drifting about eighty yards from us. We made up our mind to go and collect it thinking that some idiot hadn't beached it properly and it had drifted out to sea. As we went to collect it we saw a swimmer in the water about a hundred yards away and as he was waving a canoe paddle it became very clear to us that he had become parted from his canoe. So we collected the canoe and began to tow it out to him. I say we but the brave expedition commander had to do almost all of the paddling as I was towing the canoe. When we reached him, he was very grateful to see us. We pulled his canoe alongside ours and every lesson or instruction I had came back to me. We held his canoe front and back and laid our paddles across it , he was then able to clamber out of the water into it and was very grateful. Apparently he had been sunbathing in the canoe and had lost his paddle overboard, he then dived in to collect the paddle and the canoe had drifted away. Any way we felt very pleased with ourselves and felt that we had done our good deed for the day.
The rest of the day was spent snorkelling, which we are now really getting the hang of , there are some spectacular fish right in close to the shore here. We also went for a swim in the pool and just relaxed.
We had fun collecting our ticket to visit Suva by bus tomorrow. We had gone in to book this the night before and had paid for it to go on Friday. The woman in the office said there was some problem with the voucher printer and asked us if we could go back into the office on Thursday to pick it up, we , of course, agreed. So straight after breakfast we headed for the office to be told by a different lady that we had booked for Thursday and that they had phoned our room several times and that we had missed the bus. The expedition manager was not in the least it pleased and she let the lady in the office know it. The result was that we were rebooked for Friday, but every time we passed the office the lady called out to remind us the bus left at nine thirty, I took this in fairly good heart, but the expedition manager was all for starting another diplomatic incident. We knew we had booked for Friday, and had we booked for Thursday we would have been there on time.
A quiet salad in our room for supper and we were ready for bed, a big adventure in Suva tomorrow.
One of the things we have fallen in love with here is the chance Togo out and kayaking the lagoon together, today was quite rough and we had some fun with the kayak in the waves.
Imagine our surprise at one point in the trip when we spotted an empty canoe drifting about eighty yards from us. We made up our mind to go and collect it thinking that some idiot hadn't beached it properly and it had drifted out to sea. As we went to collect it we saw a swimmer in the water about a hundred yards away and as he was waving a canoe paddle it became very clear to us that he had become parted from his canoe. So we collected the canoe and began to tow it out to him. I say we but the brave expedition commander had to do almost all of the paddling as I was towing the canoe. When we reached him, he was very grateful to see us. We pulled his canoe alongside ours and every lesson or instruction I had came back to me. We held his canoe front and back and laid our paddles across it , he was then able to clamber out of the water into it and was very grateful. Apparently he had been sunbathing in the canoe and had lost his paddle overboard, he then dived in to collect the paddle and the canoe had drifted away. Any way we felt very pleased with ourselves and felt that we had done our good deed for the day.
The rest of the day was spent snorkelling, which we are now really getting the hang of , there are some spectacular fish right in close to the shore here. We also went for a swim in the pool and just relaxed.
We had fun collecting our ticket to visit Suva by bus tomorrow. We had gone in to book this the night before and had paid for it to go on Friday. The woman in the office said there was some problem with the voucher printer and asked us if we could go back into the office on Thursday to pick it up, we , of course, agreed. So straight after breakfast we headed for the office to be told by a different lady that we had booked for Thursday and that they had phoned our room several times and that we had missed the bus. The expedition manager was not in the least it pleased and she let the lady in the office know it. The result was that we were rebooked for Friday, but every time we passed the office the lady called out to remind us the bus left at nine thirty, I took this in fairly good heart, but the expedition manager was all for starting another diplomatic incident. We knew we had booked for Friday, and had we booked for Thursday we would have been there on time.
A quiet salad in our room for supper and we were ready for bed, a big adventure in Suva tomorrow.
A quiet day.
I forgot to mention in my last blog that Rosemarie and I had a very close encounter with the President of Fiji. You may or may not know that Fiji is a military dictatorship.
On our way to catch the bus to Sigatoka we have to leave our room,descend a flight of stairs and then enter a long corridor which takes us to the reception area, on entering the long corridor we noticed two very large men in floral shirts looking at us and as we walked we caught up with a small group of people, the nearest to us dressed very smartly and on his shoulder another gentleman in full military uniform, in front of whom were two more fairly large men.
We said the customary " Bula" the well dressed man turned to look at us and smiled before saying" Bula". The chap in the military uniform looked us up and down as though we were specks of dust on the Fijian foreshore and said nothing.We overtook this group and arrived in reception to find a fierce looking warrior in a grass skirt carrying an axe who then proceeded to sound a conch horn in front of this group as they descended the stairs. We asked the receptionist who these people were and we were told that it was the President of Fiji. As Rosemraie said. " Well, I could have leaned forward and touched him!"
This is probably the nearest that either of us will ever get to a dictator.
Wednesday was a quiet day, we took a kayak out in the lagoon for an hour and then snorkelled seeing some amazing fish. Visibility in the water was not all that great as obviously there had been a storm offshore during the night, but we saw some wonderfully exotic fish.
The afternoon was spent reading and swimming and in the evening we ordered one salad from room service, which we split, we really love those plastic plates we purchased in Perth, and which are still with us. The idea of camping out in a resort such as this really appeals to us, we have cheese and crackers and ham for lunch,followed by an apple and have e ononmised in the evening. The hotel computer must think we are hardly eating.
The evening was spoilt by the fact we had to move rooms. We have been complaining for two days that our shower was scolding hot and that we had no cold water. Tonight even the cold water tap was running hot. The hotel in their infinite wisdom offered us the room next door, we couldn't quite see that this was going to solve the problem.
Whilst we moving the plumber arrived to go to room 335 and as we moved we heard them comlplain that their showere was boiling hot and they had no cold water. We took the opportunity to join in the discussion, which went on for some time. As we were now committed to move we did, and to be fair the showere seemed fine , but we shall see what happens. The expedition manager was not at all pleased at having to swop abodes but she did eventually calm down and we are now ensconced in room 329 rather than 327.
Nothing could detract from the joy we had kayaking and snorkelling, a great day, and one we truly enjoyed.
I forgot to mention in my last blog that Rosemarie and I had a very close encounter with the President of Fiji. You may or may not know that Fiji is a military dictatorship.
On our way to catch the bus to Sigatoka we have to leave our room,descend a flight of stairs and then enter a long corridor which takes us to the reception area, on entering the long corridor we noticed two very large men in floral shirts looking at us and as we walked we caught up with a small group of people, the nearest to us dressed very smartly and on his shoulder another gentleman in full military uniform, in front of whom were two more fairly large men.
We said the customary " Bula" the well dressed man turned to look at us and smiled before saying" Bula". The chap in the military uniform looked us up and down as though we were specks of dust on the Fijian foreshore and said nothing.We overtook this group and arrived in reception to find a fierce looking warrior in a grass skirt carrying an axe who then proceeded to sound a conch horn in front of this group as they descended the stairs. We asked the receptionist who these people were and we were told that it was the President of Fiji. As Rosemraie said. " Well, I could have leaned forward and touched him!"
This is probably the nearest that either of us will ever get to a dictator.
Wednesday was a quiet day, we took a kayak out in the lagoon for an hour and then snorkelled seeing some amazing fish. Visibility in the water was not all that great as obviously there had been a storm offshore during the night, but we saw some wonderfully exotic fish.
The afternoon was spent reading and swimming and in the evening we ordered one salad from room service, which we split, we really love those plastic plates we purchased in Perth, and which are still with us. The idea of camping out in a resort such as this really appeals to us, we have cheese and crackers and ham for lunch,followed by an apple and have e ononmised in the evening. The hotel computer must think we are hardly eating.
The evening was spoilt by the fact we had to move rooms. We have been complaining for two days that our shower was scolding hot and that we had no cold water. Tonight even the cold water tap was running hot. The hotel in their infinite wisdom offered us the room next door, we couldn't quite see that this was going to solve the problem.
Whilst we moving the plumber arrived to go to room 335 and as we moved we heard them comlplain that their showere was boiling hot and they had no cold water. We took the opportunity to join in the discussion, which went on for some time. As we were now committed to move we did, and to be fair the showere seemed fine , but we shall see what happens. The expedition manager was not at all pleased at having to swop abodes but she did eventually calm down and we are now ensconced in room 329 rather than 327.
Nothing could detract from the joy we had kayaking and snorkelling, a great day, and one we truly enjoyed.
Wednesday 3 April 2013
2000 hits.
In the six months I have been writing this there have now been over 2000 hits on this blog from all over the world. So a big thank you to all of you who have shown an interest.
The original purpose of the blog was to keep in touch with family and friends and we have been more than surprised at how popular this blog has appeared to be.
The original purpose of the blog was to keep in touch with family and friends and we have been more than surprised at how popular this blog has appeared to be.
The blog has had readers in the USA, Russia, Venezuela, Chile, Australia, Spain, Latvia, Germany Cambodia, Malaysia and Israel. We don't know people in all of these countries so we are very touched that you have wanted to follow our travels.
This trip was described to start with as a holiday but for both Rosemarie and me it has turned out to more of an educative journey, we have learnt so much about very different cultures. We have met so many interesting people and we have enjoyed your company on the blog site.
We will continue the blog until we finish our journey and then who knows?
We may well start one called landrathome.
Thank you all once again for sticking with us. I can assure all of you that the expedition manager is surprised as I am at the vast number of people who appear to read the blog every day. We did ask once for your comments, but our daughter tells us that these are difficult to post, however have another go at sending us some and we will try to respond.
Who knows by the time we have finished the trip in less than two weeks now we might have reached 2500 hits.
This trip was described to start with as a holiday but for both Rosemarie and me it has turned out to more of an educative journey, we have learnt so much about very different cultures. We have met so many interesting people and we have enjoyed your company on the blog site.
We will continue the blog until we finish our journey and then who knows?
We may well start one called landrathome.
Thank you all once again for sticking with us. I can assure all of you that the expedition manager is surprised as I am at the vast number of people who appear to read the blog every day. We did ask once for your comments, but our daughter tells us that these are difficult to post, however have another go at sending us some and we will try to respond.
Who knows by the time we have finished the trip in less than two weeks now we might have reached 2500 hits.
A day trip
Although our resort is lovely there is absolutely nothing outside it , no shops or restaurants so you are in fact a captive tourist. Drinks are relatively cheap compared to England but if you want a bottle of water a litre costs 10 Fijian dollars or three pounds sixty pence, which is pushing the boat out just a little too far.
There is also no snack bar so you can't just go for a sandwich at lunchtime, you have to go for the full restaurant experience. This is fine but does work out rather expensive.
As a result we booked up for 10 dollars each to go on a shopping expedition to the nearest town. The nearest town is Sigatoka and is a bout forty five minutes away by coach.
We were picked up at 9.30 and taken very slowly in an ancient bus to go shopping. This is the same road as we have travelled before and once again there is not a great deal between here and there.
We were dropped off at a the market which was in fact quite a posh shop, the expedition manager and I made our way to a supermarket where illicit supplies were purchased. Several litres of water, eight cans of beer some cheese, ham and crackers, there appeared to be no bread. We also bought some sweet biscuits.we had hoped to purchase some salad items but the only lettuce we found was marked at 14.95 Fijian Dollars a kilo, roughly £5. Obviously one lettuce would have been less than this but it did seem a little exorbitant.
We trawled the fresh vegetable market as well but there was nothing. There was plenty of Okra, Aubergine, and chillies along with carrots and cassava but no tomatoes and no cucumber or lettuce.
This seems odd to us the climate here would seem to suit all of these things and yet obviously they are not grown. On the way home were taken to the obligatory craft shop where the expedition manager made a couple of purchases, one being a pice of art work for us to put on the wall.
So lunch for us will be cheese and ham on crackers with an apple as sweet. By the way we also bought eight cans of beer so the weight of rucksacks on the return journey was somewhat heavier than they have been.
In the afternoon, we sat by the pool and both of us had a swim, before we took a kayak out at low tide, we were very fortunate to see several exotic fish. In the evening we watched a Polynesian
dance troupe and had a cheap meal in the restaurant, both of us finishing the day in at state of happy tiredness,
Although our resort is lovely there is absolutely nothing outside it , no shops or restaurants so you are in fact a captive tourist. Drinks are relatively cheap compared to England but if you want a bottle of water a litre costs 10 Fijian dollars or three pounds sixty pence, which is pushing the boat out just a little too far.
There is also no snack bar so you can't just go for a sandwich at lunchtime, you have to go for the full restaurant experience. This is fine but does work out rather expensive.
As a result we booked up for 10 dollars each to go on a shopping expedition to the nearest town. The nearest town is Sigatoka and is a bout forty five minutes away by coach.
We were picked up at 9.30 and taken very slowly in an ancient bus to go shopping. This is the same road as we have travelled before and once again there is not a great deal between here and there.
We were dropped off at a the market which was in fact quite a posh shop, the expedition manager and I made our way to a supermarket where illicit supplies were purchased. Several litres of water, eight cans of beer some cheese, ham and crackers, there appeared to be no bread. We also bought some sweet biscuits.we had hoped to purchase some salad items but the only lettuce we found was marked at 14.95 Fijian Dollars a kilo, roughly £5. Obviously one lettuce would have been less than this but it did seem a little exorbitant.
We trawled the fresh vegetable market as well but there was nothing. There was plenty of Okra, Aubergine, and chillies along with carrots and cassava but no tomatoes and no cucumber or lettuce.
This seems odd to us the climate here would seem to suit all of these things and yet obviously they are not grown. On the way home were taken to the obligatory craft shop where the expedition manager made a couple of purchases, one being a pice of art work for us to put on the wall.
So lunch for us will be cheese and ham on crackers with an apple as sweet. By the way we also bought eight cans of beer so the weight of rucksacks on the return journey was somewhat heavier than they have been.
In the afternoon, we sat by the pool and both of us had a swim, before we took a kayak out at low tide, we were very fortunate to see several exotic fish. In the evening we watched a Polynesian
dance troupe and had a cheap meal in the restaurant, both of us finishing the day in at state of happy tiredness,
Tuesday 2 April 2013
A quiet day.
We had a late start following all of the excitement on our island yesterday. A peaceful breakfast followed by a quiet kayaking trip, which we both enjoyed before a light lunch in one of the restaurants. It is very difficult to camp out in this hotel as there Re no shops or restaurants anywhere nearby, thus you are in fact a captive of the hotel.
We cunningly though have booked a shopping trip to the nearest town for tomorrow to stock up with essential supplies and some salad stuff so that we do opened to keep spending money in the restaurants here. We have been further held captive by the fact that this is the Easter weekend and all the shops have been shut for the Easter holiday. I have never been anywhere quite like this, a beautiful location, surrounded by nothing but half deserted fields and tropical forest. The nearest shop must be a ten minute car drive away so possibly thirty minutes walk along the main highway.
We went kayaking again in the afternoon, so you can see how much the expedition manager is enjoying this activity. We also spent some time on the sun beds around the pool and had a swim. It is a joy for me to be able to swim in warm water.
It is very hard to get your head around Fiji, there is no apparent industry, apart from farming and tourism, although there was small scale engineering around Nadi. There appears to be great poverty, but no one is starving, there are no beggars, and the gardens around the houses are well kept. The houses themselves look very basic, four walls and a corrugated tin roof. Most appear to have electricity although there Re no or few streetlights. The people are incredibly friendly and shout at you from the roadside with a friendly"Bula" (Hello) rather than a string of invective.they are always smiling and genial although they are on the large side.
In the evening we had decided to go to a Japanese restaurant in the hotel, once we had determined it was not all raw fish, I might add. This proved to be a theatrical experience, the chef was a real variety turn. Everything was cooked on a hot plate in front of us , and there was plenty of opportunity for the chef to display his culinary skills. He cooked fried rice and for this spears and eg thinly across the grill so it was about two feet long , he turned this into a very thin omelette and then asking Rosemarie to hold one end of a napkin and another guest sat at forty five degrees the other end, chopped the egg into the napkin at incredible speed.
He then put the cooked rice mix into bowls, he flicked one bowl in a complete somersault into a fellow diner's hands, he flicked another bowl in a somersault onto a plate I held so the rice fell out upside down, and finally flicked a third bowl about six feet to another diner, who had to catch it very much like a slip fielder in Cricket. In between all this he juggled with the salt and pepper mils and cooked a meal for six of us sat around the grill. Rosemarie and I shared prawns and a wasabi steak dish and they were both delicious . Our fellow guests, two New Zealanders and two Australians were all good company and we enjoyed our evening together. The couple from Australia were celebrating their first wedding anniversary, so Rosemarie and I bought everyone a drink to celebrate that. The meal flew by partly because the chef was so entertaining.
And so to bed.
We had a late start following all of the excitement on our island yesterday. A peaceful breakfast followed by a quiet kayaking trip, which we both enjoyed before a light lunch in one of the restaurants. It is very difficult to camp out in this hotel as there Re no shops or restaurants anywhere nearby, thus you are in fact a captive of the hotel.
We cunningly though have booked a shopping trip to the nearest town for tomorrow to stock up with essential supplies and some salad stuff so that we do opened to keep spending money in the restaurants here. We have been further held captive by the fact that this is the Easter weekend and all the shops have been shut for the Easter holiday. I have never been anywhere quite like this, a beautiful location, surrounded by nothing but half deserted fields and tropical forest. The nearest shop must be a ten minute car drive away so possibly thirty minutes walk along the main highway.
We went kayaking again in the afternoon, so you can see how much the expedition manager is enjoying this activity. We also spent some time on the sun beds around the pool and had a swim. It is a joy for me to be able to swim in warm water.
It is very hard to get your head around Fiji, there is no apparent industry, apart from farming and tourism, although there was small scale engineering around Nadi. There appears to be great poverty, but no one is starving, there are no beggars, and the gardens around the houses are well kept. The houses themselves look very basic, four walls and a corrugated tin roof. Most appear to have electricity although there Re no or few streetlights. The people are incredibly friendly and shout at you from the roadside with a friendly"Bula" (Hello) rather than a string of invective.they are always smiling and genial although they are on the large side.
In the evening we had decided to go to a Japanese restaurant in the hotel, once we had determined it was not all raw fish, I might add. This proved to be a theatrical experience, the chef was a real variety turn. Everything was cooked on a hot plate in front of us , and there was plenty of opportunity for the chef to display his culinary skills. He cooked fried rice and for this spears and eg thinly across the grill so it was about two feet long , he turned this into a very thin omelette and then asking Rosemarie to hold one end of a napkin and another guest sat at forty five degrees the other end, chopped the egg into the napkin at incredible speed.
He then put the cooked rice mix into bowls, he flicked one bowl in a complete somersault into a fellow diner's hands, he flicked another bowl in a somersault onto a plate I held so the rice fell out upside down, and finally flicked a third bowl about six feet to another diner, who had to catch it very much like a slip fielder in Cricket. In between all this he juggled with the salt and pepper mils and cooked a meal for six of us sat around the grill. Rosemarie and I shared prawns and a wasabi steak dish and they were both delicious . Our fellow guests, two New Zealanders and two Australians were all good company and we enjoyed our evening together. The couple from Australia were celebrating their first wedding anniversary, so Rosemarie and I bought everyone a drink to celebrate that. The meal flew by partly because the chef was so entertaining.
And so to bed.
A true desert island experience (almost)
We were up before six to be ready for our pick up at 7.15. Room service provided breakfast and we enjoyed that sitting on our balcony.
The bus stopped at every hotel on the way to the Port of Denarau and picked clients up, as we were the first pick up we were on the bus for over 3 hours arriving in Denarau at 10.30.
We were shown to our sailing ship and having boarded set sail for the Island of Tivua. This took an hour and a half but who cares, we were cruising in the South Pacific past several little islands, the scenery was marvellous, little islands with golden beaches over shadowed by bigger islands often some way off all set in the clearest sea I have ever seen under a bright blue sky.
On arrival at the island we were offloaded onto smaller boats to get us ashore. The whole island was just as you imagine golden beaches, pristinely clear water , palm trees and it took all of six minutes to walk around it.
We had a Cava ceremony , we tasted this national drink and both of us disliked it. It looks like the water you might take from a muddy puddle. After the ceremony there were several activities on offer, we went kayaking, had a wonder ride in a glass bottom boat over the coral reef and before we knew it it was time for lunch.
Lunch was a barbecue with salads and it was very tasty. After lunch Elias gave us our first snorkelling lesson and the expedition manager suddenly became the expedition diver. After almost mastering the basics, Elias took us out onto the reef so that we could see the very colourful fish there and allowed us to touch the coral to see it change colour. This was without doubt one of the most magical moments of this journey, We both said afterwards that snorkelling was not something we thought we would every do.
After our snorkelling adventure it was time to pack up to leave, and we sailed back to Denarau, they did set the mainsail and a jib and the catamaran we were on looked wonderful to us. As we sailed back to port we were serenaded by a trip of Fijian musicians and we enjoyed their traditional songs.
Once we were back on the bus we had another two and half hours before we got home, so on arrival at our hotel we looked and felt like two,well used sponges. A light meal and bed ended a day we shall both dream about for some considerable time.
We were up before six to be ready for our pick up at 7.15. Room service provided breakfast and we enjoyed that sitting on our balcony.
The bus stopped at every hotel on the way to the Port of Denarau and picked clients up, as we were the first pick up we were on the bus for over 3 hours arriving in Denarau at 10.30.
We were shown to our sailing ship and having boarded set sail for the Island of Tivua. This took an hour and a half but who cares, we were cruising in the South Pacific past several little islands, the scenery was marvellous, little islands with golden beaches over shadowed by bigger islands often some way off all set in the clearest sea I have ever seen under a bright blue sky.
On arrival at the island we were offloaded onto smaller boats to get us ashore. The whole island was just as you imagine golden beaches, pristinely clear water , palm trees and it took all of six minutes to walk around it.
We had a Cava ceremony , we tasted this national drink and both of us disliked it. It looks like the water you might take from a muddy puddle. After the ceremony there were several activities on offer, we went kayaking, had a wonder ride in a glass bottom boat over the coral reef and before we knew it it was time for lunch.
Lunch was a barbecue with salads and it was very tasty. After lunch Elias gave us our first snorkelling lesson and the expedition manager suddenly became the expedition diver. After almost mastering the basics, Elias took us out onto the reef so that we could see the very colourful fish there and allowed us to touch the coral to see it change colour. This was without doubt one of the most magical moments of this journey, We both said afterwards that snorkelling was not something we thought we would every do.
After our snorkelling adventure it was time to pack up to leave, and we sailed back to Denarau, they did set the mainsail and a jib and the catamaran we were on looked wonderful to us. As we sailed back to port we were serenaded by a trip of Fijian musicians and we enjoyed their traditional songs.
Once we were back on the bus we had another two and half hours before we got home, so on arrival at our hotel we looked and felt like two,well used sponges. A light meal and bed ended a day we shall both dream about for some considerable time.
Saturday
After peace had been declared we were shown to a rather nice room and then went to the Italian restaurant for a light meal. We slept in late on Saturday and gradually got to know our new surroundings.
The resort is large has a long sea front and beautiful gardens.
In the afternoon we decided to have a go at kayaking in a double plastic kayak. As it was low tide we were only allowed about halfway out into the lagoon but we had a great time and soon struck a rhythm. The expedition manger was very pleased with herself and enjoyed it so much that she wants to do it again. I did point out it is a little different from kayaking in England on a cold December day.
However, the expedition manager likes to keep me on my toes so who knows where these new adventures will take us.
The coral and the sponges we saw beneath us were magnificent.
In the evening we had a beach barbecue for dinner , unfortunately it was held indoors because the weather was a little unpredictable. The food itself was a little disappointing, however it is hard I suppose to barbecue for hundreds of people and keep it fresh tasting.
After dinner we watched a Fijian dance group who performed traditional dances to thumping beat versions of ancient songs. They were very entertaining performing fire dances and a machete balancing dance that was worth seeing. We had to go to bed fairly early as we had to be up at some ungodly hour on Sunday to visit a desert island.
After peace had been declared we were shown to a rather nice room and then went to the Italian restaurant for a light meal. We slept in late on Saturday and gradually got to know our new surroundings.
The resort is large has a long sea front and beautiful gardens.
In the afternoon we decided to have a go at kayaking in a double plastic kayak. As it was low tide we were only allowed about halfway out into the lagoon but we had a great time and soon struck a rhythm. The expedition manger was very pleased with herself and enjoyed it so much that she wants to do it again. I did point out it is a little different from kayaking in England on a cold December day.
However, the expedition manager likes to keep me on my toes so who knows where these new adventures will take us.
The coral and the sponges we saw beneath us were magnificent.
In the evening we had a beach barbecue for dinner , unfortunately it was held indoors because the weather was a little unpredictable. The food itself was a little disappointing, however it is hard I suppose to barbecue for hundreds of people and keep it fresh tasting.
After dinner we watched a Fijian dance group who performed traditional dances to thumping beat versions of ancient songs. They were very entertaining performing fire dances and a machete balancing dance that was worth seeing. We had to go to bed fairly early as we had to be up at some ungodly hour on Sunday to visit a desert island.
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