Day 71 and 72: Farwell Fiji...Hello U.S.A.

Day 71:
Today I went to the Fijian Cultural Center. Theory has it that Fijians are originally from Tanzania and then they migrated to Papu New Guinea and then to Fiji. At one time they did practice cannibalism. They are considered to be Melanesian. They are big people like the Maori’s and have tight curly hair with broad noses. The native Fijians appear to be African looking. There are less than ~1 million Fijians on the island. Most are Fijians and then there is a huge Indian Fijian population, and then the some Chinese, Japanese, and Europeans. Indians came in the late 1800’s by the British to work on the sugar plantations. I stayed in Nandi and saw a couple of stores with the store names as 'xxxx Patel’, no relation. The bus ride was about 3 hours, the ride over was nice I got a nice view of the beach which is pretty amazing. The colors were green and blue. We saw the traditional fire dance, which was not nearly as good as the bali one.

Day 72: Off to home I go…. It has been a fascinating adventure thus far, I hope you have enjoyed it as well. I am ready for some R&R. Stay tune for adventures from the dark and mysterious India, Middle East, and Africa as our quest to figure out 'What is the Meaning of Life' continues.

Day 69 & 70: Farewell New Zealand..Hello Fiji

Day 69:
We left to go to Christchurch. Christchurch is flattered than other parts of the South Island. It is the most British looking city in New Zealand and is the biggest city in the South Island. I tried some lollycake, its malted cookies with hard marshmallows, it was very good, and it is unique to New Zealand. Once there I headed to the famous Christ Church, Avon River, and the Botanical Gardens. That night was my last night in New Zealand, I was ready to go as I was pretty tired from all the moving around to different hostels each night. I had dinner with some of my Stray tour mates and tried the Canterbury Draft which was pretty good. I found most of the local New Zealanders to be friendly, unfortunately, I didn’t quite find all the people in the tourist industry to be as friendly. It was a great trip!


Day 70:
Today I headed for Fiji. I met a northern Calif. couple flying from New Zealand to Fiji. When I arrived I only saw one military man with a machine gun, but there seem to be no problems with the country. Got to the hostel, I tried the famous kokoda, which was quite tasty it was a walu fish (local fish) with lime, chilli peppers in a coconut cream sauce.

Day 66 & 67 & 68: New Zeland, South Island

Day 66: That morning I didn’t have much time to see the glacier as we were heading out to Queenstown, so I decided to go to the Glacier early that morning. As I was walking a New Zealand couple stopped and asked if I needed a lift as they were heading to the Glacier, a little reluctant at first, as it was not right to take rides from stranger, I decided to take their offer as I was tight on time and they looked like a nice enough couple. We headed to the glacier. We parked the car and headed our separate ways. Then as I was heading back and tight on time as luck would have it I saw my New Zealand couple coming down the street behind me, they kindly stopped and gave me a lift back into town. That night we headed for Marakora. We stopped at the blue pools, where the water was amazing teal color from the glacier, the water gets its color from the minerals on the rocks, and we got eaten up by sandflies though while watching the amazing pool of water. In Marakora we had karaoke night. My tour guide Kathy and I sang ‘Girls Just Wanted to Have Funs’. My tour mate Priscilla took the cake as she sang ‘ I will survive’, and dedicated to all the woman.


Day 67: I got early to go on my airplane ride above the glacier. I saw the glacier and the rainforest right next to it. I was told a glacier and a rainforest can coexist together because of the subtropical climate. It was cool to see the aerial view and the water from the glacier is amazing teal color. We headed for Queenstown. In Queenstown I decided to do a bungee jump from the original A.J. Hackett Bungee Jump. I wanted to do the tallest in the world the famous ‘Nieves’, but time did not permit. I again ran into some of my fellow Magic tour mates at the bungee jump area, it was nice to see them. I got all geared up and was ready to take my plunge, the initial jump was a bit scary and then after the first jump I had fun bobbing up and down. I thinking sky diving is more challenging than bungee jumping, but it was still fun!

Day 68: Today I took a boat tour of Milford Sound. We stopped to take some amazing pictures of the pink and lavender flowers. Along the way to Milford Sounds. With the teal water and the green and brown water was amazing. New Zealand in my opinion is definitely one of the most picturesque countries I have every been to. Every time you turn around there is something beautiful to see. It is a must see for everyone!!!!! Milford Sound is where they have fiords. Fiords are basically mountains that don’t have any beaches, they go directly in the water. Again I ran into some more of my Magic tour mates. We saw waterfalls and seals. I came back and tried the famous Fergburger, my tour guide kept raving about and it was delicious. They have hamburgers, falafels, and lamb meat all in a bun. It is a must have when in Queenstown!!!! On the way back I saw the long white clouds hang in front of the mountains that New Zealand is famous for. Queenstown looks like a ski resort.

Day 63 & 64 & 65: New Zealand, South Island

Day 63: Today we took a ferry to across from Wellington, which is on the North Island to Picton, which is on the South Island. The ferry ride was nice I hung out with Richard, Peter, Rijerio, and Silvo. We exchanged emails and talked about visiting each others countries and had a great time. Once the boat docked, Peter the gentlemen that he is offered to take my bag for me as he knew my arm was hurting me from the JetBoating ride. It was a little sad to say our goodbyes, as I had truly enjoyed meeting these people. I joined my new tour group ‘Stray’ once we docked. Our first stop was a good way to break in the tour which was at the Hunter Winery in the Marlborough wine region. We sampled wines for only $2….I even bought a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc 2006, which was quite good. Then we headed to Abel Tasman National Park. As we drove down I noticed all the beautiful scenery around me. The big green mountains with the sheeps, and deers. The South Island is definitely more mountainous than the North Island. Once we got to Abel Tasman we saw llamas and more deers. Once I got to Abel Tasman I settled in than went out later that night to watch the moon rise between the mountains. Abel Tasman is named after the Dutch explorer who named New Zealand….


Day 64: We left that morning and headed for Barrytown, which has a population of 40. The North Island reminds me of a small country town field. We visited the Pancake Rocks, they look like Pancake Rocks….That night we had a ‘Bad Taste Party’, we had to wear something of course of bad taste. It was a fun night. I tried some ‘Tui’s’ beer which was quite good.

Day 65: That morning someone of us went across the street for some bone carving. We made necklaces from bones. Then we headed to Franz Josef (named after the Austrian emperor), which is amazing glacier located in the Southern Alps. When we arrived I ran into the German couple that I had met on my Magic bus tour a couple of days earlier I was happy to see them as I hadn’t quite gelled with the Stray bus group yet. That night we stayed in hostel in the rainforest.

Day 61 & 62: New Zealand, North Island

Day 61: Rotorua has an awful smell that smells like ‘rotten eggs’ this is due to the sulfur in the air. It’s nickname the ‘Sulphur City’. We spent the day in the heart of where the smell comes from in the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland (means ‘Sacred Waters). We saw geothermal pools, sulphur coated craters, and bright mineral colorings. We even saw a geyser. I met a nice Dutch girl, Jantien, and we spent the day running around seeing everything as we had limited time, unfortunately we got back to the bus late, since we were late the punishment to the group was Jantien and I singing a song, we decided to sing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. Needless to say we were never late to the bus again. Jantien and I found out that we shared the same roommates in Bay of Islands only a couple of hours apart, we figured we were destined to meet.

Then went to place called ‘Rock and Ropes’ and tried the giant swing. Basically it is a harness that goes around your waist and you step off sideways from a high up platform and then you swing back and forth. It was pretty fun and a good adrenalin high. We then headed for some jetboating. Jetboating is basically doing fun tricks in the water in a boat. They do a lot of quick turnarounds. Unfortunately, I bumped my already aching arm on the side of the boat. Then we headed to Lake Taupo. At Lake Taupo, Jantien and I headed to get some yummy Kaumri chips with some blue cheese dressing. The Kaumri chips taste alot like the yummy sweet potato fries my good friend Pete makes. We also tried some cream cheese pizza with pesto and chicken it was quite tasty.

That night Scott our tour guide got all of us to get together at a local bar. The tour group was a fun group, which consisted of Matt and Richard the Brits, the Irish couple (Clare and Johnny), Peter and Jantien, the Dutch, Ashley and Diana the Irish and the Scottish, Silvo the German, and the German family. The tour group was a lot of fun and everyone seem to get along. This is the second time during my trip that I have really enjoyed my tour group. I tried some Moneiths Red Celtic beer which was quite good.

Day 62:
Today we are off to Wellington (the capital), which is the sister city of ‘San Francisco’. Before we got to Wellington we stopped to take photos of Tongariro National Park, this is where the volcano from the ‘Lord of the Rings’ is. Wellington is pretty hilly and green and looks like a small version of San Francisco, with houses on the hillside and a small wharf area. Even the streets were sort of narrow with tall buildings like San Fran., I felt like I was at home. I took a quick cruise through the national museum, which primarily held stuff on Maori’s. Then took what they call a cable car, up to the top and got a great view of Wellington.

Day 58 & 59 & 60: New Zealand, North Island

Day 58: Today we drove by Waitangi, this is where the Maori's signed the treaty with the Europeans to give New Zealand to them. I took a cruise at the Bay of Islands. We went pass Russel the first city in New Zealand. Then we cruised around and saw the whole in the rock and literally there is a hole in the rock. Then headed back on the bus to go back to Auckland.. Happy New Year everyone. FYI....New Zealand is one of the first countries to celebrate New Years in the world. The city of Gisborne in New Zealand is the first place in the world that celebrates the New Year as it is the first place in the world that the sun rises.

Day 59: Today was New Years, alot of things were closed, so basically went shopping for a new backpack as my old one was pretty much worn down. I treated myself to a nice Chinese dinner. The Chinese food taste pretty much similar to the U.S. except no fortune cookies.

Day 60: Today was a busy busy day! Today I started my tour our first stop was 'Black Water Rafting’ at Waitomo caves to see the glowworms down in the caves. It was really cool, it was like looking at stars. The cave was dark, so the glowworms lite up the cave quite nicely. We had to glide down a slide with our tubes to get into the water. The water was pretty murky, but it was heaps of fun! Then we went down to Rototorua (means ‘The Second Lake’ in Maori), which is where the Tamaki Maori Cultural Center is. Theory has it that the Maori's originated from Taiwan, and the Maori language is similar to Tahitian and the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. We saw a Maori traditional village and some Maori traditional dances, this included the famous warrior dance called 'Haka' where they stick out their tongues, have bulging eyes, and make grunting noises. This is the dance they do before going into battle, to scare their enemies. The audience was asked not to smile, laugh, or stick out our tongue during the performance. Then we saw another dance where they wore grass skirts and had a feather in their hair. They used their hands a lot and the dance looked similar to the Hawaiian dance. I was told the tattoos on their faces signify their placement in the family. Then we headed to the famous ‘Hangi’ dinner. The food is cooked underground. Hot rocks are put in a pit dug in the earth. Baskets of meat are put on the hot stones, then vegetables, and then pudding on top. A wet cloth is put over the food and earth is then piled over everything. The food was quite tasty we had lamb, chicken, pudding, and kamuri potatoes (found in New Zealand, it taste similar to sweet potatoes, but not as sweet), paklova (which is a creamy cake dessert) and I tried some Maori wine called Kona. Then we headed back on the bus to our hostels. We ended the night with the bus driver having us all sing a song from our country…The Maori’s did a great job in putting the night together!!!!