Sky Dives and Big Hikes

We left Auckland, or rather, we fled Auckland like men on a mission. Ewan went into full truck driver mode while I played the convincing role of the motion sick passenger. Roads in NZ are funny things-- they're winding, full of speeding caravans and take twice as long as a proper road should to get where you're going. Or at least that's what we decided on our way through Coromandel.



After a quick hike to Cathedral Cove and a mere pit stop at Hot Water Beach (where, according to Ewan, we stopped, he dug a hole and sat in the water and got really hot...then we left.) we were off to Taupo.




On Monday I turned 27. Not a particularly exciting birthday --old enough to rent a car and have proper job, but not too old to not have a decided career or to have a home or ... anything. (except five boxes at your mom's house!) It's that really uninteresting inbetween birthday that really doesn't amount to much, especially when we were celebrating across the world - so we decided to make things a bit more exciting... by jumping out of planes!




I'd like to say that Ewan was the nervous one - being afraid of heights that would be the logical assumption. But he was cool as a cucumber with his tandem partner while I was completely and utterly harrassed by mine. Brad left the hooks unhooked, joked about holes in the parachute and continued to assure me that it was his first real jump up until we were 15,000 feet above Taupo. Great.



But it was evenmore amazing than we hoped for. We fell out of the plane, experienced 60 seconds of pure free fall at more than 200km/hour and lived to tell about it. We both agreed the scariest part is thatmoment when youre watching the person in front of you sit on the edge of the door... Then thenext moment theyve completely disappeared. Out the plane. As nonchalant as stepping outside your frontdoor ... Yikes!

We landed (a little awkwardly on the tandem)and in the true spirit of our north island adventure, we were back in the caravan and speeding towards our next stop.







Tuesday we hiked to Mount Doom. Actually...we hiked halfway up mount Doom, but that was a mistake.

We woke up before sunrise to do the infamous Tongariro Alpine Crossing after hearing so much about NZ's best day hike and LOTR fan's Mecca. The 19.5 km hike took us up volcanic rocks and through some of the most beautiful and dramatic scenery we'd ever seen, and easily one of the coolest trips we've ever done. Despite the minor set back, when we trekked half an hour up the actual volcano instead of around it, we made prettty good time, finishing in 5.5 hours instead of the suggested 7. Not that we're competitive, or anything...







Next stop - windy Wellington and the ferry to the south island....









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Location:Coromandel, Lake Taupo and Tongariro Crossing

Land of the Kiwis

Ewan and I left Fiji with mixed feelings -- Ewan, excited to get going on our travels and camper van driving, me, depressed to be leaving sunny beaches and 85 degree weather for the New Zealand fall.Luckily for us (and unfortunately for the locals) the Kiwis had a terrible summer, so we arrived to sunny skies and some of the best weather in Auckland!



We started off in search of the rare Kiwi -- an endangered species standing 6 foot 5, sunburnt and with an out of place Edinburgh accent. We found one such specimen milling about the airport waiting for us - Graham MacGregor is an old friend from our Camp Cody days who left grey UK for Auckland two years ago, and we were thrilled to see him!



We spent the day touring Auckland like locals, seeing the Viaduct, sampling local beers and catching up with Graham. Auckland's known as the city of sails, so obviously Ewan was in seventh heaven checking out the boats and taking Ricky Gervais photos all over the city. We finally put our feet down when Japanese tourists started taking photos of Ewan posing for photos.. a weird never ending cycle that I'm learning is going to be a staple on this trip. (but hey, at least the bum photos have stopped, right mom?? ;)



Sunday we drove north to a gorgeous marine reserve beach with Graham and a few of his Kiwi roommates. The main beach was "too crowded" (there were five people there, and maybe a two year old) so we "tramped" over to a more secluded spot - it was paradise. Gorgeous weather, beautiful sandy beaches - it's everything you want the Oregon coast to be but warmer! The boys went swimming while the girls worked on our tans. 30 minutes later they came back telling us how we missed out on swimming with wild dolphins! We were pretty upset they didnt come to get us earlier...until Ewan started in on how he rode the dolphins in on a wave and they were singing God Save the Queen. Hm.



By sunset we'd picked up Howie Jr., our new home for the next 18 days. It's big enough for Ewan to imagine he's a truck driver...




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Location:Auckland, NZ

Last days of Fiji

According to Tim, the second--in-command at the Blue Lagoon and Nacula Island native, everyone on Nacula is like familly. Or, in his case... actually is family.

We found out that the resort land is owned by a family in the main village -- Tim's family, naturally. The family worked out a deal with the owners to let them rent the land to build and operate on, so long as the resort gave the family dibs on employment. Which means Tim's version of "we are family" is much less tongue-in-cheek than we thought...but a pretty cool set up for them!

Ewan and I formed our own little family at the resort and found ourselves sharing all the communal meals and down time with the same cluster of people - two scottish couples, Joe/Jenna from Dundee who were coming to the end of their travels and gave us lots of tips on Auz and NZ., Chris and Emma from Aberdeen who'd spent the past two years in Sydney (and got engaged on the island!) and Tracey, a South African living in London and working for Disney. We all competed as the Bagpipe Bandits in a surprisingly competitive game of Survivor, and won a champagne breakfast on the beach the next morning! I was surprised that we even made it to the final rounds...Ewan was mainly surprised to find someone even more competitive than me (Emma was pretty aggressive at times, especially the coconut smashing!)



The weather wasn't cooperating towards the end of the week so we ended up signing up for loads of activities to keep ourselves busy. We went snorkeling and checked out a hard coral reef and discovered thatbaby sea horses really look more like baby sea worms, and saw tons of little Nemo fish at a soft coral spot.

We also went swimming in caves... and saw our first huntsman spider! AHH! Emma thought it'd be a good idea for me to see what i was up against before headig to Australia...but I'm pretty sure those beasts will never be routine to me. It was bigger than my entire head. And despite what everyone says I'm pretty sure it will eat me.

So... unless we get snatched up by a huntsman -- we'll check in next in New Zealand!!






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Location:Nacula Island

Bula Bula Bula!!

In Fiji, "Bula" means life.... and from the moment we stepped off the boat and onto the Blue Lagoon shores, Ewan and I have been living the life!

After a quick flight
to LA and a not-so-quick flight to Nadi (11 hours!) we were both wondering how we ever thought this stopover in Fiji was a good idea. Add a two wait and a five hour boat trip to Nacula island and we knew it was a bad idea. 40 minutes into the ride however and I was sleeping like a baby while Ewan sat atop the Yasawa Flyer and chatted up the other travelers. Turned out that there were quite the interesting groups heading our way, but by the end of the grueling trip the crowds whittled down to us, a few Auzzies and group of young Germans.



Having never stayed in a mixed dorm in my life, I was a bit apprehensive about the German takeover at the resort. Ewan might say it was more of a neurotic obsession, but I maintain I was as easy going as the hippie next to me. (Coincidentally also a German. They're everywhere!) Luckily my concerns never were tested as we were upgraded from dorm beds to a posh Lodge accommodation, complete with a ceiling fan and double bed. Turns out, German takeovers that may appear hostile at first glance worked in our favor, as the resort oversold the dorms. Score!
The Fijian islands (there are more than 300!) experienced some flooding and cyclone weather the past few weeks, so the weather has been touch and go. But even with overcast skies and the odd lightening storm, we've absolutely fallen head over heels in love with all things Fijian.



The Blue Lagoon resort has an amazing partnership with the three Nacula villages. Managed by an Australian couple, the resort uses all local Fijians for the rest of the staff. Money from trips and activities goes to the local schools to help send the village kids to high school in Nadi. We took a trip to the largest village on our second day and were both blown away by the culture and friendly nature of the Fijians. We keep using the word "genuine" to describe it, but that doesn't begin to cover how much these people love life here. It's no wonder they use "Bula" as a greeting, a goodbye and just in passing down the beach. We're determined that no matter how far away our travels take us from the 85 degree weather and postcard worthy scenery, the Bula mentality will stay with us!!


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Location:Fiji