Three Countries In One Day

We're now back in Oz, having travelled from Fiji via New Zealand.

Thank you very much Brian and Joy, who took us out and about in the Auckland region yesterday. We were picked up from the airport, served breakfast at their house, and whisked off to One-Tree Hill for views out over Auckland. Aratake was next for a walk in the NZ Bush, and then on to Piha to see the black sand beach, Lion rock and watch the surfers brave the freezing water. Not bad considering we were only in transit!

We've had a good day in Brisbane today. We got the bus out to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, where we had great fun holding koalas and Craig formed a special relationship with Kimberley... (Sharon needn't worry though, Kimberley was a Diamond-backed Python!). As well as Koalas and snakes there were all the other Australian animals such as Wombats, Wallabies, Dingoes, Kangaroos, Emus and many more. We watched a Bird of Prey show (Sharon got to fly a Barking Owl). Sharon had to be torn away from the cuddly koala toys in the gift shop... (But she did manage to buy a cuddly Kiwi in the 6 hours we were in NZ!).

Next we headed to the Queensland Museum, a very good museum with a strange variety of exhibits; Aboriginee artefacts, lots of stuffed animals that Customs have confiscated off people, dinosaur skeletons, and lots of things about Turtles, which Craig loved (apart from the bit about them being horribly killed), and a gift shop full of Egyptian tack.

We've got a long day tomorrow, which will (hopefully) end with us being in Tokyo.

Under the Golden Arches...

We have an admission to make... After weeks of eating nothing but root vegetables (which make potatoes seem flavoursome), we gave in, and did something we're both deeply ashamed of...

...We went to McDonald's and had a Big Mac! We're now paying for our crime, as we can now only afford to eat instant noodles and dry bread until we leave Fiji. Thankfully we do at least have a nice room to make our instant noodles in - after weeks of dodgy backpacker hostels, we've checked in to a Raffles hotel! Sharon is very happy, and is more than happy to sacrifice food in order to afford a room she doesn't have to share with dead invertebrates.

We've been busy getting to grips with Fijian culture, especially the local buses, which are very colourful and loud. At least we're no longer in Samoa - on their buses, when they run out of seats, it is accepted practise to just sit on someone else's lap! Bearing in mind the size of some of the ladies out here, that could be life-threatening! We're not sure why they don't put women in their rugby team, they're huuuge...

We're now back in Nadi, having spent the last few days in Suva. Craig got to his museum, which was very good, especially the HMS Bounty artefacts and the cannibalism stuff. From Suva we also went out to the nearby rainforest, and spent a day walking through lush forest, playing on rope swings, and crossing rivers over stepping stones (Surprisingly Craig didn't fall off). A very good day.

Out here in the South Pacific most people are very religious. We thought the missionaries all left a hundred years ago, but apparently not... We've had several people try to convert us to Christianity, apparently not noticing the big cross around Sharon's neck!

Sharon has been doing quite well with her souvenir hunting, although Fiji has presented a bit of a challenge - their idea of souvenirs out here have included 2001 calendars and "Merry Christmas" postcards!

On to New Zealand next, where a kind couple we met in Samoa are going to show us around Auckland, and then on to Brisbane.

Bula! (That's hello in Fijian)

It's a hard life! We've spent the last 8 days on small islands off the coast of Fiji where the sand is whiter and the water bluer than we've ever seen before. There was nothing to do except lie on the beach sipping a cocktail or snorkel in the warm sea with all the amazing fish... (Do we have any friends left?)

Now we're back on the main island and sight seeing resumes in earnest! Up early tomorrow to go to Suva the capital where Craig wants to see his compulsory museum (especially as this one's largely about cannibalism - Sharon's getting worried).

Still can't put any pictures up as finding a PC is hard enough, let alone a card reader.

We've just about got our heads round what day it is again after crossing the International dateline again - we had 2 11th Julys and no 15th which was wierd.

Sharon thought coming back to the main island of Fiji would mean less creepy crawlies but since starting typing this she's been attacked by a flying beetle about 10cm (4 inches) long - it got caught in her hair! Oh well!

Hope everyone at home is OK (Sorry to hear about your hand Paul - any excuse not to have to paint!) We hear WW3 is about to break out in the Middle East!

Hello from Samoa (via Fiji)

We've arrived in Fiji from Samoa - we weren't able to find internet access in Samoa hence no updates for a while - sorry!

We really loved Samoa - it's a beautiful country with amazing beaches and very lush. We went to both main islands, Upolu and Savai'i. We saw waterfalls and blowholes which send water 100ft into the air. We visited one of the many volcanoes and walked across lava fields with Warren Jopling, a retired geologist who's passionate about lava. We're now experts on the various types of lava and formations (hmmmm).

While the sites were great, accommodation wasn't. We shared our room with dead spiders, cockroaches etc (although at least the resident lizards (geckos) ate some of them... When we finally got a good room, it was in the middle of nowhere and they could only provide a pot noodle for lunch. Then they messed up our airport transfer and we almost missed our flight to Fiji. Food in general is not exciting - lots of root vegetables that taste like potatoes (but it explains the size of most of the population).

Life in Samoa is still very rural - lots of farming villages still run by chiefs. All their money goes on building giant churches for 20 people but they don't have any running water. We watched a game of kirikiti (like cricket with a triangular bat) which they play in the village across the main road.

When we left Tonga for Samoa we had to pay an airport tax - Sharon almost got away with not paying as they thought she was under 12 and that Craig was her father...

We'll try to update more often but it's proving difficult to find affordable internet access (and putting up photos is seeming almost impossible).

Off to Samoa

It's been a hard life over the last few days - sun, sand, sea, relaxing on deserted tropical beaches ... occassionally we've even managed to find the strength to visit the bar for a couple of cold beers! The really tough part has been dragging ourselves out of bed in the morning to get the ferry out to our island paradise - usually about 10am. We expect lots of sympathy from you all.

Tomorrow is our last day in Tonga and we'll be off to do our last bit of site seeing before we fly on to Samoa. We'll cross the International Date Line which means we'll get to live the same day twice - groundhog day.

For those of you reading this in India, half your Navy seems to be sitting off the coast of Tonga - has it been misplaced!!

If you're really lucky, there might be a card reader in Samoa and we can put up some photos! (Or alternatively, there may not even be a PC...)

Get tipsy in Tonga for 80p - that's what Sharon did!

... and Craig did too! Their beer is strong stuff.

Well we made it to Tonga after hours spent trying to sleep on a bench at Auckland airport - that bit wasn't fun.

Since we've been here, we've flown up to Vava'u island (if you want to pronounce that think Thierry Henry in a car advert) and been whale watching. We saw two humpback whales which were amazing. We did some great snorkelling as well (Sharon thought it was better than the Great Barrier Reef!) and we saw Nemo again - he does get around!

We went to a Tongan Beach Feast - well, it was Tongan, anyway. The 'Beach' turned out to be a 5 metre strip of gravel with the odd bit of sand, and the feast was only a feast if you like seafood - as neither of us do, we just spent the night eating boiled yams. Yum. The 'dancing girls' were the local school children trying to raise money for school books! Actually, it was quite a cool evening - just not quite what we were expecting - none of the usual tourist trappings which, afterall, is why we came here.

Tonga is a lovely country - very laid back. We turned up at the airport with tickets showing the wrong names, flight number and flight time, but none of that mattered - you just tell them where you want to go and they put you on the flight. Your boarding pass is your seat number scribbled on the back of your ticket!

Today we visited Stonehenge (the Tongan version) - theirs is more impressive! We also went to see some amazing blow holes, some caves, Captain Cook's (known in Australia as Cooky) landing site, some ancient royal tombs (Sharon was more impressed with the pigs wandering around them) and a tree with two bats in, which the locals seem very proud of (it's especially marked on their tourist maps!).

Those of you that wanted more photos may need to wait until we reach civilisation - it took us ten minutes just to load this page!

A couple more days and then we're off to Samoa.

Thanks again for the comments ... apart from the one about FP making us work until we drop...

One more piccy!

We've got a few minutes credit left on the internet, so here's one last picture of us in Australia.

We went off to the Blue Mountains (not very Blue at all) today and saw Wentworth falls (with no water as they have a water shortage)! Saw the three sisters (which are some rock formations) and went to the Olympic Stadium on the way.

Went on a scarily steep train journey - almost vertical at one point with nothing to hold you in your seat.

Lets hope the South Pacific is a bit more relaxing...