20th Sept Was collected by the Feejee experience bus today and went into Nadi town centre to the markets and the shops to stock up on supplies for the trip. The group seem nice but i will be leaving the group tomorrow to go on the shark dive. Later that morning we went to a native village called Malomalo. We had to wear sarongs while there and met a few of the locals, saw their mix of traditional and modern homes. After that we went to a town called Sigatoka, just outside the town they have huge sand dunes and we went sandboarding which was dusty but good craic. The group are mostly late teens /early twenties so last night after dinner the dorm became the party venue (Bar was too expensive) and I hadnt a chance of getting any sleep. So me and Andy (another 30 something) decided to find another place to sleep. We came across another dorm that was not being used and slept there. The party in the other dorm went on until 4am until security called a halt to it.
21st Sept Up and out at 6.45am for showers and breakfast and on the bus at 7.45am bound for a place called Pacific Harbour where the best Shark diving takes place. I got off there, left my group and checked into the Uprising holiday resort for 2 nights. I walked the beach and had a look around the town, not up to much though.
22nd Sept Woke this morning at 6am and couldnt get to sleep again with thought of the sharks. Got collected for the dive at 8am. To that point my training had me in shallow, warm and blue waters.... but this was different. We went out into the high seas, I had to jump off the boat with all my gear on into water that I could not see the bottom. The swells seemed huge allowing me to see the boat one minute and disappear behind a wave the next. I was well taken aback by the raw-ness of it all, and hadnt even seen a shark yet. This was hardcore diving and the lad beside me had done 641 dives. Oh well, in for a penny in for a pound and down i went 30 metres (95ft) to a shelf near the sea bed. We watched the feeder below us creating a feeding frenzy with the other fish to attract the interest from the nearby sharks. It did. A bull shark arrived and it was huge. It was about 10ft long and a fat as a cow. It was just like the movies with those eyes, teeth and white belly. We saw grey reef sharks, white tip sharks but no tiger sharks. They were the real bad boys. The bulls were the stars of the show eating huge fish heads like jelly babies and ripping them apart like wet cardboard, all the time my head sinking lower behind the ledge. I wasnt too disappointed not seeing the tiger as Id never seen any sharks in real life before. The day involved another shallower dive to see some more sea life but the sharks were the maddest thing ever.
23rd Sept Joined the Feejee experience again this morning. I think they are a better crowd than the other lot, not as rowdy and drink orientated. We went for a 3 hour trek through the jungle and waded through rivers and muck, good craic. We had lunch by a riverside in the jungle and then got into tubes and floated down the river. Along the way we jumped in rock pools, under waterfalls and finished the trip in a long boat speeding down the river. It was lashing rain and we got soaked. After a change we headed for Suva (the capital) and had a tour. It like all fiji towns was a dump (its a poor country)
24th Sept Today we visited a local school. It was very rural, had 6 classrooms and no electricity. We visited every class where the children sang for us, asked us questions and we asked them Q's. They were great kids and so happy. Each class got a big bag of sweets from the group which the teacher shared out. We brought stationery, paints, crayons and pencils which they only get from the likes of us. The tour visits a different school or orphanage every time so a school may not see the Feegee crowd again for months. One of the teachers said our visit was like Santa Claus for the children. Before i left Australia, these children were preparing for our visit. I had a $3.50 football with me which all the kids were watching to see who I would give it to. We were told about these 3 kids that walked 12km to school every day leaving at 5am to be in class for 8am. There were so many deserving cases that I gave the ball to the teacher to keep for good boys and girls to play with at break time. In another class the kids were told to tell the teacher the capital of the country of each of the visitors as the visitor told them their country. Only one lad got Dublin right (or Dob bling as he called it) and all I could give him was one of my 2 bananas. I told him he could have it if he could catch it. He put his hands up in the air and it sailed 20ft across the room into his anticipating little paws. All the kids were jumping up and down and screaming with excitement. Out of the group of 22 there were 18 English so the 'London' drone from the kids quickly changed when one girl said 'Northern Ireland'. Another bright spark got it right and i gave her my last banana to throw to him.
After all that excitement we went to visit a tribal leader for a Kava ceremony. I got on great with him and we talked about Rugby, Irish/australian football and what i did for a living. During the meeting the women brought out cakes for E1 each to eat if we wanted. I insisted on buying one for the chief, his son and his spokesman. I proceeded to eat the cake and drink the ceremonial drink (Kava) at the same time as if it was a cup of tea. They were all in knots. For the laugh I asked one of his wives if she was married. She replied that she was married to the chief and I said that that was a pity because she was so beautiful (she was about 25 stone and the size of a horse) the chief stood up and went into his house and came back out with a pen and a bit of sandpaper. He asked me if I liked Fijian women, which i said yes (was hardly going to say no) and he told me he had many women for me. He told me to write my address on the back of it and said they would write to me..... hmmm, I hope they are not like his wife.
We checked into the resort of Volivoli that day. A nice remote resort owned by a new Zealand family. I got chatting to their son, Steve that evening and I asked him about a sunken ferry nearby and what was the chances of getting to dive down to see it. He was the resort dive instructor and we arranged to do it the following morning.
25th Sept Met up with Steve at 8.30am and got geared up for my first wreck dive. In 2003 a rust bucket, unseaworthy ferry sank off Volivoli. It was full of trucks and cars and sank to the bottom eventually lying upside down. It took us a while to find it, but we did and swam through holes in the hull, up stairs, though doorways and into the cargo hold. There were loads of vehicles there with their containers open and full of stuff. We had torches and was very different to the other dives. we hung around for a while. I would have preferred if it the ferry was the right way up but no matter, it was a great experience. Back to the resort and were on the bus for 12 midday. We headed to an Indian reataurant for our 'Indo-fijian cultural experience' ,what a sham. $20 for a low grade Indian dinner and that was it. We made note of that one in our feedback forms. After that we went to the hot mud pools and immersed ourselves in this hot mud and of course all the sheenanigans took place including flinging mud, mud in the hair etc. After that we went over to the clean water hot springs and washed off all the mud. We made our way back to Nadi where we finished the trip.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thats the Fijian way (Fiji Part 1)
11 Sept Slept in a bit today (10am) as I was used to 6am starts throughout most of Oz. Went into the town where my Guesthouse is (Nadi) with a couple of English lads I met. Although its not the capital it was not up to much, a bit of a dump really. I went into this shop to buy water and it was all caged in and all the houses have big metal fences around them. Had a walk around and went back to the hotel for a siesta, lunch, played pool and watched a movie. Booked my ticket to the Yasawas islands onboard a 7 days cruise.
12 Sept Headed off this morning at 8am on the Yasawas flyer, a high speed Catamaran to the Yasawas islands (YI). The YI are an Archipelago of beautiful islands with the stereotypical turquoise waters and coral beaches. I met a few people on the boat including a lad from Clifden (Fergus Foyle) and should be good craic. Later we arrived at Tavewa island for our 1st and 2nd night. We had lunch & I booked in to do an introductory scuba dive. The intro dive cost E70 and was a 90 minute instruction which involved a dive to 6 metres. It was amazing to dive for the first time. All my life I was only ever underwater for a few seconds holding my breath or on the surface with a mask and snorkel. Here we were sitting in another world on the sea bed looking at fish, coral , shells and other mad looking sea creatures. It was wierd, scary and exhilarating at the same time. Later that night we had a buffet dinner with traditional Fijian music and beer.
13 Sept I decided to go ahead and do the Open Water Dive course, which upon completion a graduate can dive without the assistance of an instructor. It cost E250 and involved 3 more dives and an exam. I did 2 dives today and saw and touched loads of sea creatures.
14 Sept Did another dive today, did my exam and passed!! hooray! I left the island today and boarded another boat, the Wanatki for an overnight stay on board. We were fed and entertained by the crew and introduced to 'Kava' a non alcoholic traditional fijian drink, with certain hallucanogenic effects reported. None for me but I slept like a log that night.
15 Sept Were transported to Kuata island today. Its a small fun place, a real tropical village like something out of a Lilt or Malibu ad. Had more Kava, traditional music & fire dancing.
16 Sept Spend most of the day relaxing, reading and went on a hike to the top of the island to watch the sunset which was good but a few clouds on the horizon made a bags of that.
17 Sept Left Kuata today and headed to South Seas Island (SSI). SSI is the smallest inhabited island in Figi and is like something out of a desert island movie. I walked completely around the island in 6 minutes! Did some kayaking, but mostly read and chatted to other residents.
18 Sept Left SSI today and headed back to the mainland. We checked into the same resort aagin with my new crew but most were heading off in all directions the following day.
19 Sept Got may hair cut today to it shortest length ever (1mm). A No.1 all round, I liked it but not a O'Donnellan and Joyce cut methinks. I booked my Figi experience tour around the main island, leaving tomorrow. Its a hop on hop off bus that allows you the tour guide info and interesting sights along the way but get off when you like for a few days and hop on the next bus.
12 Sept Headed off this morning at 8am on the Yasawas flyer, a high speed Catamaran to the Yasawas islands (YI). The YI are an Archipelago of beautiful islands with the stereotypical turquoise waters and coral beaches. I met a few people on the boat including a lad from Clifden (Fergus Foyle) and should be good craic. Later we arrived at Tavewa island for our 1st and 2nd night. We had lunch & I booked in to do an introductory scuba dive. The intro dive cost E70 and was a 90 minute instruction which involved a dive to 6 metres. It was amazing to dive for the first time. All my life I was only ever underwater for a few seconds holding my breath or on the surface with a mask and snorkel. Here we were sitting in another world on the sea bed looking at fish, coral , shells and other mad looking sea creatures. It was wierd, scary and exhilarating at the same time. Later that night we had a buffet dinner with traditional Fijian music and beer.
13 Sept I decided to go ahead and do the Open Water Dive course, which upon completion a graduate can dive without the assistance of an instructor. It cost E250 and involved 3 more dives and an exam. I did 2 dives today and saw and touched loads of sea creatures.
14 Sept Did another dive today, did my exam and passed!! hooray! I left the island today and boarded another boat, the Wanatki for an overnight stay on board. We were fed and entertained by the crew and introduced to 'Kava' a non alcoholic traditional fijian drink, with certain hallucanogenic effects reported. None for me but I slept like a log that night.
15 Sept Were transported to Kuata island today. Its a small fun place, a real tropical village like something out of a Lilt or Malibu ad. Had more Kava, traditional music & fire dancing.
16 Sept Spend most of the day relaxing, reading and went on a hike to the top of the island to watch the sunset which was good but a few clouds on the horizon made a bags of that.
17 Sept Left Kuata today and headed to South Seas Island (SSI). SSI is the smallest inhabited island in Figi and is like something out of a desert island movie. I walked completely around the island in 6 minutes! Did some kayaking, but mostly read and chatted to other residents.
18 Sept Left SSI today and headed back to the mainland. We checked into the same resort aagin with my new crew but most were heading off in all directions the following day.
19 Sept Got may hair cut today to it shortest length ever (1mm). A No.1 all round, I liked it but not a O'Donnellan and Joyce cut methinks. I booked my Figi experience tour around the main island, leaving tomorrow. Its a hop on hop off bus that allows you the tour guide info and interesting sights along the way but get off when you like for a few days and hop on the next bus.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Perth and the rest of Oz
28th Aug Left Perth this morning after staying the night at Brian Fahys apartment. Collected Sally (England) and Sonja (Germany) from the YHA at 8.15am in the city centre. We headed off south towards a seaside town called Freemantle (FM). After taking a few wrong turns we arrived in FM, saw the marine Museum and the local beer brewery known as 'Little Creatures' it was quiet good. Called to various towns along the way including Rockingham, Bunbury, Mandurah, Busselton with its longest Jetty in the Southern Hemisphere (2km). Walked half of it but was very cold. Got to Margaret river, famous for its wine regions and gourmet food, that evening and camped in the car park of the visitors centre.
29th Aug Got up at 6.45am (wardens check for illegal campers at 7am) after a 9.5 hour sleep and had a breakfast of melon, tea and muesli bars. We went down to shower at the local backpackers hostel and hit the road toring the local winerys, coffee roasters, cheese makers and chocolate factory. After 4 hours of self indulgence we headed south for Augusta (the most South Westerly town in Australia) It was very wild with massive waves and high winds, next landmass south was Antartica.
30th Aug Went to the valley of the Giants, a forest of huge trees. There was a metal elevated walkway there that allowed its pedestrian walk around the tree tops about 50 metres up. I climbed to the top of the tallest tree via a spiral staircase around its trunk. They were originally built to allow sighters spot forest fire locations. In the area were those trees that you go walk in under them and in the past allowed you to drive your car under (no more though). Drove late until 8.30pm, 2.5 hours after dark. Driving slowly along (60klm ph) we spotted a kangaroo in the middle of the road. We slowed to a standstill with the head lights on him. We looked at him and he looked at us for about 5 secs and he hopped away. He was lucky we weren't a roadtrain. We travelled through towns such as Denmark, Albany and stopped for the night in a tiny town called Mungalip to camp for the night.
31st Aug Made our way to a town called Esperance and saw 'Australias Best beach'. Drove on to Norseman, the town at the Western end of the Nullabor plain (NP). The NP is a 2700km highway linking Perth to Adelaide. Its a mammoth of a car journey through the most isolated part of Australia. We drove 410 km today and camped at a rest stop on the side of the road.
01 Sept Drove to a roadhouse 40 km down the road today for our shower. At 6.30am we were mad for road. Along the way we saw fantastic views of the Southern Ocean and the Great Australian Bight. we saw whales and their calves resting by the cliff edge and after a 750km rally behind a roadtrain in the dead of the night we pulled in 25km before the South Australia border town of Ceduna.
02 Sept drove through the WA/SA Quarantine border and a few towns such as Iorn Knob (which gave the occupants of the van some material for some good jokes) Ceduna, Port Augusta and finally arrived in Adelaide around 7.45pm. Sally checked into the YHA and Sonja met up with a freind of hers. We all headed out for pizza and beer for our last Hurrah. I slept in the van outside the YHA.
03 Sept As time was short and couldnt get anyone to come along, I planned my route to Melbourne all by myself. Its definitely better travelling with others to share the costs and having a bit of craic along the way. I drove most of the day (550km) through beautiful countryside and typical Aussie towns before arriving at the start of the Great ocean road (GOR). I pulled into the carpark of the first attraction (the bay of Islands) and went to bed. It was howling wind and rain outside so with the pizza slices left over from last nights jumbo pizza I munched them quiet happily rather than getting out and cooking. I had 3 sleeping bags, my fleece, socks and my hat on and was snug as a bug. It was 7C outside that night.
04 Sept Slept like a log last night and was up and out for 7am. Saw all the sights along the GOR, amazing rocky outcrops and landscapes. Sights included London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge, 12 Apostles, and went to Cape Otway lighthouse. It was cool to be allowed into the lighthouse and climbed to the top and wander around. The history of the place was very interesting and looked at the lighthouse keepers residence and telegraph station from the 1850's. Arrived in Melbourne around 6.30pm and took my usual heap of wrong turns, got lost (easy when you have no navigator) and no proper map. I stopped at a petrol station and bought the A-Z for $27 which was a bummer just to find a hostel. i went to a popular area called St. Kilda, it was full of dual carraigeways , one ways, tramways etc. I pulled up on a particular street to consult my new map and a less than healthy looking lady opened the passenger door and said 'You looking for a girl?', I thanked her for her kind offer and declined. She had a look at my bag on the seat and didnt do anything but was enough to give me enough reason to get out of Kilda. Exhausted from the driving around and my brain doing a million miles per hour I stopped at a park outside the Novotel Hotel and went to bed.
05th Sept Up with the bin lorries at 6.30am and hit the road towards the city centre. I checked the lonely planet and decided on the YHA in North cehtral Melbourne. Once I was in the old town it was way easier to navigate and was at the hostel within 15 minutes. I checked in for 2 nights. Its a nice place and was delighted to have a decent bed and shower etc for a change. I even had a bath which i fell asleep in. I headed into town and had a look at the sights incl the Victoria Parliament house and was given the tour by a Limerick man.. Rode around in the trams and buses and took in the city. Met up with 2 lads, Eoin from Claregalway and Lee from England. They are joining me for our trip to Sydney in 2 days time.
06th Sept Went into town again today and checked out the library, Museum (amazing) and the AFL and cricket grounds. Went out on the town with the lads which was good craic.
07th Sept Headed off in the van with Lee and Eoin towards Wilsons Promomitory (dont know what a promomitory is). It was windy and cold but its the most southerly point in Australia. It was a beutiful spot and we camped at this campsite on a place called 80 mile beach. We were eaten by mosquitos. The rush fro coils and repellants was Olympic. Met an American couple at the campsite and they had a fire going. Nice.
08th Sept Drove to Snowy creek National park (where the Australians do their skiing). It was very cold and we were limited where we could go without snow chains etc. Had a good look around and headed off on a drive along this stretch which the map said had a few unsealed bits (No tarmac) It turned out to be a road like something out of the 1800's. we crossed over 2 bridges that were made from wood, though a town that nobody lived in, a town with one house and that was up for sale and was definitely the most rural part of Australia that I was ever in. We got to a roadside rest area and lit a big bonfire. It was freezing (we were not at sea level). That night I was rotating myself around the fire like a pig on a spit. That night i was in 2 sleeping bags, fully clothed, hat on and had to run the engine twice in the night to break the cold. Temp had dropped to minus 3 degrees celcius.
09th Sept Up and out at 5.45am we hit the road straight away. The sun came up about 6.30 and we felt at 7.30 it was warm enough to pull over for breakfast. We got to the capital city later that morning and had a tour around Parliament buildings. It was a new building and was amazing. We saw the national Library and had a look around the city centre. We arrived in Sydney that night and treated ourselves to a steak dinner and a couple of fair dinkum aussie beers.
10th Sept Dropped the van back to the rental crowd and after a check over and a disagreement over an acceptable level of return cleanliness, I was in the clear and deposit intact. Great! a month in the outback and 12,500 km without a ding was a great achievement. I said goodbye to Eoin and caught the train to the airport. After the usual airport rig ma role I boarded the Jumbo 747 for Figi.. It was nice to arrive into the heat again and checked into my hotel in Nadi Figi.
29th Aug Got up at 6.45am (wardens check for illegal campers at 7am) after a 9.5 hour sleep and had a breakfast of melon, tea and muesli bars. We went down to shower at the local backpackers hostel and hit the road toring the local winerys, coffee roasters, cheese makers and chocolate factory. After 4 hours of self indulgence we headed south for Augusta (the most South Westerly town in Australia) It was very wild with massive waves and high winds, next landmass south was Antartica.
30th Aug Went to the valley of the Giants, a forest of huge trees. There was a metal elevated walkway there that allowed its pedestrian walk around the tree tops about 50 metres up. I climbed to the top of the tallest tree via a spiral staircase around its trunk. They were originally built to allow sighters spot forest fire locations. In the area were those trees that you go walk in under them and in the past allowed you to drive your car under (no more though). Drove late until 8.30pm, 2.5 hours after dark. Driving slowly along (60klm ph) we spotted a kangaroo in the middle of the road. We slowed to a standstill with the head lights on him. We looked at him and he looked at us for about 5 secs and he hopped away. He was lucky we weren't a roadtrain. We travelled through towns such as Denmark, Albany and stopped for the night in a tiny town called Mungalip to camp for the night.
31st Aug Made our way to a town called Esperance and saw 'Australias Best beach'. Drove on to Norseman, the town at the Western end of the Nullabor plain (NP). The NP is a 2700km highway linking Perth to Adelaide. Its a mammoth of a car journey through the most isolated part of Australia. We drove 410 km today and camped at a rest stop on the side of the road.
01 Sept Drove to a roadhouse 40 km down the road today for our shower. At 6.30am we were mad for road. Along the way we saw fantastic views of the Southern Ocean and the Great Australian Bight. we saw whales and their calves resting by the cliff edge and after a 750km rally behind a roadtrain in the dead of the night we pulled in 25km before the South Australia border town of Ceduna.
02 Sept drove through the WA/SA Quarantine border and a few towns such as Iorn Knob (which gave the occupants of the van some material for some good jokes) Ceduna, Port Augusta and finally arrived in Adelaide around 7.45pm. Sally checked into the YHA and Sonja met up with a freind of hers. We all headed out for pizza and beer for our last Hurrah. I slept in the van outside the YHA.
03 Sept As time was short and couldnt get anyone to come along, I planned my route to Melbourne all by myself. Its definitely better travelling with others to share the costs and having a bit of craic along the way. I drove most of the day (550km) through beautiful countryside and typical Aussie towns before arriving at the start of the Great ocean road (GOR). I pulled into the carpark of the first attraction (the bay of Islands) and went to bed. It was howling wind and rain outside so with the pizza slices left over from last nights jumbo pizza I munched them quiet happily rather than getting out and cooking. I had 3 sleeping bags, my fleece, socks and my hat on and was snug as a bug. It was 7C outside that night.
04 Sept Slept like a log last night and was up and out for 7am. Saw all the sights along the GOR, amazing rocky outcrops and landscapes. Sights included London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge, 12 Apostles, and went to Cape Otway lighthouse. It was cool to be allowed into the lighthouse and climbed to the top and wander around. The history of the place was very interesting and looked at the lighthouse keepers residence and telegraph station from the 1850's. Arrived in Melbourne around 6.30pm and took my usual heap of wrong turns, got lost (easy when you have no navigator) and no proper map. I stopped at a petrol station and bought the A-Z for $27 which was a bummer just to find a hostel. i went to a popular area called St. Kilda, it was full of dual carraigeways , one ways, tramways etc. I pulled up on a particular street to consult my new map and a less than healthy looking lady opened the passenger door and said 'You looking for a girl?', I thanked her for her kind offer and declined. She had a look at my bag on the seat and didnt do anything but was enough to give me enough reason to get out of Kilda. Exhausted from the driving around and my brain doing a million miles per hour I stopped at a park outside the Novotel Hotel and went to bed.
05th Sept Up with the bin lorries at 6.30am and hit the road towards the city centre. I checked the lonely planet and decided on the YHA in North cehtral Melbourne. Once I was in the old town it was way easier to navigate and was at the hostel within 15 minutes. I checked in for 2 nights. Its a nice place and was delighted to have a decent bed and shower etc for a change. I even had a bath which i fell asleep in. I headed into town and had a look at the sights incl the Victoria Parliament house and was given the tour by a Limerick man.. Rode around in the trams and buses and took in the city. Met up with 2 lads, Eoin from Claregalway and Lee from England. They are joining me for our trip to Sydney in 2 days time.
06th Sept Went into town again today and checked out the library, Museum (amazing) and the AFL and cricket grounds. Went out on the town with the lads which was good craic.
07th Sept Headed off in the van with Lee and Eoin towards Wilsons Promomitory (dont know what a promomitory is). It was windy and cold but its the most southerly point in Australia. It was a beutiful spot and we camped at this campsite on a place called 80 mile beach. We were eaten by mosquitos. The rush fro coils and repellants was Olympic. Met an American couple at the campsite and they had a fire going. Nice.
08th Sept Drove to Snowy creek National park (where the Australians do their skiing). It was very cold and we were limited where we could go without snow chains etc. Had a good look around and headed off on a drive along this stretch which the map said had a few unsealed bits (No tarmac) It turned out to be a road like something out of the 1800's. we crossed over 2 bridges that were made from wood, though a town that nobody lived in, a town with one house and that was up for sale and was definitely the most rural part of Australia that I was ever in. We got to a roadside rest area and lit a big bonfire. It was freezing (we were not at sea level). That night I was rotating myself around the fire like a pig on a spit. That night i was in 2 sleeping bags, fully clothed, hat on and had to run the engine twice in the night to break the cold. Temp had dropped to minus 3 degrees celcius.
09th Sept Up and out at 5.45am we hit the road straight away. The sun came up about 6.30 and we felt at 7.30 it was warm enough to pull over for breakfast. We got to the capital city later that morning and had a tour around Parliament buildings. It was a new building and was amazing. We saw the national Library and had a look around the city centre. We arrived in Sydney that night and treated ourselves to a steak dinner and a couple of fair dinkum aussie beers.
10th Sept Dropped the van back to the rental crowd and after a check over and a disagreement over an acceptable level of return cleanliness, I was in the clear and deposit intact. Great! a month in the outback and 12,500 km without a ding was a great achievement. I said goodbye to Eoin and caught the train to the airport. After the usual airport rig ma role I boarded the Jumbo 747 for Figi.. It was nice to arrive into the heat again and checked into my hotel in Nadi Figi.
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