And away we go...

To New Zealand that is. I'm currently residing in Nelson, at the north end of the South Island. It's a pretty nice little town, but I'll cover that in another post. I think I need to fill in a few details from Fiji..

Last time, I was at a sort of crappy resort called David's Place on Tavewa island. I think it's quality was a function of it's distance from the mainland (insert equation here). It was ok and I had a couple of good pictures (see below), but the next couple of places were better.

Heading out of nadi on the Yasawa Flier II

Boat ride into to David's Place on Tavewa

Very windy on Tavewa

The view towards the blue lagoon from a lookout on Tavewa

Me on the top of a lookout on Tavewa

Coconut Bay Resort on Niviti, the center and largest island of the Yasawas, was a pretty cool place but that was mostly due to the staff and the guests. The food was better than David's Place but there was very little fresh water and the water that we did have for showers came out as a dribble and tasted suspiciously like seawater. But, like I said, the staff and other people made it fun. The first day we showed up a group of about 10 of us all arrived at the same time, including a couple of guys from David's Place and some folks they had stayed with a couple of days earlier. The staff put on a pretty cool singing dancing show thingy after dinner which was followed by a bonfire on the beach, both nights. Needless to say they were sort of late nights (midnight is pretty late in the islands.) I got my camera out and the locals loved having there pictures taken and taking pictures as you can see from the few that are posted here. The staff at all these resorts are pretty impressive because they do a great job of learning and remembering your name, although they kept calling me Mr. Luke (maybe it was because I was the oldest of the group at Coconut Bay.) I had many of my most memorably active days at Coconut since I did three dives using the scuba method. It was great getting back under water, I hadn't dove in something like ten years. It was especially nice doing it in warm water where there is lots of cool shit to see. We even did some swim throughs which is where you swim through cave like features in the reefs. My last dives were in the chilly and not so clear waters of the beautiful Puget Sound, so this was definitely a step up. Even as amazing as the diving was, I think the most exciting thing was the snorkel trip we took on the morning before moving on. There's a channel where Manta Rays hang out during certain times of the year. This was pushing the end of the season but we were lucky enough to see one and swim right next to it. It was truly awesome. I was maybe 2 or 3 feet away from this thing that must have been 6 feet wide. Super cool. My adrenaline was pumping something fierce. They're big but pretty much harmless (not to be confused with the Australian celeb killing Sting Ray). They have these giant mouths that they open up and scoop up plankton while swimming against the current. There are also a few teeny little fish that hang out right at the Manta's mouth. I'm not sure how they avoid getting sucked in. I tried to take a picture of it from the boat but all you see is a big brown spot. Hopefully it still conveys the size.

Fijian Bula Dance

Fijian goodbye song

Beach party

Locals at the beach party

Manta Ray

Cool little Hermit Crab

Wayalailai (which means little Waya) Resort was the last stay and also had the most people. I now realize, especially being here in Nelson with probably 40 or more other guests, that I'm not so great with larger groups. It was pretty easy in Fiji because we all ate each meal together and some of the people I met on the first couple of islands traveled along with me to the other islands, but the last resort had about 20 people on it and I was feeling a little more out of place. Luckily I was able to meet a few cool people. Livia, a Swiss girl, Gill an English girl, and I, took a pretty cool hike to the top of the peak on the island and the view was magnificent. You might get a little feel from the pictures, but it pales in comparison to actually being there. I really dug Gill and it turns out she'll be traveling in New Zealand for a few weeks before going to South America for six months, so I hope I will meet up with her again.

Chillin' in a hammock

Sitting on the edge of a bluff above Wayalailai resort

Gill, me, and Livia on top of the island

Anywho....I got back to the mainland Sunday evening and just went straight to the airport. My flight left at 4 am on Monday so there wasn't much point in going to a hostel and staying for just a few hours. I arrived in Auckland and got pulled over the grill by the customs agents. I had 3 hours to catch my flight to Nelson and I only made it to the domestic terminal with about 40 minutes to spare. I think the customs agent must be a blast at parties. He must have asked me a million different questions. I think a lot of them were to try and throw me off or something but I had nothing to hide so I wasn't worried. I was truthful to him about a few of my past indiscretions and I think that opened up a whole can of worms. Taught me a lesson on divulging information.

I think Carolyn will get here tomorrow and then we'll go to the Abel Tasman area and do some Kayaking. I may not post again until after that so I'm sure I'll have plenty to say again.

I'll be very impressed if most of you actually read these entire posts, but thanks to all that do.

-Peace

Fiji

Bula!


I'm in Fiji now, I didn't think I'd have internet access but the hostel/resort next to the one I'm staying at has access, so here I am. I'm staying at a place called David's Place on Tavewa island in the Yasawas. It's quite windy here and very overcast, not exactly what I was expecting. I will be moving on to another resort tomorrow that is more south in the islands and maybe the weather is a little bit better there. I'm catching a ride with a local's brother over to the famous Blue Lagoon soon. It's on the leeward side of a neighboring island so it should be ok. I think I see him now.

:Later

Alright, it's later now. I have an hour to burn on internet usage so I guess I'll fill you'll in on the last couple of days. Arrived Nadi around 3:15 am and was immediately corralled by a local for 'help' with my booking. At that point I was ok with help, even if I knew I was going to pay a few extra dollars for it. I had decided I would spend my entire time here in the Yasawas and instead of trying to nickel and dime it I figured it would be easiest to get everything set up right off the bat. So I took the Yasawa Flier II, a quick boat, to one of the last islands in the Yasawas, Tavewa, where David's Place is. The ride was fairly uneventful, but I did talk to a couple of very fine Dutch girls, unfortunately they were headed to an island towards the beginning of the Yasawas. After a couple of hours in the sun and a couple of beers, my continuous traveling for 20 or so hours had caught up to me and I took a nap inside. Before this, the weather had been nice and sunny, but when I woke up it was quite overcast and windy and that's pretty much been the case thus far. I arrived at David's to a friendly welcome, but I was the only one coming in yesterday and it was obvious there weren't many others. They fed me lunch (3 meals included) right away, but it was some type of noodle with a sort of mystery meat in grey sauce. Sort of ok, but I was very glad when one of the guests, Rod, came by and started talking to me and I was able to sort of push off the rest of the meal. Rod's here with his girlfriend Marie and have been traveling for about 5 months and plan on another 10 or 11 months. When I asked if they were working they said they were lucky that they didn't have to, so I assume that means they came into a bit of cash recently. But, you know what they say about assuming....

Dinner last night was good and breakfast this morning was interesting. A bowl of Corn Flakes followed by toast with canned spaghetti. I'm not a big fan of canned spaghetti but apparently it's something that is in favor from those of the British descent. The Aussies and the Brits that are here all thought it was lovely. Maybe the key was that I had to eat it like they did, put the spaghetti onto the toast. But I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have made it much better. If it gets offered again tomorrow or this evening I'll try the combo thing.

The Blue Lagoon was so-so, I snorkeled around for about 1.5 hours and, since I really don't have a reference, it seemed pretty nice. After I got back to David's however, the other guests said that most of it was dead, which would sort of explain it's dull nature. I was expecting some sort of show... A couple of new guys that showed up said there are better areas than the one I went to but since it cost me about $20 US to get a water taxi over there and rent the snorkeling equipment I'll probably skip any additional trips. I do hope to do some diving while I'm here and refresh myself. It's been over ten years since my last dive so I'm probably rusty (but I haven't been in the water, so it would actually be difficult to be literally rusty.)

I bought a bottle of Rum at the duty free because drinks in the islands are pretty expensive ($4.50 for a beer). I would advise against the Bounty OP (for over proof) run, especially straight. It's a little more palatable with Coke but not much. I guess the fact that it's 116 proof doesn't help much.

Tomorrow I head to a different island, called Niviti, where I will stay at the Coconut Bay Resort. I hope it's a little more lively than David's. I really hope there are more persons of the female variety as well... After two days there I move on again to one of the first islands of the yasawas and I'll stay at a place called Wailailai, or something like that. On the way up on the boat this area looked very nice (it's was sunny and not windy).

I tried to upload images on this computer but there doesn't seem to be any way of doing it with the operating system they are using. I'm guessing it will be New Zealand before I can post any pictures.

Ok, then. Till next time.

Just over 24 Hours...

And I leave on my first leg. I think this one will be the best, I hear L.A. is beautiful this time of year, especially in the airport. Yeah, so I go to LA from SFO at 5 pm and then onto Fiji at 8 pm for 10 hours of fun. Arrive in Nadi around 3 am. I haven't figured out what I'm doing there yet. Most likely I'll end up in the Yasawa Island group. Everyone says that it's the most beautiful part and if you're only there for a short time, an excellent place to chill out.

Had my last US poker games last night. Came in first in the first tournament of the night and then won about $30 in the cash game so it was a good night for me. I think I'll try to make it a goal of mine to play/teach poker (mainly Texas Hold'em) to as many people as I can. I'm sure it'll be especially fun with people who don't speak English! Thanks to the poker crew, but you're all very, very, lucky that I'm leaving because I am the best player in the bunch and there is no denying it.

I was supposed to take my motorcycle over to my grandmother's today but Dan convinced me that I should get out in the water one last time and catch a few waves. Definitely a good idea. I wasn't intending my trip to be a surfing trip but I won't be able to pass up some of the awesome surf spots I'll be near so I'm sure I'll be posting about perfect head high waves as some point.

Super, fun going away party tonight. I'll have to make sure I don't overdo it since I have to get up relatively early and still take care of my bike. Thanks to Dan for hosting me for a couple of days and hosting the party tonight. Oh, and his and Maegan's new place is great, in case anyone cares :-)

Ok, this will most likely be my last post until somewhere in Fiji, although I think internet access isn't all that prevalent there, so it may not be until New Zealand.

Peace and good happy things to everyone. Oh gosh, I'm starting to tear up....ok, maybe not :-)

The Long and the Short of It

Ok. So I got my free haircut today. My head feels much lighter.

Before

After

So I don't have the greatest photo presence and I still should probably shave and do a little bit of a beard trim, but it looks all right and it'll be much more manageable.

Here are a couple of pictures of my empty apartment (Wes asked for them) Oh and the couch is still there (ahem...Joe)

Living room/ Dining room (couch..ahem...Joe)

Empty Bedroom (I think that's a stain on the wall from my head and pillows, gross)

I hope I'm not setting high expectations based on my present post rate. I'm sure it'll drop off dramatically. Especially after this first attempt at posting pictures and making it sort of make sense. It's sort of slow. I'll do my best though.

Summary: long to short. empty apartment (except for the couch...ahem...Joe)

Clean my apartment? what?

So, I'm a bachelor and I'd have to say I'm not the cleanest of guys. I wasn't nasty dirty or anything, I just didn't get around to dusting and vacuuming...pretty much ever. I think, in the five years I lived at my place, I could easily count the number of times I vacuumed on one hand and probably use my eyes to count the number of times I really dusted the place. And all this was very apparent once everything was moved out (except for the couch...ahem...Joe). Cleaning the place didn't look it was going to be too much fun. Luckily for me, there are smarter people around. Dan says "just hire someone". Hire someone? What does that mean? huh? oh....right....pay someone else to clean my house. Brilliant!! So that's getting done today. For what sounds like an almost too good to be true price of $150 for 4 hours work. Maybe they just figure the job will easily be done in less that 4 hours.

I do the walk through with my landlady tomorrow evening. Hopefully I can get most of my $1000 security deposit back. And hopefully she's cool with there still being a couch there (ahem...Joe).

Oh yeah, I'm getting my hair cut today. It's been about three and a half years that I've been letting it grow out, so it's pretty long. I sort of like it, but I know it'll be a royal pain in the ass while traveling and would probably just turn into one giant dread, which could be cool, but might also be pretty scary. Plus there is a salon nearby that will cut your hair for free if you have at least 10 inches to donate to http://www.locksoflove.org/, a group that makes wigs for kids with no hair. So it's for a good cause. Who knows, maybe I'll see some kid walking down the street with blond hair and suddenly have the strange urge to scratch their head or something. Because it used to be my hair. get it? yeah? ok.

Cool Google Earth file

Hey all. What? Posting number 2 already? And he hasn't even left? In fact, it's the same day as his first post....he must be crazy...

Nah, this is just cool. My friend Frank mapped out my itinerary on Google Earth and my friend Wes is hosting a site where you can pick up the file. You'll need to download Google Earth, http://earth.google.com/ , which you should do anyway, and then go to http://www.plate.net/luke/ and save the file called Lukes trip. Once it's saved to your computer, double click on it to open it in Google Earth. On the left of the GE window will be a frame that is labeled Places, highlight "Luke's trip" and hit play using the right arrow button at the bottom of the window.

Thanks Frank! And thanks to Wes for hosting the file and making the cool collage background that you see on the website. I've got a nice photo quality printed version of the backgroun that I'm taking so I can show people around the world some of my best friends and family.

Note to self/ Super Awesome First post

When you get done typing a blog entry, select it all and copy it just in case the entry doesn't get published, just like it did a couple of minutes ago. Doh! So, I'll try it again.

4 days of work left, 6 days left in the country. My apartment is pretty much empty, just a couple of things left to move out, my phone is disconnected, my backpack is mostly packed, I've had all my shots, I guess I'm ready.

Getting rid of almost everything I own has been interesting. At times it feels cleansing, but at other times I wonder "what am I doing?". All in all, it's been good and I recommend everyone go through and eliminate items they haven't used in a year or so. Especially clothes. I had six large boxes go to goodwill and I still have a fair amount that I'm going to store. Why? I don't know, but for some reason it felt like I should come back to some semblance of a wardrobe. Anyway, getting rid of the rest of the stuff was good. Who really needs notes from a college class they took 10 years ago. Are you really going to go back and look through it? That's what I always thought I'd do, but it just isn't going to happen. Oh, and that car amp that you're not sure ever worked but you've been holding onto for 13 years on the off chance that maybe, some day, you've find some cables for it and install it? Forget it.

Summary: Leaving soon. Clean out your closets.

Peace

Oh yeah, if you want to get ahold of me you can email me at lhunter101@hotmail.com