Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Country 3 of 3- Fiji- Yes Naomi I am alive, kinda
Fiji and a little closing on Sydney
I finished out my time in Sydney by going to the opera at the Sydney Opera House. It was "Turandot" by Puccini. It was pretty much the only opera I have ever heard of. It was kinda of a romantic plot after the first couple of guys got killed off. I would recommend it. I can't really remember what else I did in Sydney so I think I will just go onto Fiji.
"Bula" (That means hello in Fijian, yep I am almost fluent)
So I arrived in Fiji and at the airport there were a bunch of Fijian's singing and welcoming. I loved it already. Random people ushering you through the airport to the shuttle for the hostel, confusion arose but I went with it. Then the guy turns on the blaring Fiji music while telling us where "not" to go after 10 pm. It was like a tour through the ghetto. After we got to the hostel they just took down our name and ushered us off to a room with a guy in a security guard outfit leading each of us to our room. It was the weirdest thing.
A thing I came to learn about Fiji was that it was it's own little world and in that world they had their own time frame and their own rules. So when I went to dinner for the first time I was slightly confused. I learned that you sit their and wait for 20 minutes for them to bring you a menu where they immediately ask if you if you know what you want? Which of course you don't because you haven't read the menu so you frantically pick something. Then it takes a good 20 more minutes to actually get your food which will not at all be hot or even warm. Then you have to chase the waitress down for the bill which will take another good 10 minutes. Its what they call "Fiji time." You can't do anything in a hurry there. But I got used to it.
The first day I was there I went into town (Nadi) and wow was that a culture shock. So there were Indians and Fijians and then everyone who was white was obviously a tourist. I had never felt like a minority before that time. But on the drive back to the hotel I drove by what you would likely find in a rather undeveloped country; a McDonald's. I even took a picture.
Well my days in Fiji pretty much consisted of me waking up at about 10am, sitting by the pool and occasionally eating. And then the sun would eventually set and then I would eat something else and watch the nightly movie which were always the weirdest American movies they could find to bring into the country via counterfiting in Thailand. Then I would get up the next day and do it all over again. I have never done so little so many days continuosly. It was awesome. On the last day I went out to one of the islands called "Treasure Island." I picked that one because it sounded the most piratey. My activities were quite similar to my time at the resort but just on the beach instead of the pool. I went snorkeling though. It was awesome. Maybe 5 feet off the beach there were reefs and there were tons of cool fish. It was slightly better than snorkeling at the GB Reef because it was warm and you could see everything so clearly. After about 20 minutes I saw a reef shark and then I got the hell out of the water. My flight was at 10pm that night and I headed back to the good ole US of A. I ended up with a 5 hour lay over in LAX which was lovely to say the least (You got the sarcasm on that one right?). No celebrities this time though which was slightly disappointing. And my flight was only delayed by 30 minutes and I made it home alive.
All in all it was a good time although I caught what I am refering to as the "Fiji Flu" and I also had a little mishap and fell on my knee so with the cough and the bum leg I really felt like a pirate afterwards. It was a good time and I am glad that I went. I will post some pictures soon which will show my journeys. Until another trip. Farewell.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Blogs from the past- The South Pacific- Part Trois.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Country 2 of 3 still- Part 2- Airlie Beach down to Sydney Category: Travel and Places
Australia Round 2- Journeys between Airlie Beach to Sydney.
I last left off with Naomi and I in Airlie Beach. While there we went on our sailing trip through the Whitsundays. Don't feel bad if you don't know what that is because I sure as hell didn't until someone mentioned it to me at work. Its basically a big group of islands that have mostly remained undeveloped. Well it was a 3 day and 2 night sailing trip. We actually only sailed about 2 times during the entire thing but thats what motors are for. Our bad weather continued except for the 4 hours of sunshine we got when we were at Whitehaven Beach which worked out perfectly. I like to think I got a nice golden tan during that time but I think the sun just got to my brain. It was a nice trip overall but I think I am done with boats for awhile.
After the Whitsundays we decided to continue our travels South down to Hervey Bay. So we took the Greyhound for another lovely night ride which took a little over 12 hours to get there. We stayed at a pretty nice hostel and decided to get a twin share room. So instead of hitting "the town" we took a nice 5 hour nap before heading off to the local watering whole; the Club. It was basically a Members club that served a buffet for cheap and they also had "Pokies" which in American speak are slot machines. But just because its a members club we talked our way in. Well ok we just signed in as guests. I hit the penny slots and wound out on top at the end with $1 in winnings. I was proud of myself. But the buffet was a socialogical experiment in itself. We were the only people in the place under 50 if you don't count the 20 year old guy there with his parents for a free meal. It was pretty entertaining to watch the looks they gave us. We booked a Fraser island tour though so we had to catch that at 6:15 am the next morning.
Fraser island is basically a island of the coast with sand dunes. We took a four wheel bus tour. It was a little rocky. Not much to say there. A lot of trees, some whales off the shore, and a lot of sand.
Fraser island was right off Hervey Bay so when our day tour was over we decided to hit the town again. Naomi found a place in her tour book that had a pizza and pancake "all you can eat" deal. We were pretty stoked which of course led to disappointment and a slightly ill feeling afterward. After that Naomi was intent on finding this Irish pub we saw on the way in. After a good mile walk we finally found it. And the best part of the night followed. Basically we met some weird guys but then we met perhaps the hottest Australian yet. about 6'2" and pretty much fucking hot. After switching bars due to closing hours we ended up talking to him for the rest of the night. We were pretty proud that we finally found a hot Australian and not just another British guy. Definte highlight of the trip and you would understand if you had seen him.
(I know this is getting long but if you know me at all I like to chat and this will save me time when I get back from having to tell you what I did and if you don't read on then you will just feel really left out :)
After that we decided to head down to Noosa Heads. Which basically resembled Malibu, CA. It was gorgeous. It was a quaint little surfer type town that tourists like ourselves have slowly invaded. I did eat the best meal of my entire trip here which was fried rice at an Thai-Malaysian restaurant of course. While there I took a day trip to the Australia Zoo which is the zoo ran by Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter." It was kinda a mix of theme park cheezyness and a zoo. Steve was there that day but I didn't see him, just the scooter he rides around on. I did see some lovely crocs though.
Then came our last stop before Sydney which was Brisbane. Everybody told us not to go there because it sucked and of course they were right. However they did have some crazy nightlife in "The Valley" which the name alone made me think of "Clueless." We went out there and stayed out till like 6 am and but you would have never guessed because the area was just as packed as when we got there. It was basically a block area of bars where the entire city was at. It was the most bizarre thing I had seen in awhile. People were getting in fights and then 5 bouncers would appear out of nowhere and tackle them and put them in headlocks. Plus it was raining which made it more chaotic then it needed to be. It was pretty much ridiculous but worth mentioning.
After Brisbane we had to get down to Sydney for Naomi to catch her flight. That was a 16 hour bus ride. It was the worst of them all. The bus sucked, there were an abnormal amount of crazys on the bus and the hippies behind us kinda smelled. But always a cultural experience and we made it to Sydney without much harm.Sydney is not really what I thought it was going to be. I have hit a bunch of the sites including Bondi beach where there were a total of maybe 10 people on it as opposed to the usual thousand or so when the sun is actually out in the summer. I went to the Zoo yesterday which was pretty good. I saw some local wildlife and the animals were cool too. Just kidding. It had a really good location with Sydney Harbor in the background. I have a couple days left and then I go onto Fiji which hopefully will only involve me lying on a beach. Until then.
Country 2 of 3 still- Part 2- Airlie Beach down to Sydney Category: Travel and Places
Australia Round 2- Journeys between Airlie Beach to Sydney.
I last left off with Naomi and I in Airlie Beach. While there we went on our sailing trip through the Whitsundays. Don't feel bad if you don't know what that is because I sure as hell didn't until someone mentioned it to me at work. Its basically a big group of islands that have mostly remained undeveloped. Well it was a 3 day and 2 night sailing trip. We actually only sailed about 2 times during the entire thing but thats what motors are for. Our bad weather continued except for the 4 hours of sunshine we got when we were at Whitehaven Beach which worked out perfectly. I like to think I got a nice golden tan during that time but I think the sun just got to my brain. It was a nice trip overall but I think I am done with boats for awhile.
After the Whitsundays we decided to continue our travels South down to Hervey Bay. So we took the Greyhound for another lovely night ride which took a little over 12 hours to get there. We stayed at a pretty nice hostel and decided to get a twin share room. So instead of hitting "the town" we took a nice 5 hour nap before heading off to the local watering whole; the Club. It was basically a Members club that served a buffet for cheap and they also had "Pokies" which in American speak are slot machines. But just because its a members club we talked our way in. Well ok we just signed in as guests. I hit the penny slots and wound out on top at the end with $1 in winnings. I was proud of myself. But the buffet was a socialogical experiment in itself. We were the only people in the place under 50 if you don't count the 20 year old guy there with his parents for a free meal. It was pretty entertaining to watch the looks they gave us. We booked a Fraser island tour though so we had to catch that at 6:15 am the next morning.
Fraser island is basically a island of the coast with sand dunes. We took a four wheel bus tour. It was a little rocky. Not much to say there. A lot of trees, some whales off the shore, and a lot of sand.
Fraser island was right off Hervey Bay so when our day tour was over we decided to hit the town again. Naomi found a place in her tour book that had a pizza and pancake "all you can eat" deal. We were pretty stoked which of course led to disappointment and a slightly ill feeling afterward. After that Naomi was intent on finding this Irish pub we saw on the way in. After a good mile walk we finally found it. And the best part of the night followed. Basically we met some weird guys but then we met perhaps the hottest Australian yet. about 6'2" and pretty much fucking hot. After switching bars due to closing hours we ended up talking to him for the rest of the night. We were pretty proud that we finally found a hot Australian and not just another British guy. Definte highlight of the trip and you would understand if you had seen him.
(I know this is getting long but if you know me at all I like to chat and this will save me time when I get back from having to tell you what I did and if you don't read on then you will just feel really left out :)
After that we decided to head down to Noosa Heads. Which basically resembled Malibu, CA. It was gorgeous. It was a quaint little surfer type town that tourists like ourselves have slowly invaded. I did eat the best meal of my entire trip here which was fried rice at an Thai-Malaysian restaurant of course. While there I took a day trip to the Australia Zoo which is the zoo ran by Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter." It was kinda a mix of theme park cheezyness and a zoo. Steve was there that day but I didn't see him, just the scooter he rides around on. I did see some lovely crocs though.
Then came our last stop before Sydney which was Brisbane. Everybody told us not to go there because it sucked and of course they were right. However they did have some crazy nightlife in "The Valley" which the name alone made me think of "Clueless." We went out there and stayed out till like 6 am and but you would have never guessed because the area was just as packed as when we got there. It was basically a block area of bars where the entire city was at. It was the most bizarre thing I had seen in awhile. People were getting in fights and then 5 bouncers would appear out of nowhere and tackle them and put them in headlocks. Plus it was raining which made it more chaotic then it needed to be. It was pretty much ridiculous but worth mentioning.
After Brisbane we had to get down to Sydney for Naomi to catch her flight. That was a 16 hour bus ride. It was the worst of them all. The bus sucked, there were an abnormal amount of crazys on the bus and the hippies behind us kinda smelled. But always a cultural experience and we made it to Sydney without much harm.Sydney is not really what I thought it was going to be. I have hit a bunch of the sites including Bondi beach where there were a total of maybe 10 people on it as opposed to the usual thousand or so when the sun is actually out in the summer. I went to the Zoo yesterday which was pretty good. I saw some local wildlife and the animals were cool too. Just kidding. It had a really good location with Sydney Harbor in the background. I have a couple days left and then I go onto Fiji which hopefully will only involve me lying on a beach. Until then.
Blogs from the past- The South Pacific- Part Deux
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Country 2 of 3- Australia Part 1 Category: Travel and Places
Australia- Cairns down to Airlie Beach
Ok so now I am in Australia. I had to catch a 3 am airport shuttle to leave from Auckland for my 6:30 am flight. That was a little rough. I arrived in Cairns and met up with Naomi. I met some Welsh boys in the lobby who were fans of Lostprophets as well so I knew the trip was going to be good. We had just one night there before going on our dive/ snorkel trip. Naomi did diving because she was certified and I snorkeled. It was a 3 day and 2 night trip. To get to the Great Barriar Reef it took 3 hours and I ended up throwing up about 5 times during that. It was a little crazy though because there were 40 people including the crew on this boat in the middle of nowhere. I ended up going in the water for 7 snorkels. It was like a lovely salt water bath every time. Its a good thing I can't swim very well. I ended up seeing 3 green turtles, 3 stingrays and a bunch of fish and of course coral reefs. We also saw a couple of Minke Whales during the trip too which were cool. The ride back wasn't quite as bad.
The only bad part of this trip so far is that we have had one day of sunshine the entire time. We then went from Cairns to Magnetic Island where everything closes at 9pm. The island boasts that it has 320 days of sunshine during the year, but for us it was cloudy and pissing rain. A little disappointing. But we went to this place where you could hold animals. Naomi and I both ended up holding a snake, a baby croc and a Koala Bear. I even got a fancy picture with the Koala bear. If your lucky I might show it to you when I get back. After Magnetic island we headed further south with our Greyhound bus pass (which is suprisingly not quite as scary as the American version of Greyhound). We are now at Airlie Beach and are going to sail the Whitsundays tomorrow for 3 days. This has definately been a water themed trip between all the rain and the ocean but its been fun so far.
Country 2 of 3- Australia Part 1 Category: Travel and Places
Australia- Cairns down to Airlie Beach
Ok so now I am in Australia. I had to catch a 3 am airport shuttle to leave from Auckland for my 6:30 am flight. That was a little rough. I arrived in Cairns and met up with Naomi. I met some Welsh boys in the lobby who were fans of Lostprophets as well so I knew the trip was going to be good. We had just one night there before going on our dive/ snorkel trip. Naomi did diving because she was certified and I snorkeled. It was a 3 day and 2 night trip. To get to the Great Barriar Reef it took 3 hours and I ended up throwing up about 5 times during that. It was a little crazy though because there were 40 people including the crew on this boat in the middle of nowhere. I ended up going in the water for 7 snorkels. It was like a lovely salt water bath every time. Its a good thing I can't swim very well. I ended up seeing 3 green turtles, 3 stingrays and a bunch of fish and of course coral reefs. We also saw a couple of Minke Whales during the trip too which were cool. The ride back wasn't quite as bad.
The only bad part of this trip so far is that we have had one day of sunshine the entire time. We then went from Cairns to Magnetic Island where everything closes at 9pm. The island boasts that it has 320 days of sunshine during the year, but for us it was cloudy and pissing rain. A little disappointing. But we went to this place where you could hold animals. Naomi and I both ended up holding a snake, a baby croc and a Koala Bear. I even got a fancy picture with the Koala bear. If your lucky I might show it to you when I get back. After Magnetic island we headed further south with our Greyhound bus pass (which is suprisingly not quite as scary as the American version of Greyhound). We are now at Airlie Beach and are going to sail the Whitsundays tomorrow for 3 days. This has definately been a water themed trip between all the rain and the ocean but its been fun so far.
Blogs from the past- The South Pacific.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
My Travels so far 1 country down, 2 to go Category: Travel and Places
Auckland, New Zealand
Okay so I have arrived in New Zealand after a lovely 12 and a half hour flight arriving at 5 am which is always how I like to start my days.The first couple days were a little odd but I have settled in. For some reason the girls in my hostel room find the need to get up at 7am and make tons of noise but I am taking it in stride and I haven't thrown any objects at them yet.
I have been here for 5 days now. I have hit all the "major" tourist attractions and am branching out to some other rareties. I haven't met any hot British guys yet but there is still hope. Don't worry Danielle I will keep looking for that Aussie one you. I hear they count as a free carry on so it will all work out. I just met some Irish folks when I was at the aquarium so I might hang out with them later but who knows. If you want a gift during my little adventure then you better tell me now because I'm not going to go frantic at the last minute.
Until Australia,
Cheers,
Megan
My Travels so far 1 country down, 2 to go Category: Travel and Places
Auckland, New Zealand
Okay so I have arrived in New Zealand after a lovely 12 and a half hour flight arriving at 5 am which is always how I like to start my days.The first couple days were a little odd but I have settled in. For some reason the girls in my hostel room find the need to get up at 7am and make tons of noise but I am taking it in stride and I haven't thrown any objects at them yet.
I have been here for 5 days now. I have hit all the "major" tourist attractions and am branching out to some other rareties. I haven't met any hot British guys yet but there is still hope. Don't worry Danielle I will keep looking for that Aussie one you. I hear they count as a free carry on so it will all work out. I just met some Irish folks when I was at the aquarium so I might hang out with them later but who knows. If you want a gift during my little adventure then you better tell me now because I'm not going to go frantic at the last minute.
Until Australia,
Cheers,
Megan
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