Living with Lisa and
Sam was like living in a hotel. Lisa served me tea in bed while I was skyping
with my family. She provided us towels, breakfast and even a ride into the
city. It was luxury.
We slenderer around Queens street in CBD. Auckland city
center is small compared to the population, but the surrounding area is
massive, and there a lot of water surrounding the island suburb. Just south of
the city there is only 15 km from east to west, and that’s where the north
island is thinnest.
Our plan in the city was to find the money exchange store
with the best exchange rate, Erik read about a specific one, so after using
almost an hour, trying to find it, we gave up, and checked the rates at some
other ones, and finally found one with a much better rate than all the others.
We then relaxed for a bit to a small free concert, during the workers lunch.
We
were trying to find the backpacker area in the city, and by mistake we went to
another area, which we to begin thought was the backpackers, but after a long
walk we realized it wasn’t. No harm was done though, we got to see some of the
city and to our luck Ponsonsby, the area we walked to, is one of the most
stylish and fancy areas loaded with specialty stores, bars and restaurant, apparently
also one of the more expensive places to be. We decided to act rich and famous
and get a beer in one of the bars. At the same time Lisa was off work, and
offered to pick us up. She came to Ponsonsby and we had a few beers at happy
hour with her, before we ventured home in the peak hour. Auckland has a
horrible infrastructure, but it seems like we were lucky this afternoon.
The
night continued with drinks on the balcony and Lisa and I made homemade pizza
for us all. As said before Lisa and Sam live together with another couple, Jake
and Natalie. So their home is always alive, and they are all very friendly and
nice. It seems like their friends are coming and going as they want to, just
popping by to say hey. It’s very delightful, easy going and admirable how
relaxed they are about visitors and their home.
Christmas decoration in the city
Jake's big dog Stella
Friday 12th December
Last night got later
than planned, not that we had a lot of plans for this day anyway, but Sam was
pretty knackered all day at work, and Lisa as well, luckily she could work from
home.
The easiest way to describe the weather is a regular Danish spring day!
Not freezing cold, but rain and wind. We stayed inside most of the day,
watching the Surfing World Cup from Hawaii live. It is world class
entertainment and unreal how those guys and girls act in the water.
After a
lazy day we borrowed Lisa’s car (after driving them to a Christmas party – they
were on it again). We drove up to one tree hill, it’s supposedly the best view over
the city of Auckland, unfortunately the clouds were making the city look grey
and boring, and the view was nothing spectacular, but it was nice to get out
and see something anyway. Sadly we can’t control the weather and we don’t mind
the colder weather, it’s all right, but it gets a bit annoying when you wanna
see and explore things and the weather won’t let you. My choice of dinner was
disappointing. We got the most tasteless Mexican food ever. It was like
sticking your tongue out of the window. It wasn’t our day, which is also why we
just went to bed when we got back.
Aucland city
My first real night shot, in Mission Bay
Saturday 13th
December
I was restless and
went for a jog to the beach front of Mission Bay. At this time I appreciated
the rain as it was cooling me down. Meanwhile Lisa and Sam had gotten out of
bed and Erik and them apparently went for a nice brunch at Coffee House. I got
home, realized they weren’t there, went for a shower and then they had come
back. I was a little disappointed that they didn’t wait for me to join them,
but on the other hand I understand, because the hunger you get with hang overs
is uncontrollable, and there’s no time for bucking around then. Erik had
brought a chicken wrap home for me, so I least I got to taste some of the good
food. The weather wasn’t really improving and we didn’t feel like doing
anything. Maybe Lisa and Co. wishes that we did so, but we couldn’t drag
ourselves out in the grey weather. We didn’t know what to see and do anyway, so
we figured we would have another lazy day.
Already the day we arrived in
Auckland, Erik had been in contact with our Spanish friend Ivan, who we
originally planned to explore the northern part with from Monday to Friday. He
could borrow his friend car and had invited us to join him. Unfortunately he
had changed his plans a bit, and wouldn’t leave before Tuesday. That was too
late for us, so we planned to take a bus up north Sunday morning, to get our
travels started.
We felt restless in Auckland already, not because we didn’t
enjoy the company we were in, but because we wanted to explore as much as this
country as possible. The plan was to meet up with Ivan somewhere in the north
then, and hopefully get a ride back to Auckland on Friday. We got our laundry
done and started to pack our stuff together.
Sam and his mates are really into
surfing, so the world cup competition live from Hawaii was followed intensely
throughout the whole day. The Vikings (Lisa & us) decided for to make the
previously voted most traditional dish in Denmark; Fried and crumbled pork
bacon with parsley sauce and beetroots (Stegt flæske med persille sovs). There
was a lot of love put into it, and it turned out perfectly. The kiwi’s (and us
off cause) absolutely loved it. Erik made a little wine testing round for me
and the girls. It got us in a pretty good mood the rest of the night, so while
the guys skulled down a whole bottle of Jack D. and Coke, we finished every
single wine bottle in the house. It was a wonderful way to end our first visit
with them.
Wine tasting with Natalia and Lisa
Erik and Jake
Video !!
Sunday 14th December
As we planned
yesterday, we would now leave Auckland, to start our trip up to Northland (the
part above Auckland), but because of the many drinks we had the day before, we
didn’t get up to be able to reach the 10.30 bus. We already kind of knew that
yesterday I think, but the next bus was at 13.00, so we would catch that.
The
thing about travelling for so long time is that small things like this doesn’t
really matter that much, as we are not on a tight schedule, as tourist would
be, but of cause we still wanted to get going.
We got up, showered, ate
breakfast and packed our stuff, and were ready to leave when we finally heard
back from Ivan. He now had changed his plans again, and would leave Monday
morning – so with our feet almost out of the door, on the way to the bus – we
decided to wait another day, and then go together with him in a car he had
borrowed from his friend. In the bus, we wouldn’t be able to stop wherever we
felt like, we would also save some money by going with him and most important
it would be much more fun.
So instead of leaving Lisa and Sam, we borrowed
Lisa’s car, and drove a bit around Auckland, and ended up in the central, where
we met up with Ivan and planned the trip over a couple of beers.
We actually got
it sorted out perfectly and covered everybody’s need. We would start on the
west coast, to explore the immerse Kauri threes, then see the Aupouri Peninsula
with its famous Ninety Mile Beach and Cape Reinga in the far north, possibly by
a bus trip. We planned to have at least two nights in the east around Bay of
Islands - to do some exploring of the bay and the last day we would dive the
Poor Knights, while Ivan would practice his surfing skills. We arranged a pick
up time the next most and split up with him. We walked to the Sky Tower in
Auckland, the tallest building in New Zealand. I had made up my mind, that this
was the place to have our dinner (in the turning restaurant on the top). Sadly
we couldn’t get a table, since it is high season AND Sunday!
We will see if we
can plan that better when we again get back to Auckland in the beginning of
February. Instead we found a fantastic steak restaurant where we had two
monstrous steaks. We were rolling back to the car and drove home.
The important thing is the size of the steak, not the quality of the picture.
Monday 15th
December
We both woke up before
the alarm, probably because of the excitement for finally going out and explore
some of this remote and beautiful country. After having a quick shower we were
ready for our pick up.
Ivan arrived just as planned around 8am, and off we
went. Well it took a couple of small detours in the Mission Bay area before we
were on the right track, since we don’t have a very good GPS.
Erik quickly got
annoyed about Ivan’s driving, he seemed a bit unsecure, but I mean who wouldn’t
when they all of a sudden needs to drive in the other side of the road. Since
he was unsecure we both found it a bit frustrating that he was doing a lot of
other stuff while driving, for example changing music, sending text messages
etc. Anyway we tried not to get too carried away by these facts, since he was
taking us on this trip we couldn’t complain too much.
The weather forecast
predicted a lot of wind and rain for the following days, so we had planned to
do the most boring part of the trip and also the longest legs, these days.
Luckily the weather wasn’t as bad as predicted – not at all actually we even
had to turn on the air condition a couple of times, in the 21 year old and
small, BUT perfectly running Toyota Cynos 3.
Our first stop was at a coffee
shop in Wellsford. Ivan had to get his morning coffee and a break after just an
hour of driving. We were in no rush so it was fine. The main reason for driving
west was to see the huge Kauri Tree called Tane Mahuta. It is estimated to be
over 1500 years old and it reaches 51,5 meters in height and 13,8 in girth. It
was an awesome sight.
In the waterfront village Opononi we enjoyed fish and
chips on the beach. Not because it was nice weather but because we couldn’t
bring our own alcohol near the kiosk.
We realized that Ivan was much more
relaxed outside the car, sometimes too relaxed, for example later when it was
raining and we were walking towards the car, he was in no hurry to unlock it
and get in.
We caught a ferry from Rawene to Hokianga, and after a lot of sharp
curves and winding roads during the day we decided to take the easy but less
pretty road up to Kaitaia. We saved some time as well and discovered it was a
clever choice, as every accommodation in Kaitaia was fully booked so we quickly
decided to drive the 15km further west to Ahipara to get a bed in the hostel
there before that was booked out as well.
Ahipara convenience store had very
limited food options, so Ivan offered to make us a Spanish Tortillia, which he
made sound very fancy. Off cause we were keen for trying something new, so
while we were working on the blog, off cause supplied with a cold beer on the
side, he made dinner for us. Spanish Tortillia is what we call egg cake at
home, served with potatoes inside and some bread on the side. The only
different was the tomato oil bread and the missing bacon.
We
looked into the different bus trip to Cape Reinga, already at this point of the
trip it became a tradition to make every decision and choice with a cold beer
while discussion the opportunities we had. We decide to go with the company who
we were told served the best lunch, as all the busses were all doing the same
thing during the day, this company seemed outstanding with their big lunch
buffet.
Kauri forest
I actually wanted a picture of both the car and the guys, but sadly you can't see much of the car
A social cuddle with Tane Mahuta ( the most famous tree)
View from Oponini Square
Fish, chips and beers.. What a healthy lifestyle!
Ivan's homemade Spanish Tortillia (sorry if I spell it wrong)
Tuesday 16th
December
As planned we drove to
Kaitaia to jump on the bus. The Aupouri Peninsula is the northernmost area in
New Zealand, and it’s the place where the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea
meets and break into each other. We were only twelve in the bus this day, as it
wasn’t the most tempting day to go and explore a beach and do some sand
boarding.
Our bus driver and tour guide was very informative and told us a
little bit of everything, culture and his own views of the area. As we were
driving along the Ninety Mile Beach he revealed that it was allowed to spear
fish while diving in this area – something that caught Erik’s attention, even
though he was half asleep.
Another interesting thing, since we aren’t into the
historical part of it, is that a lot of trekkers walk down the beach from the Cape
to Ahipara in 3-4 days and in all kinds of weather. It’s an easy 53km walk
along the beach, and the camping is going on behind the high sand dunes. One of
the passengers on board was planning to do so. She didn’t seem completely
satisfied with her choice of the season as it was both very windy, probably the
worst part, but also rainy and grey clouds everywhere.
The beach looked very
similar to the west coast of Denmark. At the end of the beach we went up stream
and inland again, to reach the sand boarding area. The guys enjoyed the sand
boarding. It’s easy to describe as the name already gives it away. You get a
board walk up a sand dune and board down, lying on the board facing the low
tided river. I couldn’t be bothered getting that much sand on me, so I was the
camera woman. The sand was still a bit wet from the rain, which the guys later
discovered was probably better than dry sand, as they didn’t get a lot of
flying sand in their faces on the way down. Before we left the area there was
about four busses that had pulled up and ruin the spectacular part of the
experience. The place was suddenly crowded and we left at the right time,
before Erik killed some of the Asian that stopped on the boards in the middle
of the dune.
We were in for a big disappointment when lunch was served later.
First of all because we thought we would get a lunch buffet, but apparently
that was another company. Second of all because the sandwiches they served us
were all with cheese. Erik managed to take the shredded cheese out of his, I
didn’t even wanna try. Instead the bus driver was put on a job to get me
something else, luckily for him and everybody else he was able to change my
sandwich (with one of the other busses, which was in our tale all day), to
something just as boring, a white bun with two tiny pieces of salami, but at
least no cheese. Luckily the cold brought beers made us both feel less
irritated. The food situation was a misunderstanding from the company, so we
had to talk to the owners when we got back.
Anyway, after lunch we had one hour
to explore Cape Reinga. Walking towards the lighthouse was exciting, as we
couldn’t always see it. The clouds moved fast and made some brilliant views and
the views changed all the time. On top of the hill we were almost blown away by
the strong wind.
The northern region is full of avocado plantations and farms. While
we were passing them we were wondering why we didn’t stop to explore one of
them, but sadly that experience is ruined by too many tourists. The tour busses
use to visit a farm on the way back, but the farmers had discovered that they
were missing to many avocados after these visits, plus they gave a lot away, so
they stopped it, and visitors can’t come there anymore.
We stopped at an ice
cream store and were told they made some of the best ice cream in the area,
even though the weather wasn’t ice cream weather we decided to have one anyway,
since they should be so great. We continued our journey and after just 10 min.
we were given an ice cream voucher, which we could use when we got back to our
drop off point. So actually we shouldn’t have bought the other ice cream, but
the bus driver was told not to hand out the vouchers before the ice cream
store. What a rip off! Why would we want to have two ice creams within an hour?
This made no sense and it made the bomb explode, if you know what I mean. But I
had to wait till I could blame it on the right person, the owner. After
complaining to her about both eating issues we continued our journey in the car
to Bay of Islands.
Ivan couldn’t really understand why we had complained, he
thought it was rude to do, but after a long conversation with him, he
understood. We know it’s human mistakes, maybe not the ice cream thing, but the
lunch, and it’s not to be rude, it’s more so they can improved themselves and
be better. The problem lays in people not complaining, if they’re unsatisfied,
because if you never tell the company, or go on tripadvisor and tell them and
the future visitors they will never know what to do better. Plus you’re helping
the next visitor not to get in the same situation, and for example tell the
future visitor that they shouldn’t buy an ice cream in the store, because they
will get ice cream vouchers later (which is still a rip off in my opinion).
Anyway, in strong headwind we reached Paihia in the Bay of Island. Bay of
Island. It is the major tourist draw in the north, and offers visitors several
different water-based activities as well as superb coastal scenery. We had
decided to stay in Paihia, as we were told earlier that there were plenty of
hostels there, which equals plenty of backpacker and the social environment we
were looking for.
To get the best out of our money and our stay, we went to
three different hostel and asked for availability, prices and compared
facilities. We decided for the last one, Centabay Lodge, which we soon realized
was a bad choice, as the dorm was full of long-term stayers, who lived in a
cave, and the kitchen where we would cook our dinner was a mess. Some people
just shouldn’t go travel, or they should bring their mom along, so she could
clean up after them. It’s shocking how little some people care about others. We
came into the kitchen and had to clean everything we should use beforehand, as
everything was dirty, the table was soaked in water and people even left their
table without taking their plates, glasses etc. away. It was a nightmare. Before
dinner we had walked around town in rain and looked for a better option for the
following days, and we manage to find a better hostel, Bay Adventure Lodge,
where we could get our own dorm for $26 (120kr) for just the three of us, get
free unlimited wifi and the place seemed slightly cleaner as well.
Ninety Mile beach (Mig & min kæreste)
I got it (Ja' har'en)
Cape Reinga
Just an easy walk on 18029 km to London
Enjoying the view of the lighthouse with drinking liquid
Dinner at the hostel
Wednesday 17th
December
The red wine tasted
too good the night before, so we were a bit tired when we checked out at 10am.
We were pleased to leave the shitty hostel though. While we were waiting for
the check-in time at the new place I went for a refreshing jog around the
waterfront of Paihia. The weather still hadn’t improved and the sight of the
water wasn’t comparable to the sight we had seen on several postcards. We were
crossing our fingers for better weather the next couple of days.
Erik and Ivan
used half of the day to arrange a boat trip to the Bay of Island, meanwhile I
was making our lunch. When the guys finally came back they had arranged both a
boat trip the following day and sorted out what we should do in the afternoon.
We packed our little cooler bag with cold beers and went on a smaller road trip
around the bays, then caught the ferry to Russell and enjoyed a beer on the
pier in the, to our surprise, liquor ban area.. Oopsi! When this was discovered
we finished our drinks and explored the long beach on the other side of the
little peninsula. It was one of the coldest swim we have had in a long time,
but it felt mandatory to try it.
Back at the hostel Erik and I got in contact
with our friend Iben from home, who is planning to travel by herself in South
East Asia, but she’s quite nervous about it. We told her how we can meet up
with her, and how she can start travelling with us, before she jumps out in it
by herself. So fingers crossed that she will make the right decision and come
and see us in Bali.
Meanwhile Ivan had lost his patience about our barbeque
dinner, so he had started heating up the sausages already. I hurried up and
made some vegetables for us, before the sausages was totally dead. The night
turned out to another wet and late night. It’s our way to celebrate Christmas!
That's what happens when you drink in a liquor ban area
Russells charming waterfront
Thursday 18th
December
We were running late,
so I walked to the pier to register us on the 20 meter long sail boat, at the
same time the guys were in charge of buying some beers for the trip and get
there in time. They got it perfect timed, and off we went with the awesome sail boat. I was in my right element as I prefer sail instead of a noisy engine. We
were twelve guests onboard, a captain and a crew member taking care of the
setting of the sails and making food. We participated in setting the sails. The
weather was finally improving, and we were lucky that it was warm and the sun
eventually came out and heated us up. It was an enjoyable sail tour.
We got
dropped off on one of the islands and went for a barefooted hike to the top of
the hill. I disliked walking barefooted, as the grass was tall and we couldn’t
see what was underneath it, but the spectacular view over the bays and islands
was worth the discomfort.
Back on the beach the water was literally filled with
tiny jellyfish, the same size as a fingernail. There were millions of them - it
looked like jelly drops in the water. Erik and some of the other went for a
swim in them. I can’t imagine it being very fantastic, but at least they
weren’t dangerous. That’s one of many big differences between Australia and New
Zealand. In Aus. everything can kill you, but New Zealand is like at home,
there’s no danger in the nature and no life-threatening animals either.
We
enjoyed the fresh made sandwiches on the deck before we were in for a treat.
The captain had found the well-known big group of dolphins in the bay, and they
were chasing the boat. Everyone was astonished over the many dolphins
surrounding the boat. It was incredible to see how they played around us. It
was a sight that you only see in movies and it was mind-blowing that it
actually happened right in front of us.
The crew member told us to clap and
cheer, as the dolphins like that, so we got them to stay around the boat for
longer. It was amazing! Definitely a one-in-a-lifetime-experience.
The trip
back to Paihia was great, I tried to steer the big sail boat, to prove Erik
that I could sail it, and convince him that if we should ever have a boat
again, it should be a sail boat.
We were back in town in the late afternoon,
and we went to take advantage over the spa bath in the hostel and enjoyed the
last bit of sun and a cold beer, while discussing how to get the most out of
the night. We all had to pack, shower, cook, exchange pictures and sort out the
last stuff before leaving early the next morning.
Yesterday I had taught Ivan
what moisturizer means, but I forgot to tell him that it’s a word that can be
used in every kind of product. So he had bought some moisturizing body wash
which he thought was lotion. So after his shower he happily rubbed his face and
body in the body wash, believing it was lotion, but it started to make bobbles
the more he rubbed on it. We told him that he bought the wrong stuff and after
a while and a good laugh he started to realize it was right. It took a little
longer to convince him that he had to shower again to get it off. It was hilarious!
Before making
dinner we discovered that the original hostel kitchen was closed for a complete
cleaning process, since Ivan and other people in the morning had seen several
cockroaches having a party in there, and afterwards reported it to the staff
that then closed the kitchen. So we had misjudged the slightly cleaner hostel
from the appearance of it, but we are not fussy so off cause we still would eat
our food. The risk of the cockroaches harming our food was small, so no
worries.
The staff had opened two of the apartment on the other side and we
could use the kitchen facilities there instead, so we were satisfied. After dinner
I was tired and beered-out, no more alcohol for me, Erik joined me on that
decision. Ivan was keen for some girl contact and some more beers, so he went
out with all the young ones from the hostel.
Silly clown!
Island walk
Erik's new hobby.. Silly clown!
Dolphins and plenty of them
Northland Video
Friday 19th
December
Yesterday I hit my
pinky toe on a corner of the sailboat and this morning it had swollen up and
started to get purple. Later I was told it was broken. It was a bit awkward to
walk, but it wasn’t too bad.
It was quite hard to get Ivan out of bed, due to
his huge alcohol consumption the night before, but we had to leave early to
make it to the dive boat further south in Tutukaka.
The morning turned out
quite stressful, as we all of a sudden couldn’t get into our food in the
kitchen, the door was locked! The only window in the kitchen wasn’t closed
properly so Erik managed to intrude through the window and get our food out. Ivan
had the funniest way to pronounce muesli, with his strong Spanish accent is
came out as mu-es-li. To begin with none of us got what he was on about, and
when we realized what he had said we used the word all the time. It was
specially used this morning, as he was still really drunk and silly!
After
swallowing our breakfast we hit the road, 10 minutes later than planned, we got
even more delayed when we had to make a u-turn and drive back to town to fuel
up. The road was windy and sadly we couldn’t go as fast as we wished to do.
Eventually we reached the turn off to Tutukaka and could tell by the time that
we would make it to the dive boat just on the clock. Ivan dropped us off and
would hang around and wait for us to come back. It was so nice of him.
The boat
was an immense catamaran with plenty of space for us twelve divers. There were
only two crew members, and that was the captains. We were really looking forward
to this day and it was our main drag to visit the Northland. The day started
really good with the spotting of a whole bunch of bottlenose dolphins that swam
and played in front of the boat. It was even more amazing that the day before
as the water was much clearer and the dolphins more colorful. So I guess it
possible to experience that two times in a life time then!
The dive sites at
Poor Knights is said to be listed in the top 10 best dive sites in the world.
What we didn’t know was that the dives was self-guided, that explained the
small boat crew. This was just the top of the iceberg. We both felt unsecure
about diving by ourselves, but apparently everyone else was satisfied so we
didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. After a small introduction to the dive
site, which should be much more detailed since we were going to be on our own,
we jumped into the blue and started our dive.
Already in the beginning I was
quite nervous and hyperventilated a bit. None of us liked the fact that we had
to navigate ourselves around, we didn’t exactly know where to go, as things
doesn’t look the same underneath the surface.
We started to swim towards the
arch, it was all right to find, and then the captain had said we could swim
around the cliffs, which we decided to do. He hadn’t mentioned anything about that it
was oval shaped, we thought it was round, so after swimming for quite a while
we got disorientated. We were afraid that we were swimming out to the blue and
away from the boat. We wanted to swim over some boulders, to cut our way
through it, but they were really shallow and all of a sudden we popped up to
the surface, it was the surf that washed us up. And we realized we were behind
the big cliff, where the boat couldn’t see us and we were caught in the waves
washing in for a while.
We both panicked when we saw and could feel the
powerful waves, especially because there was no help to get. I got out of the
waves and swam towards the corner to get in contact with the captains. Erik was
sucked in to the cliffs by the waves for a while, but eventually he got out. We
were both so frustrated, annoyed and scared after this experience. And when we
got back to the boat we told the captains about it, they just laughed and said
‘Yeah that’s what happens’.. They didn’t even bother helping us up on the boat
and getting our equipment off. It was the worst service and experience ever. We really felt
unsecure about these guys, they had definitely done this too many times and
didn’t care about the bad experience we just had, that was just another day and
more money on their accounts.
We haven’t felt uncomfortable one single time
during our 69 dives, except for this time. We consider ourselves as experienced
divers, but the dive briefing had been horrible and we were just left to
ourselves back there by the cliffs. They didn’t even have a dinghy boat to pick divers up, if
they got lost. While waiting for the other divers we saw several other popping
up just around the corner of the cliffs, they experienced the same as us. But
to our big surprise no one said anything when they got back on board.
There was
no service to get for the oncoming divers either, the two captains was standing
on the bridge, relaxing and chatting. Already at this point we started to ask
ourselves what we actually paid for, cause there was no dive master, no service
and minutes after we realized there wasn’t even lunch included. We were
speechless. We paid $520 (2392kr) together and couldn’t believe that all those
money didn’t include lunch.
I honestly can’t remember I have ever felt so
disappointed in my whole life before. It was a fucking rip off and we were mad
as fuck! We tried not to ruin everybody else day, so we didn’t say anything to
the captains. But we literally wanted to jump off that boat and ask the other
dive boat that had arrived if we could join them to the mainland again, I was
so angry.
All the other divers was really nice and shared some of their lunch
with us, apparently we were the one ones who didn’t know about the lunch. We
had booked it through the phone, but on all our daytrip as diver there has
always been dive master and lunch included in the price. Later we checked
online and it doesn’t say anything about the self-guided dives. Anyway, we
couldn’t thank the other divers enough for the sandwich and the mu-es-li bars.
For the next dive we asked if we could get a guide, the second captain
surrendered himself but didn’t seem passionate about the dive at all. There was
one other couple who would join us as well. There was absolutely no organized
system for us divers to jump in as fast as possible, it took ages, because
there wasn’t enough space for us all to get ready at the same time. They should
have separated us into two groups but they couldn’t even handle that. When we
started the dive there was all of a sudden a lot of people joining us, so my
guess is that most people felt unsecure but didn’t have the guts to say it.
The
water was only 20 degrees, so we very quickly got cold. Even though we had a
guide this time we didn’t enjoy it. I felt dizzy and weird at some point, maybe
because of the cold water. There was nothing to see, only a lot of seaweed that
made us disorientated. But the marine life was little to non-existing.
I reckon
these guys only sail to the easy dive sites, so they can get away with
navigating people from the boat. The disappointment just wouldn’t stop.
Ivan
had to be back in Auckland before 8pm, so we had specific asked when we would be
back and was told not later than 4.30pm. We got back at 6pm. We couldn’t wait to
get off that boat and get the hell out of there. Words can't describe how humiliated and disappointed we were.
We were already running late,
and felt bad on Ivan behalf, but luckily he was taking it easy. He had talked
to his friend, who owns the car, and he was all right with us getting back
later than planned.
We met the wife to the captain and told her in the sweetest
possibly way how our day had been and then we left. Ivan totally understood the
misery we had been in, so on our way to Auckland he stopped by a liquor store
to make us relax again.
The trip went smooth without too much traffic. In
Auckland just as Ivan turned towards Mission Bay (our base) a police car pulled
up behind us and gave us the signal to pull over. Ivan was driving 78 km in a
50 km zone. Instead of blowing for an alcohol test he had to count to 10 while
facing a little machine that sensed his breath, and if there had been any
alcohol in it, it would sense that, but he hadn’t been drinking, luckily.
He
got away with a verbal warning about the speed limits in the city, lucky bastard. At least HE was lucky this day! We started driving again, and off cause
you are a bit nervous after such a situation, but we had to laugh when we soon
saw he was speeding again. He was around 70 again. Oh my god, it didn’t seem
like he learned his lesson. Maybe he should have gotten that speeding ticket,
so he would think about it! It was a funny ending of the roadtrip with
him. We had a lot of fun together and we hope to meet him again someday in
Barcelona or Denmark.
He dropped us off at our base at Lisa, Sam, Nat and
Jakes. It felt good to be ‘home’. Lisa and Sam came home from a bar shortly
after our arrival, and we catched up before going to bed. They left the next
morning for Christmas holidays with Sam family. And we sorted out the last blog
update, got our laundry done and waited for our car to arrive. Sam had arranged
a car for us, which we can borrow for our travels to the south island. It’s
awesome!
Last night
we were young, wild and free, whereas this morning was almost the complete
opposite. The words would be old, injured, knackered and tired but at least we
still felt free as the birds.
The cab was waiting for us right outside the hostel
doorstep, so we just had to get out of bed and walk down the stairs.
There was
around 90km to the airport near Suva, and if it hadn’t been for the very
friendly and chatty driver we would have slept all the way, but he kept talking
and telling stories, we continued being polite (believe it or not) and listened
until our eye lids literally fell down and closed our eyes. We probably slept
for 30min, but it wasn’t enough to be complete unconscious.
Anyway we got dropped
off outside the small airport. It was the same size as two houses and still
provided all the necessary things. The check-in counter to Kadavu Island wasn’t
open before another hour, so we were ahead of schedule, but rather that than
being late.
We tried some chicken and fries in the small attached “restaurant”.
You should think the food would be fresh at this time of the day (8am), but the
fries were uneatable, Erik ate them anyway, and the chicken was as dry as a desert. It was awful, but he also ate that!
All though we found a corner to steal a nab in, the
waiting time seemed long. Eventually we could check in and slowly go through
the security check.
The airplane was the smallest we have tried so far. It
could fit 20 passengers, but we were only eight. While flying the pilots kept
the cockpit door open, so we could keep an eye on what they were doing. We
thought a lot about my younger brother Søren, and remembered how lively he had told
us the small planes can be. We definitely got to experience that, particularly
the landing was exciting. The run way were between two mountains, so the wind came
from all directions, it was raining and the plane was tossed from side to side.
Out the cockpit window we realized how crazy we moved in the air – either we
saw the clouds, the run way or the mountains. The pilots seemed calm so
there was no need to be concerned, all though I did hold on tight to my chair
(as if that would help if something really happened).
Kadavu’s (pronounced Kan-da-vu) airport was
even smaller than Suva’s. I mean there wasn’t even a luggage claim area. We
just waited outside the little airport house and took our own luggage from the
carriage. Our airport pick-up was late = Fiji time!! The lady who eventually picked us up
is Australian, and the manager of the resort we were going to spend the next 5
days on, called Matana Beach resort.
As there are very few roads on the island,
transport within Kadavu is mainly by boat. The ocean around the island is the
highway. It started raining again as we sat on the boat, it was nearly a 15 min
ride to the resort. It appeared as a beautiful place and definitely provided
the nature and peace we had aimed for.
Erik had looked into the weather
forecast and, unfortunately it predicted a lot of rain while we were here, but
it was all right. We just needed to relax and adapt all the impression from the
last couple of days. We had arranged some diving three of the days, so we were
going to get wet anyway.
We got our OWN bungalow with view over the ocean and
the boat highway. We were on an all- inclusive deal, which in our opinion wasn’t
all inclusive, as it didn’t include beverages.
They served us lunch at
1pm and after the awful breakfast we were starving and couldn’t wait to get
some decent food. It was surprisingly good. I think they could have served us
canned corned beef at this time and we still would not be fussy about it. We
were that hungry!!
The rest of the day the rain poured down, and we spend most
of the time in bed, recovering from the night before. Around 7pm we heard the
drum sound, which meant it was eating time. We went up to the restaurant
straight away but the dinner was about 45 minutes later than scheduled.. Damn
you Fiji time. Every night we would get a 3 course dinner and at every meal the
guests would eat together.
In this case we ate with three Indian Fijians (who’s
working on maintaining the few roads on the island), their manager and Diane, the
manager of the resort. We found it a bit strange that we had to socialize at
every meal. I mean we don’t necessarily want to talk to strangers all the time.
By the way we had nothing in common with these guys. We jumped straight to bed
afterwards. The rain continued pouring down through most of the night.
We had a nice view over the coral reef on our way to Kadavu
Kadavu's airport pick-up area...
The airport
Not the worst place to spend some time inside
Thursday 4th
December
Breakfast
was tame and filled with carbohydrates – such as white bread, jam, juice and
fruit. Cereals were also available but only together with full cream milk –
none of us can drink or eat that. After we filled ourselves with all this sugar
food, the kitchen staff came out and served us scrambled eggs (and pancakes) –
it was about time and almost too late. We were disappointed about the service,
and forced the eggs down just to get something we could live out of.
We met up
with our dive master Saula, got our dive equipment and went for a dive, just
10min away from the beach. It was just the two of us, Saula and Captain Sam. The dive
was a soft coral dive and Saula took us through a few swim troughs which were
beautiful. We saw a turtle feeding on the corals, a big garden of anemone
(nemo) fish – they are so interesting particular the soft corals they live in,
but frankly there wasn’t much marine life to explore.
Our surface interval was
spend in a hot shower back at the resort, and at the beach bar drinking tea and
eating biscuits.. Hurrah for carbohydrates! The weather was unpredictable all
morning, most of the times we had light rain.
Our second dive was very alike
the first one, only this time it was more choppy waves. We saw popcorn shrimps
which jumped in the water like popcorn, obviously. Saula was good at pointing
out the few things for us. At the end of the dive he showed us a magical coral
that changed color when we touched it. Interesting and new for us!
The rest of
this day was spent inside, writing this, relaxing and watching movies. The
weather didn’t allow us to do more outside activities.
Family Denmark
Friday 5th
December
I didn’t
feel like diving at all. Saula tried to arrange some manta dives on the other
side of the island for the following day. Regrettably the waves would probably be
too rough for the boat to leave the island. We decided to skip the normal dives
this day, as the ocean seemed cold and uninviting.
We were lazy most of the day and
actually started to feel bored, so we arranged to visit the two small villages
next to the resort, Navuatu and Drue.
Kadavu is a very traditional island, so
we both had to dress properly in a sarong to show respect to the village
people. The local director (Cava) of the resort took us for a short walk
through it. The villages economy is based on agriculture and the export of
produce to the mainland. They have countless mango trees, papayas, pineapples,
bananas and coconut palms. It’s mango and papaya season now. We hear the fruits
hitting the thin timber roofs in the resort all the time. It’s quite noisy and
the first few times we were sure it was coconuts, because of the loud sound. In
the village it was hard not to step on mangos – they were literally everywhere.
The people get so tired of eating them and at the end of the season everyone
have had enough, both the people and the animals.
When we asked Cava about the
time, he told us the definition of Fiji time. The time is half past quarter too
from. That sounded just about right.
Back at the resort a PADI worker, named
Jen had come to visit. PADI is the world’s leading scuba diver organization,
and she had come to check out the dive center, the equipment and some dive
sites. What a good job!! Erik had a thousand of questions to ask her about
diving, and while they shared dive stories over a few beers, I took a short time
off and got my pictures edited.
I joined them later again, and we both found this
woman interesting to be around. She had done a lot of travelling and made us
speechless with her stories and adventures. We got our theory about amazing Galapagos
confirmed, and put on the bucket list once and for all!! The Coco Islands also
deserves a spot on the list. Those two destinations and two diving live aboard
tours will cost us the same amount of money, as travelling 9 months in South East Asia. So it’s not gonna happen on this trip though!!
For once it was
okay to eat dinner together, because Jen kept the conversations going, so it
wasn’t as awkward as most of our other meals, where there has been an awkward
silence most of the time.
This woman is selling homemade mats
Village boys with a handfull of mango
What is there NOT to like about this place
I admire how these kids play and have fun together.. Notice the little guy hanging in the branch in the back..
My turn to drum the guests to dinner
Saturday 6th
December
The manta
dive was off the schedule for sure, the weather on the south side was too
rough. Instead we went diving on the north side where the wind wasn’t that
strong. We were impressed by how the captain, without a gps could direct his
way to the dive sites, without them having buoy's in the water. He really knew what he was doing! It was
comfortable to know.
Jen came with us on the first dive, and it was a great
dive, with a few swim through channels and soft corals. The second dive was
slightly boring, plus that I got really cold, so I had a hard time to fully
enjoy the dive. It was raining and windy when we came back to the boat, and the
hot shower was much appreciated. I must say it’s the perfect place to be in
such bad weather conditions, because there’s nothing to see around, so we
really didn’t needed to get out of our bungalow, only to consume our meals and
diving, but that was all optional of cause.
Lunch together.. We hated the old 'stand in' manager next to me
Our bungalow
Sunday 7th
December
We have
definitely slept way too much since we got here. We have napped every day, and
not just 30min. We have done it wholehearted as we like everything to be done,
so we have at least slept two hours each afternoon. It makes us constantly
tired and lazy.
This Sunday we had to enjoy the laid back environment
completely, since it was out last full day on the resort. Well, breakfast is
said to be around 7.30am every day, so we haven’t slept in any of the days. This
morning I had enough of the kitchen staff, because they drummed as if the
breakfast was ready, but when we got to the restaurant we waited another 25min
for our food to be ready.
It annoyed me, and it really hurts inside me, the way
they waste our precious time like that. I mean we could have slept another half
an hour then. I know I shouldn’t complain, but I do what I’m best at!!
Today
was also the last day of diving with our local friends Saula and Sam. It seemed
like it was gonna be a great day, at least we could see some blue skies and feel
the sun burning every now and then. We left the beach and Sam ensured we got to
our first dive site of the day, called the yellow wall, due to all the yellow
corals. I’m not sure what happened with my air consumption on this dive, but I
must have taken deep breaths without noticing it, because all of a sudden I had
a decent amount less air than Erik. Usually we use about the same. I hand
signaled Saula about it and he navigated us back to the boat, by then I lost a
lot more air, much more than usual. I must have gotten nervous on the way. We
did our 5 meters safety stop and I surfaced with just 20bar left, whereas Erik
surfaced with 70bar. It was strange!
The little beach where they took us for
the surface interval was full of eremite crabs. As we sat on an old bamboo
trunk we realized that almost every shell on the beach was alive. It gave me goose bumps, but not enough to leave them by themselves. We picked them up
and whistled for them – then they usually come out of their shell. We also had
a smaller crab race against each other. Erik deserved to win, since he never
caught any fish the other day!
The second dive I would consider as the best we
have done in this area. It’s called crazy maze, and the name speak for itself.
We went through a lot of small and bigger caves the so-called swim through
tunnels it was unique to swim in between the big pinnacles. Actually it was
like a canyon under water. A very enjoyable dive. We played with the magical
corals again, on the video you can see how it lights up when we touch it. I
fancied it was like lighting up Christmas lights. We also played with a anemone
(nemo) fish. Erik and I had tried switching regulators to see if there was
something wrong with my regulator, or if my breathing had been the issue on the
last dive. Erik was fine with his air, which proved it must have been my
breathing.
Because it was our last night, the local director invited us to a
kava session in the afternoon. He convinced us that his kava mix was much
stronger and better than the once we had before. The taste of it was the same,
but the fatigue and how our bodies relaxed afterwards, was nothing we had tried
before. We were comfortably tired for the rest of the night. Luckily the power
shout off every night at 9.30 so it was our excuse to go to bed.
Finally we could get a good picture of our view
Kava time
Diving Kadavu
Monday 8th
December
Our great
captain Sam made sure we got to the airport in time. We were only three
passengers on the plane to Nadi, so the boarding went pretty smooth. The flight
back was a very scenic one, as there weren’t as many clouds as on our way out,
so we had the most beautiful views of the turquoise waters with small bounty
islands, surrounded by healthy reefs.
In Nadi, which felt 10 degrees warmer than
Kadavu, we took a taxi back to the same hostel, as we stayed at when we arrived
in Fiji. Again we choose the cheapest option (15 dollars each), two beds in one of their 16 bed
dorms. We didn’t do anything else than hang around the bar, and taking
advantage of the free wifi, as we had now been without internet for a week.. I
went for a siesta in the afternoon, meanwhile Erik was drinking beers in the
bar area. He was a tipsy when I came back, and after another two beers and a
heart-attack burger he went to bed. I spend my night online, catching up with
friends and family, and letting them know we were still alive.
We felt like V.I.P's in the little aircraft
Nadi run way
Tuesday 9th
December
Erik got up
early to skype with his family. I woke up because of my itchy body. To begin
with I was sure that all the red and itchy spots on my arms was mosquito
bites, but after a shower I noticed they were all located in a very small area.
Soon I realized it was bites from bedbugs.
As the staff was already in the
room, changing all beddings, I was suspicious about their knowledge about the
bedbugs. Either way I told them and showed them my bites, and if they weren’t
aware of the problem before, they sure were by now. A girl across from my bed
woke up. She told me she got bedbugs the night before, from the room upstairs.
So this was apparently an issue around the hostel, and unfortunately those
bastards spread like crazy. The staff cleaned out the whole dorm, took all
mattresses and bedframes out and cleaned them. Even though I did NOT want to
stay there for another night.
I went to tell Erik, and we are actually amazed
that it didn’t happen before, after all the dirty places we've stayed. You can’t
do much about the bites, except for avoiding the temptation to scratch the hell
out of them. At the front desk I asked for our money back. The lady asked if I
wanted money back from one or two nights (we had already paid for 2 nights there)... It was a strange question - I mean
off course I wanted money back from both nights if it was possible. She ran on
Fiji time so it took me a while to get the money back, but I got all the money
back.
Just around the corner, at Horizon Hotel I arranged another room for us.
It was $50 (150kr) for a night, including breakfast. I got the $60 back (180kr),
from the other hostel, which meant that we actually saved money as well. Plus
we got a private room.
As yesterday most of this day was spend together with
our laptops. Before another kava session took place in the outside dining area,
we enjoyed the last bit of sun and the last Fiji beers at the pool area. For
dinner we went back to the bedbug hostels restaurant, which made some delicious
food. We both ordered a heart-attack burger and were ready for bed straight
after.
Some of the first christmas decoration we saw on Fiji
Wednesday
10th December
Even though
we, the night before, had agreed not to eat the included breakfast, because of
the fact that it just consisted of white toast bread and jam, we still found
ourselves in the breakfast area just before they closed and we didn’t realize
before we had consumed it, that we actually didn’t mean to eat it. We had so
much white bread the last week, and it was about to get disgusting.
This day the
weather had improved, and every now and then we had a clear blue sky. It was
ridiculous hot – and we were looking forward to get to some colder temperatures
in New Zealand. We always want what we can't just have. If it’s too hot we wish it
would be cooler, and when it's cold, it’s too cold. When we can’t go
snowboarding, then it’s what we’re dreaming of. If we can’t have Thai-food, we
want that damn Thai-food. When we’re in the civilized world, we wish to go back
to third world countries and the other way around. Humans are rarely satisfied
and there’s always something to complain about, and always something that can
get better. That’s just how we are screwed together. We have talked to a lot of
travelers about this and they totally agree. Even though you might be in the
most beautiful place on Earth, you can always think about something better and
something impossible, that you wish you could do at that very moment. We work
against these feelings all the times, and we have gotten better, but not perfect
yet.
Anyway in the airport we were counting our money and acted like two kids, who only have a certain amount to spend, and it took us ages to figure out what
we were gonna use our last Fiji dollars on. We ended with two chocolate bars
and a key ring.
The flight to Auckland went smooth, until we were about to
land. The captain announced that there was something wrong with one of the wing
flabs, and they needed to go through a safety procedure before landing, it
would take 10-15 min. Calmly he said there was no need to be concerned. We were
curious about what happened in the cockpit the next 10-15 min., we would like
to know what’s going on when something like this happens and which precautions
they need to take. I guess younger brother Søren, can help us with that when we
come home. We flew around for the amount of time the captain had said and then
he announced that we were ready for the landing and that it was going to be a
normal landing. That was a relief to hear and it felt good to be back on solid
ground.
It took us ages to get out of Auckland Airport. There were a lot of
security checks and a lot of people. In the departure hall Lisa and Sam was
waiting for us. They had offered us a bed in their house, which was perfect. We
know them through Erik’s mate Buller, who worked with Sam in Fredericia, when
they lived there. Sam is Kiwi and Lisa is original from Fredericia, but they
moved here two years ago. They share a beautiful house with another couple, in
Mission Bay which is located 4 km out of the center of Auckland. They made a room for us in
their living room, by using their table tennis table as a room divider, so we
got a little privacy. The night went by fast and we had a good time. It’s
funny to meet someone from home so far away, and Erik, Lisa and I know a lot of
the same people at home, so the conversation quickly turned into gossip, which is
always entertaining. Both Lisa and Sam has travelled quite a bit as well, so in
that way we also have a lot in common with them.
