Andrew's first passport stamps
Posted by Andrew D on Thursday, November 11, 2010
Under: Fiji
Two weeks down, and what an amazing start to this adventure! Right now, I'm sitting in our windowless, 6-bed dorm room in Auckland, relaxing after a free city tour through Kiwi Experience. The highlight of that tour was watching a Kiwi (New Zealander) bungy jump from the Auckland Bridge while his friends shot paintballs at him. It was some sort of radio contest that we inadvertently crossed paths with, and was priceless to see. Expect a video on the site quite soon! As for the rest of Auckland--the verdict is still out on this city. It is very western, and almost feels like a city in the U.S. Hopefully the rest of New Zealand has quite a bit more culture (and is cheaper) than Auckland.
So since we left, we've already completed a 10-day journey in Fiji, primarily through Nadi and the Yasawa Islands. There's been highs (seeing the Sawailau caves and the Blue Lagoon) and lows (having our underwater camera case flood at the caves). We met some amazing people, both travelers like ourselves, and local Fijians that were the more welcoming and friendly than could ever be expected.
We stayed in paradise in the Yasawa Islands for 6 nights, slept in beach-front Bures, looked at the most crystal-clear water, snorkeled some amazing coral reefs, hiked in sweltering heat, visited a local village, and slept under the first mosquito net of the trip. The Sawailau cave trip I mentioned above was of itself quite an amazing experience. It was a 30-minute boat ride from our first resort, and we swam into complete darkness and listened to the Fijian myths told to us by one of the local villagers. Casey and I, we had to add our own spice to the caves though. It was our first use of the underwater camera case of the trip. We had to swim underwater a few times to go in and out of the small openings between each cave. Casey noticed that the camera started fogging up, and I nonchalantly wrote it off as normal--the case never failed me before, why would it now? A few minutes later, I look over and the screen started going fuzzy. Not good. Turns out, there was a kink in the sealant ring of the case that I overlooked while closing it, and water got into the case. Bye-bye camera. Thankfully, we were able to salvage the pictures and videos on the memory card, and I posted the video so you can experience the humor of the last video the camera took. Pay close attention to the noise at the end, that's the water seeping into the camera case.
This is why you have yet to see any underwater photos of the fish and coral that we've seen. We've already bit the bullet and got a replacement camera, one that is waterproof for up to 10 feet of water WITHOUT a case.
The highlights of Nadi were more centered around the awesome hostel we stayed at, Bamboo. Samu, Pa, and Leoni made it extremely enjoyable, and the people we met there were friendly and great conversation (Amber and Matt-hopefully you guys enjoy the rest of your honeymoon!). We played volleyball with the locals, drank Kava, and even went to church at a local village. The mass was one of the most awe-inspiring parts of the trip, because it was true to life of a regular Fijian. We were the only non-villagers at the mass, but were greeted as if we had been there forever. Smiling faces, hello's from everyone, and a personal blessing from the pastor during the mass, wishing us safe travels on our visit. I can definitely say that I was humbled by the open-armed welcome that we received, and it was one of the things that made me realize that this trip is going to be AMAZING!
Fiji was much more than we could have ever expected. If I was going to do it again, I wouldn't change anything (other than checking the camera seal again before use!). The minute I got to New Zealand, my heart sunk a bit because I realized that Fiji was no more, and even though it was only a short ten days, it felt like a huge step in my life. It will forever be my first passport stamp, and our first stop on this journey. Now comes our next stop, and a beautiful country in itself in New Zealand. We're doing a backpacker tour through the country with Kiwi Experience. Most people we've met so far are here for months, we've only got 3 weeks. The tour should give us access to the majority of the beauty that this country offers, but it's going to be rapid pace!
Finally, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been following our trip so far! It really means a lot to us both, and we hope that you're enjoying our pictures, videos, and blogs. Feel free to comment on anything, we read it all, and it helps us keep connected with home. We miss you all, and don't worry, we'll be home before you even know it!
-Andrew
So since we left, we've already completed a 10-day journey in Fiji, primarily through Nadi and the Yasawa Islands. There's been highs (seeing the Sawailau caves and the Blue Lagoon) and lows (having our underwater camera case flood at the caves). We met some amazing people, both travelers like ourselves, and local Fijians that were the more welcoming and friendly than could ever be expected.
We stayed in paradise in the Yasawa Islands for 6 nights, slept in beach-front Bures, looked at the most crystal-clear water, snorkeled some amazing coral reefs, hiked in sweltering heat, visited a local village, and slept under the first mosquito net of the trip. The Sawailau cave trip I mentioned above was of itself quite an amazing experience. It was a 30-minute boat ride from our first resort, and we swam into complete darkness and listened to the Fijian myths told to us by one of the local villagers. Casey and I, we had to add our own spice to the caves though. It was our first use of the underwater camera case of the trip. We had to swim underwater a few times to go in and out of the small openings between each cave. Casey noticed that the camera started fogging up, and I nonchalantly wrote it off as normal--the case never failed me before, why would it now? A few minutes later, I look over and the screen started going fuzzy. Not good. Turns out, there was a kink in the sealant ring of the case that I overlooked while closing it, and water got into the case. Bye-bye camera. Thankfully, we were able to salvage the pictures and videos on the memory card, and I posted the video so you can experience the humor of the last video the camera took. Pay close attention to the noise at the end, that's the water seeping into the camera case.
This is why you have yet to see any underwater photos of the fish and coral that we've seen. We've already bit the bullet and got a replacement camera, one that is waterproof for up to 10 feet of water WITHOUT a case.
The highlights of Nadi were more centered around the awesome hostel we stayed at, Bamboo. Samu, Pa, and Leoni made it extremely enjoyable, and the people we met there were friendly and great conversation (Amber and Matt-hopefully you guys enjoy the rest of your honeymoon!). We played volleyball with the locals, drank Kava, and even went to church at a local village. The mass was one of the most awe-inspiring parts of the trip, because it was true to life of a regular Fijian. We were the only non-villagers at the mass, but were greeted as if we had been there forever. Smiling faces, hello's from everyone, and a personal blessing from the pastor during the mass, wishing us safe travels on our visit. I can definitely say that I was humbled by the open-armed welcome that we received, and it was one of the things that made me realize that this trip is going to be AMAZING!
Fiji was much more than we could have ever expected. If I was going to do it again, I wouldn't change anything (other than checking the camera seal again before use!). The minute I got to New Zealand, my heart sunk a bit because I realized that Fiji was no more, and even though it was only a short ten days, it felt like a huge step in my life. It will forever be my first passport stamp, and our first stop on this journey. Now comes our next stop, and a beautiful country in itself in New Zealand. We're doing a backpacker tour through the country with Kiwi Experience. Most people we've met so far are here for months, we've only got 3 weeks. The tour should give us access to the majority of the beauty that this country offers, but it's going to be rapid pace!
Finally, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been following our trip so far! It really means a lot to us both, and we hope that you're enjoying our pictures, videos, and blogs. Feel free to comment on anything, we read it all, and it helps us keep connected with home. We miss you all, and don't worry, we'll be home before you even know it!
-Andrew
In : Fiji