FIJI: Days 17+18

Fun fact: My former hairstylist who had been snipping my mom, aunt, and grandma's hair for years decided to drop everything a couple years back and move to Fiji. At the time I thought she was downright crazy but now I can most definitely see the appeal!

I decided to put our day and a half of Fiji into one blog because we really didn't have enough days in Fiji. I know I for one did as much as I was allowed to cram in there though. The morning after our arrival it was still raining and a bit chilly. This was only a minor distraction for Miles, Gemina and I who signed up for Scuba diving that morning. Once underwater I was instantly glad I didn't let the rain stop me from swimming through coral caves and seeing eels peek around a rockface. When it came to the second dive I do admit that I let nausea stop me from going into the 2nd dive. The second half of the day, after a nice hot shower of course, we all set out to go into the local village to buy some souveniers. One thing on the roads that you will immediately notice is two things: dogs and happy people. More happy people awaited us at the shops with a big BULA!(hello, welcome, goodmorning).

That night was our last in Fiji and also our last night for pow-wow. To put and extra WOW in pow-wow we decided to have it under the Southern stars at the tip of and sand bar peninsula. I have never and probably will never so many shooting stars in my life.

The second day started off with a splash for Van, Kevin, Lauren, Gemina, and I. A Fishing trip was in store. Little did we know that Kevin would have the only catch of the day (a stingray he caught with his own bare hands) before the fishing trip even started. We definitely still had our bonding time and some close calls with rocks and seaweed but sadly to fish (other than me of course). So with our stories straight we marched off the boat with a great tale of a close call with a 40lb yellowfin tuna. 

Day 16

Yes, today we did in fact get on a plane to Fiji!!!
Our previous "help", Jan, made sure that we would have the most trouble getting onto our flight. The flight itself wasn't too bad even though most of us were split up, but we were NOT about to complain considering we would end up in the same place. Once there 2 things happened: Peter left us in order to start his voyage to Africa again. (Miss you Peter!) The second thing was that of the wet kind. A slow rain started to build as we waited for our bus to arrive. This is where Hell began. Keeping in mind that we got into the actual bus at around 11:30 a 3 hour bus ride sounded like only one thing.. sleep. This however was quickly ruled out considering the entire road was a pothole convention. Kevin did his best as a gentleman to ease to bumps in the road for Lauren and I in the backseat but there really is not much to ease the pain of a rude awakening before the sleep begins.

Christchurch lives on

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Today seemed to be a nice day to go to the park, figuring that we really didn’t have a plan to stay in NZ any longer. We attempted to play rugby in the slippery mud/grass and then after a trip to the cozy park cafe we explored the rose garden. Netball was next, which is not my kind of game seeing as though you have to defend from 3ft away from your person and then shoot into a basket without a backboard. 

thanks a ton Chile

Today i woke up with my mind ready to travel all day and to escape the cold and wet weather of NZ but Chile has other plans. Once on the bus at 5 in the morning, Peter and GEmina were sad to say that our flight this morning to Aukland where we would have caught our flight to FIJI. Fiji was intended to be the cherry upon the sprinkles, whipped cream, and ice cream. It is with great displeasure that I am to inform you that we will be leaving Sunday the 26th at the earliest for Fiji. On the upside, there was a very conviniant Antarctica center. So we followed the blue penguin feet to where we were taught all the wonderful things about Antarctica! Not exactly a Fiji expirience but it’ll be an adventure.. or at least thats what I’m telling myself.

Carl's family lives in Christchurch.

There is work being done all around the Red Zone.

Entire blocks of businesses were closed.

I have never felt more like a tourist in my life. I did not belong in the middle of destruction of entire families and economies with a camera in hand. Christchurch is still a beautiful city the only difference is that now it is devestatingly so. A whole neighborhood is going to be demolished because of root-deep issues. Today was hard on us all seeing the city this way.

Day 12

Leo the horse and I are quite a bit alike. Other than the fact that we were both born in 1996 we are both extremely photogenic! This common trait was discovered today when Dave wrangled us up a horse ride to the top of a hill. This especially brought me back to my English saddle riding days... I was sore then and I'm sore now. After a trot up and down the hill we volunteered to help with the farm. Not having a clue as to what to do, half of us kicked some dirt and hay around until it looked right and the other half (switching off of course) got friendly with my Leo for a photo shoot. Although not many pictures were taken, it was nice that we could help a woman with work that would have taken her all day for only 45min.
Surprise surprise! We got a special treat after inner-thigh torture to go to another hot springs. The only difference with this one was that they were equipped with slides and sulfur pools. Sulfur pools weren't so great considering they turn your jewelry back and smell like rotten eggs.
The only downside of the day was that after another one of her captivating slideshows of her work at dinner, Ulla had to leave us to tramp onto her next great discovery.

Day 11

Todays assignment to make a full day of travel a little less boring was given to us by Ulla herself. One of the things she is always repeating about pictures is that they should give a story for the onlooker. Our mission for today was to capture our story of traveling across NZ in one day with only several pictures. This definately kept most of us on our toes for that next picture. I know this really taught me that it really is possible to get good photos while on the move instead of just getting out of your vehicle to take a picture.