Jesikah has been taking a lot of exceptional pictures and writing almost every thing to go with them. I was able to get a few pics of the her along the way. The first one is her on top of the camper van in an impossibly large valley outside of the Milford Sound. The second is in Dunedin's town square
Jon
On the way across the bottom of the South Island we stopped at a sheep herding trial. Really just a coincidence that I saw it out of the corner of my eye while driving 100 kph down a lonely stretch of country road. One of those things that you don't read about in travel books or the lonely plant that we are constantly on the look out for. There were no tourists just locals enjoying something they love to do. The old man to the right explained the whole objective. Basically the herder with their dog runs a set of sheep through a series of obstacles. The winner does it in the shortest amount of time
Jon
We have spent the last 2 days exploring Christchurch, which is still recovering from its recent earthquake. It's really sad to see all of the old buildings in their dilapidated conditions (although I do love the textures in photographs of them), stores closed, and streets empty. (Jon was hoping to feel an aftershock, but we don't think we have.) It seems to be a pretty cool city. There was a street performance festival going on at Cathedral Square all weekend so we caught some of that, found some great cafes (Kiwis do coffee really really well), discovered a nice Brazilian bar, and enjoyed the English gardens.
We are off to Thailand tomorrow and are really excited! It's hard to believe that January is almost over!
-Jesikah
-Jesikah
-Jesikah
Here are a few highlights of the trip:
Closed circuit to Brian Holmes at WDPI; I read your comment. I felt really bad taking off from work without settling up. I'm pretty sure this includes Weiberg & Pollman as well. So if you noticed the picture below of Jesikah and me with the van you'll also see a Heineken sitting on top of said van. Like I was saying I felt really bad bolting on you guys so I took the liberty of buying a 6 pack on you. I figured you would have wanted it that way. If this action doesn't please you go talk to Jay I'm sure he's still in my pocket, tell him I'll take it off his tab and collect the remainder when I get back.
-Jon
-Jesikah
Sunday evening we arrived in gorgeous Auckland to a bright blue sky and excellent views of Auckland from different volcanic hills: Mt. Victoria and Mt. Eden. Strolled along a beautiful beach in St. Heliers and a lovely dinner just off the beach.
Familiarities from a past life haunt new spaces and linger in their silences: sometimes we hear our cell phones (which we've left behind) vibrating in the next room. And sometimes I hear the creak of our staircase or my grandmother's bare feet or my mother's silver bracelets or the drone of Sunday football or the silence of fresh snow, but mostly I just hear the rain. We look forward to our time in New Zealand...
- Jesikah
In today's Fijian Sun Times there was an article (warning) about kids going back to school and how this year they should refrain from sniffing any glue. Seems last year there was a glue sniffing epidemic that contributed to the decline of proper education. While reading the article I'd begun to see parallels with the glue sniffing students and the islanders as a whole. A casual observer might even draw the conculsion that the entire population of Fiji is sniffing glue. Everyone I've encountered moves slower then Bryant Mckinnee on Sundays. If you get stuck walking behind a Fijian, you're best off consulting a map and finding a new route. If they give you a specific time to catch a boat or taxi, add a half hour, order lunch and then be on the look-out. However, and this is a constant, whatever they tell you they're going to do they will do just not on time. They get things done, just on their own time. This my friends is "Fijian time" and it must be as intoxicating as sniffing glue because everyone here is high on it.
There are no words to describe how completely fabulous our Musket Cove bure is. (Thanks so much Mom and Dad!!!) I think I could live in it forever. Although it hasn't stopped raining for days and days and days, we don't really mind because we are just so happy to be here. They say it will clear up tomorrow, but it is only our first day here and we have time for it to pass. Jon fancies himself an amateur meteorologist and often wanders out to ponder the sky - apparently his dad does the same thing. Neither of us have ever seen constant rain like this. The ground can no longer absorb the water and large puddles form cavities on the roads and walkways. They say it is one large low-pressure system that is continuously circling the Fijian Islands, but thankfully it isn't a hurricane and will soon lose its strength and move on.
-jesikah
We finally arrived in Fiji and it is absolutely beautiful. Air Pacific
really went above and beyond by putting us up at a nice little hotel
in Nadi because we had missed the boat that morning to Otto & Fanny's.
We had a gorgeous breakfast on the verandah...beautiful flowers
everywhere. We then took a bus to the Yasawa Flyer (we were able to
reschedule without penalty which was great! Apparently our flight
delay had made the Fiji papers- it backed up all of the flights to
Australia and New Zealand and was a real mess.) and off to Otto &
Fanny's, a lazy five hour cruise through the Yasawa chain northwest of
the main island, Vita Levu. It was the most gorgeous day...not a cloud
in the sky, and each island we passed was breathtaking...exactly what
you would picture in the South Pacific: remote, white sandy beaches
and volcanic peaks. Tavewa Island was practically the last stop, and
we both agreed that we'd never been anywhere more remote. Our bure was
pretty much what we expected. Simple thatch hut with views of the
ocean and garden. The generator was only on in spurts throughout the
day, but we didn't mind. We spent that first day napping and swimming
between meal times, and there was only one other couple there. The
beach was lovely, but not the powdery white sand we experience in the
Caribbean...it is a bit rougher, but that is what we loved about
Tavewa Island. There is absolutely nothing manicured about it. The
beach all but disappeared during high tide in the evening, but would
reappear again in the morning and we would walk out to a deserted
point and snorkel. In fact, most days we were lone souls exploring the
beach, not another in sight. And the water was the bluer than you can
imagine, appropriately called the Blue Lagoon. (The islanders seem to
be quite proud of Brook Shields' "Blue Lagoon" that was filmed nearby.
We haven't seen it but as you can imagine it has terrible ratings.)
The second day drizzled but we still got in some snorkeling and
exploring and napping, and the food was really fresh and tasty.
(During mealtimes they played American band-boy music on the radio.
Even in one of the most remote places on Earth there is no escape from
American pop-culture.) We also experienced an important local custom,
or way of life really: the drinking of grog, or kava. It is basically
a mixture of water and a powder form of a local root, making a very
mild narcotic. I think you have to drink gallons to experience
anything (which they do - hours and hours of drinking grog in a
ceremonial like circle) but it makes your lips and tongue go slightly
numb after a few rounds. It kinda feels like novocain. They hand you a
little bowl of the stuff taken from a much larger bowl and you have to
clap 3 times after drinking. They continue around the circle until the
bowl is empty and repeat and repeat long into the night. We both
agreed that it tastes exactly like licking an envelope or eating
paper. They used to make it from chewing the root and spitting it out
into a big bowl, but apparently the missionaries talked them out of
that pretty fast. There is no way I could stomach drinking someone
else's saliva, no matter how culturally relevant. Our experience of
grog drinking was rather unceremonial and touristy, but at least we
got a taste. We have been reading Paul Theroux's "The Happy Isles of
Oceania" which is excellent and explains this much better than I
could.
-jesikah
