Last Known Position

Random Ratu Kini

2011-10-27T14:29:00.022-05:00

We have moved on from Fiji... but not forgotten it!

Project AWARE Kids - Sea Turtles | Project AWARE

2011-08-20T21:51:00.000-05:00

Project AWARE Kids - Sea Turtles | Project AWARE

Project AWARE Kids - Whales & Dolphins

2011-08-06T21:32:00.000-05:00

GET DIVING AND WIN A FREE TRIP TO THE GREAT BARRIER REEF!!

2011-08-05T19:20:00.000-05:00

Project AWARE Kids - Coral Reefs | Project AWARE

2011-08-04T22:21:00.001-05:00

Project AWARE Kids - Coral Reefs | Project AWARE

Our Divemaster Trainee

2011-08-01T01:17:00.002-05:00

Sami, from Canada, came to Ratu Kini's in March for a week. She wanted to do the PADI Open Water course with her friend, who was a little delayed as she'd lost her passport. In the end her friend never arrived, so I set out to train Sami.

Early on in the course, while teaching basic skills, I asked, "so, you've snorkeled before, right?" as most people had... NOPE. But that didn't stop her in her SCUBA endeavors. We had a lot of fun during the course, in spite of the fact that the equipment seemed to break around her with every turn... and by about the second dive (only) Sami came to surface and asked, "what's that Divemaster thingy you have advertised?" She was talking about the first professional level of PADI certification... one that took me almost 20 years to get around to! And to add to that... she's only 18!

So by the end of a couple of weeks (she already extended her stay) Sami left to go back to Australia to pick up the rest of her stuff, promising to be back in a month to start the next course and head towards becoming a Divemaster.

She did come back.... and she's STILL here!

Despite more broken equipment and some damage to herself (I hope you're seeing the trend here!!) she continued her education.

But it seems she may also be allergic to coral!! Having become distracted by some creature or other, Sami knocked her leg against some fire coral (we know now!). No biggie... except for Sami didn't heal... and worse than that the strange blisters kept spreading. She went to the nurse and the fancy resort next door to us... and was told it was sea lice... we were like... huh?! A little research confirmed that they don't exist, as we suspected, and it was just the coral toxins still going through her... so when the cure-all vinegar didn't work... Tadd went for the scolding hot towels (this is what we have been taught to denature the toxins of bites and stings).

I think Tadd kind of enjoyed torturing Sami a bit... payback for the days she was late (now she has to swim laps!)

We gave her some our powdered vegetable extract stuff... to help cure her from within. And a few days off on the mainland seemed to do the trick.

So when she came back it was straight into her Rescue course.

PADI Rescue diver... check!

And on to training to lead dives and not drown the guest....

between bad weather... breaking compressors... and yet more injury and illnesses (hmmmm!) Sami finally passed all the exams (they've made them sooo easy now... just about anyone could pass.... when we took them.... eh Sami!)

Once certified, there is a tradition in the diving world for all newly certified Divemasters... one last test...

The Snorkel Test!

That is rum and coke in the jug (her choice!)

Almost done...

She survived! Congratulations Ms. Sami-pants!!

Divers' Best Friend

2011-07-28T21:29:00.000-05:00

Tadd & I have been wanting to get a dog for a long time... but living on a 30 foot sailboat hasn't been exactly conducive to that lifestyle.

So when we got to Mana Island and saw the dogs running around the village I think we were doomed. We didn't want to actually own one of them, as we know we can't take them with us. So we decided to "sponsor" one of the overly-skinny puppies that were around.

So that's how we ended up falling for Sandy (Tadd always joked about naming our kids Rusty and Sandy and bringing them up on a boat!).

She's a little hyper at times... so much so that when she gets really excited she literally jumps around in circles... kind of like a kangaroo or something.

We started giving her some love... and some leftovers.

And the next time we went to the mainland we picked up some flea shampoo. So, the first order of business on our return was a bath. She was little enough then to fit in the tub... and one of the smaller puppies wandered over to see what we were doing... later to be named Ringo.

Sandy whined and shook and generally made a fuss about being bathed... then promptly ran off and rolled around in the sand (not surprisingly). Meanwhile, Ringo came and sat in the tub... so we just bathed him too.

The little fella didn't mind a bit.

He looked so much less fluffy (an earlier name) once wet... but still too cute.

Luckily Sandy forgave us, and loves to hang out in the bushes outside our room.

But as she was growing fast... and litter after litter of puppies appeared from the other female dogs on the island, we had to start forming our plan to somehow get her neutered.

We would have to get her to the mainland to the SPCA, but we weren't allowed to take her on the ferries... not to mention the problem that she freaked out when Tadd tried to leash-train her... and when I tried to see if she would lie down in a box... no chance!!

So one day, one of the staff came up with the idea of making a traditional basket. The next time the activities guys were doing basket weaving, we tested our idea... using Ringo.

He always looked this pathetic!

It seemed like it would work... so Samu (the activities guy) wove us a Sandy-sized basket...

and Tadd, Mari and Sami modified it to keep her in.

Even so, she was not at all happy with the idea. We were almost at a loss, until Tadd came up with the only solution.... Drugs!! A quick call the to the vet, some playing in the dive shop with weights to guess how much Sandy weighed by that stage, and we got some pills sent over.

At this stage Sami had to hold her so she couldn't disappear into the bushes and fall asleep.

Sandy resisted for a long time... but finally succumbed to the drugs... and promptly peed on Sami!

Into the basket she went... still fighting it a little... and then Sami and Mari smuggled her aboard the ferry... can you spot the dog? Nope!

Since then, Sandy has been a happy, unhassled puppy... who gets lots of love from the guests, plenty of leftovers, especially on roast chicken dinner night... and of course, regular baths... which she deals with, if she still doesn't really like them.

And plenty of her favourite... belly rubs!!

Project AWARE Kids - Shark Day | Project AWARE

2011-07-27T17:24:00.000-05:00

Project AWARE Kids - Shark Day | Project AWARE

The Yasawas

2011-07-20T16:07:00.000-05:00

Tadd & I had some time off after over a month of teaching... so we decided to treat ourselves and head up to the Yasawa islands north of where we live... so off on another catamaran ferry... for 4 and a half hours!

We established ourselves in the air-conditioned passenger lounge, next to the power socket to assure entertainment for the whole trip.

I popped up to the top, sun deck to check out the view... lots of newly arrived, pale foreigners up there.

The Yasawas are generally a lot more mountainous and than the Mamanuca's where Mana Island is situated.

The ferry stops off of almost all the islands to drop off and pick up.

Finally we made it... and did our first open water boat transfer. The long boats from each resort cruise up one by one and they toss your luggage off the big cat, and then the people climb down. Luckily the seas were calm the day we went, and we had no luggage to end up in the drink.

We arrived on Nacula ("Nathoolah") Island, at Safe Landing "resort." The room was nice... but shortly after arriving we sat down for lunch and had the most pitiful idea of a meal we have seen in Fiji. Two tiny pieces of fish the size of a big English chip (fries), a pile of rice and sauce...

When we remembered that there was also no electricity in the rooms at night... and no cold beer at Happy Hour... we decided to explore our options for the rest of our trip. So we started hiking over to the next resorts along.

It was a pleasant walk, and only took us 40 minutes... not the 3-4 hours that one Fijian told us it would take! Typical... ask 3 Fijians a question and get 3 completely different answers.

We had to cut across the jungle... I felt very at home.

And got to see a fair amount of the mountainous island of Nacula.

Sadly there was no room at the other place we wanted to stay... so we headed back for coolish beers and the nice view... while calling other places on the nearby islands.

We hooked ourselves up and enjoyed an improved, if not great, dinner. We also decided to take the tour the next morning to visit the Sawa-i-Lau caves.

We headed out in the typical Fiji "Better Boat" with and English couple, Simone & Mark.

It was a soggy ride... and even more exciting when the engine began to give out... and the driver said, "Oh! That's REALLY Bad!"

The setup was pretty impressive... compared to what we have seen in Central America!

The water is brackish but really nice.

And then they make you swim down under the rock into the caves inside.

It was pretty spooky inside when I was left there all alone... before Tadd came in with the next "transport"

A Swiss lady started singing Amazing Grace, and the sound bounced all around.

Then the guide started swimming off into the darkness.... so we followed.

Along a long tunnel to the end... there he had us all shout "Bula!"... a little too loud for Tadd.

It was pretty amazing!

The next day we transferred to Coral View on the island of Tavewa... much more to our taste... and with plenty of yummy food!

We got in a free dive, though we ended up working for it.

And communed with the local wildlife... while enjoying some cocktails.

And we even found a real sandwich in the shop... big enough for two.

Then it was back to the ferry for another open water transfer... very amusing... and after 8 months in Fiji, this was the first time anyone made us wear life jackets!!

The Office

2011-07-15T22:59:00.000-05:00

What do we do all day? Well, usually we get a bunch of gear on and get in the water... then get out of the water and take the gear off again... followed later by putting said gear back on again... and getting back into said water.... etc etc.

But last week the weather turned really cool and windy - we had to wear trousers/pants and jumpers!! And all diving ceased...

A Few Days Off

2011-06-16T20:18:00.000-05:00

Tadd & I had a few days off again... so back to the mainland.

This time we went to check out Lautoka, the "Sugar city", the second largest city in Fiji. It's in the heart of the sugar cane producing area... the season for which is just about to begin. All over the country you see overgrown railroad tracks... but apparently they won't be overgrown much longer!

Lautoka's on the water, but not exactly a resort kind of coast.
Our reason for going was for the cinema... one of only 2 in the whole country! Tadd needed a dose of movie popcorn and I wanted to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4!

After a couple of days and 2 movies later we headed back to Nadi... and the nearby hotsprings. We'd been planning to go for a while... but hadn't managed it so far. So another tiny bus that drove happily along the dirt track that is the local road system beyond the Queen's Road.

Unlike many places in the world, the hotsprings haven't been developed yet!

Basically you're in the middle of nowhere, in a field and there's a mud pool.

The local guy told us to rub it all over for it's softening and rejuvenating powers... so we did!

Nice!

Then you wander past the molten hot pool (78C) and on to the cooler 50C pool to wash off.

Then it was back to Port Denerau to catch the ferry back to work... quite a difference this uber-modern tourist location is to the rest of the country!!

At least there are always some nice boats to look at!

We weren't wild about going back... but at least we brought some wine back with us!

A Break in Fiji

2011-06-02T22:45:00.000-05:00

Only a few weeks after our return to work in Fiji, we got a few more days off... we had to go check out the first every Port Denerau International Jazz & Blues Festival.

Denerau is the swanky part of Nadi, where all the big resorts are... and many visitors never see more of the country that this part... in which case they have no real concept of Fiji at all... at the port there is a Hard Rock Cafe!! amongst a bunch of other very nice restaurants, bars and shops... so not Fiji!

But we made an exception, and went to check out the music. The whole thing was a little disorganized, but some of the musicians weren't half bad... mostly from the New Zealand, Australia and the US... with a few locals.

One of our favourite artists was Erica "Sunshine" Lee. We listened to her set both nights we went there... and I said I don't like country!!

This lady did a good rendition of Billy Holiday... with her musicians who we named the Craigslist boys... as they were about 40 years younger and didn't seem to sure what was all going on... but seemed to be enjoying the free beer and the prospect of the after parties (so we heard).

Once we tired of the festival (the same acts played all 4 days), we went off to check out one of the local marinas, in hopes of finding some cruisers who might want some crew while exploring Fiji.

We stopped off for a bite of lunch at the Sunset Grill next door to First Landing and the Vuda Pt Marina.

After that trek around on buses and trucks, we decided to head back on our last day off to do some exploring of our own island... Check out Mana!

The local village that sits right behind our backpacker place... classy stuff that the kids walk through to get to their rooms!

We wandered up and over to the north side of the island to see what was what.

Another spectacular beach, of course.

And a stone building!!??

Or not! Apparently, Survivor Fiji was filmed here a few years back... but no one bothered to take down the stupid set...

But they definitely picked a good spot for it.

Back to diving!

The Menagerie

2011-05-31T21:03:00.000-05:00

Our last stop on the east coast tour was to visit one of my dive students.

Last December I spent a few weeks down on the island of Kadavu, south of the mainland, at the Matava Resort. While there I met Julie and Dave, and taught Julie to dive. A very fun and generous couple, they had offered to host us whenever we came to Oz... luckily they actually meant it!

Dave drove down to North Avoca to pick us up. And after a short trip to check out a barge for sale (he's setting a marine business) he drove us up into the hills near their home to give us an idea where we would be staying.

It was a gorgeous day and the views were incredible!

In the distance you might just make out the southern end of Lake Macquarie... it's a huge winding lake that runs out to the sea.

Checking out the view with Dave (Lindsay hiding behind the camera as usual!)

Afterwards Dave drove us around the grounds a local psychiatric hospital...

where a load of Roos run around wild... so cool!

Momma Roo with little Joey in her pouch

A quick stop at the house to say hi to Julie (who had to work that day), we swapped the car for Dave's little runaround speed boat.. and headed off for lunch at the yacht club.

A fun little ride!

Back on the water!

We ran the length of the lake and came back as the sun was setting

Then back to the house to meet the menagerie... 3 HUGE dogs and I don't actually know how many parrots... some of the wildlife was rather friendly!

And our food tour was by no means over... Dave used to be a chef... so Julie says she had to learn to cook well... and she's definitely cracked it! Fantastic stuff she whipped us up !!

The next day Dave and Julie took us up into the wine country and treated us to some amazing tapas and wine at one of the wineries... oh my!! Sooo good.... soooo fulll!

We were sad to leave our wonderful hosts, but by Easter Sunday it was time to head back to the airport and back to Fiji... probably a good thing and going by this picture we were starting to see the effects of all the amazing food on our food fest of a holiday.

Thanks again Julie & Dave!!!

Further On Up The Coast

2011-05-20T20:37:00.000-05:00

We said goodbye to the Stanley's after a wonderful few days catching up and playing with the kids.

When we first started planning our trip we had a few people to visit, but no real idea where they all actually lived....

It turns out they live only about a half an hour away from each other. So it was a short drive up to North Avoca, to visit Sarah & Jez. We had met them when they came diving with us at Ratu Kini in March... on their honeymoon.

The crazy thing was that they had spent a while living on Utila in Honduras, with Jez getting his Divemaster cert there.... that was where we went to become instructors last year. So, there was a fair amount of reminiscing about Utila over drinks.

We enjoyed a few days relaxing with them, checking out the local beaches and sharing a few drinks and taboo!!

They took us down to one beach that had amazing rock formations, which caught Tadd's eye.

Snakes, and Roos, and Crocs... Oh My!

2011-05-19T16:14:00.000-05:00

The next day we packed up a picnic lunch and headed off the Australian Reptile Park for the day. It's a pretty small place, but has so much to see... we got to pet a baby wombat on the way in from the car park, before we'd even entered the place!

Rich, Hannah & Gemma enjoying the spectacle of poisonous snakes and reptiles.

The Emu's and the Roo's were wandering around freely amidst the picnics. But when they wanted a break from the visitors, they had their own rest area.

A highlight of the park is the croc feeding ... so we went off the see if Elvis was feeling peckish.

With no delay he lurched out of the pool towards the keeper with a dead chicken on the end of a string.

Elvis looking pretty satisfied!

Then we went off to see my favourite animal!

The koala's ... sooo cute.

And the keepers/volunteers came and held them so we could pet them and feel how incredibly soft their fur is... quite a juxtaposition to the huge, sharp claws they have!

Can't believe the size of the heads on some of the kangaroos!

The little Wallabies are very cute.

Then we checked out the spider house and the frog exhibit.

And just time for a quick pick in the croc's mouth before we headed home.

The Stanleys

2011-05-15T23:30:00.002-05:00

After running around Sydney for a couple of days, the weather turned crappy and we jumped on a train north up the coast to Gosford. We were off to visit some friends of mine, Lynsey & Rich, who I haven't seen for ages... 10years in fact, Lynsey assured me, by way of her birthday celebration we last enjoyed together! It's been a long time and a whole journey for both of us since we were together in Quito, Ecuador running the Arribar together. Crazy times.

Lynsey & Rich have been out in Australia for more years now and are well settled in Copacabana, Central Coast with their two bundles of energy, Hannah and Gemma.

Our first night there, we got stuck into some of our duty free, before we were picked up by the "Happy Bus" - a common occurrence in those parts, apparently, where the pub sends out a minibus to pick you up and later drops you home... so no one has to be the designated driver... and a good thing too!

We went out to the Empire Bay Tavern & Restaurant with Lynsey, Rich, and Rich's brother Ian, to help one of Rich's footie mates celebrate his birthday...

Lynsey (right) with a friend

Ian & Rich

After quite a few drinks we finally got around to getting some dinner... oh my... fantastic!! Some of the best food we've had in ages! Amazing pasta with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes (molten to the last bite!) and a steak that was out of this world!! We we talking about that meal for the rest of our trip!

Yummy!!

Tadd was really enjoying the variety of Aussie beers, after being in Fiji with only a couple of options.

... and some more beer... and more steak! Yum!!

Needless to say, things got a little silly.

The next day we were up early - thanks to the little whispering cherubs (not so quietly) who get up at 6ish every day... so we all piled out of the house for a walk to the beach at Copacabana.

The cool temperatures weren't stopping the locals from enjoying the sand or the waves.

Very nice... but so are all the beaches in the area (we found out).

We stopped off at the beachside cafe for a round of 2nd breakfast.

Hannah enjoying her chips and milkshake... before she knocked it over :-(

And Gemma did stop chattering long enough to scoff some chips too

Before long, the girls headed off with Uncle Ian to climb the monkey puzzle tree.

Back at the house, we finally got to meet some of the local wildlife... a far cry from sparrows and robins we get feeding at home!!

The girls were kind enough to correct us that these weren't parakeets but lorokeets... gorgeous anyway you call them.

We had been told the kookaburras were really friendly, and, in spite of their HUGE beaks, you could stroke them without getting nipped.

Tadd making friends

He really was very tame... and we did get to pet him.

Great pals!

Amidst playing with the girls... Tadd had time to make himself a hat!

Hmmm....!

Later we went for a driving tour of the area

The view back south along the coast

Gemma came along in her Flamenco dress

FREE Is The Name of The Game

2011-05-07T22:36:00.000-05:00

After our fun on the town, we got up the next day, enjoyed the wonders of FREE high-speed internet at the hostel over breakfast, and headed out on the FREE bus that runs around downtown Sydney. While researching our trip, I came across a FREE walking tour. It had great reviews on the web and seemed to be legitimately FREE (tips if you want).

The old and the new buildings of city hall and the city.

So we jumped off at city hall and found a guy in a lime green t-shirt that says, "I'm Free." Ross and his girlfriend, apparently came up with the idea a few years ago... seems to be going well as we had about 10 or 12 people in our group. His tour was short and to the point, with lots of history, but not too much, and loads of funny anecdotes and jokes... very cool!

Ross starting our tour

Along the way we say lots of the usual tourist stuff - I love the street painters... very cool!

The tour took us into the Queen Victoria Building - where there very elaborate, animated clocks that have little stories that play out on the hour - one British, which goes so far as representing the beheading of some king or other at home, and the Australian version that is more to do with animals and stuff.

From here we went down into the tunnels that run all over underneath the city... who knew.

Eventually we emerged again into the sunshine and wandered again through Hyde Park.

Past some older gents playing chess - I love these giant chess boards!

Past the horsey fountain - very original.

And checked out the piggy statue outside the hospital - one wing of which was long ago turned into government offices. Supposedly it's good luck to rub the piggy's nose... a few jokers had been rubbing on some other bits for luck (not shown for under 18's).

Having seen a fair few lists of rules lately on our travels, I'm always intrigued by them... I guess they had decided that it is now acceptable to walk and train you dog in the pedestrian precinct, as they have whited out that one!

Not long after this we started to get peckish as we hadn't eaten for several hours, so we ducked out of the tour to try some meat pies... yummy! And when we caught back up with the tour... it was officially snack time, so we grabbed some Vietnamese -type summer rolls... shrimp, pork, chicken...

Somewhere after that, I looked over and at another table nearby, spotted a couple we had also met at our resort in Fiji... so among the some 4.5 million residents of Sydney... we bumped into 3 people we know in only 2 days!! Crazy!!

Not too long after that, we hit Circular Quay and decided we were happy with our section of the tour and bowed out. But just after we stopped in the central library.

This kid seemed quite taken by the miniature Sydney under the glass.

So by now we were close to the iconic buildings of Sydney... so, of course, I got a little snap-happy... hope you like them!

The Harbour Bridge

Tadd enjoying the view on the way to the Opera House

We enjoyed the ferry ride out through the harbour to Manly and back. Then we had to rush back to our appointment at the Apple store... well there's some stuff you just can't get done on the islands in Fiji.

From here we went out to Newtown to have sushi with friends... getting off the train we grabbed a few happy hour drinks... so I forgot about documenting the evening... but the food was fantastic!!!

I LOVE Sydney!

2011-05-06T16:43:00.001-05:00

Tadd & I were REALLY excited about our holiday in Sydney. A chance to escape from our island paradise in Fiji and get back to civilization for a few days.

I had hoped to finally take advantage of couchsurfing.org, as we had heard loads of fantastic reviews from travellers coming through Ratu Kini, but I think Sydney was a tricky location as most travellers consider Australia very expensive, so I wasn't able to find us a spare bed to crash on in downtown Sydney, and we opted for the very pleasant Big Hostel (about $100 USD a night for a private room).

As soon as we arrived in the city we changed into more clothes - we had been advised by friends that we might need a pair of trousers and a long-sleeve shirt for our trip in the autumn... well compared to Fiji it was pretty cool!

We went for a wander through the streets of the city, happily beginning our food-fest of a holiday straight away with some Malaysian dumplings and fast-food sushi in a food court.

We then continued our wander and along the way we passed Hyde Park and saw the local "pigeons" scavenging for garbage...

After we headed to the Sydney Tower to indulge the need to go up the big, tall building in any city and check out the view.

As it was close to sunset we got some amazing lighting of Sydney.

It just got better and better!

And here is us with the view!!

Well, actually this what they did ... one of those green screen photos... not bad though!

The express lifts up to the observation deck had cool indicators... looked like something out of Dr. Who!

I took a moment on the way down for a photo op with the giant lego man

On our way off to enjoy happy hour, I grabbed a pic of the multi-million dollar walkway they had put up - for my skyway book in the future!

After several rounds of cheap bubbly, we had the best foodcourt food you can imagine - in China town ... all made fresh and spicy, and there was even a bar to get a carafe of wine with dinner... I LOVE Sydney!! Then during our preamble to another bar, we came across some crazy water feature outside an office building.

	We thought it was cool already and then it began to change colours!! What a fun first night in Sydney!!

The Pain & The Passion

2011-04-14T17:56:00.031-05:00

In Nadi ("Nan-dee") there is an amazing Hindu Temple. We happened to stop by during one of their religious festivals.

The main temple is a spectacular array of colours.

Various people were setting up carts with various offerings of flowers and fruits.

Then we spotted this guys with all the needles, a devotee who was wandering around in a trance, murmuring chants, after 3 days with no sleep.

Quite crazy.

And then they hooked up the cart of offerings to his needles and he proceeded to tow it around the temple.

Sadly, because it was such a religious occasion we weren't allowed to enter the main temple.

But they did invite us to partake of the free curry lunch that everyone was receiving... pretty cool!

Tubakula in Korotogo

2011-04-05T19:07:00.000-05:00

While we were exploring Korotogo we stayed at a cute little place called Tubakula (Tumba-koolah), that seemed rather reminiscent of a 1960's family holiday camp/resort.

It was really nice though, with a little cottage (not shown) that had 3 private rooms sharing a bathroom, big kitchen and ample livingroom/diningroom. And as you can see had a lovely pool, as well as being right on the sea.

We were just about the only people staying there... except for the cows that is!

There was even a nice BBQ next to the pool, so Tadd showed off his grilling skills.

While I relaxed in the pool (cocktail off shot!)

Meanwhile the cows continued to roam around, trimming the grass and adding a little fertilizer here and there.

After a couple of days, we were headed west again, so we walked to the front gate and flagged down the first coach headed to Nadi (Nan-dee). We struck it lucky and it was one of the fancy Coral Sun buses... can you hear us say, "aaaaaaah! air conditioning!"

We got to check out more of the countryside that we drove through obliviously jetlagged when we arrived back in October.

The Local Wildlife

2011-03-16T00:36:00.001-05:00

While we were in Korotogo ("koro-tongo) we stayed at the Tubakula ("tumba-koolah") hotel... right on the water.. it had the feeling of a 1950s or 60s holiday camp.

But you can't beat the view!

Just up the road was the Kula Eco-Park, famed for actually having some of the local wildlife that you can't see anywhere in the wild anymore.

So we got up close and very personal with some of the iguanas.

Very fun!

Learning about the medicinal plants.

They had built a really impressive walkway... considering the Fiji factor... the most impressive piece of construction we've seen!

Lovely place to wander around... little stream.

Male iguanas being bred in captivity... they fight if they are left to their own devices.

A couple of the local peacocks.

Tadd impersonating a gorilla?

Then we saw some ex-wildlife of the road!

Sigatoka Scorching Sand Dunes

2011-03-06T23:11:00.000-06:00

After our rafting adventures we headed west again to the Sigatoka ("Sing-gah-tock-ah") region of Viti Levu to check out the famous sand dunes.

We had been warned by the guidebook that we had to go early or late in the day.... the weren't kidding! We walked out of our little "resort" and flagged down a passing minibus, which dropped us off outside the national park... well once we yelled...as we saw the entrance whizz by.

I hadn't noticed at the time... but the map looks an awful lot like a piste map at a ski resort!

The views were great from the top... but the heat was already kicking in at 10am... so we selected the shorter or two routes.

Up the hill...

and down the other side.

Lovely flowers surviving among the dunes.

We had hoped to do some sandboarding, but it turns out you have to bring your own board... or maybe they just don't really want you doing it! Destroys the dunes!

Driftwood galore!

The trail back took us through some strange trees.

And through the woods.

And passed the "tree huggers"

Forward Paddle!

2011-03-05T17:19:00.001-06:00

Just like when we saved up by living low and taking an expensive trip to snorkel with Whale Sharks, Lindsay and I have been eating Ramen noodles for lunch to be able to afford another expensive excursion here in Fiji. We read about Rivers Fiji, an adventure paddling company that operates out of Pacific Harbor adjoining a fancy resort called The Pearl. We stayed next across the road at Oceanus Club, which is very nice, simple and clean.

We heard from a Harry of Think Pacific, a teen volunteer group operator, that the Upper Navua River tour is well worth the cost, and we now agree after doing it. We did get a local discount for earning a local wage on our work permits of 20%, which was nice.

We met at The Pearl at 6:45 in the morning. Somehow, we are still so punctual after two and a half months in Fiji that we were the first to arrive. Other tourists sauntered in before seven, and a couple of Americans at 7:20. Of course they had the most questions and a silly unusual request for extra dry bags for their hotel towels. Lindsay and I spotted two Aussie girls that looked up to the adventure and we thought we'd like to paddle with them. Lindsay asked them if we could go together on the same raft of four, and they had the same idea for us. So we introduced ourselves and finally got on board a shuttle bus at 7:45. Not so fast, one of the guides asked us to get off the bus and get onto another because we were not staying at The Pearl. Lindsay pleaded that we wanted to go with our friends, Kelly and Brooke. After some Fijian conversation and about a minute of chin rubbing, they allowed us to get back on board with our Melbourne friends. Good thing, or we might have been stuck with a young family all day.

The shuttle bus was just like one of those used by hotels to pick up guests from the airport. They must have had some modifications done to them, because they used them like Hummers when we “turned off the paved road”. We climbed and descended foothills on a stoney mud path for half an hour to our starting point.

We had tea and banana cake, then hiked with our PFDs and paddles for fifteen through the bush to an entrance of a stream that made a nice and easy start to our trip. After a safety briefing in Fijian English, one of the Asian women slipped and fell on their bums on the muddy bank. Being held up by a local guide and whimpering to the raft, she then slipped off while climbing in and fell back first into the water. Our gang chuckled for a bit and was first aboard and right off down the river. Why do these people sign up for this stuff? It said in the brochure it was a level 3 or 4 rafting experience (out of 6 I'm told). Anyway we were off.

Just like the pictures, the cavernous river was breathtaking. The raft was first rate and the guide, Joe, had mutated triceps bulging from the back of his arms from pushing the paddles for days on end. He kept excellent control of the raft and his “crew”, mostly saying, “Forward Paddle”. We mocked him lovingly....

Lunch was brilliant. Where did they find smoked ham in Fiji? They had aged cheese to go with it, for a wonderful sandwich that was reminiscent of the US! After lunch we stopped at a waterfall that was easy to climb up and get a “massage”. I didn't understand why water pounding on my head was supposed to be relaxing! Maybe I missed the point...

Waterfalls all around, Joe liked telling us “Forward Paddle”, which was obediently did, until we caught on that he had us paddling straight into the waterfalls for a good cold soaking. Not a bad idea, really.

Sometimes we just jumped out and floated in the cool water. Sometimes we would spin around while going down the rocks and rapids!

Lindsay's helmet / baseball cap combo! Reverse paddle Lindsay!

WHAT?

We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and even helped break down the rafts at the end of the trip. The bus ride back to Pacific Harbor was surprisingly just as long as the morning. I guess the best rafting is way up in the interior and we have to drive up there to experience it. We are so glad we did!

Being Connected

2011-01-20T17:16:00.000-06:00

During our time in Fiji we've had some ups and downs with the job and our emotions about being here, so as brother mason, Tadd decided to turn to the local guys for support, as he would if he were at home.

"Steve" answered right back to Tadd's email a few months back, and has been very kind with his advice and support in trying to understand the "Fiji way." So when we were headed back to Suva again on our holiday, Tadd went along to the local meeting.

Obviously I wasn't allowed to go... and Tadd can't divulge anything about the meeting, but he did seem to enjoy himself, and has decided it would be a good thing to get in touch with his brothers everywhere we go on our future travels.

Oh and the reason Tadd's the only one wearing a "skirt" has nothing to do with some strange funny-handshake ritual... that's the thing down here in the island... the guys wear sulus ("soothoo")... so the next step will be to get Tadd a kilt!

Another Country, Another Waterfall

2011-01-19T02:17:00.000-06:00

So Lindsay and I finally got a chance to take some time off work and travel around Fiji for a couple of weeks. Our first day “off the island” we headed inland on an open aired bus.....

Lindsay had a specific request to do some “non beach related stuff”. We stopped outside the captial city in a place called the Raintree Lodge. Very nice for a backpacker resort with a wonderful view of a pond from our room's balcony.

There was a small forest preservation area that she convinced me to hike with her. There had been lots of rain lately, so the road into the area was a bit muddy. Besides what Scott Blunk said about buying flops a couple of sizes too small to avoid getting dirty, we managed to flip mud from our flops up the backsides of our legs anyhow!

Once the hike began, we realized how small the area was and why they didn't bother with signs when the trails split. You could here the water running down the river and the kids yelling with excitement!

Shortly, we were at yet another waterfall in another country, this time, FIJI!

The picture after the splashing around in the chilly water is more entertaining. COLD? In the tropics you ask?

We were impressed with the work that has been done in regard to the bridges, step supports and especially the steps carved right out of the bedrock.

The years of river water have strangely left large boulders yet carved a way through them as well. There were cool stepping stones and beautiful mosses. It was wonderfully cool and quiet next to the running water.

AND THEN....................ANOTHER!

Now, why is it we have to hike UP so much farther after a waterfall than we do DOWN to get there? Or is it just me? I had to turn around and shoot this particular stretch of stairs, or what is visible from this angle. Feel the burn.

We returned to the resort and enjoyed our beautiful room with a view for a nap and a watched another episode of Horatio Hornblower's adventures on the laptop before happy hour and TV (What a treat!) proud of ourselves for getting out there and stomping around in the bush for some exercise.

Complaining About Paradise??!!

2010-12-19T22:04:00.002-06:00

Tadd doing the washing up outside our bure... Home sweet home

After less than 24hrs Mike left to go back to his lovely modern home in Nadi... and we were left to pick up the pieces of our so-called "dream job."

It's not all bad for sure... the weather is often nice... and other times it's insanely hot... or pouring with rain (I never knew Fiji had a rainy side... did you?)... oh, and that's not to mention the almost-cyclone we had come thru... (Tadd was away) it was pretty freaky... I had to walk around with my hands over my head to protect myself from all the falling coconuts!!

Then after the first round of rain.. the sun came out... but the wind continued to blow... I definitely don't want to be there through an actual cyclone!

Tadd has now fixed up the bure a bunch... we have a place to cook with one gas burner... we seem to be free of larger rodents, but still hear the rustle of the smaller, cuter variety, and have to hope that the geckos don't choose to use the toilet over our heads during dinner. We have a mosquito net over the bed, so I no longer have to go to sleep and wake up to that horrendously annoying "nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn" sound the mozzies make right before they land and devour me! We have a table and chairs indoors and a table outside with our cool tiki torches. And most of all... most of roof is rainproof... we think!

Working has been interesting... it turned out that the reason Barbara seemed a little off... she was likely drunk... apparently when she first arrived on the island for work she locked herself in her bure and drank so the staff didn't really see her.

Most of the boys we have on staff are working on becoming divemasters... when they bother to turn up, or can drag themselves out of their kava hangover (kava - the local root drink that passes as grog). They are getting a lot better now that we have talked with them and they see that we are staying around...

The exception to this is Jioti... our boat captain... Tadd had to go off for a couple of weeks to teach at another resort...meanwhile Jioti went off for a night or two in the city... he came back falling-down, stupid drunk... and propositioned his boss... yes that's me!! This is nothing new after all those years working in Ecuador... but still not cool...he ended up getting an official warning from Mike (this included the threat of taking him to the police per Fijian law)... so I was a little surprised when less than a week later he once again came back drunk, while I was out diving with guests... and he locked himself in the office of the dive shop... barracading himself in... where various people had left their clothes...well... it was his home after all.. ??!!

Jioti has since quit on us... in the middle of the work day... although no one but us seems to think this is actually a permanent situation... tough luck Jioti!

Tadd has now thrown himself into training up the guys when I'm unavailable to help him... they are gettting into it, so this offers satisfaction... so for now, we'll see how it goes... it's Christmas soon and then we'll have some time off in the new year!!

Surviving... or Just About`

2010-12-18T21:54:00.002-06:00

Breakfast was tea and cold cereal with warm milk. Lindsay and I talked about how disappointed we were. I said let's tell him. Lindsay said she didn't want to let him down and leave him without someone to look after the place. We decided to let him know that we would see how things went, but we weren't happy with the living conditions.

We met Mike at the dive shop. He was bright eyed and bushy tailed and asked how we were. I told him that actually, not so good, and why, and that we would walk away from his job, but we would have to see how things went before we decided if we wanted to stay or not. He seemed to understand and got right into the orientation of things as they came into his mind. He mentioned how we would have to cook in the kitchen and just ask politely to come in to do so. I looked in there and wondered why it was so dirty and dark. The cold reality of a completely different set of standards was setting in. I mean, I've eaten from ramshackle kitchens in cheap street restaurants in Central America, but this look worse than any of them and this is a resort, isn't it?

Then we were given a tour of the shower facilities. The women's side is on the right, and men's on the left. Both of which were surrounded by a palm-frond fench that had definitely seen better days and didn't exactly offer much privacy anymore. Mike said the locals were used to living in close quarters and generally diverted their eyes from one another in these situations and suggested we follow suit. I noticed right away there was to hot water tap. No big deal, we thought, it's hot out normally, so who needs hot water. We were told that a new shower room was under construction and we could expect an upgrade in the facilities soon. Unfortunately, the shower room also has toilets and the well is about 40 meters away from the septic tank....

Mike warned us not to drink the well water. There was a rainwater collection system that we could use for drinking next to the office. We were shown the nearest toilet and after I used it, I realized that there was no sink for washing my hands, or soap for that matter. So do I just run the tap and rinse my hands then? Good grief.

It was then that we met Barbara. She is from Germany and had been temporarily running the dive shop until our arrival. She apologized for not making sure the boat driver knew we were coming. The boat driver came and apologized to Mike for not knowing we were coming. Barbara took about 45 minutes to run through the forms and their locations with us. Mike was somewhere else, looking at the compressor and tanks, I think. Some of the forms were in books, some where in a suitcase. Others were missing.

She thought she did pretty good considering nobody gave her a handover or orientation when she arrived. We thought this was unfair and empathized with her. She complained about Jioti's stuff hanging all over and on the shop's desk when she got there. She seemed a little off kilter, we just couldn't put our finger on why.

Mike met back up with us when we were finished. Lindsay and I thought about living in the dive shop, instead of the bure. We had to consider the pros and cons of it. Jioti used to live in the bure with Sharon, now he has moved out and into the dive shop. It was a weird situation, and we hadn't even met him yet. I noticed his Boatmaster license on the diveshop door. He was dark with dreadlocks and had a wide face. He was about six months younger than me....

Life In Paradise

2010-12-16T21:53:00.000-06:00

Lindsay and I accepted a job offer from a friend of hers, Mike, who owns Viti Water Sports, way back in September of 2010. There was some back and forth by email, but we didn't ask loads of questions as he was a friend, and we thought... "it's gotta be nice enough, and it's our first job as diving instructors after all!"

We arrived for work on October 30th. Mike met us at the airport and took us to his home in Nadi ("Nandee"). We showered and he supplied us with some work uniforms. Then, he drove us three hours across the main Fijian island of Viti Levu.

We were told about Rai, who isthe office secretary and Tai, the resort manager being our contact people for the resort-side of things. Sharon was the previous manager (who has expressed an interest in buying the dive operation) here at Caqalai after she returns from college in Ireland. Her husband is a local villager named Jioti ("Georgey") and our main boat captain. We were warned that he is grumpy and is actually more reliable now that Sharon is away. We started taking notes.

We were so exhausted from the eleven hour flight and the jetlag that we stopped writing things down as Mike pointed at landmarks and telling political stories and whatnot. I asked if there were student waiting on us. In the back of my mind I was wondering why we were rushing things a bit. Mike said just the Divemasters in training needed teaching. So, I said, we have nobody trained as a Divemaster at the resort? The answer was no. So much for having someone qualified to help teaching and running dives.

When we arrived in another crazy town, filled with the chaos of market day, we were given an advance on our wages and instructed to buy some groceries because we would have to cook for ourselves while on the island, if we wanted to save money. We could pay for the food from the resort if we wished, but most of the others have just cooked in the resort kitchen and gotten along fine, Mike said.

He left to drop off his car somewhere and thirty minutes later, he met back up with us in a taxi. Lindsay was so lost in that store, not knowing what to grab, totally overwhelmed by the busy store and generally by the situation and the jetlag, I went into survival mode and started grabbing staples and tuna and pasta. We went through the checkout without a clue as to what we would need.

The driver said we had too much weight and we needed to get another taxi. We got into a taxi, Mike gave our driver directions and he got in the another cab. We were concerned when Mike's cab stopped for fuel and ours continued down the road. We had no idea how long the trip was, where we were going, the name of the place to get to, and without any way to all Mike!

Half an hour and many incomprehensible answers to my questions later, we arrived at a concrete bridge with what looked like an abandoned building next to it.

Apparently this was somewhere!

We were greeted by a nice local woman who seemed to know that we were headed to Caqalai ("Thangalai"). I said we were with Mike and she knew who he was. I was please when Mike's cab finally arrived at 3:30pm.

"Wyndy-leethee River" - will we ever work out how to pronounce the names??!!

We were now at the Waidalice Bridge for the 3pm resort boat. It had left without us. He had failed to remind anyone on that day that we were coming. We were picked up by the Viti Watersports dive boat several hours later. Mike downplayed the delay and laughed about “Fiji time.” When we finally boarded the boat, I was wondering how far away from civilization this resort could be. I asked how long the boat ride would be. He said 20 to 30 minutes.

As we came out of the mouth of the river 15 minutes later, strong SE winds greeted us and I was completely soaked in seawater by the time we arrived at the island 40 minutes after getting on board.

It was getting dark and I was pretty unhappy. We off-loaded and were shown the dive shop. As we were getting concerned about our frozen foods, we were then taken down a trail to "Sunset Point" to see our accommodations, or “bure” (hut) where we would reside.

We carried our packs and food down the 300 meter path, tripping over the roots. When we arrived at the shack, Mike shouldered the dragging door open and took our bags from us. He tossed them inside and said it's time for dinner. I was still wet and our food was now 300 meters from a refrigerator. I started to raise my voice and said I needed to change for dinner and why did we bring our food down here! (to keep it out of the reaches of the local dogs... hmmm! I think the it would have been safe in the fridge!! back up in the kitchen!!!)

I put on some dry clothes and found a flashlight. Lindsay and I peeked into the bure, cobwebs and clothesline were crisscrossed from end to end. There was a bed, some large wooden chairs and a low table. There were no lights, candles or a lantern in sight. We didn't see a mosquito net for the bed, or sheets. I was muttering something about how different this whole experience is turning out to be versus what I had in mind, as I walked my head into the five foot door opening. It was time to get to dinner. We backed away from the bure and headed back up to the dining hall.

There were a few guests at a long table, that were apparently waiting for us. We joined them at the end of the table. Mike sat down to my right. My anger and regret was starting to build inside me as I sat there, silently, not participating in Mike's conversation.

The food came. It was cold and wet and in a pile on my plate. I couldn't eat it. I just stared at the table, between my plate and Lindsay's. I didn't say a word. Mike was looking at me. He said something about us being tired and suggested we go to bed. He took us down the path to the other bures on the East end of the island, about a 100 meter walk. He pointed out the view of the moonlight and walked us back down the beach. Crabs ran from our flashlight beams as we walked West. Mike bid us goodnight and said that we could meet him in the morning at the dive shop after breakfast and he would show us the papers and such for daily operations.

I told Lindsay that as of right then, I was confused and angry and if I had to choose right then, I was going to quit this job. However, I said, I'm going to withhold judgement under morning.

We felt awful for not asking enough questions. How could our living conditions be so far from our expectations? Didn't the website for Caqalai mention flush toilets and a generator for power? Why did we not get that much? There was sand all over the floor mats, and in the bed. We were so exhausted that we climbed onto the mattress and slept in our clothes. When we woke, we realized that we were never shown where the bathrooms were. We went outside our shack and peed in the weeds. Okay, time for breakfast....

No Lights, No Power, No Running Water..and No Internet!!

2010-11-08T17:29:00.002-06:00

Tadd & I had hoped to get a chance to catch up on blogs from our trip to the US and UK once we were settled here in Fiji... but what we weren't expecting was a tiny island with a home that has no lights, now power, and no running water. The island itself has a generator, but our hut, or Bure, has none of the above. And there seems to be something wrong with the internet USB chip that the island "resort" and our dive shop uses... so we only get internet when we travel about 1 and a half hours to the town of Nausori... so watch this space, and we hope to have updated news one of these days!!!

Lindsay & Tadd

Just for fun, a motorcycle, two helmets and a camera.

2010-11-01T08:00:00.002-05:00

While visiting Lindsay's friends, Tammie and Paul in Morgan Hill, CA, we were encouraged to borrow Tammie's motorcycle and go exploring. I thought to myself, “does she really mean that?”

Well, she did. What a wonderful idea. It's a 2005 Yamaha 750 Silverado V-Star. (It's for sale if you can handle it! No wait, I wanna buy it...)

Paul provided the very cool riding jacket, so I looked the part, you know!

Now, I have to say that Lindsay and I were a bit nervous at one point. We had just left Paul and Tammie's neighborhood and got onto Interstate 101. We had to accelerate up to 70 mph just to keep up with traffic. Of course, it seemed like twice as fast.

Luckily, our exit was within a mile or two and we got to slow down and take a look around.

I can see myself getting into this way of life. What a way to travel!

Just like when my roommate Peter said the best way to experience Key West was from a bicycle, I can thoroughly recommend cruising the hills of Northern California on a motorcycle.

We made our way around Anderson Lake and over a bridge.

( 37 09' 09” N 121 34' 55” W for you Google Earth fanatics!)

And curled our way up to cooler winds at Henry Coe State Park where there were some hikers making their way back out again to the parking lot.

I got one of the hikers to snap a shot of us. Can you tell I'm having a good time?

This truly is one of the most beautiful areas I have seen in the States! Just imagine this covered in snow!

I guess we're in the dry season....

Lindsay did a spectacular job of taking pictures, negotiating the turns and making sure I was paying attention to the occasional passing car or hairpin turn!

And even managed to take a shot of herself underway!

So as we made our way back down from where we came, I got a bit more confident.

And being sailors at heart, put the bike in neutral and did lots of coasting on the way down.

I know it seems kind of simple, this afternoon motorcycle trip, but I have to say it has reminded me how much fun I can have on a joyride!

Now I really understand why I've seen motorcycles being trailered around in the States!

The Baby Tour Begins... with the best!! WARNING lots of baby pics!!

2010-09-22T18:36:00.000-05:00

Next stop San Francisco... well Berkeley to start with.

We had found a place to stay on my new favourite website airbnb.com (check it out!) And ended up with a lovely room in a local's house. We were free to come and go as we pleased and had use of the kitchen... and all for a bargain compared the options for hotels in the area.

Tadd relaxing in the front room of our "B n' B"

The main reason for the trip was to visit my brother and sister-in-law and meet my new, baby nephews... soooo cute!!

This was actually taken long before we got there... but I love this pic... Robbie & Will were so tiny that they had them sleeping in a tub.

Mummy Sheena with Robbie

A rather sleeping-looking Will

Robbie

Ian looking very proficient feeding Will

Robbie & Will in the double buggie that gets so much attention!!

Tammie with "her favourite!" (Whichever boy she's holding is her favourite!)

Super cute sepia pic Ian took of Robbie & Will

We did get a chance to go play in San Francisco... we opted against the bike tours this time and for the Muni day pass that gets you on all the buses, streetcars, cablecars... very fun!

There was some interesting art on the BART

... notice the design of the backpack!

Cable car

Of course, we stopped to eat in Chinatown!

Nice abstract of downtown SF

Down the dock in San Fran

Alcatraz with a race team practicing & the ferry

Just a cool plaque among the many in the streets of Berkeley

We managed to fit in time to have lunch with my friend Elsie

In fact, we had a lot of great food in SF... of course!! This was a fab burger joint in Berkeley

But it's not surprising there's such good food when they have so much amazing produce!!! And this is just in the everyday supermarket!! Eat your heart out East Coasters!!

Me, Tadd & Sheena enjoying our Provencal lunch... Yum!!

Ian & Paul

Family First

2010-09-17T18:11:00.001-05:00

We spent a lovely few days down in Monticello, Indiana just chilling at Tadd's old house, where his parents, Joe & Linda, now live.

Monticello is out amid the farmlands of Indiana, about 2 hours south of Chicago

It's a lovely little town... I love this sculpture in the town square

Tadd's mum decided our visit was the perfect opportunity to get some of her family together for a bit of a reunion. His brother Brent & family came up from Bedford. There was quite a turnout if you ask me... but then again the Erb's are quite a large family compared to my own!!

A few more days of relaxing surrounded by the corn fields, it was time to head back to the airport and head off on the next leg of the trip...

Around the world... well not quite!

2010-09-15T17:58:00.004-05:00

Tadd & I got back from the diving fun in Utila, and had just a day to get packed up and ready for us to head off to the US & UK.

Tadd trying out our Belizean mask

And so on September 7th, after much planning, we jumped on a plane and landed in Chicago. After a late arrival and a night's stay at a cheapy hotel near the airport, we headed into the city for a pleasant couple of days - it's the first time in years that I have been to Chicago in summer... how pleasant not to be blown down the streets and bundled from nose to toes!

Cool statue over the door of Tiffany's

The streets by night

The view from our fabulous hotel - the Holiday Inn Express... great deal via Hotels.com!!!

The river... we did a bunch of wandering around

And then it was off on the train to Indiana to visit Tadd's family.

SCUBA Anyone?

2010-09-13T13:50:00.000-05:00

While we were traveling around Guatemala, Tadd & I were reminded, by a random poster in a random backpackers hostel, that we had considered becoming PADI scuba instructors when we had finished our Divemaster in 2009...

So fate or whatever kicked in, and we found out that we had just enough time to whizz off to the island of Utila off the north coast of Honduras, and do just that.

We grabbed up our backpack and all our diver gear and jumped in the first collectivo headed the right direction...

I took this while we still had room to take pictures

After crossing the border to Honduras, without much formality, we avoided the enticement of the taxi drivers and packed onto another ex-school bus headed to Puerto Cortez

We jumped off that bus, ran across the road and onto the next bus for San Pedro Sula

And after yet another bus, we made it to La Ceiba... but sadly not it time for the 4pm ferry to Utila... so we had a night to enjoy the "delights" of this coastal town.

Utila's a great island, just 18 miles north of La Ceiba... full of backpackers and divers

With some interesting buildings

We spent most of the next two weeks either in the classroom, pool or shallow open water learning the ins and outs of safely teaching people to dive... and then we were ready for the two days of evaluations...

By this stage we were almost done and all very confident that we were going to pass.... Yay!

Tadd with our instructor Matt Awty

And me with our other instructor Rich Astley

We graduated amidst a great bunch of people at BICD... all-in-all a great bunch of people and fabulous instructors!!

There was quite a celebration with all our new instructor colleagues!

But before we knew it, it was time to make the slog back to Guatemala... our first mode of transport of the day...

and Tadd's first Tuc-Tuc ride

It's amazing what comes aboard the ferry with you sometimes!

We thought we were pros on the overland travel thing... until we discovered that heavy rains had washed out one of the bridges just on the Guatemalan side of the border... so the resourceful locals had set up lancha trips for a small fee

All part of the adventure!!

So we made it safely back to Rio Dulce, Guatemala and to our boat... just in time to pack up and head north.

S/V Third Aye

2010-08-08T16:00:00.020-05:00

S/V Third Aye

Asking Price: Only $19,900 USD

We have decided to try to sell our boat, and thereby make ourselves more mobile and available for any job that we fancy pursuing around the globe. So here's the info about the boat, with some pictures (so you can also see where we've been living for the last year!).

S/V Third Aye

1975 Irwin 30'

Registered: Key West, Fl
Current location: Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Gross tonnage: 10 GRT
LOA: 30'
Beam: 10.2'
Draft: Centerboard up 4.3'; centerboard down 8.3'
Bridge clearance: 45'
Steering: Binnacle-mounted wheel steering
Hull: Fiberglass, new paint 2009
Engine: Westerbeke diesel 30hp, 2006
Fuel: 20 gallon aluminum tank, re-conditioned 2010
Fridge: EZ Kold 12v custom-built freezer block w/digital controls, 2009
Solar panel: Aft-mounted, pivoting 205Watt SunElec solar panel, 2009
Electronics: iCom VHF IC-M502; AM-FM stereo w/4x Pyle Hydra marine cockpit speakers (8"); Xantrex Link 10 charge monitor; Garmin GPS76 waterproof, handheld
All electrical systems re-conditioned 2009
Davits: Martek 370 system stainless steel dinghy davits w/stabilizing strut, 2009
Water storage: Holds 50 gallons of water in one fiberglass tank
Cabins/berths: Sleeps 5 (double v-berth, 2 in salon, pilot berth)
V-berth: Specialty v-berth Froli Sleep System; 2x 12v fans; memory foam mattress topper
Galley: Alcohol stove with 2 burners; extra deep sink
Ground tackle: 2x 22lb Danforth w/30' chain & 170' rode; 1x 35lb CQR
BBQ: Kuuma 83722 Stow N' Go 24' rectangular marine grill & rail mount

Original Specs

Companionway

Nav station (port side)

Pilot berth (aft of nav station)

Galley

(Alcohol stove with 2 burners; 12v fridge; extra deep sink)

Salon

(fold-down table sits 4)

Lots of shelving storage behind both settee backs

Settees can sleep 2

Salon looking aft

The Head

Hanging & other storage

Double V-berth

(Queen size at aft end)

Froli Sleep System

(fantastic!)

"At The Waterhole"

2010-08-05T19:45:00.010-05:00

After such a crazy day in the caves and pools of Semuc Chempey we were totally wiped out, but

still decided to head out the next day and inflict yet another supposedly 6 hour bus trip on ourselves. As it turned out, a whole bunch of people from Zephyr were heading out with us... could it have had anything to do with the lack of water at the hostel... hmmm?

So the local tour company squeezed a whole bunch of gringos into a van again... not an inch to spare! And off we went north. The trip was mostly uneventful, until we arrived in one small town and came to a stop next to the river...

After a while a small cable ferry came over and we piled on with trucks and motorbikes and slowly made our way across.

We got into Flores late in the afternoon, and were really glad we had decided to call ahead and make a reservation at one of the hotels, for ourselves and a couple of German girls who'd stayed at Zephyr with us, so we didn't have the scramble other travelers went through to grab the last few rooms in town.

Flores is a funny old place, basically an island with a bridge or causeway connecting it to the main city of Santa Elena.

It's a quiet little town in the middle of Lago El Peten, which is so huge you can't even see from one end to the other. Although a little touristy, it's very pleasant, so, unlike most of the other backpackers, we rejected the idea of getting up at 4 am the next morning to rush off to Tikal for the day trip... we're just too old for that and preferred to sleep in!!

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We enjoyed a day wandering around town and had our best meal yet in Guatemala... exactly what we'd been looking for since we got here... a good menu del dia - a very cheap (about $2.50) for a tasty plate of food and a drink. We searched out a eatery on the main square where it seem half the office workers in town were, and had chili relleno (a big, non-spicy chili stuffed with a mix of shredded chicken and veggies) and avocado and beetroot salad and fresh corn tortillas.... YUM!!

The main plaza

Basically, we dwindled the day away wandering up and down this hill of an island, watching all the tuc-tuc (local taxis) whiz around the cobble-stoned streets.

Tuc! Tuc!

At 2:30 in the afternoon, we jumped on one of the emptiest shuttle vans we'd been in and headed north to the Mayan site of Tikal. We've been to a few Mayan sites here in Central America, but Tadd was really excited about going to such a huge ancient city as Tikal ("At the waterhole"). And even though I've been before, I knew how amazing the place was, so I was excited too!

Look at the excited gringo!

Beyond rejecting the 4am tour out of Flores, we had also decided to treat ourselves and spend the money to stay at one of the fancier hotels that are right inside the national park, very close to the ruins and in the thicket of the jungle... As we spent the afternoon relaxing in the pool, we watched spider monkeys swing and jump through the trees!

The Life of Luxury

First thing the next morning we joined up with a guide group and headed into the ruins... nothing less than spectacular. We wandered through the forest, while our rather amusing and very knowledgeable guide, Cesar, explained all about the location and the Maya. We passed lots of smallish temples and some big mounds of jungle that still encased other, un-excavated buildings. Eventually we reached the tallest of the temples, number IV.

We slogged our way to top... we are so unfit!!

But, of course, it was worth it for the view...

Tadd seemed dutifully impressed as we looked out over the seemingly endless jungle, as a million shades of green covered the land in every direction.

A few smaller sites, and lots more tidbits from Cesar and we reached Temple V...

and it's seriously steep steps!!

It's pretty amazing considering that when they found it, it had trees growing all up the sides

As ever, the view from the top was amazing, looking across to the other complexes of Tikal, which peak out through the greenery.

But Tadd didn't get to see it, as he opted to stay down below...

That's him in the middle in the greenish t-shirt

Off to the next spot, and we crossed paths with another troop of acrobatic spider monkeys

Yes! He is hanging by his tale

The Grand Plaza

Temple I... or was it Temple II... the were all starting to look alike ;-)

Oh no that one's definitely Temple II!

The local wildlife seems to like the ruins too... a very curious Coati.

Can you say, "Big, old pile of rocks"? Just kidding!

King big nose?

There was just time for a photo in front of the huge Kapok tree roots before heading back to the pool!

Ruins and Caves and Ancient Cultures, Oh My!

2010-07-31T18:21:00.011-05:00

Having spent a week or so in Rio Dulce... checking out the different swimming pools and happy hours around all the marinas, and enjoying the excitement of the World Cup. We decided it was time to head out and explore some of this country.

So we got up early...

Sunrise over the Rio Dulce

And jumped on a bus to Guatemala.... "Hey! Wait! I thought you said you were in Guatemala already??" I hear you say... well for some strange reason the locals refer to Guatemala City just as Guatemala... so you can travel from anywhere within the country of Guatemala to Guatemala ) or sometimes Guate... it was little hard to get used to at first... but we got with the program.

On the road to Guate

Although the country is pretty small, though incredibly densely populated, it seems to take ages to get anywhere as the roads are great and super windy, up and down through the mountains. It means some spectacular views of course, and sometimes you get to enjoy them even closer than you care to when the bus and truck drivers play a little chicken while passing on the curves... but they do seem to know what they're doing.

Six hours (well more like seven) later we arrived in Guate at the terminal of the Litegua bus, feeling rather sore , but glad to arrive (and this was on a semi-luxury bus). Luckily as we arrived rather later than scheduled we only had a few minutes to wait for the next bus out to Antigua... actually Antigua Guatemala (which means old Guatemala... how many Guatemalas can they live with in this country).

We were headed to this lovely, colonial town to meet up with some friends, one of whom we'd met in the jungle in Belize... but my stupid local phone was not allowing me to text her... so we rolled into the beautiful old town of Antigua wondering how to find the girls... when Tadd suddenly points and shouts, "There's Cassie!" ... it wasn't the first time that had happened with her... we had sent her an email once we arrived in Rio Dulce, and as she and Jill walked down to check their email and see if they had a message from us... they bumped into us at the bar!!

So we jumped out of the bus and yelled down the cobblestones as the girls disappeared around a corner... but only for a second, as Jill popped her head back around and spotted us. It turned out Jill was grateful that we found them at that moment, as she was saved from going to wander around some supposedly wonderful old convent or something and dragged off by us back to the hotel and on to Happy Hour!!

Antigua by Night

We had hoped to go hike up the nearby, live volcano Pacaya, but it had apparently spewed lava only the week before and so, most likely wisely so, they weren't allowing silly tourists to climb all the way to the top. Instead we spent a couple of days chilling with the girls, shopping, wandering around, enjoying the night life, a little salsa dancing, and waiting to bump into a jewelry-making friend we'd met in Placencia (Just ask for Alan in the plaza he said... well no one knew him... but just when we had started to think it was a joke, we turned around and there was Alan!).

We picked the girls' brains about where to go and what to do in Guatemala and then Cassie headed for Mexico, Jill back to the UK and we squeezed into a minibus with a bunch of other gringos and another crazy driver and set off for the mountain town of Lanquin.

The drive wasn't too bad, well, until we headed down the dirt road from Coban to Lanquin. It was worth it though! On Cassie & Jill's advice we had called ahead to one of the popular and busy backpacker hostels - Zephyr, so arrived another 7 bus hours later in Lanquin and just grab our bags and wander off to our new temporary home on top of the hill.

The tiny town of Lanquin dwarfed by the surrounding mountains

El Zephyr

It was a pleasant enough place, full of backpackers, dogs, kittens and run by an English bloke and a Belgian guy. Apart from not getting too much sleep the first night (it was Julie's birthday apparently) and the water pump going out on the 2nd or 3rd day requiring bathing in the river... we had a lovely time.

The view from Zephyr

There was some amazing food and drinks,

Fortunately we arrived for the infamous Pizza Night.... Yummmmy!!!

...tubing with the birthday girl, and then the essential trip to Semuc Chempey. A bunch of us climbed into a pick-up truck

But us oldies decided we'd be more comfortable inside the truck's cab (you should have seen how many of them wanted to try to squeeze in the cab on the way back!)

And we headed up and out through Lanquin

One of the 3 or 4 churches in town

and then proceeded to drive straight up the side of a mountain and down the other side.

The first place we arrived was at Las Grutas Marias (The Maria Caves?), but before we could venture in we were strong armed into playing on a rope swing over the river....

Tadd went first and claimed it was no big deal...

Then we hiked up the hill, past the waterfall to mouth of the cave

Where I guide began handing out candles!! One each... and then lit them... interesting!! The group of 10 or so of us then followed him into the cave... I'm sure this is the start of some stupid horror or vampire movie!! But it actually turned out to be pretty cool.

We walked through the waist-high water, scrambled over rocks, swam, climbed ladders, and clambered up small waterfalls... all while holding a candle... that amazingly stayed alight most of the journey!!

There were the occasional bats... but otherwise just us and the caves. We're pretty sure that if they had really explained what we were going to do, we might have passed on it!!

After emerging from the caves, we wandered across the river to Semuc Champey

We checked out the map and decided that we didn't need to walk up to the "mirador" (lookout) as that would undoubtedly mean a big climb. But when the guide came up and announced that was exactly where we were headed no one bothered to say no!

The trail started off as a pleasant ramble through the rainforest, but we quickly came to our turnoff, which sent us pretty much straight up a sequence of steep wooden staircases... half an hour and much sweat later... we made it... and while we were mostly red in the face and still trying to catch our breathes, the group decided it had been worth the trek...

WOW!! What a view

And it was even better than the crappy picture my blackberry could take... there is a big, gushing river flowing down through the forest, that suddenly disappears underground for about a quarter of a mile... while up above there a series of turquoise pools that look a lot like the terracing of a rice paddy from this high up.

After the picture taking, we hiked back down and went for a swim, slither, swim, jump, swim dive, swim down through the different pools, before finally heading back, exhausted to El Zephyr. Fun, Fun, Fun!!

In Search of Derek & Christine - TW Antigua Nov 2009

2010-07-30T16:14:00.000-05:00

Our apologies to everyone else... but thanks to a boat ending up on the reef and computers getting rather soggy and the loss of pieces of paper... we have now way of getting hold of friends we made in Antigua on one of our training charters with TradeWinds...

Christine commented on one of our blog posts... but I can't get hold of her... so Christine & Derek... you know who you are!!! Email us through one of our profiles here on the Blog...

We're coming to the UK in Sept/Oct... and wanted to stop in and say Hi!

Lindsay

Chilling in the Rio

2010-07-20T14:50:00.005-05:00

Life here on the Rio Dulce is pretty chill... but I'm not talking about the weather... that is sizzling!! I had been warned by another cruiser who spent last summer here and said they spent most of their time in the pool at their marina... but, having survived chartering these last few months in Belize, we thought we'd be ok... HA!

So like I said, we are settled at Vista Rio marina...

which is right next to the bridge here... purportedly the longest bridge in Central America

The bridge does look cool... and generally you can't hear the traffic... but every once in a while a truck with next to no breaks, and certainly no break pads screeches it's way down our side into Fronteras.

We've been enjoying our time hiding out on board Third Aye with our wonderful air conditioner (thank you Jim for helping to sort that out!), but we try to make ourselves get out a bit here and there to avoid going totally doolally!

So, the other day we headed off in our little put-put of a dinghy to check out one of the few tourist attractions locally... El Castillo San Felipe.
Apparently (as you probably can't actually read below) was built in the 16th century, originally as a watchtower, to look out for pirates. Over the next century or so, many pirates sailed all the way up from the coast here to Rio Dulce and so the Spanish needed to prevent them getting further in land here at the narrows and stop them from pillaging local towns.

Our rather fancy entry ticket and info guide, complete with a cartoon character of the castle itself!

Over the next couple of centuries the pirate activity came in waves of force and so they built and rebuilt the place until it became a full-on, miniature castle - yes! it was a very cool little castle but really quite compact and bijoux!!

It's really a maze of little (they must have been short and rather skinny Spaniards stationed here) corridors, rooms, stairwell and turret with cannons. Quite elaborate and very cool by the looks of it - if anyone had infiltrated one part of it, they would never have survived beyond the next corner where a sword or rifle would have undoubtedly been waiting for them.

Tadd loved the big, old cannons

After our history lesson we headed back out on the dingy...

to find a pool to cool off in...

that day it was courtesy of Hotel & Marina Tijax.. not a bad setting for the pool, but the most expensive cokes in the area at a whopping $1.30 each!! Outrageous!

Sadly we couldn't stay too long as the I noticed the sky darkening through the trees, out over the lake...

So it was back in the dingy...

And time for Happy Hour!

p.s. and yes, Linda, I did take these pictures... our camera died but we managed to get my ignored blackberry to take over the job until we can get a new one in the States. :-)

Bye Bye Belize... Hola Guatemala!!

2010-07-14T12:11:00.005-05:00

We spent the last days of June getting ready for our departure from Belize after 10 months in the country. It's been a great experience and we got to see most of the country, but we were definitely ready to move on... there were just a few things that stood in our way...

Tadd had to completely dismantle our dinghy's outboard, soak every little bit of it in penetrant and oil, and painstakingly coax each bit back to life... we had left the sturdy 1964 Johnson sitting on the back rail of Third Aye the whole time we were working ... didn't even try to start it once... ahhhh... so won't ever do that again. But in Tadd's expert and determined hands, the dinosaur once again came to life and gave us hope that we would be able to make it ashore on our travels.

We did our best to enjoy a rather soggy Placencia Lobsterfest and the World Cup matches while Tropical Storm Alex washed through. It was no where near as bad as some expected and we had a few good nights out and another hiding out in our cozy little Third Aye.

Tropical Storm/Hurricane Alex hitting land in the Gulf of Mexico

What we thought would be the biggest hurdle before departure turned out to be a formality. We were required to temporarily import Third Aye into Belize and therefore hand over a bunch of cash to Customs. They had assured us and our customs broker, Mr. Billy Valdes, that the money would be safe and sound, waiting for us in a treasury account when we came to leave... but every other sailor that we talked to while in the country offered little hope or confidence that the cash would turn up when we asked for it... ugh!

But as it turned out, Billy was a star!! He not only got us our money back, but he convinced customs to cut us a cheque before we cleared ourselves and our boat out of the country (normally they say you have to physically leave before you can claim your money back!! Huh!!??). So all we had to do, in the end, was turn up in Belize City and have Billy drive us around to pick up the cheque and stuff. He rocks!!

So, all that was left was to stock up on some food, diesel and ginger ale... and do a run around all the local banks to change Belize dollars back into US dollars, as they won't let you change more than USD 250 at a time... definitely time to move on!!

First thing on Thursday July 1st, we untied from the dock and set sail SE to Tom Owens Caye.

We spent a few days hanging out with our friends Polly & Roland at Reef Conservation International, and doing some diving. It was a fabulously relaxing few days with some amazing dives, tagging along with the students that Polly was simultaneously teaching PADI Open Water, Rescue and Divemaster to!! What an amazing lady!!

But by Sunday it was time for us to head off and on to Guatemala. We had checked out of Belize on the mainland and couldn't check into Guatemala until Monday morning, so we just sailed west and anchored for the night off Cabo Tres Puntas in Guatemala.

Then early Monday morning we sailed across to Livingston, to official enter Guatemala.

Arriving across the sandbar into Livingston

With the help of the infamous Raul, we expedited our entry and within a few hours we were on our way up the Rio Dulce... out of the saltwater and into the sweet!

The trip up river was pretty spectacular... through a gorge, where the towering limestone walls were draped with green robes of rainforest plants that clung to the steep rocks. There were many herons, egrets, pelicans and butterflies buzzing around, keeping us company as we slowly made our way inland, against about 1kt of current. Absolutely stunning!!

Winding our way through the gorge... the walls were much higher than they look in the pics!

Tadd driving us up river... keeping a close eye on the depth sounder for errant sand bars and submerged pilings... not just a jaunt through the gorge when you have a draft of over 4'.

After a couple of hours we emerged into the wide waters of El Golfete... we considered stopping at a marina here for the night... but when we set our anchor in Texan Bay and realised the only wind was that which we had be creating ourselves... we opted not to sit and cook until sundown, and headed back out again and pushed on to our marina at Fronteras.

Lago El Golfete

Our new home on the dock at Vista Rio Hotel & Marina

It is probably the cheapest marina on the Rio... but as the only one who responded to our emails and had space available for us... it is now home... and actually, as we check out the other places around here we are very happy with our choice!!

Cockscomb Jaguar Jaunt

2010-07-11T11:36:00.001-05:00

So our little adventure into the Cockscomb Nature Preserve started with a long overdue culling of some undersea creatures clinging under our dinghy. We'll just let the air and sunshine to the dirty work, shall we? Crazy wriggly stuff under there! That's about six months of growth!

After a short bus ride and an expensive taxi ride into the park, Lindsay and I were glad that we brought all of our own food with us. We didn't want to pay that taxi fare again until going home! Then after a warm welcome by Orlando The Park Ranger and a brief introduction to our humble accommodations, we went on a short hike to the nearest waterfall.

With a helpful sign............

And we were immediately refreshed in the cool, clean NOT salty water.

It had been weeks since we had felt this relief, and only by means of air conditioned sleeping.

Elevation has its benefits, doesn't it?

Like this appealing trail that just begs to be discovered all over again.

Which leads to fantastic views of the Maya Mountains!

This truck was used when the vast area, now protected, was used for harvesting the mahogany trees.

After hiking the trails early morning and even late at night in search of wildlife. Alas the jaguars and gibnuts eluded us. We took to enjoying the inner tubes while floating down the Stann Creek River. We even went twice in one day.

We met Cassie from London and she joined us in our tubing and dining adventures.

And then Cassie got her second wildlife wish as a flock of Tucans flew overhead and across the river in front of us all. I'd never seen them before. Kinda funny how hard and fast they must flap their wings, in order to remain aloft with that enormous beak!

Even though we didn't see loads of creatures, we had fun trying. I figure that the preserve is so large, and the area in which humans can walk down the trails is so small in comparison, that the large creatures don't necessarily need to be near the trails so they pretty much stay away. Just a guess though.

We made a new friend in Cassie, we felt relief from the Belizean coastline heat, and we got a little satisfaction by getting our picture taken while sitting on a jaguar statue.

And oh, by the way, I ate stewed Gibnut with rice and beans when I got back to Placencia. Yummy.