Hey everyone!
Well, after 3 weeks of beautiful beach paradise we have reached rainy Auckland…..bring back the sun! To fill everyone in I shall start from the beginning….
We made it to Hawaii from Glasgow in one piece – unfortunately our luggage did not. What a way to start a trip! Luckily the bags arrived two days later – with some much needed clothes and soap. However, Louis’ bag was torn apart (literally) by bloody American airlines (I’m sure many of you have heard his rantings already), but he managed to get some compensation out of them to get a new bag and water bottle. His sigg bottle represents how bad the bag was trashed, it was almost bent in half! Anyway, the rest of Hawaii was amazing! We stayed at the same hostel for the first 5 nights, met a great group from the UK – the first guy we spoke to was a Scot! Saw Pearl Harbour which was very moving, did lots of snorkeling and saw some big turtles, a volcano hike, and managed to see most of Oahu. The island was actually really cheap to get around – managed to tour the whole island for $6. Saw some of the big surfing spots up at the North Shore, but unfortunately we weren’t quite in the big surf season yet so the waves were a bit mediocre. Had a short shot at surfing, Louis managed to catch his first wave, but we’re planning on saving our money to do a ‘Surfari’ trip in Oz so we can learn properly! On our last two nights in Hawaii Louis’ Mum and Dad had kindly paid for us to stay in a nice hotel for his birthday present – it was amazing, definitely the place for a little bit of luxury with a top floor balcony to watch the sunset!
Next stop Fiji! We had two weeks there and spent the whole time island hopping on the Yasawas and the Manamuca Islands. It really was paradise, especially up north of the yasawas. The islands we stayed ranged from being totally chilled out to party islands. Have made loads of good friends along the way already. The first place we stayed it was just us and 5 others – 3 of which were a family. That was very different to the notorious Beachcomber (very fun, from what we remember). Did a lot of lazing about on the beach, some great snorkeling, getting to know the locals, drinking Kava (made from ground root not the bubbly stuff), and being danced to and sang to. The Fijians are so friendly and most the Islands made a real effort to entertain you with ‘mekes’ (traditional dance), and songs – most islands we were met off the boat with all the staff singing a welcome song. I also went to visit a local school and village on one of the islands – its apparently rare to have their own school on the island, most kids get sent away if they can afford an education. The kids at the school were adorable, and they did little skits and sang and danced for us. Fijians are excellent loud singers!
One of the best activities in the two weeks was snorkeling with white tipped reef sharks out in the ocean. Was pretty scary at first, but they were friendly enough, although you got headbutted if you didn’t move out their way generally! The locals would grab them by the fin and throw them about the place (which we thought seemed a bit cruel, but the sharks didn’t seem to mind). Had a look for some manta rays a few times too, but unfortunately they’re out of season here at the moment – hoping to see some big ones in OZ. Also went to a small island where we swam around in a big underground cave, and had to swim a few meters underwater to get to one part of the caves which was pitch black – bit scary for a second when I tried to come up too soon and realized I was still stuck underwater!
Have to say, after 2 weeks there we were ready to hit NZ for some activity – too much relaxing can get tiring! So we are now in Auckland New Zealand. Having to get used to the coldness again – not quite prepared for it with all the summer clothes, but I’m all the skydiving etc will warm us up J. Here for a couple of days before starting our Stray bus trip on Saturday – bring on the adventure!
Hope everyone is well, get in touch with your goings on….Will put some photos up soon.
And Happy Halloween! – think we shall definitely miss celebrating the best night out in Glasgow!
Lots of love Heather xxxx
Well, after 3 weeks of beautiful beach paradise we have reached rainy Auckland…..bring back the sun! To fill everyone in I shall start from the beginning….
We made it to Hawaii from Glasgow in one piece – unfortunately our luggage did not. What a way to start a trip! Luckily the bags arrived two days later – with some much needed clothes and soap. However, Louis’ bag was torn apart (literally) by bloody American airlines (I’m sure many of you have heard his rantings already), but he managed to get some compensation out of them to get a new bag and water bottle. His sigg bottle represents how bad the bag was trashed, it was almost bent in half! Anyway, the rest of Hawaii was amazing! We stayed at the same hostel for the first 5 nights, met a great group from the UK – the first guy we spoke to was a Scot! Saw Pearl Harbour which was very moving, did lots of snorkeling and saw some big turtles, a volcano hike, and managed to see most of Oahu. The island was actually really cheap to get around – managed to tour the whole island for $6. Saw some of the big surfing spots up at the North Shore, but unfortunately we weren’t quite in the big surf season yet so the waves were a bit mediocre. Had a short shot at surfing, Louis managed to catch his first wave, but we’re planning on saving our money to do a ‘Surfari’ trip in Oz so we can learn properly! On our last two nights in Hawaii Louis’ Mum and Dad had kindly paid for us to stay in a nice hotel for his birthday present – it was amazing, definitely the place for a little bit of luxury with a top floor balcony to watch the sunset!
Next stop Fiji! We had two weeks there and spent the whole time island hopping on the Yasawas and the Manamuca Islands. It really was paradise, especially up north of the yasawas. The islands we stayed ranged from being totally chilled out to party islands. Have made loads of good friends along the way already. The first place we stayed it was just us and 5 others – 3 of which were a family. That was very different to the notorious Beachcomber (very fun, from what we remember). Did a lot of lazing about on the beach, some great snorkeling, getting to know the locals, drinking Kava (made from ground root not the bubbly stuff), and being danced to and sang to. The Fijians are so friendly and most the Islands made a real effort to entertain you with ‘mekes’ (traditional dance), and songs – most islands we were met off the boat with all the staff singing a welcome song. I also went to visit a local school and village on one of the islands – its apparently rare to have their own school on the island, most kids get sent away if they can afford an education. The kids at the school were adorable, and they did little skits and sang and danced for us. Fijians are excellent loud singers!
One of the best activities in the two weeks was snorkeling with white tipped reef sharks out in the ocean. Was pretty scary at first, but they were friendly enough, although you got headbutted if you didn’t move out their way generally! The locals would grab them by the fin and throw them about the place (which we thought seemed a bit cruel, but the sharks didn’t seem to mind). Had a look for some manta rays a few times too, but unfortunately they’re out of season here at the moment – hoping to see some big ones in OZ. Also went to a small island where we swam around in a big underground cave, and had to swim a few meters underwater to get to one part of the caves which was pitch black – bit scary for a second when I tried to come up too soon and realized I was still stuck underwater!
Have to say, after 2 weeks there we were ready to hit NZ for some activity – too much relaxing can get tiring! So we are now in Auckland New Zealand. Having to get used to the coldness again – not quite prepared for it with all the summer clothes, but I’m all the skydiving etc will warm us up J. Here for a couple of days before starting our Stray bus trip on Saturday – bring on the adventure!
Hope everyone is well, get in touch with your goings on….Will put some photos up soon.
And Happy Halloween! – think we shall definitely miss celebrating the best night out in Glasgow!
Lots of love Heather xxxx
