Fiji Adventure

I had the extremely fortunate opportunity to go to Fiji for my mid semester break last week. It was by far one of my favorite places I have ever been both by sheer beauty and my overall experience. I was there for 9 days: Friday to next Saturday. I arrived on the main land in the city of Nadi  (Pronounced Nandi) and then traveled to the Yasawa islands which are to the left of the main land. Below is a map to reference where I traveled.

Friday 9/13/13

• 5:30 am- Picked up by airport shuttle at my appartment 
• 9:30 am- Flight
• 3:00 pm- Arrived in Nadi (Fiji time zone is 2 hours later than Sunshine Coast, Australia)
• Went to our hostel: Smugglers cove
• Walked the beach
• Had drinks and dinner with the girls 
• Showered
• Tried to stay up and failed, went to bed at 10:30 pm

Saturday 9/14/13

• 7:00 am- Woke up
• Ater breakfast overlooking the beach
• Left for Port Denarau 
• 3 hours on the Yasawa Flyer (ferry) to Mantaray Bay (Nanuya Balavu Island #10 on the map)
• We passed South Sea Island which is so small you can walk around the whole island in 5 minutes
• Transported to a small boat owned by the resort
• Arrived and greeted by a Bula Welcome song and coconut water
• Bula by the way means 'life' but is used as a greeting like hello
• Checked in and was off to my 40 person dorm. There were 2 bunks per cubical and each bed had their own mosquito net which helped it feel a little more personal.
• Laid out on the beach all day
• Swam in the Koolaid colored water (The whole time i was there i could not get over the color of the ocean. It looks like God dropped food coloring into the water)
• Went on a sunset cruse where we grabbed some beers, went out into the middle of the ocean, sat in inner tubes and watched the sunset
• Ate dinner with the friends I made on the tube cruse
• Showered in the outdoor shower (p.s. all of the showers i took in Fiji were cold. It wasn't too bad though considering how hot it was)
• Went to the bar and had a great night with my new friends

Sunday 9/15/13

• Woke up and had Breakfast
• All of my meals were amazing in Fiji, consisting of fish, potatoes, peppers, bok choy, soup, and more. Breakfast was disappointing everywhere for me since I'm such a breakfast person. It was usually just fruit and toast.
• Nap in the hammock
• Found out from my friend Brittany that we could get certified to be open water divers despite being at the resort for such a short time
• Lunch
• Signed my life away to go diving
• Got ready
• Learned tank deconstruction/construction skills
• Went diving 
• (See separate post about diving)
• Showered
• Watched the Sunset
• Had Dinner
• Exhausted from diving, I went to bed at 8:00 pm

This is Jack. The Resort's 3 month old goat. He is pretty ornery but so freakin' cute!

Monday 9/16/13

• Woke/breakfast/checked out
• Two dives
• Goodbye Fiji Song (Sung by all the resorts) left to the Yasawa Flyer for a half hour ride to Korovou Eco-Tour Resort (Naviti Island #13 on the map)
• Greeted with Mango Nectar YUM!
• Checked into a 20 bed dorm, each person had a singular twin bed
• Lunch
• Fijin cooking lesson (a type of ceviche called Kokoda: brine raw fish in lemon juice, make coconut cream by scraping the coconut meat and wringing it out with water, cut peppers and onions, add and eat)
• Read and worked on my Scuba diving handbook/workbook
•  Watched the sunset
• Dinner
• Took the worst shower of my life (the water consisted of one stream the size of a toothpick! I am not exaggerating)
• Joined everyone at the bar and make some more new friends while we played Limbo and danced
• Went to bed at 12:00

Tuesday 9/17/13

• Woke/Breakfast
• Waited for a boat to take Brittany and I back to Mantaray to finish our last two dives
• Got Scuba Gear and went out with 11 other divers, who were split into two groups 
• Went back to Mantaray for Lunch (Yay! They had the best food by far)
• Took our concept test and passed with 88%
• Went back to Korovou
• Napped on the beach and watched the sunset
• Showered (I showered in a different shower and this time it was much better. I could actually rinse the soap off of my body!)
• Dinner
• Kava Adventure
• Kava is a Fijan cultural drink that tastes more or less like dirt water. As wikipedia states it, "The roots of the plant are used to produce a drink with sedative and anesthetic properties. Kava is consumed throughout the Pacific Ocean cultures of Polynesia, including Hawaii, Vanuatu, Melanesia and some parts of Micronesia. Kava is sedating and is primarily consumed to relax without disrupting mental clarity. Its active ingredients are called kavalactones." We had to sneak away from the resort because they are not allowed to serve it there and we walked into the jungle to the local's hut where we ground, strained and drank Kava whilst listening and singing to songs on the guitar. I didn't feel any effect although I stopped after three drinks because the taste was upsetting my stomach.

Wednesday 9/17/13

• Woke/Packed/Breakfast
• Snorkeled with the Mantarays
• The one we saw was about 5 feet in diameter but I have been told that they can get up to 15 feet!!!
• Went on the Yasawa Flyer for 2 hours to Safe Landing Resort (Nacula Island #26 on the map)
• Split from the rest of my friends as they went to Coralview resort but I made friends with a couple from New Zealand named Chloe and Jeff and a German named Jan (pronounced Yan)
• Went snorkeling and to Blue Lagoon (Where they filmed the movie Blue Lagoon with Brooke Sheilds) I saw the entire cast of finding Nemo including the clown fish in their sea anemone homes, and Gill and Dory!
• I also saw a long, skinny, white sea horse that blended with the coral
• A long, skinny, gray fish with a long nose that I think was a Trumpetfish
• Swam on the Blue Lagoon beach
• Watched the Sunset
• Had Dinner
• Showered
• Hung out with friends and played Trivia
• Went to bed
• The mattresses there didn't have springs in them and were basically like big pillows. Even layering two on top of each other, my but sank into to the bottom of the bunk bed with my legs and torso in the air. I looked like one of those commercials for the electric, movable, tempurpedic beds but to the extreme.

Thursday 9/18/13

• Woke/Breakfrast
• Laid Out
• Cave Trip
• Took a 45 min. boat ride on rough water to the Sawa-I-Lau Caves. One of the caves was open to the light and the next one which, was accessed by a 4 second underwater swim, was completely dark. It was short and sweet but cool to experience.
• When we arrived back we had to walk about a quarter mile back to shore because the tide was so low. There were a lot of sandy sink holes so I had to watch out!
• Lunch
• Read on the hammock 
• Fijian cooking lesson- fried fish in coconut cream with tomatoes and onions (This was amazing and I will definitely be making it again)
• Tea and Cake and the local tea house (more of a hut)
• Hike up the mountains for sunset
• Dinner/Shower
• After dinner activities: sing national anthem of your country (me and a family of Americans rocked it), ball sack hit-the-can game, musical potato and hermit crab racing 
• I talked to the American family which consisted of a couple in their late 20s and the guys parents. The couple are the most well traveled people I have ever met. They have already been a million places but are currently 6 months into their 15 month traveling expedition. They are continuing across the Asia Pacific and are going a million more places.

Friday 9/19/13

• Woke/Breakfast
• Laid out
• Played with one of the Fijian children living at the resort. 
• Had a massage
• Hammock
• Goodbye Song
• Yasawa Flyer back to Nadi for 5 and 1/2 hours
• Said goodbye to Chloe, Jeff and Jan
• Went to smugglers
• Ate/Showered/Got ready
• Went out clubbing for my friend Paige's 21st Birthday (needless to say it was a crazy night)

Saturday 9/20/13

• Woke/Breakfast
• Packed/Checked out
• Went into Nadi to explore and see the markets
• Curry Indian lunch which was recommended to us by a local
• Spotted and got a $6 US manicure
• Back to Smugglers to relax for 2 hours
• 5:00 airport
• Shopped/Dinner
• Flight 7:40 pm
• Arrived at the Airport at 10:00 pm AUS time
• Left at 11:00 on the shuttle
• Got home at 12:30 am
• Said Hi to my roommate Lars, Checked Facebook and emails and went to bed

Overall I would say the experiences I had, people I met, sights I saw and food I ate made Fiji unforgettable. 

Random Odds and Bobs

An on going compilation of my random thoughts that I have every day pertaining to Australia and studying abroad.

AUSTRALIA
-20 something year olds LOVE Jelly Sandals here
-Sushi is everywhere but popular flavors are teriyaki chicken, and tuna salad
-The big nights to go out are Thursday and Sunday...
-They love Pumpkin here although I have noticed that they call anything squash like, pumpkin.


I MISS...
-Salad works
-Fall fashion
-M.A.C. Rebel lipstick (kind of goes with the fall fashion)
-Wireless internet
-Diners
-Buffalo Wings

Australian Culture

Just wanted to inform all of you about a very interesting Australian phenomenon. It comes by the name of a 'ute' short for utility and can only be described as a car/truck hybrid. They look absolutely stupid but they are considered the 'cool' cars driven by 'bad boys' in Australia. Please try to contain your bewilderment and laughter as you view the following picture.

Brissy

Last weekend I went to Brisbane, the capitol of Queensland, Australia. It is the third most populated city in Australia with a little over 2 million inhabitants. This being said, I felt like it was a relatively small city as it was easy to navigate. I also noticed that the city was very clean. I have heard that one can get fined for even throwing a cigaret on the ground in Australia so maybe this has something to do with it. We walked the city, shopped, saw some old government buildings, a park and of course the river that runs through the city itself. The night was spent at a club in 'The Valley' where we partied hard until we came back to pass out in our hostel bunk beds amongst 9 other people. All in all it was an amazing weekend spent in a beautiful city with beautiful friends.

Steve Irwin Lives On At The Australian Zoo

First off, sorry for the hiatus. Two weeks ago I was busy adventuring and then I didn't have any time between school work the next week to blog about it, so that brings us to today. Right, now that I have apologized and you have all hopefully forgiven me we can move on to me telling you about amazing furry animals. Unlike my last post, this post will be all about the cute creatures that I would like to find waking up in my bedroom (ok maybe not the crocodiles). On my third attempt getting to the zoo I finally made it. For all of you who didn't know the Australian Zoo is the Steve Irwin family zoo. Because of this Steve is mentioned and seen all throughout the park. It is weird to see him and his vision live on. Since I saw so much I will just highlight the best parts of my day in the wild. First, the koalas. I think they are officially my new favorite animal. These little round fur balls of love always look happy. Fun fact: koalas sleep between 18 and 22 hours a day! Thankfully I was able to see some of them awake, including a little baby taking a piggy back ride on her mama's back. Below are some pictures of these pink eyed friends. The second to last picture shows a mama and her baby by her stomach. The very last picture shows the baby on another mama's back.

The adventure continued when I entered the Roo Haven. I literally walked through a gate and was welcomed by a vast field to wonder off path, find kangaroos and pet them. Everything in my body told me it was wrong to walk up to a wild animal and pet it but these kangaroos were so used to it they didn't even flinch. I noticed they had different types of kangaroos. Some were more red and had thinner faces while others were white and had boxier faces. Take a look!

The last amazing thing I experienced at the zoo was feeding a GIANT! I was able to join in on the feeding process for the Asian elephants. The process was very similar to that of a drill line so it was difficult to get a picture. I fed her twise just because I couldn't get over the feeling. You would think the elephant would suction the food with her nose and then feed it to herself but instead she wrapped her ill-moisturized trunk around my hand making a little knot holding the food. It was so quick and so surreal. That day she enjoyed a lunch of zucchini, squash, celery and carrots. 

The day was finished off my venturing down to the beach to have a double dinner at the local fishery and a sushi restaurant. I am very excited to go to the Koala Sanctuary sometime soon to hold one of those fuzz balls!

Morning Episode

This morning I had an...experience. I have class at 8:00 a.m. on Fridays which is a drag but the show must go on. As I slumbered like an angel I felt my phone vibrate against my ear, nudging me awake. I knew I would not wake up unless I sat right up in bed, so that is what I did. I rubbed my eyes, looked around and saw through the faint light peaking through my curtains, a quarter sized dot on my wall next to my bed. I thought that maybe it was a stain or a piece of gum from a previous tenet that I hadn't seen before. As if waking up at 6:30 a.m. wasn't hell enough, I was met with El Diablo. A cockroach (well I am pretty sure it was a cockroach) was sitting idle on my wall waiting to great me with a good morning smile. If this was the kind of cute, little, critter in Wall-E maybe I would have been more receptive but when animation is taken out of the picture the sight is not as welcoming. Instant nausea enveloped me. I slowly grabbed two tissues and one of my new text books right out of its shopping bag. I didn't know what I would do if it had scurried away but thankfully it was a quick execution and surprisingly there was no crunch to be heard. After disposing the culprit in the toilet the morning attack was behind me, or so I thought. I couldn't help but continue to think about it. Did it crawl on top of me while I was sleeping? Couldn't it have gone into my mouth? How the heck did it get in?! All I know is that I no longer feel safe in my bed.

Perception

I realized the other day that this whole experience still doesn't seem so real. I feel like am in an alternate America where the plants look a little different, everyone sounds a little funny, there are weird creatures hopping around and I am getting hit by cars on the opposite side of the road. Everything seems so familiar yet is just slightly different. It makes it hard to believe that I am halfway across the world from where I come from. I think I would realize the spacial difference more if I was in Asia but not here. Even in England I felt more far away from home than I do here. Maybe it is the relaxed beach culture here or the fact that I am surrounded by my peers that makes me feel like I am living in the twilight zone.

Although I don't feel so far I know I am going to miss some things. I am going to miss the fall crisp air and seeing the trees change color. I am going to miss Acorn coffee shop cookies. I am already missing TV (my Dad would say that isn't a bad thing though). I wouldn't say that these feelings are ones of being home sick but rather ones of predictive nostalgia. When the time comes when those things are supposed to happen I am going to miss them fondly but still be content with where I am now.