On our flight out of Fiji at 3:00AM or something we were greeted by a spectacular sunrise behind the wing of the plane. We had a bit of a layover in Auckland where we slept, then hopped our flight to Sydney. Since we were only going to be in Sydney for a day we hopped […]
Finally a real day of rest. At this point I was so tired I just hung out in the room and drank a lot of Fiji water. Hey, when in Fiji… Yes they really do get the water from here. Oh, and of course ate some more Pringle’s. I’m kinda sick of Pringle’s. Some of […]
After a long night of sleep without mozzies buzzing about, we settled in slowly at the Shangri-La Resort. We finally got a tropical sunset over the water. Somesthing we never got while out kayaking. That night we drove back into Nadi to meet up with Tony, or kayaking guide, for dinner and then hang out […]
Kadavu airport. Now offically the smallest airport I’ve ever seen. I thought one in Tahiti was small, but this one takes it. It’s a field with a large shed. We said goodbye to George and Waise back at Matava, and Petero, one of the other guides rode with us to the airport to say goodbye. […]
On our last day of kayaking we all ended up in the village of Kadavu Koro. I rode the support boat into the village and it was straight out of “Apocalypse Now”. People were standing on the banks watching us motor slowly by, smoke was pouring out of some of the huts, etc. I just […]
Yesterday we left Naqara village and kayaked along the south eastern shore of Ono and headed to Albert’s Place. We made a quick stop at Jona’s Paradise before heading across the channel to the main island of Kadavu. With a lack of sleep, I skipped the channel crossing and rode the support boat. The other […]
After last night’s arrival into the village we awoke this morning to the sound of rooster’s crowing, kid’s yelling, and a dogfight. I slept about 2 hours, if that. I’m going to be a wreck in the kayak’s today. We ate breakfast with about a 1000 flies. Not sure why there weren’t that many flies […]
This morning we set out in the kayaks. The coastline was spectacular with many beautiful sand beaches, green and blue bays, and picture perfect palm trees. That’s my kayak the “Screaming Yellow Zonker” at our midday stop about a quarter of the way around Ono. For lunch we had carbs. Carb salad, carbs on ice, […]
Relaxed around Jona’s today. It’s Sunday, and all the Fijian’s left for church this morning so I grabbed my camera for a walk along the beach. I came across this huge crab. It was about 8 inches across and I kept taking photos of it. Getting closer and closer, I thought it would eventually run […]
We flew down to Kadavu today, pronounced Kandavu (see the pattern?), and took a squirrely boat ride to Jona’s Paradise. Jona was a popular musician around Fiji and now lives here with his family. This is an island called Ono which is off the north eastern shore of Kadavu. The beach was beautiful and our […]
Woo Hoo, Fiji!!!!!! We stayed in Nadi, pronounced Nandi, the first two nights. It’s a crazy little city with lots of sellers begging you into their shops. The hotel, the Tanoa, was nice enough, but the city was pretty sketchy. None the less, it turned out to be an interesting shopping experience. The swami temple […]
When they can get it up, the spinnaker juts out like a huge helmet, and the wind sure can blow that boat long and hard across the water. So I heard.
[ZORBING VIDEO LINK – 01:45 – 320×240 – 5.51mb] Volcano’s, farm animals, and Zorbing? In one day?! No way! I’ve died and gone to heaven. Our second day on holiday begins with a bang. A helicopter flight out to White Island volcano, then a farm, and last but not least, Zorbing. Zorbing is a beautiful […]
Jill and I arrived in Rotorua this morning after a total scramble to get out of Wellington. In the next month, We’ll be on a plane 13 times, a helicopter, boats, cars, kayaks, trains, buses, vans, taxis, a gondola, a ferry, a quadbike, and even a camel. More on that in the full blown vacation […]
[TWO TOWERS WRAP PARTY GALLERY] The “golden ticket” to the exclusive Weta Digital Wrap party. No, you can’t go with me.
New Zealand’s funny in that you can do almost anything that you want too. Except genetically modify food. Want to tie a rubberband to your feet and jump off a bridge? Sure. Want to land a helicopter in a live volcano? Sure. Want your own fireworks show? Sure. Hurt yourself while doing any of those. […]
As the last week on Lord Of The Rings came upon us, we all found ourselves going to our favorite places to eat one last time. The combination of that and clear weather is always a good reason to go to the Chocolate Fish. On rainy days you go to the Chocolate Frog. The sister […]
[ISLANDER DANCING VIDEO LINK – 30secs – 192×144 – 566.3k] The production company thought we deserved a little entertainment after all the hard work we’ve been putting in. Not sure why they thought Cook Island dancers were what we needed, but ok. It’s just not right watching Polynesian dancers on a motion capture stage with […]
One of the biggest things that is lacking in Wellington is Mexican food. Since 90% of the imported workers at Weta are from California, they all have the same opinion about mexican food in New Zealand. It’s pretty much non-existent and when you do find it, it sucks. So instead of the usual Weta catering […]
This morning about 6:00am it started hailing like mad. Yes that’s hail, not snow. I’m talking massive bruising hail. Damn, that’s a lot of hail. Here’s a bunch of pictures people sent out at work. I guess the groundhog saw his shadow. Brrrrr… Of course by lunchtime most of it had melted and throwing hailballs […]