Bula Bula FIJI

Bula bula greetings (hello) await us in the distinctly hot main island of Viti Levu; jeans clearly a bad choice over here. Smugglers Cove in Nadi (Fiji's 2nd city) will be our temporary place of residence and it's certainly a massive change of scenery/culture to what we've been used to. Theres a very chilled out vibe and the locals give this almost native laissez-faire way of life a term; FIJI TIME! So a bus will run on 'FIJI TIME' and not on schedule. We like it! And we love the natural layout of the country including palm lined beaches and perfect weather to boot that makes the ideal setting for consuming our duty free Gin.
KAVA; a traditional polynesian drink which you would be forgiven for thinking was muddy water, but in fact is mainly consisting of ground native plant root that acts as a halucinogenic if you drink loads or simply numbs your tongue if you drink little. We had our fair share during our Kava welcome ceremonies just not to be rude of course.

Fiji's chillout effects on us made it an ideal time for Aladdin & Deich to learn poker (courtesy of Baz) in prep for upcoming Vegas. A rare stint of productivity in us then meant we were booked on a 7-night package involving the sun-fun-filled Robinson Crusoe Island and secluded Mango Bay Resort. Needless to say our time was spent in hammocks, drinking, tanning, getting to know some charismatic natives and getting to know other backpackers ; ) A fair few games of nationally popular volleyball were had (involving the breaking of one of Aladdin's toes thanks to 'bone-breaker-baz') as was some time kayaking amongst stingrays (cue Steve Irwin jokes) and a miserable attempt at spearfishing and fish driving. A very notable daywas spent with a local village watching their weekly beloved rugby tournament which was fantastic. We were the only foreigners there amongst at least 300 people. The Fijians here are so friendly, happy, smiley, accomodating and have much laughter in them and as a token of our appreciation we gifted our host Mike a soccer ball (as requested - guess they are getting tired of rugby) and a blown up picture of his team and us which we later found was placed up in his community hall.
We've seen an impressive show of Fiji culture with the likes of Kava ceremonies, fire shows, 101 things to do with a coconut, machete dancing, fine fijian lady dancing, lovu (ground oven) cooking etc... A top notch 2 weeks.

New Zealand - North Island...IM FALLING!!!

After arriving in Wellington after our 3 hour ferry trip...very enjoyable i must add, we reved up the Nissan sunny and went to find a hostel in Wellington because as per usual we are very laid back in booking things up!

We did find one and we settled for a top nights sleep...we have changed alot since Australia regarding our nocturnal activities!

Day 2 north island consisted of a heafty drive upto Lake Taupo, the much anticipated venue of our next adrenaline event...THE SKYDIVE! Driving on the north island was very different to the South...basically alot more english, with more traffic about and those annoying slow vehicles known as HGV's.

On our route into Taupo we passed two Volcanoes, looked harmless but clearly were not, and then was welcomed by the largest lake in NZ (lake Taupo of course)! It was created by a huge meteor that hit the earth and wiped out pretty much everything...cant remember all the specific details so that will do for now.

Checked into our hostel (with a sauna of course), no doubt ate McDonalds then signed upto our skydive the next day.....ahhhhhhhh....we were all very excited!

Team Jump do the Big One: woke up early very excited about this mental sport, the jump was delayed an hour due to morning cloud so 1100 was our new jump time...woo woo.
Picked up in a white limo with a number plate that said 'JUMPER', we were off to the airfeild to be idiots.
Watched a jump video to get us ready, got all the gear on which made us look like silly painters, then waited our turn to be flown upto 12,000ft to obtain 40secs of freefall before the parachute was deployed!
Our bright pink turbo prop aircraft started, and all the wizards were squeezed in with there instructors who were all mental i would like to add, and off to the blue skies overlooking the volcanoes, thermal springs of rotorua and the great lake!

Mike was up first, then myself (deytrikh), then Baz last! We hit 12,000ft, the door opened, the harnesses were connected and the green light came on...Mike nervously shuffled to the edge and in fine wizard form put on a brave face as he hung in mid air before been ejected out the aircraft!
3,2,1 see you later Mike...he dropped like a stone doing a back flip upon exit...lets hope i see him at the bottom. I then shuffled up, very weird feeling hanging out in mid air in a moving aircraft before falling! Before i knew it i was off experiencing pure negative G also doing backflips until reaching terminal velocity. An absolutley amazing feelig, kind of like floating whilst spinning and falling...absolutley loved it! Parachute was deployed...thank god, and we had time to take in the scenery and enjoy the ride down!
Had a smooth touch down, and ran to the boys, Baz who arrived a minute later...he fell faster due to his weight...and we were all on a high from the some what euphoric rush...absolutley amazing!

That night we went out to celebrate our surrival...of course!

On our last day in Taupo we hired out some moutain bikes took a scenic ride through woodland, really hard work actually, and upto a place called Hukka falls, which is where the river reduces in width forcing a large volume of water through this space forming very powerful rapids...gorgeous icy blue waters! The bike ride was a wake up call to our reduced fitness levels, but was nice to get out and a great way to see more of the area.

The next stop was Rotorua, renowned for its thermal activity and polyensian spas, and strong smell of sulphur. As we hadnt booked ahead on arrving in Rotorua we drove around to find the best deal...we chose Base backpackers, a chain we are familiar with, and to our amazment we found out that are good freind Adam Bullock...aka the bull, was also checked in, however he did not know of our arrival...ha!

Later whilst chilling on the balcony we recognised a familar phsyique wallowing in the hot outdoor pool of the hostel...yes it was the bull so ran down to surpise him, he was shocked, but soon enough we were back in the bar for yet another reason to celebrate!
Rotorua was great apart from the smell, we went luging for an hour or so down concrete tracks in the mountains, and payed a visit to the world famous spas...im sorry fathers of conducting this somewhat feminine activity but its a hard life being a backpacker!

After Rotorua we made our way to Hamilton to visit Niel, a freind from university currently going through his commercial flying training. caught up with him for a few days before heading north to Auckland and beyond.

One night in Auckland and then a trip north to Whangerie to see Mikes Aunt and Uncle he hadnt seen in years. Was really nice for us, especially for Mike to see and meet more family. They were great putting us up for 2 nights, and cooking us some fantastic real food...cheers mike for the contacts!

2 final uneventful nights in Auckland brang New Zealand to an end, we all vow to be back to this beautiful country in the future and it is safe to say it has pushed us to our limits of what we thought we would do, the bungee! An amazing country that has been fantastic fun, plus we all honed our driving/rally skills!