BULA FIJI! Day 3

Alright so continuing on with my Fiji adventures! The next morning I got up to watch the sunrise and sat in a hammock by the beach reading until everyone else got up and we went to breakfast. Let me tell you, there is nothing more relaxing and beautiful than an amazing Fijian sunrise. Its already warm in the morning and there is a light sea breeze coming off the ocean, it is one of a kind! After breakfast, Catherine, Ludwig (Guy we met from germany on the ferry) and I all grabbed our snorkeling gear and hopped into the boat to go on a snorkeling safari! We were shuttled around to 3 different locations around the islands to see some of the most amazing snorkeling, including a stop in the Blue Lagoon! The first stop it was sad because my goggles broke, so the driver dropped everyone else off and rushed me back to the resort so I could switch to a new pair. I finally got back and jumped right in the water. Diving down into the coral and swimming with fishes. I was so distracted by the reef that I didn't notice everyone else had swim off into another direction and were already on the boat. I didn't even see them until the boat was racing in my direction to pick me up. We then went to the two other spots and spent a good 2 hours in the water snorkeling. We then headed back to the resort for some lunch and a quick break before we were back on the boat and off to another location in the Blue Lagoon to do a fish feeding and snorkeling trip! When we jumped into the water the boat driver threw pieces of bread into the water and the fish swarmed!!! I don't think I have ever been immersed in that many fish! And they were quite aggressive. They would bump into you and nibble your feet not even caring what you were doing! It was pretty cool! We then went to another location in the Blue Lagoon to snorkel a little more and sit on the white sandy beach and sand bar. We then drove back to the resort. That night all gathered at the volleyball courts to play a few games against some of the locals from the village on the other side of the island.... The kicked our asses. But thats ok cause I had a blast. We then all went to the dining hall for another great meal, great drinks and great company! That night it was low tide and Amanda and I went wading out into the ocean to sit and look at the stars. The night was so clear and there were tons of stars! You could see the milky way and the southern cross along with the occasional shooting star! What a truly amazing day!!! More to come from Fiji! Cheers!

BULA FIJI! Day 1 & 2

Alright, let me start to tell you a little about my amazing experiences in Fiji. So let me start off with a disclaimer, Fiji is the most beautiful tropical paradise ever... hands down. So I will have nothing but a lot of positives to say! So, three friends and I took a week off of school in the middle of the semester to take this trip to Fiji. It was a lot of work to do before leaving but it was so worth it. We flew into Auckland and had a 4 hour layover where we met up with some of Adele's family, had lunch and bought some things duty free then boarded the plane and flew into Nadi. It was dark when we arrived so I had no idea what was in store for me the next day. But that night we stayed at Smugglers cove, which was a nice back packers  hostel. We had an amazing meal and relaxed outside. After being in cold Dunedin it was awesome to be able to sit outside at night in a tank and shorts. Ahhhh, Paradise. There was also some entertainment from the duo called the Kavaholics. They were really fun to listen to and it was awesome because we were invited to sit with them and drink kava! Lots and lots of kava. They just kept offering it! So we kept drinking it! Needless to say I slept very well that night. We had an early morning so we went to bed early. When I got up that morning and went outside I was stunned. The water was so blue, and clear. It honestly took my breath away. We left smugglers cove and went to the port where we boarded the ferry that was going to take us up into the Yasawa Islands where we were spending the rest of our trip. The ferry was a long 4 hour trip but the views of the islands, the sun and the occasional dolphins that would show up to play in our wake made the trip incredible regardless! We finally got to our stop way up at the top of the island chain, where we hopped onto a little boat that took us across the Blue Lagoon (Yeah the real Blue lagoon, from the movie!) and to our first resort, Coralview! The resorts are all small but thats what makes them so charming. The staff was all out on the beach waiting for us and singing and playing the ukelele and whisked us away to check in and feed us! We were so hungry by that point. We also had met some pretty cool internationals on the ferry that were staying at the same resort so we had them put us all in the same room. It was a cool room that slept 12 and had a bathroom in the room! So we felt luxurious. After dumping our stuff in the room we wasted no time running over to the dive shop, renting snorkeling gear and setting up our chairs and towels on the beach. Catherine and I immediately took to the water, about two feet out to sea there was an amazing coral reef. There were corals of the most vibrant colors, and of all shapes and sizes. And the water is so clear the visibility was unreal. There were also tons of tropical fishes, sea stars, sea cucumbers and giant clams!! We spent hours out there snorkeling. The water is so warm (Beth warm everyone, so you know thats warm) that you can just keep going because you don't get cold! We finally dragged ourselves out of the water, exhausted but happy and content. I mean, I just spent two hours snorkeling on some of the best reefs in the world! I then went and showered and we gathered everyone up and hiked to the top of the island to watch the sun set. Holy crap was that an amazing sunset. I have never seen anything like it! We then climbed down in the dark and went to the dining hall for a wonderful buffet dinner. When everyone was settled after dinner, drinking and playing games all of the sudden on of the workers came running into the hall and told us all to hurry because they had just spotted a sea turtle on the beach laying eggs. After giving us a long speech about being quiet and not disturbing it we finally went over to it. They said ok you guys have 30 seconds to take pictures with flash and then your done. So for the next thirty seconds everyone was frantically snapping away. Then all of the sudden right after the thirty seconds were up the turtle burst from the sand, like it had exploded. In reality, we had been the victims of a prank. One of the workers was buried under a turtle shell and popped up out of it to scare us all. I may have shit my pants a little... O well. It was pretty funny. Everyone then went back to the dining room for the rest of the night for drinking and drinking games (Give me a break I was on vacation!). So that was the end of day 2 in Fiji, and what an eventful day it was!!!!!!!! More Fiji posts to come!

Hump Ridge Track!

Hello all, sorry its been so long since I have posted! So about a week before I went to Fiji I did the Hump Ridge track in southern Fiordland! It was a three day hike of 55 km! The first day started off early in the morning. The sun was up and there was a rainbow over the mountains and it seemed like the day would be amazing! We hiked through the forest and down a steep set of stairs to the beach, hiked along the beach for a few kilometers and then turned into the bush to start our ascent up the mountain. After walking for a long time in the sand my legs were pretty tired by the time we had to go "uphill" (I use quotes because up hill is an understatement...). To be honest... I WAS DYING! In a span of about 4 km we ascended around 1,200 meters!!!! Needless to say I was having mental conversations with myself about how it would be over soon and how I am a rockstar that can do anything. So after what felt like ages we finally got to the top. So I thought I would feel like superman once I got to the top.... But actually not... the temperature had dropped a significant amount, high winds came ripping over the top of the mountain, AND........ It was raining.... Hard. YIPPEE!!! Just what I wanted at that point in time. But I sucked it up and kept going, there was about a one hour ridge walk until we got to the hut so I knew I could do it. When I finally had the hut insight I actually ran down to it doing the Rocky run with my fists up in the air over my head. Thats how excited I was to see the hut.  How amazing it was to put on dry clothes. It was cold inside but I didn't care because I wasn't dripping wet anymore! And that was all I could ask and hope for. We spent that night huddled in the kitchen cooking, playing cards, chatting and trying to keep warm. It was well below freezing outside, we were exposed on the top of the mountain and there was no stove... So that night I put on all of my dry clothes, hat and mittens, and like 4 pairs of socks and crawled into my sleeping bag, it was freezing, but I was so exhausted I passed out quite quickly and was dead to the world for a good 9 hours. The next morning we got an early start, and summitted a near by ridge that gave amazing views of fiordland to the north and stuart island to the south. It was incredible!!! There were even a few rainbows! But we did have another 17 km day ahead of us so we started off. We had to hike along the ridge, going up and down summiting all of the peaks along the ridge, then descend down like a million stairs (my knees were not happy), keep going down through a beautiful woodland area and then hike for three hours on a flat set of train tracks to get to the hut. So we started off along the ridge, I immediately regretted not starting early because through the mountain to the north I could see a nice storm heading right for us, and it was moving fast. Up on top of the mountain, it was like being hit by a train. Cold temperatures, high wind, and rain/snow. I was again, soaked, and freezing, and at one point I think I almost plummeted to my death when a huge gust of wind came up and knocked me over. But we finally made it down off the ridge and into the forest where we were protected from the elements. The forest walk was incredible. Its a strange thing, Fiordland national park is just as beautiful when its raining as when its clear and sunny, but in a different way. Its almost as if the trees, grasses and ferns emit a glow when its raining, It really is quite a magical thing to experience. After a few hours in the forest though the storm passed and the sun came out, and all that was left was 3 hours walking along a flat path! Or so I thought.... Firstly walking on train tracks suck.... The beams are spaced just close enough that you can't just simply walk on them, you have to mentally look at every step you take and calculate it or you will trip or twist your ankle... And there was nowhere else to walk because they carved the track down into a gully that had 3m high walls on either side. That was fun for 3 hours. And not only were we walking on horribly annoying train tracks but since it had just poored for a few days the gully was filled with huge lakes of water and mud... tons and tons of mud. Some of it was navigable and you could avoid it but there were a few mud pools that spanned the entire width of the track and would go on forever... So I got to walk in ankle high mud  for three hours...... The mud was honestly the worst part... As much as it sucks, I can handle being cold, I can even handle being soaking wet for three days.... I could not handle the mud. It was so mentally exhausting to trek through that by the time we were nearing the end of the "mud monster" as I like to refer to it, I was looking down at the mud, physically flicking it off with both hands and yelling "F U!!!!" over and over again (I think its safe to assume at this point, I was a little frustrated). The previous day I had thought that seeing the hut finally was the happiest moment of my life..... no. The amount of happiness I felt when I saw the hut on the second day after defeating the mud monster was like if I was 6 again and the north pole and disney world teamed up and I got to visit and meet santa and disney characters, go on rides, open presents, and I got to eat ice cream and candy for every meal. That was how happy I was to not be walking in that mud anymore. So we got to the hut, and I took off my muddy boots and again put on dry clothes, which was amazing and my mood immediately began to elevate. Because lets be honest, as shitty as things can get I am still in New Zealand and hiking in the most beautiful places on earth so I couldn't stay irritated for long. We spent the night in an awesome hut with a 4 story bunk bed that slept around 25 people! And there was a wood burning stove, so I was nice and warm :). The next day was not quite as intense. A leisurely 15km hike through the bush and on the beach, and there was no rain and it was sunny and quite warm. Things could for sure be worse. I may have been battling a few large blisters at that point but I powered through and made it back to the car in record time!!!! Then we had a 3 hour drive home and I was sleeping in my own bed :). This may have sounded like a terrible experience but it wasn't. There may have been some tough aspects but it was an amazing place and a great hike and I wouldn't trade it! I also made some pretty unforgettable memories.. I mean, I will never forget that mud monster... Ever.