15 - 20 November 2008: Fiji Time!

Crossing the date line and losing a whole day just like that was a bizarre feeling. We left Chile on Thursday 13th November and arrived in Auckland, 13 hours later, on the 15th November! It's quite remarkable how, for the 14th November 2008, Kat and I ceased to exist!

You can't fly direct to Fiji from South America so we had to go via Auckland, NZ. You'd think having to wait 12 hours in Auckland airport would be boring but Kat and I managed to fill most of the time running around like hyperactive kids, getting overly excited about the fact we were in an English speaking country! Getting a cup of tea, being able to understand announcements, and being allowed to put toilet roll down the toilet rather than in the bin was just too exciting for words!!

However, the cost of things was quite a shock to the system and we suddenly wished we'd done a lot more shopping in South America! I actually remember having a discussion about how expensive the guinea pig we bought on our last night in Peru was... "24 soles? I'm not paying that for dinner... they've only put the price up because they know tourists want to try it..." 24 soles is actually less that 5 pounds!! Oh how I wish we'd taken more advantage of the low costs when we were there.

Anyway, back to Fiji... so, after hanging around in Auckland airport for 12 hours we got on another plane and headed for Nadi (pronounced Nandi) on Viti Levu, Fiji's main island. On arrival we found ourselves in the friendliest, most chilled out airport ever, where everyone is smiling and men stand in the entrance singing, dressed in sulus (sarongs) with flowers in their hair. We also arrived to torrential rain... we English like to make ourselves feel at home wherever we go!

Although the outer islands are supposed to be more spectacular, with only 5 days and a limited budget we decided to stay on the main island and head to the Coral Coast, only a couple of hours bus ride from Nadi... and what a bus ride! The bus driver saw us walking at the side of the street (nowhere near an actual bus stop) and pulled over to see if we wanted to get on. On the bus the reggae was playing and everyone just bounced along the unfinished road with no worries in the world. About half way through the journey the bus pulled in at a fresh fruit and veg market and gave us 10min to jump off and get anything we wanted. Great! If London transport was as accommodating no-one would ever get anywhere!!

We stayed at a gorgeous beach resort called The Beach House, which is actually where Love Island (one of those awful Z-list celebrity 'reality' TV shows) was filmed. It was, as I said, gorgeous!! It was right on the beach front, tucked away from all civilisation and you only had to walk a short way into the sea to come across beautiful coral and fishes. It had lovely cabins, a pool, bar, free use of sea kayaks, free breakfast, free tea and scones every afternoon and the staff were just lovely. In fact everyone in fiji is lovely.

There were palm trees all around and I spent a lot of my time developing my coconut cracking skills, they were delicious! Kat laughed at me and said I was discovering my cave woman roots, sitting on a beach in a bikini bashing coconuts against rocks while all the other girls read books and bronzed themselves, but she was happy when I provided her with lunch!

Fiji really is another world... everyone is happy and chilled out, no one is in a rush to do anything and a busy day comprises of getting up, reading a book, smashing open a coconut or two and going for a swim. Phew... you might need a nap in a hammock after all that!

Fiji time is a concept that takes some getting used to... "the bus comes every hour" they tell you, after 2 hours of waiting there is still no bus but it's Fiji so you can't be angry! And kava is another thing that definately takes some getting used to. I can say with all honesty that 5 days was not long enough to make me love it, or even slightly like it. In fact I hate it!! It's a mildly narotic drink that looks (and tastes) like dirty pond water. They drink it day and night and on arriving at our hostel we had to (yes, HAD to... not drinking kava is, unfortunately, the one thing they frown upon!) drink it. It is a ceremonial drink and on being offered it you have to clap, down the drink in one (urgh!!), then clap 3 times and shout "Bula!". The direct translation of 'Bula' is 'live', and they use it for everything. It means hello, thank you, goodbye, how are you, cheers etc etc...

So, to summarise, Fiji was fantastic. It provided us with the perfect relaxation we needed after a slightly trying time in South America. We got a great dose of sun (in fact Kat got more than her fair share on the first day and had to spend the rest of the week covered up in the shade, bless her!), made some great friends, read lots, snorkelled, learnt how to open coconuts and embraced Fiji Time with open arms! Bula!

Adios South America... some final thoughts...

I know my blog is pretty delayed (about 1 1/2 months in fact... sorry!) but I just wanted to share with you a few things that were going through my head when I left South America. I really have fallen for the Latin American magic and to be honest didn't want to leave. Here are a few of my favourite things about South America...

...The painted signs. They don't waste money on elaborate shop fronts / signage, they just paint signs and adverts on walls or wood and then paint over them when they want to change. So simple!
...Colourful buildings. None of this boring white paint and brick!
...The way vehicles beep each other as they overtake - not in an aggresive "get out of my way you b@#$*ed" way but in a friendly "hi, thanks for letting me overtake" kind of way! How nice!
...Brazilian men!! Enough said, haha!!
...Dancing... anywhere anytime!
...The stunning and constantly changing landscape.
...Street sellers selling all array of goods.
...Llamas!!
...Cheap accomodation, food and drink... SOOOOO cheap!
...'South American Time' - different from anywhere else in the world and completely unpredictable!
...Random shops selling the oddest mixture of things... electrics, books and grocceries all together! We had hours of fun deciding what we would have in our 'combination' shops!
...Traditional clothes.
...Incan beliefs - They live by the rule 'don't lie, steal or be lazy'. Simple but classic!

And a few things that I was desperately looking forward to...

...Toilets with a seat, toilet paper and the ability to flush!
...Drinking tap water.
...A decentcup of tea with fresh milk. MILK... ahhhhhh... I'd almost forgotten what it was!
...Peanut butter. I'd give my right arm to have some peanut butter!
...Being sure that you're on the right bus / going the right way / ordering the right meal and not just having to guess!
...Using a currency without a million zero's after it!
...Plugging things into a wall without being electricuted in the process.

7 - 13 November 2008: Chile

Our only reason for going to Chile was that we had to fly out of Santiago, however now that I've spent a few days there I definately want to go back and visit properly. Chile is described as South America's first First World country, and it was a welcome relief after the trials and tribulations of Peru!

We travelled down the coast from Arica to Santiago, stopping off at La Serena and a tiny mountainous oasis called Valle De Elqui on the way. Beautiful, calm, baking hot and just what the doctor ordered! We stayed at a beautiful lodge with a pool and mountain views and went stargazing at an observatory at night. Chile has approximately 340 clear nights a year so is home to some of the worlds biggest observatories.

We also made a pilgrimage to the Concha Y Toro wine vineyards near Santiago, where we sampled many fine wines, enjoyed good cheese for the first time in 3 months and were drunk by lunchtime!!

And then our South America journey came to end... we flew from Santiago to Auckland, where we satyed in the airport for 12 hours (Ahhhhhhh!!!!!), and then made our way to the paradise that is Fiji! I'll tell you all about that soon...

21 October - 7 November 2008: Peru!

Ok... time for more Peru tales!

It has to be said that our time in Peru had the biggest highs, but also the biggest lows...

HIGH - The Inca Trail...

The Inca Trail was definately one of the best experiences of my life. It was tough at times, mainly due to a lack of sleep (the tents weren't the most comfortable and most nights they were conviently positioned on a hill... actually thinking back I feel very sorry for Manuel who had to wake us up every morning and be the first person to witness my bad moods!) and a lack of oxygen at 4600m above sea level but the scenery was stunning, the group we were with were brilliant and the food was supplied in copious amounts so it made it feel easy!

The second day hiking up to Dead Woman's Pass was definately the toughest day, and I'm quite embarrassed to report that Kat and I were beaten to the top by a 71 year old - the legendary Norm!!! To be fair he is officially the fittest man in the universe (we presented him with an award telling him so!) so I can't be too gutted, although we were also beaten by Paul (a fellow Loki dweller!), who appeared to be suffering from altitude belimia and was so ill he hadn't eaten for about 2 days! Now that is embarrassing!

The porter's carrying the tents, cooking equipment etc were INCREDIBLE!!! They were tiny (most people in Peru are - Kat feels right at home!) and went zooming past us with 10 times more weight on their backs... and then clapped us when we arrived!! Nuts! Maybe the corn beer that they drunk ALL day helped a bit?!

As some of you may have seen in photos self-image went out of the window whilst we were on the trail (that happens when you don't shower for 4 days!)... with the help of her cheap poncho Kat turned into a giant blue tent, Grant (another fellow Loki-ite) started to sport the nutty professor/fagan look, whilst the bags under my eyes got so big I looked like I'd been in a fight. Only Paul managed to reach Machu Picchu with some dignity... so much so that young girls started asking to have photos taken with him!!! Kian from Westlife eat your heart out!! (Paul if you're reading this that memory still makes me giggle!! hahaha).

On the 4th day we woke at 4am to walk to the sungate and see the sunrise over Machu Picchu... well at least that was the idea. We couldn't even see the sun through the cloud let alone Machu Picchu. As you can imagine we weren't best pleased, but as the cloud cleared so did our moods and I have to say that Machu Picchu really is as magical as everyone says. If you ever get the chance to do the Inca Trail DO IT!!!

LOW - Being robbed...

On a night bus from Cuzco to Pisco Kat had her camera and money stolen from her bag. A guy was being overly helpful so we were keeping an eye on him and kept our bags with us all the time but while we were asleep he must have managed to get into her bag. God knows how he didn't wake us up. Kat wasn't bothered about the cash or the actual camera but sadly all her photos have gone - gutting :-(

HIGH - Seeing hundreds of wild sea lions, penguins and various other birds (including the Peruvian Booby!) at the Isla Ballestes.

LOW - The way Peruvian man treated us... no more needs to be said about that!

HIGH - Sand boarding in Huacachina... brilliant fun!

LOW / HIGH.. just generally random actually - Scariest car journey of my life EVER from Huacachina to Arequipa...

I won't go into detail as it might give my parents a heart attack but I'll just say alarm bells should've started ringing when the driver drove us into the desert to roll a giant spliff... or maybe when we noticed the Indiana Jones style knife by his seat... or maybe when he told us he didn't like England becasue "you can't buy the police there"??! We decided to accept to offer of a lift after our previous bus trip ended up costing us a camera but actually ended up paying more for petrol than we would've for the bus and the journey took twice as long because our driver fell asleep for 6 hours! (he pulled over first don't worry!) But on a positive note we did wake up to find that he'd pulled over next to the ocean (it was pitch black when we stopped and we had no idea where we were but the sea was literally 5metres from my window) which is a pretty special view and certainly one you wouldn't get from a bus!

HIGH - Arequipa in general... beautiful buildings, crazy 5 1/2 horse trek with the maddest guide yet (riding up to a bar and ordering beer whilst on horse back was certainly a new experience for me!)

LOW - getting my drink drugged on our last night in Arequipa... but don't worry (as I know you all would!) I saw the guy do it and saw the pill floating in my drink so didn't touch it. Phew!

HIGH - White water rafting!

LOW - All thr bloody road blocks and strikes making it either impossible or really dengerous to travel anywehere. We ended up having to fly to Chile as no buses were crossing the border between Tacna in Peru to Arica in Chile.

I hope this doesn't make it sound like we had a bad time in Peru becasue we didn't, we had an absolutely brilliant time full of action, dramas and learning experiences, and, except for getting Kat's camera robbed, I wouldn't have changed our time there for anything.