Israel in pictures

Here are the photos from my trip - enjoy!

Israel

Tel Aviv

It took 31 hours from when I left home in Canberra to when I arrived in Tel Aviv... It was a massive journey - the worst of which was a 5 hour stopover in Amman, from 5am local time. Luckily I made friends with a pair of Irish sisters returning from a holiday in Thailand and we chatted about travel and work and the economic downturn for a while, then I attempted to sleep on a bench (but really just closed my eyes). Amman airport has this weird disorientating layout where each end has the same cafes with one or two slightly different, then you walk through a duty free section to the other side and it's exactly the same, so it is most confusing... And that whole time Amman is 80km from Tel Aviv, yet would take so long overland via border checkpoints at the west bank that it's not at all worth it.

From Israel

eating hummus

So I finally arrived at Tel Aviv, and Amit was waiting to pick me up at the airport. It is so amazing to see him after 3 months of talking and chatting and emailing. I arrive at about midday and we walked a bit around the city. It's a great place, so vibrant with people everywhere enjoyng the bars and cafes. It's so hot though, especially coming from a canberra winter! We had hummus for dinner, it was tasty, but my favourite was the fresh falafel. I don't think I've ever had such yummy felafel before... I'm loving the food here so far! Yesterday we went around the city on Amit's scooter, driving along the sea, which looks very blue and pretty (might go for a swim today), to the old port of Jaffa, which is the original arab area here. It has beautiful winding narrow streets only wide enough for people winding their way down to the old port. It was gorgeous, and we stopped in on some interesting artist's galleries there. Yesterday evening we met up with some of Amit's friends for some beers, they are really lovely, and it was so great to see how excited they were to meet me. We also caught up with Ido, who was with Amit in Vietnam. He's great, just the same as I remember him.

From Israel

Jaffa harbour

So Amit is taking me round Tel Aviv again today, and in the next few days we'll go to the dead sea and masada. It's all so different and interesting...

Next destination: Israel

I've been told I'm not very good at updating this blog. Which is true. I tend to only write here when I'm travelling.

I'll be travelling again soon - I'm off to Tel Aviv to see Amit, who I met in Vietnam in April. I am incredibly excited. It will really interesting travelling to the Middle East, to a country with so much history, ancient and modern, and so much politics. To be honest though, I'm most excited about seeing Amit. We've been keeping in touch constantly since Vietnam, and get along so well. I don't want to write what I think it could be, I may jinx myself if I do. I leave on Friday and return on August 2. I'm not looking forward to my 29hours of travelling to get there! Canberra - Sydney - Bangkok - Amman - Tel Aviv....

On Saturday I had a ladies night at my place. There were 7 of us, and it was a great night. I made lots of tasty food with a Mediterranean theme - Hummus, Babaganoush, Souvlaki, Falafel, and sticky-date pudding for dessert. It was nice having just ladies at the table. We discussed travel, work, drunken stories, palm reading, life, love and of course men. It was agreed by the end of the night that we should have more ladies evenings in the future.

From Canberra winter

Ha Long Bay times two

I went to Ha Long Bay twice, for reasons I will get to below.

Take one
Cat, Mat, Claire, Sam and I took a Vega travel tour to Halong Bay straight after our overnight train from Sapa. There were 11 of us on the boat. It was misty and grey and a tad rainy, but through the mist we caught glimpses of the mythical landscape of Ha Long bay. There are over 3000 limestone islands and formations in this world heritage site. If you're feeling nerdy, check it out on wikipedia.

First stop was Ti Top Island. This tiny island with a white beach was visited by the cosmonaut Ghermann Titop, from the Soviet Union, accompanied by President Ho Chi Minh. To mark the significance of their visit, Uncle Ho named it Ti Top Island. The island’s real attraction is the pagoda-styled lookout point its peak. After climbing the 427 stone steps winding up the tall island you get a great view from the top. But it is a hard walk up there in the humidity!

View from Ti Top Island. From Vietnam

The Surprising Cave was next. I went in thinking yeah, whatever, we have Janolan Caves in Australia, and the Careys Cave in Wee Jasper is pretty cool. And Surprising cave was not that impressive to begin with. But turning a corner it was surprising, it was so massive! It also had an interesting phallic rock formation, suitably lit up with bring pink lights...

The surprising cave. From Vietnam

We then did a spot of kayaking. My kayaking buddy was Nikos from Greece. So we paddle through a tunnel into a lagoon, and pottered around talking about science, philosophy and psychology. It was a bit dark and misty though, so we didn't spend too much time on the water.

Cat and Mat kayaking. From Vietnam

We had a very relaxing night with delicious food and wine on the boat. My room was comparable to the hotels I'd been staying in, with wood paneling and twin beds. Rather luxurious really for a junk in Halong bay!

The next day involved a lot of cruising through the waters and admiring the scenery. I think I took close to 100 photos of it all. The scenery is just so incredible - limestone islands rising from still green water, rocks covered with dense jungle, eagles soaring around. It is such a mythical landscape that you can almost see the dragons fighting in these waters, spirits creating the stunning beauty. It is the stuff of fairy tales and folk lore. The clouds and mist did not lift while we were there, but it added to the magic of it all.

A fishing village on the water of the bay. From Vietnam

Halong Bay, take two
I mentioned in a previous post that I met two fabulous Israeli guys, Amit and Ido and decided to change my plans to travel with them some more. So that is how I ended up in Halong Bay again 6 days later. This time we were on the Hanoi Backpackers Hostel Tour. There were 30 of us, the sun was shining, it was hot, and our guide AJ was absolutely hilarious. It was basically completely opposite to my last tour. The sun lit up the bay beautifully and the views were incredible.

We went kayaking for two hours, the highlight of which was the suitably random Fairy Cave. So much laughter with our guide saying all sorts of crazy things about it. There was a really special moment though when 32 people were in an unlit cave, and the torches were turned off and we spent two minutes in silence, thinking about how we had all ended up in a cave in Halong bay. It was intense, but brilliant.

Halong Bay in sunshine. From Vietnam

Our kayaks tied up while we were in the Fairy Cave. From Vietnam

That night everyone drank and listened to music and had great conversations about travel on the top deck. So people jumped off the roof of the junk into the water, but the sun had gone down and it was a tad cool so I wasn't game.

Amit paddling. From Vietnam

We were up early the following day to get off the bus for Cat Ba Island, the largest island in the bay. The group did a 2 hour hike, but Ido had just had a knee operation so we caught the local bus into town with a French couple and drank coffee and looked at the view instead. We had some great chats about our countries and cultures and all sorts of things. I'm really quite glad I didn't go hiking up a mountain!

Amit and Ido, silly smiling. From Vietnam

After a delicious lunch of fish and stirfry at the Princes hotel where we were staying, AJ took some of us on a walk around to some of Cat Ba's beaches. We stopped at a beach side bar for a tiger beer. There was a mean soccer game happening on the sand in front of us, the locals were so agile, playing on the sloping sand! Amit and I sat and chatted, looking out to the ocean and the islands. We had a great conversation about people and love and life... Again I was struggling to believe that this person that thinks so similar to me comes from such a far off place.

The tour group on the boat. From Vietnam

That night we all ended up at a bar dancing and drinking whiskey. It was great fun, I hadn't danced in ages. And dancing on an Island in Halong bay just made it all so awesome. At one stage a black guy from the states read some very cool poems. I'm all for the spontaneous poetry, there should be more of it in the world!

the longest day to end
The following day was my last in Vietnam. I was very sad to say goodbye to Amit and Ido. Particularly Amit (sorry Ido, you are a very awesome guy too!) as Amit and I had grown close in the few days we had spent together. I caught the bus from Cat Ba Island at 9.15am rather than going back with the tour, which was taking the long route as I had to catch a plane. Lucky for me the French couple also took the bus option, so we had some good chats on the bus, ferry, bus and taxi to get back to Hanoi. There was only one incident involving a rigged taxi meter, but it all ended without too much drama.

I picked up my bag from the hostel in Hanoi, caught a shuttle to the airport, and checked in. 30mins before the flight was due to depart at 5pm, there is an announcement that it has been delayed 2hours. Now this was bad news as I needed to make the check in for my international Jetstar flight in Saigon by 9.05pm... and it was a 2 hour journey. I discovered two Aussie girls in the same situation as me, and the airline was really helpful, putting our bags on an earlier flight and being reassuring that we would make it. I was so lucky to meet to Aussie girls though to keep me from stressing over the possibility of missing my international flight! We had a great chat on the plane in our front row seats reflecting on our journeys to Vietnam, our past travels, and what was happening next in our lives.

We landed in Saigon with 10mins to get off the plane and check in. The airline met us with a special bus, we ran to find our bags piled them on a trolley and then, well imagine a trolley full of bags and three girls running through the airport with people almost jumping to get out of our way... that was us! We got to the International terminal just as they were calling out final check in for our flight... We were so lucky to make it! And a benefit of arriving so late was the check in guy gave us each a whole row to lie down in for our journey to Darwin. I slept the whole way home.

home again home again
Now I'm back home and the silence of Canberra feels strange. Where are all the people? Where are all the plastic chairs and tables on the side of the road? Where's all the raw meat being cut up next to scooters? Where's the beeping of horns, the noise of air conditioners, people trying to sell me stuff, the humidity? Home feels like a foreign country. And going to work seems incredibly odd. I can't stop thinking about where I'll go travelling to next. Perhaps Israel? We'll see.

Darwin airport at dawn. From Vietnam

Vietnam photo album

You can find all my photos from Vietnam in this album. These are just from my camera, there are bound to be tonnes more that I love from Cat, Mat, Claire, Sam and Amit.

Vietnam

Hoi An has swallowed me whole

I love Hoi An. It is the perfect place for a holiday. There is fabulous food, fascinating architecture of the old town, incredible shopping, hot holiday weather, friendly people, and a nice beach not too far away. I could spend every holiday here, although my bank balance and my overflowing wardrobe would not thank me for that.

[the old buildings of Hoi An - with Cat and Mat chatting)

I made rice paper and new friends... all at the same time
The greatest part of my holiday started with the Red Bridge cooking school. We started with a delicious cool drink at the Hai restaurant in town, chatted to fellow novice chefs, and headed to the local food markets. Our guide Hip was very entertaining, telling us about the foods you come across in the markets here, how to cook them and what they are good for (tummy aches, headaches, etc).

We then got a boat for a nice ride down the river to the cooking school. We were showed around the herb garden, and then to the cooking class area - a covered deck on the edge of a river, with chairs in the centre facing a cooking bench, complete with the mirror about the chef. Our chef was great as well, very funny, and easy to follow. We had printed notes to annotate and lovely drinks. We learnt how to make rice paper, rice paper rolls, rice pancakes and eggplant hotpot. All very delicious and interesting items to learn to cook.

[in the food markets with the cooking class tour]

After the class we all sat down to eat some of the food we'd made, as well as some additional dishes. The setting was perfect, with views of the river.

But the main reason the cooking class was such a tipping point in our trip was because we met two wonderful guys, Amit and Ido from Israel. We met them for dinner that night at Cargo Bar - our favourite restaurant in Hoi An. I had the best mushroom risotto I've ever had that night - not what I was expecting in Vietnam! And the desserts there are to die for, absolutely delicious. Ido, Amit and I went out for a few drinks and wandered around town that night, talking about everything. The kind of conversations that only seem to happen on holidays when you're far away from home in a strange country with people from the otherside of the world from you. I got back to my hotel at 1am, having woken up a taxi driver! They were all just sleeping in their taxis.

[Cao Lau, a specialty dish in Hoi An, and tomato shake]

Beach and boating
The following day I took a free bicycle from the hotel and went to Cua Dai beach. It was no Australian beach, but it was more beautiful that I was expecting. Of course even while I was trying to read my book on the beach there were people trying to sell me stuff. It never ended. I had little will power and bought some jewelry... I got home and realised I was sunburnt. Pale skin is no good in any country!

I rode my bike into town for my fitting at the tailor Yaly. I had so many awesome clothes made, particularly for the Canberra winter. The tailor was brilliant, everything I had made fit perfectly. I bumped into Cat and Mat and then Ido and Amit. We sat down at the outdoor eating area and ate some delicious noodles and very cheap beer (about 30cents a glass!). Cat and Mat took off for more fittings at tailors, and Ido, Amit and I took a boat ride on the river. It was a great idea of Amit's- the sun was setting, the boys rowed me round, and even sang a hebrew song about sailing. It was rather surreal, but wonderful. Discovered that we shared the same taste in music and movies...

[Amit and his coconut drink]

That night we had dinner at the Riverside cafe. Run by Austrians, it had the most stylish toilets I'd seen in Vietnam. The food was quite good, and after dinner we went upstairs to an awesome lounge area to drink cocktails.

That night Amit, Ido and I ended up on a bus to a beach party at midnight. The mini van had seats for 10, but about 25 drunk backpackers squished into it! It was somewhat crazy, but we made it to the beach party. It was pretty chilled out. We went swimming in the ocean. It was lovely. Ido said I should change my plans and go with them the next day to Ninh Binh. I decided I couldn't (clothes being tailored, friends, etc). We stayed and watched the sunrise and it was absolutely stunning.

[View from the boat]

It amazed me that I could meet two wonderful people that shared so many of my interests, yet who had lived their whole lives on the other side of the world to me, in a country constantly at war, and of which I only know a little. Amit said it is not that surprising, as we are all human. But I disagree, meetings of minds like this don't just happen everyday. they are so rare.
[squished on the bus to the beach party]

Don't go to the markets when you are tired
The next day I woke up at 1pm (after going to bed a 7am...) and headed into town. Here is a tip - don't go shopping when you're not awake. Somehow I ended up ordering even more tailor made clothes and shoes, bought even more handbags... and scarves... I was in a daze and didn't notice.

That night after dinner I started thinking that maybe I could join Amit and Ido for the rest of my travels... It all depended on a flight from Hanoi to meeting my flight from Saigon...

In the morning I checked out the one flight factor. I could do it. I bought a sim card, called Amit and Ido, bought 2 plane tickets, went to 4 shops to pick up my clothes, shoes and more clothes, checked out of my hotel, and headed to Hanoi at 8pm from Hoi An, arriving at Amit and Ido's hotel just after midnight. I changed all my plans to spend a few more days with Amit and Ido, and it wasn't difficult, it all fell into place. I've never been that spontaneous in my life before, but I'm so glad I did it.

[sunrise on Cua Dai beach]

Sickness in Sapa

We arrived in Lao Cai from our overnight train journey from Hanoi. The journey was smooth, I slept just fine in my four-berth cabin with a Danish family. We eventually left Lao Cai in a mini van and for an hours winding journey up to the mountain village of Sapa. It was covered in mist and cloud, and I expect that the view from the hotel would have been spectacular had it not been for the extensive mist, which has still not lifted. It was also pouring with rain. We ate breakfast, bought some heavy duty rain ponchos for about $3, and took off on our trek to the minority villages of the Dzao and H'mong with our guide Khan, who is from the Dzao minority.

As we exited the hotel we were followed by a group of women in traditional dress. They began asking us questions... "What your name?", "Where you from", "How old are you", "Ah, you very young!". Little did we know they would follow us for our entire journey, like an uninvited shadow.

[Sapa in the clouds]

Sickness

Before we'd left the hotel, Claire began feeling some gut pain. As we headed down from the road and into the villages, the rain stopped and I was overwhelmed by waves of nausea. We sat down for lunch, I couldn't eat a thing, and was very ill, not even making it to the loo. That was not fun. We changed our plans to stay the night at a homestay nearby for the night. By the time I got there, I was very sick, dizzy, nauseous... I spent some time at the loo and took myself to bed and slept for 13 hours. By this time, Claire was also nauseous and slept a lot as well. The others spent the night drinking beer, enjoying the freshly made food the family we were staying with had prepared, and engaging in cultural exchange.

[the rice padies being plowed, preparing to plant this year's crop]

Waking up in the morning I felt much better, and had a few pancakes with honey for breakfast. Claire was feeling about the same. That morning we trekked along incredibly muddy steep paths through the valley, with stunning scenes of rice paddies, children playing, buffalo, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats and pigs scavenging for food. My shoes were so slippery, but those women were still with us, and helped me get along the path without falling (although I almost fell so many times). We stopped to rest and they mobbed us trying to get us to buy their handicrafts. We'd bought the afternoon before for inflated prices and were certainly not going to be ripped off again. Eventually they got the message that we were not buying anything else and left us alone, finally to soak up our journey.

[Me feeling a better, with one of the minority women who had followed us behind me]

That afternoon we returned to the hotel to take hot showers and rest in warm beds. That was just delightful. Kahn took us for a dinner of Vietnamese Hot Pot. It wasn't exactly what we were hoping to eat, all being rather wary of food due to the illness going around, but attempted to make a dent in the the huge plate of raw meat presented by boiling it in the soup on the burner on the table. Kahn said we must try the black chicken... Black Chicken? none of us had ever heard of it. But guess what, it tasted like chicken! We ended the night with a chocolate tart at a bakery that was rather tasty and normal for a change.

Awaking the next morning, Cat and Mat had come down with head colds and stayed in bed. Claire, Sam and I went on another trek to Cat Cat village - this trek had paved paths the whole way, and it wasn't raining. Word had got round all the hundreds of women trying to peddle their crafts that we weren't in the habit of buying now, so it was some relief not having them following us. We walked to the bottom of the valley, and Sam became very ill. He got a ride on the back of a motor bike back up the hill to the hotel.

Claire and I got back to the hotel about 20mins later, and we decided to change our plans to return to Hanoi via the night train that night. We postponed our train journey, and the Ha Long Bay tour we were supposed to join the next morning by a day. Just as well we did because by 4pm Mat had also come down with the illness. Now Claire and I were mostly fine, the two men were in bed, and Cat is the last man standing so to speak, with only a head cold.

Sapa

[Cat with some medicine - a bottle filled with snakes and scorpions]

With the men in bed, Claire, Cat and I wandered around the town of Sapa. It could almost be a mountain village in Europe, except for the minority women on the street trying to sell you handicrafts. We became experts at ignoring them - no eye contact and turning your head the other way gets them leaving you alone pretty quick smart. We saw street vendors selling every kind of meat on sticks - pork, chicken, baby bird and even black chicken again on sticks, with eggs roasting on their charcoal fires. We saw bags and bags of traditional medicine with bizarre ingredients like starfish, lizards and snakes. There were markets filled with local handicrafts and silver from Thailand and pashminas from India. And there were the smells - every few seconds a new smell would waft past your nose, ranging from mildly odd to down right disgusting. We've decided that Vietnam in a plain stinky country really. Cat and Mat are masking the smell with tiger balm on their necks, which is a bloody good idea really. I'm digging into my pot of vicks.

Next

[Cat and me enjoying being dry and warm with espressos]

It's raining again outside. It is so damp and cold in Sapa, I've borrowed Claire's thermal because I'm chilled to the bone. They're not big on heating the buildings here. I keep expecting to walk into a restaurant and being all cosy and warm, but it just isn't. We're spending the day here and taking the night train back to Hanoi, arriving at 5am, and beginning our tour of Ha Long Bay at 8am. Hopefully the men are improving today, and like me their sickness only lasts 24hours. They say in the lonely planet that 20 to 50% of travellers to Vietnam get sick within 2 weeks of their stay. So far we're at 80%.

After a night on a luxury junk (an oxymoron? we'll soon find out), we're back to Hanoi for a night, and then off to Hoi An. We'll relax there, get some clothes made, check out some ruins, go to the beach, lounge by the pool, before heading on our next Vietnamese adventure.

a return to writing

Writing just happened tonight. The wind outside must be blowing the cobwebs out of my head after I've spent so long just talking to my head and not through my fingers to the outside world.

Most of this blog is filled with travel stories, because I used to do a lot of travelling and I wanted to remember it all, forever more. But I've been stationary for a while now. I have a permanent job, a mortgage, and a circle of friends. I'm happy where I am. But I've also decided that I need to do more with my life.

I'm going to give this writing a go, and I'll start with a poem. Written tonight. I don't expect you to like it.

Today I woke up to the music of parrots
Through my open windows
It was a warm night
When I dreamed of people I once knew
And encountered ones I see every day
The meetings were fleeting
Like the gale rustling leaves
All these hearts and minds intersecting with mine
I woke feeling lonely
It was me and the parrots
And the people in my head
Starting a new day.

Don't worry, luckily I don't rate my poetry, so it's unlikely that you'll see any more of that. I just had to start with something.

Fiji adventures

Mum, Dad and I headed to Fiji for Cat and Mat's wedding, and went in search for my great-great grandfather's grave on the way there.

Levuka town

Levuka is the place to go to see the real Fiji. It used to be the major trading port for all the pacific in the 1800’s. Now it’s more of a ghost town. Most of the shops along the formerly thriving sea front are boarded over. A few small stores survive, along with a couple of food markets and ‘amusement’ centres (i.e. pool tables). And a few restaurants support the small tourist population. The town survives due to the Tuna canning factory, which employs most of the locals.

We really enjoyed walking down the main street. Everyone is so friendly, and if you feel friendly, greet everyone with ‘Bula’ as you walk around, and you are sure to be met with a big smile and ‘bula’ in return. There are lots of rustic colonial buildings to see, and heaps of schools and churches.

The little Levuka museum is worth a visit, even if it only takes you 20mins to read everything in it.

We spent a day walking around the village, and I think that was enough. There are quite a few tours you can do that show you more of the town and its history, and we all thought they would be great to do if we went back again. You could easily spend 4 days in Levuka, and by the end of that time you’ll be feeling like it’s 1900 again.

Ovalau divesports can organise your accommodation, transfers and tours, and are a great source of info on Levuka and the surrounding islands. It is run by a German couple that have lived in the area for 20 years – Andrea and Nobi.

The Royal Hotel

We stayed at the Royal, which is certainly the place to stay if you want to feel like you’re living in colonial times. It’s the oldest hotel in Fiji, and is still decorated like it’s the early 19^th century. My single room had a single four-poster bed had a mosquito net, which did a good job in keeping out the mozzies. I opened the window to look straight out onto the ocean, and there was a table and a few chairs in the sitting room. It came with a toilet and shower, although the hot water wasn’t too plentiful.

Downstairs there’s a series of sitting rooms that looked like time stopped 100 years ago, a large pool table, a bar, computer room (with fast internet, $6 an hour), the breakfast room - $3 for toast and nice plunger coffee (with 6 flavours!), and ghost-like staff who are almost impossible to find. I felt like I was in an Agatha Christie novel at the Royal – all that was missing was a murder. I heard that the nicest place to stay is the Levuka Homestay, run by a couple from Perth in Australia. There also a new place opened up that has self contained apartments, and looked fabulously clean and new from the street. Apparently the Ovalau resort is very tired these days.

The graveyard

The reason we went to Levuka was to discover a piece of family history. My great-great grandfather, from England, was the captain of a schooner that traded around the pacific islands, and was based in Levuka in the late 1800’s. He married Henrietta, a nurse who had moved to Levuka from Sydney as a nurse for a family. They had a baby girl, Alice, my great-grandmother, and when she was only a few weeks old the captain died of a heart attack. He was buried in Levuka in 1897.

My mum’s cousins had come and seen his grave over 30 years ago, and we thought we’d try and do the same. We talked to some helpful people at the library and the national records, and they suggested we go to the graveyard a bit south of the town where all the Europeans are buried. We got in a taxi, and the driver took us about 5mins down the road to a cemetery built on a hill overlooking the sea. He pointed us towards the steep part, where the Europeans are buried, and said that a few weeks ago he’d brought some people here to look for a grave and they searched for hours without finding it. The three of us trekked up the hill and spread out in search for the grave. 15mins later we were ready to give up – many of the grave stones were toppled or the engraving worn away, and there were hundreds too look at. We’ll do some more research, we’ll try and call the cousins, we said. I started heading down the hill, and yelled out ‘I’ve found it!’. There it was, all 111years old – a stone brought from Sydney lying on a concrete grave. The lettering was in bronze or something similar, and was still very easy to read. It was quite incredible to discover that a romantic story about a great-great grandfather suddenly became much more real.

Levuka’s restaurants

Well the Royal hotel serves breakfast all day, it’s cheap, a little slow, but thick with atmosphere. You can get eggs, bacon, fruit and plunger coffee.

The Levuka pizza restaurant, opposite the wharf and tourist info centre, is the best place to eat. Main meals cost around $7 and are very tasty. The staff are excellent. You can get cheap wine by the glass, and ice-cold Fiji bitter.

Whale’s tale is tasty, in a good location on the main street, and mains cost around $10. You can even get bottles of decent wine!

Epi’s tour

Epi’s tour was fantastic. Epi is an incredible storyteller, and told us the history of Fijians and his village while sitting on the veranda of his house in Lovoni. We then had a delicious lunch made by people in the village that was made completely from local produce (and a small can of tuna). Epi took us for a wander around the village then, showing us plants that can be used as medicine, food, tea, and even to tell you where people have been. We visited the chief’s house, and he left a gift for him on behalf of us, which he organised. It was a real insight into how villagers live in Fiji.

Leleuvia

After two nights in Levuka, we went to Leleuvia island on an open topped boat. It takes about 45mins through very calm water around the reefs to the small island with white sandy beaches. It’s a family run island resort, and the staff are very friendly. Our bures are basic – bed with mosquito net, a small table, a single light bulb, and small windows that look out on the nearby ocean. There are new shared facilities that are nice and kept clean. The showers a cold, although there are solar shower bags that you can fill up and put in the sun. The food was tasty and well presented. We found that it was enough food, but big men might be a bit hungry. Beer is available at the bar. On our last night there was a kava party. The boys from the family (who entertained with singing and guitars with dinner each evening) did some extra singing and served up kava in the traditional way.

We did 2 days of diving from Leleuvia with Nobi from Ovalau watersports. He has a small dive shop set up on the island. He was a great instructor, and took us to some sites with very pretty coral formations, sharks and lots of baby fish. You wont see many large fish, sea urchins or sea cucumbers though – everything that’s edible is taken by locals and sold to Asian markets apparently. Nice, easy diving, highly recommended. $330/person for 2 days of diving, with 2 dives each day.

Leleuvia was very quiet – there were only us and another couple staying the whole time we were there. It is quite popular as a weekend spot with people from Suva though, and a recent art exhibition on the island saw 40 or 50 people staying there. A couple we chatted with on the island had just spent a few days at Caqalai, and they said that Leleuvia was in much better condition, much nicer and better food than Caqalai, although Caqalai was busier, probably due to the better write up it has in the Lonely Planet (apparently the lonely planet writer didn’t go to either of the islands though!).

It takes about 20mins to walk around the sandy beach on the island. There’s some good snorkelling off the beach, and you can see some nice soft coral there. We saw a sea snake coiled up in the sun too, although we hear that no one has ever been bitten on the island. You can also walk out on the mud flats at load tide for a few kilometres, and see lots of starfish and little moral eels in the pools. There’s a volleyball court and sea kayaks for use too whenever you feel energetic.

Overall Leleuvia was a fabulous place to get away from everything. It is a beautiful, peaceful island where you can easily pass the day reading on a sun lounge by the ocean, snorkelling and searching for sea shells on the shore. 3 nights was enough for us.

We left Leleuvia on another small boat to Wandalice landing. We travelled across a calm ocean and then up the Wandalice river, taking about 1.5hours in total. We got to the landing ( a concrete block by the bridge) and Joe from Leleuvia waited the 5mins until the local bus came to take us to Suva. The bus ride took about 1.5hours, and the bus was very comfortable, with some bollywood/R&B/rap music blaring to accompany us there.

Suva

We spent an afternoon and evening in Suva – went to museum, which was really interesting. Walking around seemed very safe. Lots of people on the streets, and they certainly aren’t as friendly as on the islands, but it’s ok to spend a few hours wandering around. We ate at the Old Mill cottage for lunch, and it was super tasty Fijian food. For dinner we went to JJ's on the Park, where we had some tasty, more up market food. Great service, not the greatest atmosphere. Seems they allow smoking in restaurants still in Fiji.

Trip plan

Nadi – Suva (1 night) – Levuka (2 nights) – Leleuvia (3 nights) – Suva (1 night) – Shangri-la (Yanuca) (2 nights) – Nadi

See all out photos here:

Fiji

Transport

Taxis

Nadi to Suva F$180, about 4 hours, depending on the weather.
Suva to Nausori $30, about 30 mins.
Levuka airport (bureta) to Levuka town $10 each, 45mins. Mini van taxis wait at the airport to pick you up and take you to Levuka. The road is unsealed, so prepare yourself for a bumpy ride! You pass through a few small villages on the way.
Yanuca (Shangri-la) to Nadi - $70, 45mins.

Flights

Nausori (Suva) to Levuka, about $69, 15mins
Excellent flight, much less painful than 5 hours on a boat!

Boats

Levuka to Leleuvia - $30 each, 45mins
Leleuvia to Wandalice landing - $30 each, 75mins

Buses

Local bus Wandalice to Suva – about $3.50
Air-conditioned sunbus Suva to Yanuca (Shangri-la) – about $15 each, 3.5 hours

Accommodation

Peninsula hotel, Suva
$130/night/3 adults
Very tired hotel, good location though. Beds very soft. TV, coffee making facilities, hot shower, small pool. Lots of staff around, not doing a whole lot.

Holiday Inn, Suva
$249/night/3 adults
This was a bit of luxury after being on an island with no hot water! Attentive staff, all the modern comforts, coffee! NZ vs Australia rugby was on the night we were there, and a huge crowd came to the hotel to watch it on their projector screens. Fantastic location.

The Royal Hotel, Levuka
About $28/night single, $42/night double
This place is the real deal.

Leleuvia island resort
$50 per night per person in a private bure, shared facilities, including all meals.

Back home after my NZ trip

Well I'm back at work today - feels like I've been away for ages.. Check out my photos from the trip: http://picasaweb.google.com/jo.savill/NewZealand

NZ was fantastic - such a spectacular country. The crazy adventure sports in Queenstown were definately a highlight - rafting, the canyon swing, mountain biking... We didn't end up going kayaking in the Doubtful Sound unfortunately due to bad weather. We spent a day in the very sleepy town on Te Anau and then went back to Queenstown the next day, where we thought horse riding in a blizzard would be a good idea. Beautiful countryside, but it was bloody cold on that horse I can tell you. Once we got back to the hostel we jumped in the very hot spa and stayed there for a few hours to defrost, talking to random backpackers.

After Queenstown we spent 7 hours on a bus to the town of Franz Joseph on the west coast. It is very rugged on the west coast, with grey raging oceans, driftwood on beaches and lots of rain. Luckily we didn't see any rain, and instead climbed many ice steps on the Franz Joseph glacier in the sunshine. The glacier was incredible, so much ice. We even heard it groaning as it moved a few times. A once in a life time exprience.

Another highlight was catching the Tranz-Alpine train from Greymouth on the west coast to Christchurch in the east. A very scenic trip, and I prefer trains to buses because you can drink a bottle of wine on them!

Our last night was spent in a gaol cell in Christchurch - well in a gaol that was changed into a backpackers hostel. It was this great white cavernous building, and we slept in a real cell! Kind of spooky... There are a few picks on the photo collection.

Now I'm back in Canberra and am adjusting to being here with Chris gone. I'm just going to have a lot more time on my hands I think. I am playing mixed netball on Wednesdays, which should be fun! Hopefully the boys aren't too rough...

NZ south island adventure

I'm having a great time in New Zealand. It is so beautiful here, and so completely different to Australia... It reminds me a lot of Scotland and the lake district.

First the pictures - well that's me jumping off at 109m freefall canyon swing here in Queenstown. Oh my i have never been so scared. I totally freaked out initially when I looked down to see nothing between me and the canyon below, i even screamed and said i just wouldn't do it. But somehow I managed to calm myself down, and in a moment of madness walked over the edge to the few seconds of freefall before the swing gently caught me and i swung around with the beautiful blue water of the shot over river below. It was such an incredible feeling, and what and adrenaline rush! Totally nuts. Even now 8 hours after I'm still tingling inside.

Just because doing one adventure crazy thing in Queenstown isn't enough, yesterday Claire and I went rafting down a gorgeous river with 4 rapids in it. Had a great time and even swam in the 5 degree water!

This afternoon we went downhill mountain biking, which was great fun. I did the initial easy track, the shotover road, and then the next time I did the hard track, which I really enjoyed surprisingly! It was great fun, pretty challenging, but I found looking well ahead and not at the big rock I was going over or the steep hill i was racing down really helped with the fear of what I was doing!

Christchurch was a lovely city - so very English, i mean more English that england in some ways! We went punting on the river Avon, and drank some tasty beer at Dux de Lux. A nice touristy day.

The day after saw us on a 10 hour bus via the spectacular Mt Cook and some amazing aqua lakes. Stunning scenery the whole way.

Queenstown has been great fun. I'm really enjoying travelling with Claire, its all going fantasticly.

Tomorrow we are off to Milford Sound, and then onto Doubtful Sound, where we are going on a 2 days kayaking trip - can't wait.

Photos from Kosciusko

Hi All,

 

My parents came to visit me in Canberra. We went up to the snowy mountains for the weekend (no snow around at the moment though of course!). It was really pretty up there, and we did the big walk up the highest mountain in Australia - Mt Kosciusko. It was quite easy really. We caught the chairlift up, then did the 5hours return walk on a nice path. We saw a snake on the way too! And Polish people at the top, randomly dressed in polish national dress.. turns out the guy who first climbed the mountain was Polish and it was his birthday.

 

Anyway, check out some photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jo.savill there are also photos from Sydney and christmas.

 

Hoep you are doing well.

xo

Jo

Christmas on the Gold Coast

Gold Coast Christmas 2006

Had a great Christmas at home on the Gold Coast. It is so lovely up there. I wish Canberra was a bit closer to it!

My housewarming party: Doctors and Nurses

Doctors and Nurses house party

Things are going well in Canberra - I'm enjoying being back in this cruisy city. Loving the sunshine. I'm heading home for christmas on Friday for 9 days which will be awesome. Can't wait to go to the beach and see all my family again.

Canberra update

I was just thinking that since returning from overseas I haven't told all my mates what I'm up to. It seems that ordinary life has taken over, and things aren't as exciting as they were but a month ago when I was travelling Europe.

Well things are good, but in different ways of course.

It took me about 3 weeks to get used to being back in Australia after 18months away. I had culture shock in the country I'm from - a very odd feeling. I was surprised by how friendly shop assistants were to me, how fresh the air is, how the sun here burns you so quickly, and how much things cost (I'd totally forgotten what your Aussie dollar gets you). It was fabulous to see family and friends again. Soon my overseas travels went from feeling like a very long dream I'd had to a distant memory. Now I'm just so happy to have travelled, and to have such great memories and have met such awesome people. It sustains me through the dull bits.

I've almost finished my first week of work! I'm a communications officer, in case I haven't mentioned that you yet. I like it so far - really nice people, interesting work happening around me (don't have much to do as yet though), and I have my own rather large office! The location is lovely too - out at Gungahlin. It is a collection of buildings surrounded by paddocks and bushland a little bit out of town.

I just found somewhere to live - with another girl in Dickson, in a nice apartment with all the mod cons, including my own ensuite.. Bring on the luxury living. I just have to walk down my stairs to choose from heaps of yummy restaurants in Canberra's 'china town' (I use the term china town loosely as its the smallest china town I've ever seen!). I move in there on the 11th, and till then I'm staying with Chris in the south of Canberra.

Last weekend I went to Canberra's version of Oktoberfest and drank lots of beer, chatted to lots of people, watched some German folk dancing and ate pork. All good, healthy, excessive drinking type fun. Reminded me of Europe in many ways... :)

Hola amigos!

I´m in Cordoba right now and it is a good 40 degrees outside... well its 35 degrees now that its 6pm. So hot! But at least it is quite dry. Spain is definitely the hottest part of the trip so far.

I had a great time in Barcelona. Nita was stayed longer in Italy so I was on my own there. But not for long really, because after just a morning by myself I met a great bunch of people who I spent time with over the next 5 days. The girl sleeping beneath me on the bunk ended up becoming my good mate and we travelled to Madrid and then onto Seville together as well. Shilly has now gone onto Lagos. It was great meeting some more cool people, and I found travelling on my own quite easy.

Barcelona is an amazing city - there is so much to do there and the night life is just huge! I didn´t get home before 4am 4 nights in a row. As a consequence by the time I got to Madrid I was coming down with a bad cold.... Which I still have now - runny nose, cough and all that. Nita met me in Madrid just fine. I hate being sick on holidays, so I´ve been trying to push through, by going on tapas tours the couple of nights in Seville which have been awesome fun. The tapas was so amazing!

Some highlights have been:

- everything Gaudi in Barcelona. The buildings he created are like something out of a fantasy book, they are just incredible. I loved how much of his work was inspired by nature.

- the Prado in Madrid had an excellent collection of art and an amazing Picasso exhibition. I was so impressed. Madrid was a nice big city, with great food and parks to wander through.

- the Alcazar in Seville was just beautiful. It was a moorish palace that was turned into a christian palace, and had amazing tiling decorations on the walls and beautiful gardens complete with peacocks.

- The mesquita in Cordoba is very beautiful, and I would say the most gorgeous church I´ve been to. It used to be a mosque and was turned into a chruch in the 1400´s. good on them for not destroying something so beautiful. It is filled with amazing archways.

- speaking spanish.. I am so glad I know some spanish because you really need to use it here in Spain! I would say out of all the countries I´ve been to on my trip Spain is the place where it is most useful to know some of the language. I´m great on menus and directions (thanks Jesùs!). I really want to learn more of the language now, it is fun to speak it.

- and of course the major highlight has been the people that I´ve met along the way, there are just so many awesome people that I´ve met on my trip now. The great thing about email is how easy it is to keep in touch with people from all over the world. Even after travelling with someone for a few days you get to know them so well, it can be hard to say goodbye.

I wish I could add some photos to this email but alas, no way of connecting my camera.

Next stop is Granada and then I´m off to London and then home! It is really hard to believe that I will be sitting at home on the Gold Coast in 11 days... It is very hard to imagine right now, here in very hot Cordoba, surrounded by people drinking sangria and cervercas and eating tapas....

I´m off for a siesta....

Istanbul

We are having a great time in Istanbul - it is a fantastic place, with lots of stuff to do and see. Hyrum was ill for a few days when we got here, poor guy with food poisoning or something, but he's doing much better now. His mate Rustin arrives tonight, so we are a group of 5 for the new few weeks.

Yesterday we went on a cruise up the Bosphorous and the day before we took a ferry to Asia - well the asian side of Istanbul.

People haggle with you here to buy things almost all the time but it is not that bad, it is actually quite funny!

Its super hot here though, but nothing that I can't deal with really. The airconditioning in this computer place is fantastic.

Our hostel has a roof top bar which overlooks the water and the Blue Mosque. Absolutely stunning, and very laid back. I've been eating a lot of Kebaps and baklava. Food is really good here!

Yesterday I went to the Grand Bazaar with Canadian Dan (the second canadian Dan of the trip) and had fun buying jewelry and backgammon boards for his friends. I also did some jewlery purchasing myself. It is amazing how cheap things can get when you walk away from them..

There a mosques scattered everywhere over this vast city, and along with the call to prayer 5 times a day I know I'm not really in europe anymore. People are very friendly here, even when they are not trying to sell you something (which is most of the time). Great place to visit all in all.

On the 17th we are flying to Izmir, then going to Kusadasi, a beachside town for a night where our hostel has a pool! Can't wait for a swim, that is one thing istanbul is lacking right now. Then we catch a ferry to the greek island of Samos, and then onto Mykonos. We might go to another island around there and then we head to athens on the 24th, I have my job interview on the 25th (you can really see me researching sustainable ecosystems on a greek island now can't you....) and then off to italy on the 26th/27th where we stay with Hyrum in Naples for a few days. Once we leave turkey things are going to get much more expensive than eastern europe and istanbul... I'm sure we'll be right.