Bobo's Farm, Ovalau

SUCH a great time on Ovalau Island, Fiji. We stayed for four nights in the rainforest at the guesthouse run by larger-than-life local Bobo and his German wife, Karen, on their amazing farm.

The food--most of it coming from the farm, was delicious and so fresh.

A short walk up the hill gave a stunning sunset view...

...and another evening Bobo walked us down to the shore to watch the sun set from there.

Evidence of rising sea levels was clear here; the nearby village of Rukuruku is threatened and the government is trying to get people to move inland. And palm trees that have succumbed to the higher tideline have fallen across the beach. Bobo said they started noticing the rising waters by the turn of the century.

We also hopped on the island truck one day...

...and visited the original Fijian capitol of Levuka, still a completely charming city with a lot of its original buildings.

And of course the exceptionally friendly Fijians themselves were out in force, especially since it was a school holiday.

Coral Coast, Fiji!

When North Americans want a tropical vacation, they go to the Caribbean. But Ozzies and Kiwis have the South Pacific. And that includes Fiji! Less than a three hour flight from Auckland, we couldn't resist taking advantage of the opportunity to check out an island paradise. As fall progresses in NZ, it's getting steadily chillier and it was such a joy to step off the plane at Nadi (on the main island of the nation of Fiji) and head to our first idyllic destination: Namuka Bay on the Coral Coast.

The view from the room where we stayed for our first two nights:

And the indoor shower that was actually an outdoor shower!!!:

There was some intimidating coral right along the shore, but we did take a couple of ancient kayaks out on the water for a bit.

And REALLY enjoyed the yummy food at the adjacent restaurant, which showed clearly the strong Indian influence in Fiji (at one point, half of this country's people were Fijian Indian, with the other half being native Fijian/Melanisian) in the form of amazing curry dishes.

After we got a little acclimatized to this environment, which could not be more different from Antarctica, we set off a little deeper into the islands, taking buses to the capitol city of Suva and then farther up the east coast, stopping at small town markets full of fresh produce (it seems EVERYTHING grows here in this warm weather and volcanic soil!)...

...and on to the ferry landing for the boats that go to some of the outer islands. On the horizon, you can see Ovalau Island, the historic former capitol of Fiji, and our next destination.

It was nice bit of travel in a not-very-developped country, as it took a taxi and then a bus and then another bus, with long periods of waiting in-between each leg, before we FINALLY got to board the ferry to Ovalau...

...and watch the sun set over the main island as we headed into the next leg of the adventure.

Auckland

We had a couple of nights in the big city, and though there's way more to do in Auckland than we had time for, we enjoyed the city scape (nice view from our hostel room!)...

...had a really yummy dinner in Ponsonby with two Denverites living in Auckland who we met on our Milford Track hike last month...

...took a ferry to Rangitoto Island, out in the bay.

It's a volcanic island, and though it hasn't been active for centuries, there is still exposed volcanic rock everywhere. So cool.

There were even these great lava tubes that we could walk into. Though this picture sort of makes it look like I'm about to be beamed up to the mother ship.

And the view from the peak of the island back at the city was so nice.

I also caught a yoga class while we were in town, and in our brief walk around the city center, I was impressed at how lively and bustling Auckland is. (I've also heard that it's the city that has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world, which seems kind of funny at first but actually makes a lot of sense.) Could easily have spent more time here, but we have plane tickets for a gluttonous vacation from our vacation. Stay tuned!

White Island - again!

Okay, I can't help but post too many pictures about our second--and this time, successful--trip to Whakatane and into the Bay of Plenty to White Island volcano. I LOVE VOLCANOES! This time, the sea was WAY calmer and we got there without sea sickness.

The crew motored us to shore in groups in a dinghy. (Check out the low rainbow behind the boat!)

And we got decked out in our helmets and gas masks and headed toward the crater(s).

The sulfur deposits were INCREDIBLE.

As was the opportunity to get this close to the main crater of an active volcano.

The colors and the scenery were just so beautiful.

And the ruins of the sulfur mining operation that used to exist here lent an even eerier feeling to the island.

On the way home, we saw schools of these amazing, bright blue fish, plus several bottle nose dolphins. No pictures of those, unfortunately, but a nice view of the volcano as we motored away from it, back to the mainland...

Far North

We made it all the way to the very northern tip of the North Island! Cape Reinga is a sacred place for the Maori people, who believe that this is where departed souls return to the underworld. And it's gorgeous.

It's also where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. One guy told us that the currents often collide in a striking wave display. That wasn't really the case when we were there, and it's possible that the turbulence you see in this picture is just from rocks below the surface. Or may it's the seas colliding. Pick whichever explanation you prefer!

Just south of the Cape, there are spectacular giant sand dunes. I can attest that they are difficult to climb, but a lovely place to lay and read for awhile.

On the other (east) side of the peninsula, there is a lovely white sand (silica) beach.

And then stretching for quite aways down the west side of the peninsula, 90-mile beach, vast and forlorn.

We took the scenic drive along the west coast as we made our way back south, stopping for a couple of short walks in Waipoua Forest, one of the last remaining remnants of the dense forest that covered 95% of New Zealand...before cometh man.

Hard to imagine that kaori trees this massive used to cover the island. They're almost entirely gone, now, so the chance to see the biggest remaining specimens made a trip to this forest very worth taking the scenic route south.

I also love how the bark of the kaori trees is an ecosystem unto itself.

Bay of Islands

Still heading north, we spent a couple of nights in the adorable seaside town of Russell, on Bay of Islands.

Russell boasts the oldest church in New Zealand. Its construction of this church was funded in large part by Charles Darwin, who was appalled at the crudeness of Russell's residents and thought they could use some churchin'.

But the main point of going to Bay of Islands is to get out in the bay, which is full of dolphins...

And islands! Here, the famous "Hole in the Rock," which tourist boats such as ours motor straight through.

But there are tons of other islands, large and small.

We even got to dock and take a quick hike on one of them. So beautiful.