AUSTRALIA - Melbourne

So after my adventure in Fiji I was glad to arrive in Melbourne and be picked up by my Auntie Jenny and Bella (her little white westie above).

Although I had pre-warned Jenny that I was particularly smelly, she forgot her nose peg, so as soon as we got in I was stripped and almost everything in my bag (except the 4 bars of chocolate I got in NZ) were flung into the washing machine.

The next day we were up very early and headed to the Victoria Market, which is amazing. I could have spent all day there. We also went to a Lebanese supermarket where I was able to get all my spices. I really wish Edinburgh was a bit more multicultural. You can buy every kind of food in Melbourne. It is just heaven!

In the afternoon we went to Geelong to see my cousin Andrew and his new wife and his even newer puppy Archie (above), who was very cute, and the rest of his family which includes Max the cocker spaniel (above), Ruffus (below) the cat and Puss (wouldnt come out for a foto) the cat. We had a BBQ and I was supposed to stay with another cousin but ended up so tired that I crashed out at theirs and was in bed at 8.30!

We headed off back to Melbourne the next day and had a family get together at Jenny's. It was nice to see everyone. All of my cousins, except one, got married in the last year so it was nice meeting everyone (that turned up that is). Jenny is a great cook so we were well fed!

Monday was my first chance to explore Melbourne and see what had changed in the last 7 years. I walked with Jenny to work then I did some boring stuff (opened a bank account, applied for a tax number, etc) then I just walked about town and tried to resist all the lovely food. The biggest change was Federation Square, which was a building site when I was there last. Now it is a big hunk of metal like the Scottish Parliament!

Later on after dinner Jenny took me and Bella to the famous Brunswick Street which is a street of great funky cafe's (and traffic wardens at 8pm!).

I managed to waste half a day at the Victoria Market again and the other half on the internet, before heading back to make Jenny some curries (I went a bit overboard!)

On my last day in Melbourne I woke up feeling pretty crappy, so me an Bella chilled in front of the telly and watched a DVD then went back to bed. We then dragged ourselves up and I headed to Lygon Street to meet cousin Catrina, who forced me to go to Brunettis and have coffee and cake! We had a stroll up Lygon Street then had a quick walk round the museum. It was nice to catch up with the only unmarried one of the family!

And that was it for Melbourne. I still didnt do everything, but I had to leave some stuff to do next time!

FIJI - Kandavu

Well Fiji has been an interesting rollercoaster!

The plan of attack was arrive, head to Suva, get the plane to Kandavu to relax for 3days, fly back to Suva, head along the coast to Pacific Harbour for a day and back to Nandi before flying out again. That was the plan, but this is what happened.........................................................................

I arrived on Saturday in Nandi, hung about the airport for 2 hours and did the 4 hour bus ride to Suva. I arrived in Suva late and to say it was raining was an understatement. By the time I ran from one bus stop to the next ( about 20 steps) everything I owned was totally drenched! Anyway I did the short bus ride to Raintree Lodge, where I stayed last year, and I was lucky enough to have a nice dorm all to myself. I met a nice couple from Fiji (Helene & Joe) who owned a resort on another island and there was also a New Zealand guy (Mark) who was doing a term at Uni in Fiji. They seemed to be the only people staying there, which I think is because tourists are still worried about the coo that happened in Fiji. We chatted and I told them how I wished I wasnt going to Kandavu cos it was going to work out so expensive and that I had a funny feeling about going to Kandavu. They told me to stop being a Scottish Jew and go and enjoy myself. But something felt not right.........................as I was to find out!

It was still raining the next day when I was supposed to leave for the airport. I planned to get a bus, but treated myself to a long lie and got a taxi instead. I had done a washing the night before so my bag was full of wet clothes in the hope that when I got to Kandavu there would be some sunshine to dry them.

As usual I flew in a shoe box, which is great fun. The pilots (being of the polynesian variety) bareley fitted in the front and one had to have his arm hanging out the window the whole way cos it couldnt fit in. I was sat directly behind the pilots with my razors, pocket knife and 3ltrs of water (joking...........well not about the water). The safety explanantion was the usual blah blah blah '............and you will find a leaflet in the pocket in front of you which explains all the safety procedures, however you may find it more useful as a fan'. The pilots are funny!

I arrived on time in Kandavu and the airport was as I expected, a shack. I eventually found someone who said she was there to take me to the resort, but we had to wait on a family who would be arriving on the Nandi flight in the next 30mins. Two hours later I was still waiting being told the flight would arrive 'in the next few minutes' (Fiji time that is!).

Three hours later the German family arrived with little Simone who was only 18mths old. We were taken to our little speedboat for our '1hour' transfer to Waisalima Beach Resort (which actually turned out to be 1hour 45minutes!). I started to smell a rotten fish straight away when the boat driver asked me for $60. I asked him why and I told him that I was told that the return boat ride was $100 dollars, but a supplement may apply if I was on the only person. So I gave him $50.

We arrived at Waisalima, very wet and with very sore butts, and met the owner Maureen, her daughter Coral and the Fijian staff and the only other guest who was also from Germany, so I had good practice with my German! I had a bure all to myself which was great, but with it were lots of mosquitos. Not so great!

The next day I went diving with Dirte (the German girl) and Tinno (Simone's dad). It was ok, but the main reason I had gone was because the diving was supposed to be amazing. Maybe I have been lucky to have done so much diving in other places, because I did not find it that great. In the afternoon we went for a muddy walk then later we sat and chatted.

Then it all started to go wrong! Maureen decided to announce to me that because no one else was going to the airport on the day I was leaving then I would have to pay for the whole boat ride and pay $150 (= 50quid!). (She had emailed me originally when I booked to say that if I was the only person on the boat ride from/to the airport then a supplement would apply. I emailed her back at the time and asked her how much this would be and she ignored the email so I thought fine and only took enough cash to cover the $100 I had been told. It was the fact that she had ignored my email that made me get the bad feeling about going there).

Anyway, I said I would NOT pay this so she ageed to phone the other resort to see if they had anyone going to the airport. She would then charge me $45 to there and then they would charge me $45 to go to the airport! In the meantime, I headed off in the boat with everyone for some snorkelling at a nice beach.

We came back and funnily enough Maureen could not get through to the other resort so she had this amazing idea!

'Why not cancel your return flight stay for another 2 days (pay her $75 per day and then the airport transfer would only be $50 because a group were arriving that day) and get the flight to Nandi instead and they will arrange to transfer my backpack in Suva to Nandi'.

Eh! No I dont think so!

'Well the only other thing you can do is cancel your flight and get the ferry and to do that you will need to buy a phonecard'.

So even though Maureen had a phone and was happy to use it if it meant I'd stay longer she was not willing to help me if not! So I bought my phone card cancelled my flight (full refund too!), phoned and booked accomodation in Suva and decided not to have any more meals or do any more activities that would involve giving her money.

So as a result of this hoo ha all the planning and effort I had gone to to go all the way to Suva was a total waste of time because I then had to spend another day in Kandavu and didnt have time to head along the Coral coast on the mainland as planned. I could have just done a return flight from Nandi instead.

Anyway it gets worse!

So on the day I am leaving she asks me to pay the bill, to which she added $22 for the cost of the speedboat to the ferry (even tho it was going anyway to get the resort supplies and had 8 other people on it!). I brought enough cash to pay everything, but because I had to pay for the ferry in cash I didnt have enough cash to pay my bills, so I asked if I could pay by credit card. THEN (and before she even said it I knew it was coming) she said that I had to pay a 3% charge cos it was such a small amount. Normally I would tell someone to shove it, but by this time I was laughing as this provided me with even more amunition to put her out of business, which trust me will not be hard!

So off I went on the speedboat to the ferry. The ferry was a great experience. In my whole time in Kandavu I saw about 6 Fijians and then I get to the ferry and there are hundreds. I have no idea where they all appeared from! The ferry was great and I had the company of 2 Fijians from the resort who were lovely.

Anyway 6hours later we arrived in Suva and I hopped in the taxi with Va and Poni who dropped me off at my hostel and I waved cheerio. I was already in my pyjamas ready for bed and excited cos I had actually booked a room instead of a dorm.

However, I was only to discover that the hostel was closed and the owners had not left my room key with the security guard or told him I was coming. I eventually managed to convince him to let me into the grounds. He banged on the owners door to get them up and they told him to go away. I then banged on their door and they just ignored me so I ended up roughing it on the ground. Luckily the security guy let me stay under a shelter and kept an eye on me. I think I managed an hours sleep in between wacking the mosquitos. I think at this point most people would cry but I was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay beyond it and couldnt help but laugh.

So I left my 'bed' for the nite and was walking the streets of Suva (still in my pyjamas!) at 6am waiting for the shops to open, as it rained. On the plus side I had some extra cash because of my 'bedless' nite, so I picked up a couple of souveneirs then headed back to Raintree where I joined Helene, Joe and Mark again and chatted to them about my 'adventure'.

Finally I got the bus back to Nandi, treated myself to a beer, had a good old wash and collapsed into bed at 8.30pm with the alarm set for 4am for my next flight.

After all my travelling this has been the worst experience so far. The kind of behaviour I expect from people in Asian countries but not from an Australian. She didnt just mess me about. It turned out that she ignored the emails from Dirte about the boat transfer costs. She also offered her an 'unlimited' dive package before she arrived, but when she arrived she said it could only be for 10dives unless there were other people going out. Poor Dirte is still there and is now in the same position I was in and may have to cancel her flight and get the ferry.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear! Maureen certainly messed about the wrong person and I am pretty sure I can say in the next year there will be no Waisalima anymore (or at least no Maureen) cos I am going to see to that...............................................................hee hee!

NEW ZEALAND

So I arrived back in Auckland to the usual grey weather! I quickly cleared out my NZ bank account and headed to the cheapest hostel in town. Wasnt quite sure what to do with myself since there was no Pak n Save in Auckland (where I stocked up on chocolate last year!). I just had a wander round town then decided to get the ferry to Davenport, which was quite nice for a walkabout until it rained.

The next day I was back on the Magic bus half way up to Paihia only to find out that they had changed their timetable. This meant that I was unable to do diving at Poor Knights, which was pretty much the only reason I had returned to NZ! It also meant another day stuck in Auckland! Not happy, letter of complaint heading their way.

Paihia was a nice little resort town. I did a daytrip to Cape Reinga and 90-mile beach (which is actually only 64.5 miles)and did some sand dune surfing on a boogie board, which was fun. We had great weather, but it was a pity I had to watch most of it from the bus window!

The next day I did a cruise round the Bay of Islands in search of dolphins. We were fairly much greeted by the dolphins straight away, although because there was a baby one we were not allowed to swim with them. I am not sure how keen I would have been to swim with them in water temperatures of 15 degrees! We were then lucky enought to come across 3 killer whales, which was unexpected. Another fine day weather wise.

My last day in the Bay of Islands was spent getting my diving computer fixed (after chatting to the guy for a bit he gave me his card saying to get in touch if I want work next season........if the water aint 23 degrees plus he can forget it!). I then hopped on the ferry to Russell which is a tooty wee village over the waters. Not much to say except it rained there too.

My last day in Auckland presented surprisingly good weather so I hopped on the bus to a beach town called Orewa, which I had spotted on my Magic bus travels. It is really nice and the kind of place I would retire. I treated myself to a nice lunch then just lay on the beach until it was time to get the bus back. It was a stunning day so I guess I will be leaving NZ with a good impression!

HAWAII - The Big Island

So I headed to the Big Island and found myself in a ghost town. Hilo, which is the main town on the East coast, was dead. I guess cos it was Easter Sunday. I was staying in a really nice hostel with Derreck who I had met on Oahu. We decided to rent a car and somehow I ended up being the only named driver!

The next day we.......I mean I drove to the North coast. I thought it would be difficult getting used to the other side of the road, but it was more difficult getting used to an automatic. I couldnt even find the handbrake!

We drove to a scenic point, which was ok, but we had to drive straight back for our trip to Moana Kea. The summit of Moana Kea is 13000ft in the sky and it is scattered with huge observatories from different countries. The drive up through the clouds was stunning and it really felt like another world being above the clouds.

We watched the sunset and I think I can say it is the best sunset I ever saw ( and the most bloody expensive!). The next day we drove to the volcano park and saw lots of steam and loads of hard lava, but none of the fresh hot stuff. It was good having the car and Derreck to keep me right, however if I had been on my own I would have hiked a few hours just to see the fresh stuff. We then drove round the South coast which was stunning. However, not so stunning when we stumbled across a nudey beach!

Hilo was beginning to get a bit busier for the build up to the Merry Monarch festival (hula stuff), but I got the bus to Kona to do some diving.

Kona is on the West coast and was so different to sleepy laid back Hilo. Kona was more like a tourist resort. I dandered about between the dive centres to see if I could do the famous Manta Ray nite dive, which was the only reason I went to Kona. I could not believe when they looked at me as if I was an alien when I asked if the dive centre would pick me up. None of them were willing to pick me up even tho I was about to pay 60 quid for one dive! I gave up and was pretty p*&#ed off! It is ridiculous that for everything there you need a car cos they cant be bothered having a decent bus service! No wonder our planet is going downhill with all those fumes.

I met Derreck again who had 5 hours to kill in Kona. It was nice to have a bit of company, but I think I'd rather have taken a long walk down the coast than hung about in Kona with him. I ended up just wasting my time in Kona and spent most of it at the hostel watching TV! There was this guy staying there tho that really made me feel uncomfortable. He would just sit and stare at me when I was watching TV or talking to people and then when I left he kissed my hand. I cant explain how wierd he was. It was like he had no confidence with women and someone had told him when you say bye to someone you kiss them on the hand. Really freaky!

Anyway I nearly missed the plane back to Honolulu cos I was supposed to be getting a ride to the airport from a girl who worked at the hostel, so I ended up getting a taxi. Back to Honolulu (after my one hour busride for a distance of 15miles!) I treated myself to a Mexican.

I ended up leaving Hawaii in a bad mood. You waste so much time there. In Oahu there is a great bus service, but you end up stuck in traffic all the time and a normal 30min journey in the UK takes 1hr 30 in Hawaii. Not joking! They really need to get cars off the road.

Anway moan moan, back to New Zealand for some chocolate and to see the Bay of Islands.

HAWAII - Oahu

I love the hostel that I am staying. Such a friendly place!

I arrived on the Monday and had a quick walk about and thought I was in a posh Benidorm or something. The beach was full of sunbathers and kids and not the most scenic place. I had a walk about and stumbled across the market, so I think some serious shopping will get done there. I then decided to have a quick snooze before heading out for dinner, but was surprised when I woke up to find it was 1am so I had missed dinner.



Tuesday I got up and had coffee and toast and signed up for a hike to Diamond Head Crater. There were 7 of us and they were all a great bunch. It was an easy walk, which was ashame because that meant all the other tourists were up there too! The view was good, but the scenery certainly does not compare to Tahiti.

Wednesday I got the circle island bus to the North Shore. The scenery round the East coast was spectacular. The North Shore was not so spectacular, although there was a bodysurfing competition going on which was fun. I walked aong the North Shore to the main town Haleiwa and treated myself to a shaved ice. Yum yum and calorie free!

The bus ride round Hawaii is something else. The place is defo not geared for pedestrians and I was brickin it walking along the road. It took more that 2 hours each way cos of all the traffic. Nightmare!



Thursday and it was another hike up the stunning Moana falls and then a few of us headed to the Hanuama Bay, which was a gorgeous beach with great snorkelling. My first chance to sunbathe since I got here!



Easter Friday was washing day. I hopped on the bus and had a wander round the historical area of Honolulu, took a few photos and came back.

Saturday I treated to myself to a buffet breakfast. It was yummy, and the best bit is it went right through me so need to worry about the waistline!