Our last post had us arriving in what was to be the southernmost point of our travels through New Zealand, Dunedin.  The highlight of Dunedin… the chocolate factory for me, the Speights brewery for Rob!  Who knew that Cadbury was such an international chocolate, sourcing their beans from Ghana and Malaysia, roasting them in Singapore, before mixing the resulting cocoa mass with Australian sugar and Kiwi milk to end up with the famed Dairy Milk!  We also found the steepest street in the world, Baldwin Street, which has a rise of 1m for every 2.6m forward.  After a couple of photos at the top we had a laugh walking down the gradient while Scott decided to test his car’s brakes!  The day after had us enjoying a drive along the Otago Peninsula firstly stopping at Larnach Castle and thereafter driving to Harington Point, the site of the only mainland Royal Albatross colony in the world (although we only spotted one gliding out over the water).  The area was also home to both yellow-eyed and blue penguins, but since they only return to their nests at dusk, we didn’t get a chance to see them.  It was a great couple of days in Dunedin then we started back to Christchurch, stopping at Moeraki Boulders.  Here we parted ways with the family, them heading straight back home, while Rob and I took a detour in a rental car to visit Mt Cook National Park, Mt Cook being the highest mountain in New Zealand.  Going back into the mountains I was expecting more of an alpine look to the countryside, but I was reminded that we had climbed above the normal winter snowline, so instead of green pine trees the landscape was a desolate brown with only a few thorny bushes dotted along the way.  Arriving in the village of Mt Cook National Park, our plan was to take a boat trip to the terminal face of the Tasman Glacier, but it was recommended we rather hike to a view point.  Good thing we did because we were extremely disappointed with what we saw.  Although bigger than Franz Josef Glacier, it was definitely not as impressive; the surface of the glacier was covered in a thick layer of sand blown down from the mountains.  At first glance you wouldn’t have thought you were looking at a glacier.  The only give-away was the chunks of ice that had broken away from the terminal face and congregated at the mouth of the lake.  Thereafter we hiked to a view point of Mt Cook itself, with two nerve-wrecking suspension bridge crossings.  Just a few days previously we saw footage of trampers who were plunged into an icy river when the bridge they were crossing collapsed.  And seeing the amount of steel cabling used to reinforce the bridges and prevent them from swaying maniacally in the wind howling through the valley did little to comfort me!  From Mt Cook we travelled to Lake Tekapo to get a photo of the famed Church of the Good Shepherd, an extremely old church with one of the best views!  Upon arriving in town we decided to do something different; instead of choosing the usual hostel bed in the YHA we chose a camper van for the night!  A good idea at the time, but not so great when a certain someone (me) had to get up in the middle of the night, walk across the garden in the freezing cold and use the bathroom in the hostel building!

In the middle of October we were back in Christchurch and spent another week with Sheryl and Co.  Scott disappeared to go watch the end of the Rugby World Cup so we kept Sheryl and kids company for a while.  We even visited the gym a couple of times, and I enjoyed a hot yoga class with Sheryl too!  We said a sad farewell on 20 October and headed north to the Malborough Sounds, a beautiful area with fingers of pine-covered land protruding into the Cook’s Strait.  We had another rental car and it was a great driving experience for Rob, who was dreaming of a career as a rally driver as we twisted our way through windy roads!  After a brief stop in the fishing town of Kaikoura to enjoy a lunch of fresh fish and chips while surrounded by squawking seagulls in what felt like approaching summer weather, we continued on to our destination of Anakiwa.  Thank goodness we had a car because Anakiwa was so isolated, we would have been bored out of our skulls if we couldn’t take a drive to explore Picton, 25km away, and more of the Sounds.  The Malborough Sounds are a network of sunken river valleys with three bodies of water comprising it; Queen Charlotte, Kenepuru and Pelorus, with a number of islands dotted throughout.  Anakiwa also marks the end of the Queen Charlotte Track, one of New Zealand’s best trails.  From Malborough we travelled to Motueka which was to be our base to explore Abel Tasman National Park.  Being too early to check in at the hostel, we continued exploring the beautiful beach town of Kaiteriteri and surrounding area.  While in the Nelson area, we enjoyed a great but tiring 25km hike along part of the Coastal Track of Abel Tasman National Park.  Very early on in our time in New Zealand I was very happy and relieved to hear about the lack of snakes on the islands, so tramping through rainforest actually involved taking in the scenery rather than me trying to determine if the tree root I was just about to step over was a slithery serpent or not!  It was fantastic walking, tramping to a meditative soundtrack of trickling streams, chirping birds and waves lapping at the shore.  Even the rhythmic clump-clump of our boots crunching along the packed sand path did little to disturb the peace.  After a picnic lunch in a secluded cove we did an about turn, retracing our footsteps back to the park entrance, only this time getting wet as the forecasted spots of rain became intermittent showers!  The walk back was therefore done in double time!  We had the track mostly to ourselves in the morning since we started out early, but on our way back we passed a good number of hikers; they had our sympathy with the mizzle turning into drizzle and then full on rain.  A hot shower back at the hostel followed by craft beer and cider at the local Sprig & Fern tavern was most welcome!  We dropped our rental car off in Nelson, watched SA lose to NZ in the rugby then caught a bus back Picton to catch the ferry back to Wellington.  The ferry is the best way to view some of the 1500km of coastline making up the Malborough Sounds and has been rated as one of the most scenic boat rides in the world.  Thankfully the weather played ball and the crossing between North and South Island was flat; the Cook’s Strait is known to be rough!

Back in Wellington, we took advantage of the sunny weather that we didn’t have the first time and visited the Beehive, the site of New Zealand’s parliament.  And even though it was a Public Holiday (Labour Day) they still offered free tours of parliament so we stood in the room where the powers-that-be make the laws!  The most interesting part of the tour was the basement and seeing how the structure has been earthquake-proofed.  After an unusually sunny period, we left Wellington on a wet and windy day using a rental car and drove north to Napier.  Although still a scenic drive, it was nothing compared to the sights on South Island.  Arriving in Napier mid afternoon gave us an opportunity to have a look around.  Unfortunately it is not a town that one can write much about.  Filled with arty-farty types, it was a bit incongruous in that it is also a port town with rough tough sailors coming off the cargo ships.  With the weather being inclement we drove up to a lookout point on Bluff Hill which the locals are very proud of but all we got was a bird’s eye view of the container terminal, with the side overlooking the town completely overgrown with vegetation.  Back down we parked the car and walked through the main shopping district and from what we saw we were happy we were only spending a night there.

Leaving Napier we continued our drive to Bay of Plenty and the seaside town of Mount Maunganui.  On our drive up we stopped in Taupo briefly for a coffee and Rotorua (where we spent some time before going to Christchurch) but this time with our own car we managed to stop at some rapids and cascades at Huka Falls outside of town.  With 200 000l of Waikato River water plunging over the 9m rock face every second (enough to fill five Olympic Swimming pools), the resulting bubbles give the falls their name, “foam” in Maori.  Arriving in Mount Maunganui we were too early to check in to the backpackers so we went directly to Mount Mauao, a volcanic hill sacred to the Maori and walked halfway up to get some photos of the bay and nearby Tauranga.  We didn’t do the complete walk to the summit as we only had a parking space for an hour and didn’t want to risk a fine!  We found the area very similar in feel to Jeffrey’s Bay in SA, popular with surfers and fishermen.  Enjoying an afternoon beer in one of the locals we found the bartender was South African who had been living there for nine years – funny but an Afrikaner will never lose that particular accent!

Following Mount Maunganui we drove further up the coast to an area called The Coromandel, considered to be one of the best areas of North Island.  We spent three nights in a tiny settlement of Opoutere in a cabin at the YHA hostel and can see why the area is popular with holidaymakers; close to Auckland, kilometres and kilometres of white sand beaches (although the water is still cold) and what seems to be an agreeable climate, but that is subjective as us sun loving South Africans were still in track pants and fleeces, having not fully adjusted to the weather!  Our first morning after arriving in Opoutere was spent exploring – we had a car, why not use it?  We drove to the seaside village of Hahei and had a good walk along the coast to Cathedral Cove, a huge arched cavern eroded by the sea.  Following that we drove to Whitianga and wandered around town.  New to the area is a development similar to St Francis Bay with its canals and waterways, where huge fishing boats are moored on private jetties in front of equally huge houses.  A delicious fish and chips lunch preceded the slow drive back to the YHA, stopping in Tairua.  The entrance to the marina of this town is overlooked by Mt Paku which of course we had to climb!  After stretching our legs we arrived back in Opoutere and decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and first walked to the beach, and there after climbed to the top of the hill behind the YHA.  On the deck of our cabin we also enjoyed the shows put on by the native Tui bird, which has an extremely versatile vocal range, chirping prettily at first then screeching like a banshee the next.  The Tui proved to be difficult to capture on film; every time Rob got the camera ready, the bird “did a Bella” and flew off.  I say “did a Bella” as one of my dogs back home is extremely camera shy and does a runner at the slightest hint that her photo will be taken!  The second morning in Opoutere had us on the water of the estuary in kayaks, but the weather turned so it was back home for coffee on the deck!

Leaving Opoutere we headed to Auckland on Rugby World Cup Final day, to find out the All Blacks managed a convincing win.  So the bars and pubs of Auckland city were filled with jovial drunks at 09h00 in the morning!  That night we splurged on tickets to watch “Le Noir – The Dark Side of Le Cirque” and what a treat that was!  An absolutely amazing show with men and women who shouldn’t naturally be able to bend their bodies that way!  It was as if they didn’t have a single bone in their bodies.  The Ringmaster himself was a hoot – he managed to manoeuvre himself into a large balloon, change his outfit and came out dressed as an All Black and even did the Haka!  The music and costumes were fantastic, totally in keeping with the romantic, sensual, and sometimes erotic theme.  It was a captivating performance which had us entranced and spellbound for two hours, with some jaw dropping moments making the audience gasp aloud.

Feeling like we had seen what we wanted to see in New Zealand, and knowing we had a bit of time to kill before flying home to SA, we travelled north and based ourselves in the Bay of Islands, in a town called Paihia.  Popular with the cruise ships, Paihia is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 which established British control over New Zealand.  While there we rented a car for a day, a dodgy Nissan sedan aka grandpa-mobile with cobwebs on the side mirrors, and drove to the northern most tip of New Zealand, to Cape Reinga.  It is here where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean, with the two counter currents smashing together to create a surf break of white rolling waves far offshore.  Known as a “maelstrom”, it is much more dramatic than the Indian Ocean meeting the Atlantic!  At the point we were surrounded by leather-clad bikers out for a day’s ride.  I wouldn’t say bikers in general look like they follow the healthiest of lifestyles so I had to laugh to myself hearing one of them say she was in the “fat-burning zone” as she and her mates huffed and puffed their way up the path from the lighthouse!  Renting a car was half the price of a tour bus and we got to choose our own route which made for another scenic drive.  I had a moment of childish pleasure climbing up one of the massive sand dunes and running back down, all while being caught on camera!  We also stopped briefly on 90 mile beach, which is an endless stretch of white sand only 55 miles, or 88km long, which is registered as a state highway but only used by tour busses and 4×4 vehicles brave enough to risk the tides.

Our time in Paihia was spent tramping!  With lots of walks in the area we enjoyed a good few hours on the trails almost every day, through forested areas as well as along the coast.  We also managed to get across the bay to the quaint town of Russell which used to be New Zealand’s capital but is now a tourist-orientated boutique town filled with restaurants, bars and expensive accommodation.  Not always known for its tranquillity, it was once referred to as the Hell Hole of the Pacific due to a period of drunken lawlessness in its days of being a whaling station.  Russell is also home to New Zealand’s oldest Church, the Christ Church, established in 1836 and said to still have scars from cannon and musket balls, but we couldn’t see any evidence of damage while there.  Of course, we visited the Waitangi Treaty Grounds too and it ended up being an informative morning learning about New Zealand’s history.  Our fondest memory of Paihia though is The Coffee Shack, an old shipping container on the side of the road converted by a husband-and-wife team into a mobile coffee shop!  The shack ended up being a daily stop for us during our last week in Paihia and the hosts Neil and Becky were probably the best coffee barristers we knew!  After a couple of weeks in Northland, we headed back to Auckland, bid farewell to Kiwi land and flew back to SA for a happy reunion with family and friends.

So 6000 words later I think I have captured the best of our time in New Zealand!  Two and a half months were spent in this beautiful country, and I believe we made the most of it.  Rob, having visited before, was extremely pleased that I loved it too.  Will New Zealand hold anything in store for us in the future?  Only time will tell!

Although our epic sailing adventure across the Pacific came to a premature end in Fiji, New Zealand was our ultimate destination when we first set out from Panama. So despite disembarking from the yacht in Suva, Rob and I still made plans to head to the Land of the Long White Cloud, Aotearoa in Maori!  Firstly because I had never been there, and we didn’t know when we’d next be “in the area”, and secondly it was a good opportunity for Rob to visit his sister and her family after 10 or so years of not seeing each other.  After enjoying the time in Fiji, we departed from Nadi on 13 September bound for Auckland.  It was an uneventful flight on Air New Zealand and although delayed, the safety briefing before taking off made up for it – a video with some of the All Blacks rapping the safety features to the theme song of the movie “Men in Black”.  Good to hear so many chuckles from the passengers!   So we land in Auckland and queued for immigration, only to be told there is an immigration alert on Rob’s passport and we got pulled over and told to wait for a supervisor.  After waiting ten minutes we had a short interview, had to give Rob’s sister’s details for a background check, to then be told to go collect our bags and come back.  After some red tape we eventually got our passports back with a three month stamp.  A bit of a nerve-wrecking entry into the country!  After that little bit of a delay, and still having to queue to go through customs, as well as wait for the bus shuttle into town, it was about 02h30 in the morning before we got to bed that night!  And Rob got his laughs by seeing me dressed like the Michelin Man; I was absolutely freezing in the icy temperatures of the lower latitudes after having been in the Tropics for the past eight months!

The next morning was a wander around Auckland city centre, strolling down trendy Queen Street with all its brand shops and coffee bars.  We went up the Sky Tower, the highest building jump in NZ at 192m to street level, and the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere.  Despite having the SkyJump available, we weren’t courageous enough to tackle that and stuck indoors!  Our brave moment was standing on the glass floor peering down at the ground below us.  That afternoon we walked to the suburb of Mt Eden and walked up Mt Eden hill, just one of the many dormant or extinct volcanoes dotted around Auckland and got some great views of the crater itself, the city, harbour and North Shore.  I’ll say this very early on in this blog post so I don’t repeat myself.  In all the cities and towns we visited in New Zealand, we were blown away by how clean and neat everything was, litter and graffiti free, with even the public toilets kept in good condition and continually stocked with toilet paper.  We really appreciated the fact that it is a very pedestrian friendly country with wide pavements, walking and cycle lanes.  We only saw about three vagrants, but were never hassled.  We even saw the police engaging with them making sure that they hadn’t been drinking and were keeping out of trouble.  The next day we caught the ferry across the harbour to the “urban, seaside village” of Devonport.  Devonport is one of Auckland’s oldest suburbs, and home to the navy.  Being very picturesque, the area was made up of doll-like wooden houses with intricate lattice work around the Victorian style wrap-around verandas, complete with white picket fences!  There was a frigid wind blowing so after wandering up North Head to explore the old gun placements, bunkers and tunnels used during the war to protect Waitemata Harbour, and exploring the streets, we headed back to the YHA at lunchtime.

After a brief visit in Auckland, we headed to Rotorua, a four hour bus ride away.  We used the Intercity service, and in most cases with our bus rides, we nabbed the front two seats to get the best view during the ride.  The Intercity bus service was particularly enjoyable because the bus drivers used a microphone and provided ongoing commentary about the places we passed, and this was the case on most of our bus journeys.  There was even free Wi-Fi available on the bus, just in case the views outside the windows weren’t captivating enough!  We saw plenty of sheep grazing on rolling green hills, a characteristic sight, and each time we passed through a new town, the words most commonly out of our mouths were “What a pretty town!”  As soon as we arrived in Rotorua we dropped our bags and headed to Te Puia Geothermal Valley and wandered around the reserve, spotting various bubbling mud pools, which can reach temperatures of 95°C, and steaming geysers emitting quite a strong whiff of what smells like farts after a few too many fried chicken dinners!  The valley was formed 240 000 years ago by volcanic activity, and sitting down waiting for the Pohutu geyser eruption, we burnt our bums on the hot rocks as we listened to the muted roar of thousands of litres of water boiling underneath us.  They say water temperatures in the geyser chambers can reach 300°C but it couldn’t have been too hot on that particular day as ducks were enjoying a bath on the surface.  There are approximately 500 mud pools and 65 geysers dotted around the area, and on our wanderings we came across two dormant geysers, with Mother Nature turning off their pumps a good few years ago.  Our second day saw us wandering the town, past the old colonial style Government House now home to a museum, and past an old Boer war monument dedicated to a New Zealander killed in the war.  We really enjoyed our time in Rotorua, the only downside being the eggy fart-like smell emanating from the street drains!

The next day we caught an afternoon bus to Wellington via Lake Taupo and past Mt Ruapehu, one of the highest mountains in NZ, standing tall at 2797m, although the day we travelled the peak was shrouded in cloud and only caught glimpses of its snow-covered slopes.  From forest covered landscapes and fast flowing rivers dotted with trout fisherman braving the elements, it was a stark contrast hitting Desert Road.  As the name suggests, it’s a road cutting through harsh, dry scrubland often used for military training.  Eventually we arrived in Wellington after dark and the icy cold wind was a slap in our unprepared faces as we walked to the YHA 2km down the road.  The warmth of the hostel was a welcome relief!  The next day involved watching Fiji lose to England in the RWC, sad face, and thereafter a walk around town, first stop at the Museum Art Hotel, which was literally picked up and moved 120m when the government wanted to demolish it.  Thereafter we visited Te Papa, the museum of NZ, which was a bit wasted on us but it at least provided a respite from the driving rain outside.  A break in the weather and we made a dash for Lambton Quay and up the funicular to the top of Mt Victoria and got some good views overlooking the harbour.  Stayed indoors mostly after that because of the foul weather.  It was pouring with rain the next day but we braved the outdoors for a while to wander through the famed Sunday market which was just supermarket fruit and veggies put on display.  Wellington gets blasted by weather fronts coming over the Tasman Sea; the guidebooks even say don’t bother with an umbrella, wear a waterproof windbreaker instead!  All I can say is the expensive rain jacket I bought before leaving SA definitely got its use in New Zealand!

A couple of days later we decided it was time to head south.  We waited at the YHA before catching a bus to the airport, which took us through the narrowest single lane tunnel we have ever seen.  That evening we caught a flight to Christchurch for a Jennings reunion!  We ended up spending a week with Rob’s sister Sheryl and her kids while Scott, her husband, flitted around for work.  Sheryl was great in taking us around in the mornings while the kids were at school, and afternoons we wandered around the city.  It’s a shame I didn’t get to see Christchurch before the devastating 2011 earthquake as now it’s just a city of gravel parking lots of where beautifully old stone buildings used to stand.  Derelict buildings stand abandoned, often with the word “clear” spray-painted on the sealed entrance – a sign that there were no bodies when rescue teams swept the buildings searching for victims.  Facades are covered with scaffolding, and the city rings with the sounds of jackhammers and cement mixers.  A quirky mall has developed as a result, with the shops all being converted shipping containers, with the area being named “ReStart Mall”!  The Avon River was flowing as strongly as ever as the city gets rebuilt, with the traditional Punting on the Avon still going strong – the English version of going on a gondola!  We were lucky enough to spend two nights at the family’s holiday house in Akaroa, about 100km from Christchurch.  A former French settlement it was a wonderfully quiet village with some quaint shops along the main road – my favourite being the fudge shop!  We enjoyed some good ‘tramping” – kiwi lingo for walking/hiking – through the countryside, dodging sheep poo as we climbed higher up the hill to get a great panorama over the Banks Peninsula.  Once back in Christchurch we went to watch Canterbury lose to Taranaki in a well-contested rugby match.  Canterbury’s mascot Larry the Lamb was a great source of entertainment!  We were also spoilt by being taken to Porters ski field a couple of days later where I had my first experience on skis!  Although extremely apprehensive on the drive up into the mountains, I took to skiing like a duck to water and had an absolute blast!  For four hours the family only caught glimpses of me as I was up and down the slope, time after time, and I was grinning from ear to ear when I was called back to the car!  I stuck to the beginners slope for the most part, but attempted the intermediate slope once and ended up with a very wet bum.  Next skiing excursion will involve a lesson from a pro who can teach me to turn!

At the end of September we said a temporary farewell to the family and headed to the West Coast.  We have two standout journey’s from our time in New Zealand, and one of them was definitely catching the KiwiRail TranzAlpine train as we traversed our way over (and through) the mountains separating East from West.  As the train steamed higher up into Otira gorge, we caught dazzling views of the mighty Waimakariri River, 151km long and ice fed from the Southern Alps.  The high Southern Alps were formed by two tectonic plates pushing against each other along the very active Alpine Fault, making them the fastest growing mountain range in the world.  The rivers on South Island are crystal clear and fast-flowing, and being mineral rich, they have a brilliant icy blue colour; one could get hypothermia just by looking at them!  After a short stop in Arthur’s Pass to discharge passengers, we had a full safety briefing as we prepared to enter Otira tunnel, which was one of the longest tunnels in the British Empire, and one of the few that is not flat with a 1:33 descending gradient.  Our destination was Greymouth, a former gold-mining town, but now a simple tourist town which doesn’t really warrant a stay longer than an hour!  After a night in a strange hostel in town, we headed to the township of Franz Josef for three nights.  Our trip down had us hugging the coastline for most of the journey, and after seeing so many advertisements for the famed “West Coast White Bait fritter” I decided to try one in Hokitika.  Excited at the prospect of some novel Kiwi cuisine, all I got was a few pieces of white bait (little fish, sprats) cooked with egg to make an omelette, which was squished between two slices of white bread!  Another great thing about the bus service is that is also acts as a freight/delivery service, dropping off parcels in backwater towns where the bus driver is greeted like a long lost friend!  So on our way to Franz Josef we passed through the smallest town in New Zealand, Pukekura, with a total population of five (yes, five!) following a baby boom a couple of years ago.  Possum Pete (the local version of Crocodile Dundee), his wife and three children reside there, and because his homestead has a post centre, it is classified as a town!  He is famous for making possum pies which have subsequently been banned by the government, and his bushman centre is often fondly referred to as Roadkill Restaurant.  The “town” is slightly off the beaten track so the daily newspaper is delivered via bus, and in true newspaper delivery style, the paper is tossed out of the window into the driveway without the bus stopping.

We arrived in Franz Josef village mid-afternoon, and of course it was raining again!  Franz Josef is one of the big glaciers on the West Coast but unfortunately is receding quickly.  We spent most of the time in the hostel due to the weather, with an occasional stroll along the main road to get weather updates from the helicopter operators.  My conversation with one of the pilots went something like this…

Me: Hi there, do you think the weather will clear enough to fly?

Him: Not likely.

Me: But we can see the mountain now?

Him: If you can see the mountain, it’s going to rain.  If you can’t see the mountain, it is raining.

The pilot showed me the synoptic charts and typical, the weather was only going to clear when we left (we were on a schedule to meet the family at a later date).  Back in the day when Rob first visited, he was lucky enough to take a walking tour on the glacier itself.  Nowadays the ice has retreated back, making the glacier’s terminal face unstable and unsuitable for access by foot, only by helicopter.  We seriously considered a helicopter trip but Mother Nature didn’t think it was a good idea.  Luckily we had a break in the relentless rain to take a hike through the valley to a viewing point to see the terminal face.  It is hard to believe that the valley we hiked through was once completely filled by a frozen river!  We timed our hike perfectly; 100m from the car park the heavens just opened again, but thankfully an umbrella, rain jackets and boots ensured we were well protected.  All the literature about visiting the national park said “Be Prepared” yet there were still some people in shorts and t-shirts who got drenched in the downpour.  The mulled wine for sundowners with no sun that evening warmed our chilled bodies well!

At the beginning of October we headed to Queenstown.  I mentioned previously two standout journeys, and the bus ride from Franz Josef to Queenstown is definitely one of them.  Our first driver, Steve, thought himself a comedian, punctuating his commentary with jokes and one-liners, referring to competitor bus service, Kiwi Experience, as the Scary Experience.  Steve proved to be a photographer’s dream driver but the Highway Patrol’s worst nightmare, often slowing down and sometimes stopping completely, regardless if we were on a single-lane bridge, so the passengers could snap off a few pics.  Rob took full advantage considering this was probably one of the most scenic bus rides ever.  The West Coast is often referred to by natives as the “Wet” Coast considering the amount of rain it gets, and it shows with miles and miles of lush rainforest complimented by a beautiful backdrop of snow-capped mountain peaks.  Before arriving in the town of Haast, Steve piped up to say the next bridge we would cross was named after his ex-girlfriend.  The bridge was named “Windbag”!  I was just waiting for another ex-girlfriend reference when we stopped outside the Grumpy Cow café for a bathroom break!  We were extremely lucky not to have any South-Westerlies blowing the day we travelled; with no wind to bring the rain the air was extremely clean, with the mountain features so sharp we could make out every crevice and jagged peak against the clear blue sky.  As we moved out of the West Coast and into the Otago region, the terrain became much drier, and we entered New Zealand’s fruit bowl of Wanaka, with plenty of fruit orchards lining the countryside.  After skirting The Remarkables mountain range, we arrived in the expanding and apparently thriving Queenstown.  Although not really our kind of place being a small city filled with hard-core adrenaline junkies, we almost felt like we needed to whisper that we weren’t there to experience the famed jet boating or to try and kill ourselves on one of the extreme downhill mountain biking trails.  We took the cable car up Queenstown Hill and enjoyed the view over the town, Lake Wakatipu and surrounding mountain ranges.

From Queenstown we travelled by bus to the small town of Te Anau which was to be our base to visit Milford Sound.  Passing endless green pastures dotted with livestock, we caught sight of plenty of spring lambs prancing around – a very cute sight until you realize how good lamb tastes on a dinner plate!  Our bus driver mentioned that you know an area has received plenty of rain is when all the sheep have middle partings along the centre of their backs where their fleece has parted as a result of becoming completely sodden!  On our excursion to the sounds we stopped alongside a grassy plain which was one of the locations for a big battle scene in the Lord of the Rings movies.  The journey to Milford took us into real Alpine territory; the scenes we were treated to on our way up the mountains were breath taking.  Surrounded by high mountains on all sides, we saw evidence of recent avalanche activity, with a lot of snow drifts where snow and ice had tumbled down from the cliffs above.  Once we arrived in Milford we boarded a boat and went for a cruise on the fjord, a narrow and deep inlet of the sea surrounded by high cliffs.  Rudyard Kipling previously referred to Milford Sound as the eighth wonder of the world.  And thanks to all the rain the area had had, water was streaming down the cliff faces in torrents, creating white spidery veins of water against a dark cliff face, as well as gushing waterfalls, some of which the captain of the boat actually went under.  We enjoyed a barbeque lunch on board and while munching away the Captain sidled up to a pod of fur seals lazing on the rocks, however there wasn’t much sun for them to bask in the warmth of on that particular day!  We continued on to the entrance of the 15km long fjord where the Tasman Sea literally rolls into the sound, causing the boat to rock quite considerably as we turned to head back to base – child’s play after eight months crossing the Pacific!  Waiting for the perfect shot of Mitre Peak, the scene which epitomises Milford Sound and the subject of all the postcard pictures, we saw we could only get the photo from the shore!  But the boat ride was still fun and a different way to experience the sounds.  On our way back to Te Anau we stopped at an area called The Chasm where a river has created a deep gorge and eroded the rock into marvellous formations.

After Te Anau we headed to Dunedin via bus to meet up with the family.  It was an uncomfortable bus ride for me as we were joined by a strange duo who, typically, decided to take the seats directly behind us in an otherwise relatively empty bus.  The pair consisted of an elderly lady who had smells of old mothballs wafting off her and her equally aged son with a crazed look to him and the wiry hair of someone who stuck his fingers in a live electrical socket and enjoyed it.  The son who may or may not have lost his marbles along his life’s journey sang incoherently for most of the journey with the occasional random outburst or response of “maybe that was when I was in the hospital” to a comment made by his mother.  I was also treated to the sound of him continually rubbing the upholstery of the back of my seat and half expected some gnarly fingers to come sneaking past the headrest and start fondling my hair.  Thankfully we only had to endure this for a couple of hours before arriving in Dunedin and joining the family who had rented a holiday house overlooking Dunedin harbour.

That concludes our journey from north to south!  Read more about Dunedin and our meanderings from south to north in the next post!

It was with much excitement and anticipation that we set sail from Vava’u in the early afternoon of 10 Aug and had an uneventful three days sailing to Fiji.  The only uncomfortable moment was when we changed our bearing in order to miss reefs resulting in a long day of beating into the wind, making the ride a bit bumpy.  The best moment of the sail was crossing the International Date Line on my night watch!  Although we had crossed the political Date Line when entering Samoan territory a few months back (we lost a day moving from 5 Jul to 7 Jul when we arrived in Samoa), we crossed the geographical 180° meridian crossing from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern Hemisphere on the night of 12 Aug.  And we managed to get a short video clip of the GPS changing from W to E!  We arrived very early the next morning at the island of Vanua Levu, the smaller of the two biggest islands in Fiji, if that makes sense!  We had a hassle free customs and immigration clearance in the town of Savusavu.  As soon as we were cleared we all headed to shore, Captain and First Mate to pay the clearance fees and Rob and myself to find the local places to eat!  We found a great local eatery which made a fantastic curry and it became the place we frequented during our stay in Savusavu.  The town was small, one main drag with the supermarkets, clothing stores, post office, a handful of restaurants and a few roads branching off into the housing areas.  It was also clean, with lots of rubbish bins along the road.  Definitely not something we saw while in Tonga.

The next morning we went ashore quite early in the hope of renting a scooter to travel around the island, but after a talk with the rental agency, we decided against it.  For the cost of the scooter, it wasn’t worth renting it as we were limited to the places we could ride.  Majority of the roads were dirt, and with rain the previous evening it would have been a bit treacherous.  So instead we explored the town further, heading up into the hills to get some views over the marina and see the suburban areas.  The houses were well kept, and we definitely got the same sense of pride we saw in Samoa when it comes to the locals looking after their possessions.  We were admiring the scenery from the road in front of one guy’s house and out he comes, introduces himself, finds out we are from South Africa and immediately started talking rugby!  After a quick chat we headed back into town and along the coastal road to find some hot springs.  A few missed turns, taking the scenic route again, we eventually found them.  Nothing spectacular, just a few small pools of water surrounded by rocks, but the amazing thing was the water was literally boiling, bubbling out of the hole in the ground and was scalding hot.  A very visual reminder that we were standing on top of an active volcano!  Local women brought their pots and cooked their food over the water.  That afternoon was spent at a local bar playing Mexican Train dominoes with our English and Aussie mates.  The locals in the bar were a bit rowdy and overfriendly after enjoying one too many Friday drinks, but again, as soon as they heard we were from SA, drinks were offered and the rugby talk started!  Two things to note about Fijian men: each buys a 750ml bottle of beer with small glasses shared between the group.  There is no sipping of the drink to savour the taste of good, cold Fijian Bitter; a little glass is poured, then downed like a shot, refilled and passed along to the next guy.  So they became as drunk as skunks in a very short period of time but were still mellow and full of fun, with no signs of aggression!  Secondly, mention you are from SA and you have a friend for life, with invitations back to their villages to stay!

That Saturday following our arrival, we caught the local bus to the end of the coastal road to the Jean-Michel Cousteau Dive Resort.  Although very exclusive, it had lovely bungalows and gardens.  The resort is on the shore of a marine conservancy but the hotel didn’t allow outside snorkelers – we had to book a tour at an exorbitant price, so we gave that a miss.  We enquired about the room rate for interest sake – 2400 Fijian Dollars for one night in their cheapest room.  Multiply that by six to get South African Rands!

After a quiet couple of days on the boat and around town, Rob and I decided to rent a car and travel around the island for the day.  It was a bit drizzly and miserable to start, but as we travelled further north the weather cleared and we had a wonderful day.  After travelling part of the beautiful Hibuscus Highway, we turned off onto a dirt track (we had a 4×4) and took a circular route to the island’s capital of Labasa.  It was quite a long drive through numerous villages, some big, some small, with friendly residents who often stopped whatever they were doing to give a vigorous two arm wave when we passed!  Even a volleyball game was stopped so we could be greeted!  The best way we can describe some of the houses is that they were fancy shacks – made with corrugated iron sheets, but well constructed, neatly put together, and often very brightly painted.  The schools also looked in very good nick.  We found the island to be very diverse in terms of vegetation, moving from tropical rain forest, to what almost looked like dry bushveld, and then to endless plains of sugarcane surrounded by high mountains.  Just outside Labasa was a sugar mill with hundreds of trucks lined up on the road, piled high with cut sugar cane waiting to be offloaded.  We crossed numerous railway tracks in the area and saw railway carts being loaded in the fields, being pulled along makeshift tracks as the cutting progressed down the line.  We didn’t pay much attention to Labasa, being an industrial town and arriving late in the afternoon, we were tired and hungry which meant it was just a lunch stop before we continued on.  We travelled back to Savusavu on the intercoastal road, up and over the mountain range separating north from south.  It was a day well worth the expense of hiring a car.

While in Savusavu I went to two local yoga classes to try and get some activity in.  The instructor was some hippie American who spoke more like a drill sergeant but at least I got some pointers on the more technical aspects of the different poses.  The time in Savusavu was also spent setting up our blog which we hope you are enjoying as it gets updated!  On the morning of 23 Aug we left Savusavu and motored along the south east coast of the island bound for Taveuni.  After anchoring for two nights in two different bays as we made our way along the coast, we motored over to the island of Taveuni, dropped anchor just off the town of Somosomo, and took a quick trip ashore to find a taxi to take us to the International Date Line on land.  A great photo opportunity but it was a bit of an anticlimax to straddle the line – we were rushed as Captain wanted to leave quickly for the next island so we didn’t have time to appreciate the site.  After that we motored over to the island of Qamea and anchored in a beautiful bay for the night.

After Qamea, we motored into a lovely cove off the island of Matagi and anchored for a couple of nights here as it provided good protection from the wind which had been picking up over the last week.  The bay had a few coral bombies which we snorkelled around for a while.  We were not sure if the coral was actually diseased in this area as a whole bunch of coral was stained a luminous blue colour.  It was quite remarkable to swim over what looked like deer antlers and see the tips glow blue when the sun shone on them.  End of the month and we headed to Koro Island to slowly start making our way to Suva, the capital of Fiji.  Being a long way down the road, and Stewart tired of overnight sailing, we planned to stop at a couple of islands along the way.  First being Koro at which we arrived late at night, so we didn’t go ashore here to explore.  The next morning we headed off to Makogai Island, significant in Fiji’s history as being the site of a leper colony which opened in 1911.  Over 4000 leprosy patients landed on this island, 1241 of those patients died, and the graves of the deceased are still present, the tombstones littered amongst the trees and extending all the way up the hillside next to the village.  Only the stairs to the entranceway of the Leprosarium still remain with the rest of the building demolished.  When we went ashore to explore, we wanted to present a courtesy gift of kava root to the village chief but he had gone to the capital.  Normally the kava root is ground up and made into a ceremonial drink and shared amongst the village chief, elders and visitors in a sevusevu ceremony, but we missed out on this with the chief being away.  Oh well!  We read the same had happened to our English and Aussie mates so at least we weren’t the only ones to miss out on this tradition.

On Spring Day we sailed to Ovalau Island, and the old colonial town of Levuka.  Levuka is Fiji’s first World Heritage Site, being the former capital of Fiji and the site of the country’s first bank, post office, government and newspaper, the Fiji Times.  It was a very pretty town, and with its old colonial buildings (same dating back to the early 1800’s) it contrasted completely to the villages and towns we had already seen.  The quaint storefronts and original weatherworn clapboard buildings still remain, and although looking a little shabby at the time of our visit, there were signs of refurbishment.  The town is now home to Pacific Fisheries Company Ltd so there was a distinct fishy smell in the air!  After a night in Levuka we sailed to Suva and anchored off the Suva Royal Yacht Club, and being in the midst of what looked like a shipping graveyard with wrecks strewn around in the harbour, it definitely didn’t have a royal feel!

So unfortunately after First Mate lost the plot and decided we were no longer welcome on board after letting loose a few choice words in my direction, we left the boat in Suva and found a guesthouse to stay for a couple of days before moving on.  We accompanied Captain to Immigration to clear off the boat, and had a bit of a hiccup at this stage.  Without going into detail, we managed to get everything resolved after the weekend and said our goodbye’s to Captain.  We had a great time in Suva, enjoying the time to recharge and get things ready for the next leg of our trip.  We had a good couple of walks around the city, coming across a function in the community park celebrating 160 years of the Chinese in Fiji.  Even the Prime Minister was there and we were able to catch sight of him as he did his meet and greet.  This was a much better experience than the one in Tonga waiting for the King to pass!  We also enjoyed the views from the seafront promenade, walked past the very upmarket Grand Pacific Hotel, and caught the presidential guard on camera as he barred the entrance to the grounds of the presidential palace.

After Suva we caught a bus to the west side of the island to the town of Nadi (pronounced “Nandi”).  Although supposed to be a non-stop service, we had to change busses about four times before reaching our destination due to mechanical issues with the first bus.  Eventually we arrived at our hotel in Nadi, Aquarius on the Beach, which was a great place to stop for a few days.  Very close to the airport, we had the noise of jets landing and taking off, but it wasn’t too bothersome.  We were right on the beach, had a swimming pool, and the bus to town stopped right outside our door!  We explored the port of Denerau, which is essentially just a marina and shopping complex filled with expensive restaurants, with exclusive hotels surrounding it, and spent some time in Nadi town.  The only interesting thing in Nadi was seeing the biggest Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere, but we didn’t go in as we were wearing shorts and as such weren’t dressed appropriately.  One day we decided to splurge and treat ourselves to an island tour, taking a high speed catamaran to South Sea Island, a smaller island in the lower Mamanuca group.  We spent the morning there relaxing on the beach, swimming and even tried our hand at stand up paddle boarding!  After a BBQ lunch which was a bit disappointing, we boarded another boat which took us around all the other islands in the group, such as Bounty, Castaway (not the movie island) and Treasure Islands.  We also caught a glimpse of the actual island where the movie Castaway was filmed.  We enjoyed the day out as we wouldn’t have had another opportunity to visit this part of Fiji.  We also caught a bus 25km up the road to the port town of Lautoka.  Known as Sugar City it is also home to Fiji’s first sugar mill which is still operational, so there was a pungently sweet smell in the air while we walked around.  Being a port, Lautoka was surprisingly clean with a lot of parks dotted around, and it was a pleasant morning exploring.

We loved our time in Fiji, and were made to feel so welcome by the locals.  On our travels so far we can definitely say that Fiji has the best scenery, best people and best food in the Pacific!  It is one of the few places where Rob and I have said to each other that it is a country we would go back to.  We are eternally grateful for the opportunity Captain gave us to join the boat and sail across the Pacific, and despite a few bumps across the way, it was an experience that was totally worth it.  From Panama to Fiji, via the Galapagos, French Polynesia, Samoa and Tonga, we can definitely say it was a trip of a lifetime!

Malo lelei from Vava’u, Tonga!  So after leaving the beauty and friendliness of Samoa, we arrived in Tongan waters midway into July after a horrible two night sail.  How I didn’t get physically ill on this leg I’ll never know but I am eternally grateful the rough seas only lasted for 36 hours.  Although not affected by squalls and rain, the wind was of the direction that we were beating into it; meaning big swells that the yacht crashed over every 30 seconds or so for a day and a half, making the ride super uncomfortable and sleep almost impossible for me.  Ironically, thereafter, the wind dropped completely and we had to motor the rest of the way to Tonga, with the sea as flat as glass!  We arrived in the island archipelago called Vava’u, consisting of about 30 islands, and cleared customs and immigration in Neiafu, which is the second largest “city” in Tonga (that is if you call a town with one main street a city!).  On our way to Vava’u we were going to call in to a set of islands called Niuatoputapu, or more commonly the “New Potatoes” as no one knows how to pronounce the name.  However a break in the wind would have had us stuck there for weeks before being able to push further south to Vava’u.  Arriving in Tonga we were unpleasantly surprised about how much cooler it was – we had just travelled a few more degrees south of the Equator, but those few degrees really had an impact on the temperature… which resulted in long sleeves, blankets on the bed and the tans started fading rapidly.  Going from temperatures in the mid-30’s down to 20 degrees is cold I say!

Since there wasn’t much to do there sightseeing wise Rob and I sampled the local eateries almost on a daily basis.  Rather than spending our time in the yachty cafes lining the water, we hit the back streets and enjoyed delicious lamb curry, fish burgers, fried chicken, rotis, chicken curry pies and of course, ice cream!  Nothing beats a spicy curry with a refreshing soft serve ice cream afterwards to cool the mouth!  And it didn’t help that our friends from Panthera, Richard and Geri, and our Aussie mates, Steve and Angela off Pannikin, shared our love of roadside dining, so it was often a group of us sampling the local fare.

We spent quite a bit of time exploring the local villages around the main town.  Tonga is one hell of a lot more run down than Samoa – there was absolutely no sense of “house pride”.  There was a lot of junk lying around, not just general litter, but proper junk; rusting cars, old microwaves and computers, tons of scrap metal.  We are not sure if the locals just don’t have the facilities to dispose of such things, or if they just don’t bother.  Houses were derelict, gardens and vegetable patches were unkempt, and yes, lots of lots of pigs and piglets running around, foraging on road verges, in yards, basically everywhere we looked!  The people are still generally pretty friendly, more so if you greet them in the local language with a smile and a wave, and are more curious as to why we were wandering around rather than unwelcoming.  And of course, as soon as we mentioned we were from South Africa, the talk turned to rugby, and then we were strangers no more!

A highlight of our visit in Tonga was to see the newly coronated King as he came into town.  We had conflicting information as to the time he’d be passing through on the way to the Royal residence, so we ended up spending five hours on the side of the road before witnessing the cavalcade come past us.  And typical that the Queen was sitting on our side of the road so we didn’t even catch a glimpse of the King himself!  But the excitement of the school kids and the fanfare of the whole thing made the afternoon a lot of fun.

Another afternoon and we headed for the hills, or should I say just the one hill present in Vava’u at a whopping 131m above sea level!  After a short strudge and a difficult climb up some really steep stairs we reached a couple of lookouts over Port of Refuge where we were anchored.  It’s amazing how pretty things look when you put a bit of height into the equation!

After spending the week in town, we picked up anchor at the weekends and headed to the outlying islands for a couple of nights at a time.  The first excursion out was to Kapa island.  Although the wind was freezing Rob and I hit the water for some snorkelling.  Not much marine life but Tonga definitely has some of the biggest starfish we have ever seen, as well as tons of tiny and large jelly fish, with the tiny ones stinging us just like they did in Las Perlas.  We managed a walk around the island along a dirt track about 10km long before heading on to another anchorage.  The second night was spent at the other end of Neiafu, in a cove under a tree full of fruit bats whose screeching is more of a racket than ten screaming babies.  We rowed the dinghy closer to shore and with expert timing, I clapped my hands like a real tourist and Rob managed to photograph them in flight.  The next day we moved on to Pangaimotu, and anchored in a sheltered bay with a floating art gallery selling rubbish trinkets.  Of course we had to go exploring.  We took the dinghy ashore, climbed over the small ridge to the other side of the island to a beach littered with blue bottles – not ideal for swimming.  So we continued on our trek, up and over a ridge covered in native bush before stumbling across a local guy roasting a piglet on an open fire in preparation for his lunch.  Our mouths just watered in anticipation of our planned Tongan feast scheduled for the next weekend… more on that later.

The big “wow” of our Tongan visit was definitely an unplanned excursion we took with Richard, Geri, Steve and Angela.  Rob and I have added swimming with Humpback whales to our ever expanding experiences!  The whales come into Tongan waters at that time of year to raise their young before heading to colder waters.  We headed out at the end of July at about 08h00 to the outer islands to scout for whales.  We spotted a mother and calf swimming around and followed them for a while before they settled enough for us to jump into the water with them.  We had two opportunities at this point to snorkel with them and all we can say is WOW… there are no words to describe the experience.  The boat stopped, and with much shouted excitement and rushing, the snorkelers piled into the water after the guide, faces in the water watching these majestic creatures.  The Mom was absolutely huge and we were so close we could even see the barnacles on her tail and the remora fish that swim underneath them.  Baby was neatly tucked under her belly in Mom’s slipstream but Mom kindly rolled over to her side as they swam past so we could get a better look.  A third opportunity came a little later in the morning when Mom and Baby swam into calmer waters and they stopped about 50m behind the boat.  In we jumped and Mom allowed us a really good look before diving and swimming underneath us within what felt like touching distance.  As Mom swam underneath me, she swished her tail with such force I was tumbled in the water by the wash, and she disappeared from view.  We absolutely froze when we climbed back onto the boat and it took forever to warm up with the help of coffee prepared by the crew, but the experiences were so worth it.  Even whale watching from the boat, seeing them surface and wallow right next to the boat, or splash their fins or dive and give us a good tail shot, was amazing.  I will never say that whale watching in Hermanus in the Western Cape is boring, but seeing a whale breach five meters away from the boat we were on, and on top of that, actually being in the water with them, doesn’t even compare to watching them from the safety of the shore.  A bonus was that we stopped at a place called Swallow’s Cave on the way back to the harbour which Captain said we’d go to, but we never did.  So Rob and I had the opportunity for a quick snorkel in the cave which was absolutely wonderful and so surreal.  We have Richard to thank for the shots of us and the whales but unfortunately photos don’t do justice to the real thing!  Swimming with seals, check.  Swimming with sharks, check.  Swimming with rays, check.  Swimming with whales, check!

Rob also had a bit of bonding time with the “boys” by participating in the local Friday yacht race around the harbour.  Steve decided he’d like to see what Pannikin could do in a race so the two Fridays we were there were race days!  The first race saw our boys second for a while before a few mishaps put them in fourth, but the second Friday they got into real race mode and won!  Although we won’t mention that there were only three boats participating!  But first prize was still a free pizza from the hosting restaurant and then a round of rum punches at a local bar.  Being Rob’s birthday, he was also the subject of a song improvised and sung by the restaurant manager, with some naughty innuendos courtesy of a few choice pieces of information from me!  On our way to claim our rum punches, we came across an impromptu cultural show so we were treated to local Tongan dancing and singing.  However the “real” entertainment came from the bar where the local transvestites put on a dance show.  We savoured our watered-down rum punches and stayed to watch the girls (boys?) dance and lip sync to their favourite songs, dressed to the nines in their favourite dresses and lavish high heels, while they played to the men in the audience, hoping for tips to be shoved into their bosoms.  Very funny and a laughter filled evening, but not something I’d do again in a hurry!  It was a bit disturbing watching a man with better legs than me strut his stuff in heels so high I would break my neck if I attempted to stand in them!  Never mind that they were doing cartwheels and flickflacks in them too!

The biggest disappointment though was our Tongan “feast”.  We motored over to Lape Island for what we were told would be a real authentic Tongan food experience.  What an absolute rip off.  Firstly, on arrival, we were told we would not be having roasted pig as there weren’t enough people.  Really?  This was the whole reason for wanting to do the feast in the first place.  Then the so-called island tour was a short walk through a derelict village with our host who could only talk about money and how much previous yachties had donated to them.  The “feast” was mostly Western food like coleslaw, potato salad, and fried fish, but there were some other local delicacies which half made up for the rest.  Our host also had some serious sour grapes about another guy hosting feasts on a nearby island.  Well at least that guy’s guests got pig!

Our experiences in Tonga were a real mixed bag, with high’s and low’s and everything in between.  But nothing can take away from the experiences we gained there, and now we definitely have some good stories to tell!  Our original plan when joining the yacht was that we would sail directly to New Zealand from Tonga.  However, with Captain feeling the urge to keep moving, three weeks in Tonga was enough, and he decided we would set sail for Fiji, an unplanned destination not originally on our itinerary.  And another, unexpected and completely welcomed stamp in our passports!

Halfway through our Pacific odyssey and we were heading to Samoa!  Ever since Rob and I started dating, he had been waxing lyrical about how wonderful Samoa was; this was based on his past experiences of exploring the country whenever he dropped off cargo in Apia during his days working as an officer on the container ships.  I was really looking forward to experiencing the culture for myself, after all, seeing is believing!  So 27 June saw us saying Au Revoir to French Polynesia after three months of cruising, and setting sail for Samoa.  We were going to stop at the Northern Cook Islands for a few days but after some research and us seeing how expensive it had become to go there, a group decision was taken to head straight for Samoa (formerly Western Samoa and not to be confused with American Samoa!).  After an uneventful nine day sail, with only a few days of bad weather and rough seas, we arrived in capital Apia, on the island of Upolu on 7 July.  Although we were still technically in the Western Hemisphere (we hadn’t yet crossed the geographical international dateline) Samoa has a time zone of GMT+13 so we essentially lost a day of our lives upon arrival.  And for personal reasons, it wasn’t a problem not to have 6 July!  Bear with us, we have a lot to write about Samoa!

It took us an age to clear customs after mooring in the marina just outside town, but as soon as we were stamped in, Rob and I practically ran into town.  First it was great to get off the boat and use our legs properly again, but more importantly, we were desperate to secure tickets for the historic rugby match between the All Blacks and Samoa scheduled for the next day.  The whole island was in a state of such excitement; it was the first time in history that the All Blacks set foot on Samoan soil to play a game.  As we arrived at the shop selling tickets we saw it was already closed but after knocking on the door a very friendly girl opened for us and let us in… and yes, they still had a few tickets for sale!  The morning of 8 July had us awake early for a stroll into town before heading to the stadium early to get a good spot (we only bought general admission tickets so no reserved seating).  On our walk, the police band came trumpeting past us, stopped in front of the government buildings and played the National Anthem.  And while this happened, every single car on the main road stopped in their tracks, engines were turned off and paid respect to the anthem!  Only after the police band had continued on their march did the cars and busses resume their journeys.  At the stadium, we were almost first in line at the turnstiles, and got a seated spot right in front of the fence so we had a good view of the try line.  The teams ran out to rapturous applause, sang the anthems and with much anticipation, the Manu Samoa in blue faced off against the All Blacks in the first challenge, the Haka’s!  Watching the Haka on TV is much more intimidating, seeing the aggression of the players up close on the screen, but watching it live isn’t as spine-chilling; with the noise of the crowd shouting and jeering, we could hardly hear the chants.  In the end, despite our support, Samoa lost the game, but with the way the public behaved we would have thought their beloved Manu team had just won the World Cup.  It was a great atmosphere and what a way to experience my first rugby match!  After feasting on a roadside barbeque of meat and salad, we headed back to the government buildings that evening and enjoyed watching live music as well as a spectacular fire dancing show.  A great end to a great day!

The next day we were lucky enough to catch a free tour at the tourism office where they have set up a traditional Samoan cultural village.  We saw demonstrations of tapa cloth making, Samoan dance, had a traditional meal of cooked green banana, bread fruit and taro leaves (similar to spinach) in coconut cream.  At this point I had only heard of the traditional meal of “oka”, raw fish marinated in coconut cream, and was looking forward to sampling it at some stage.  We also saw traditional tattoo artists at work – what a brutal but highly respected art form in Samoan culture.  Getting a full body tattoo is a rite of passage and comes with a lot of responsibility in their society.  We had to be extremely quiet when entering their domain, and couldn’t move in the tattoo artists’ peripheral vision lest they get distracted and make a permanent mistake.  The poor men (and sometimes women) enduring the tattoo have an individual dedicated to keeping them comfortable, either by fanning their face or by simply placing a hand on their body to have a comforting human touch during the painful process.

A couple of days later, Rob and I did what we do best; we took a long walk!  Our strudge took us out of town to a place called Papaseea sliding rocks where rocks have been eroded smooth with cascading water to form a water slide into rock pools below.  We thought the water level was a bit low for a slide and just wallowed a bit in the pools but after seeing a local guy slide we both decided to give it a try.  Once was enough and I won’t share the video my dear partner decided to take of me!  The bum took a pounding on the rocks and a skew landing meant a big bruise the next day when we set out for another long walk; this time up the other side of the mountain to the Robert Louis Stevenson house.  Set on 300 acres of beautifully manicured gardens, the mansion has been converted into a museum, but aside from learning that the author penned quite a few more books than originally thought, we didn’t feel the tour was worth it.  That afternoon we walked to the Palolo Deep Marine Reserve for some snorkelling.  Heading out to the reserve area near the harbour, we had a tough time swimming through the kelp forest near the shore, but once through we had a good couple of hours in the water.  Sunday was a quiet day in town as they locals are very religious and take their day of rest quite seriously so we just had a stroll having a look at the various war monuments.

After the weekend, we wanted to take a local bus to the South East side of the island, but the bus service was intermittent and wouldn’t allow us enough time to explore.  So we negotiated with a taxi driver to take us around.  We first headed to Piula cave pool which is a natural freshwater spring right next to the ocean.  There after we had a very scenic drive to a white sandy beach for a quick stop.  On our way we passed a couple of villages that had been wiped out entirely by the 2009 tsunami and the community was busy with the slow process of rebuilding.  The highlight of the day though was stopping at To Sua ocean trench, a giant swimming hole formed by an ancient lava tube.  We had to climb down a precariously slippery ladder onto a wooden platform to enter the trench, and jump off the platform into the water.  We had a good swim here feeling the surge of the current from the ocean.  On our way back into town we stopped at a 100m waterfall but the weather was a bit miserable and misty so we couldn’t get a great view of the gorge.

We had a couple of quiet days strolling around town and taking advantage of the roadside barbeques!  Both of us loving braai meat, it was a real treat to have food cooked on an open fire and we took full advantage.  Our roadside meals often consisted of chicken, lamb rib, lamb or pork sausage, taro and some form of freshly made salad.  All for a steal of less than ZAR50 depending on the exchange rate!  We also had the opportunity of tasting the traditional meal of “oka”, which was absolutely delicious.  But even better was “puka”, yellow fin tuna marinated in a sauce of ginger and soy sauce.  Best sushi ever.

Our final outing was a bus trip across to the North side of Upolu to catch a boat across to Manono Island.  After an hour bus journey on hard wooden benches, bumpy roads and racing at breakneck speeds, we were grateful to arrive at the wharf unscathed.  We haggled with a boat driver to take us across, and were joined by a school teacher who lives on the island and teaches at one of the primary schools.  We found out later that we actually paid for her fare across the channel, so she kindly invited us to visit her school.  Being too polite to refuse, we accompanied her only to find out she insisted we stay for coffee.  So after being introduced to the kids as distinguished guests from South Africa, we were treated to a song and dance performance, including the Haka, by 105 school children, followed by coffee and crackers.  There were only three teachers sharing the teaching responsibility for the whole school.  We left them with a promise to join the teachers for lunch, and took a stroll.  No dogs, no cars, just a simple footpath around the circumference of the island.  It was a very uplifting day for us, to be welcomed with open arms into the community, and to share in a very small snippet of their everyday life.

We really enjoyed our time in Samoa.  The people are super friendly, the island is beautifully lush and we felt welcomed wherever we went.  It is a very happy culture of peace and respect for others.  For example, most of the housing is in the style of a traditional fale which is a floor and a thatch roof with supporting wooden beams, no walls.  The living, sleeping and kitchen areas are all exposed so you drive around and see people in their living rooms with their flat screen TVs or stereo systems.  However there is minimal theft as there is a good sense of community watchfulness.  Any person caught committing a crime is hauled in front of the village chief and punishment is then determined based on the crime.  Our neighbourhood watches could learn a lot!

It was with mixed emotions that we left the marina on 17 Jul to start making our way to Tonga.  We both felt we could have spent more time in the territory, and the second island making up the country definitely held a lot of potential for more exploration.  Samoa definitely has a special place in our bank of memories!

How many people do you know who can say they have been to Tahiti?  I’m very happy and lucky to be one of them!  Leaving the Tuamotus behind, we set sail for the last of the three archipelagos that French Polynesia is comprised of, the Society Islands.  We had an uneventful two night sail from Rangiroa to arrive in Pape’ete, Tahiti’s capital city, in early May.  For once we moored in a marina instead of anchoring offshore, which was great!  Firstly it meant Rob and I could get on and off the boat whenever we wanted without inconveniencing Captain and First Mate, and secondly and more importantly, we could have proper hot showers using the marina facilities!  The only downside was the marina was adjacent to the main road so getting used to the rumble of traffic was quite challenging after the peace and quiet of the more remote islands we had already visited.  Our time in Tahiti was spent mostly ashore wandering the streets of the city.  The municipality has developed a seafront boulevard and it was wonderful to see the locals making full use of it, running, cycling and generally strolling and enjoying the twilight hours out with their families.  Our first full day was spent exploring the president’s residence, the court buildings and town hall.  Us being who we are, we also wandered off the beaten track into a residential area to see how the other half lives.  Rob and I also caught a local bus to a village down the way called Papenoo.  There wasn’t much to see on the bus ride; Tahiti seems to be a bit run down but it was not complete squalor and nothing compared to some of the shantytowns back in SA.  We caught sight of a few beautiful black sand beaches which we were unable to photograph and also got great views of the reef surrounding the island when the road climbed higher up the mountainside.  Exploring the area once we got off the bus, we came across a set of waterfalls completely by accident so we got a short hike in to go and have a look.  We had an idea we were in an area where there was a blowhole when looking at the local map so on the walk back to Papenoo we managed to find it.  The sound of the water being sucked into this hole in the rock below us was phenomenal, real horror movie stuff!  It scared us each time it happened as we couldn’t predict when the water would come through!  That evening Rob and I took Captain to a local brewery to sample some Tahitian beer, but First Mate declined to join us.  I admit I had a light blonde brew just to say I had one, but it was a struggle to get down!

After a couple of days in the marina, we moved to an anchorage just off the Tahiti Yacht Club.  There isn’t much to report on while we were there, only that we were close to a grocery store so our days were spent grocery shopping, reading and playing board games.  We moved on after that to a marina near the airport where we anchored, and again it was a case of reading and using any opportunity to go ashore while waiting to move on to the next island.  We found the prices in Tahiti ridiculously expensive, for example, a pineapple on the side of the road cost R85, and broccoli in the supermarket was R150 per kg (USD8 and USD15 respectively at the time)!

Ten days in the capital city was more than enough for us and in middle May, we happily moved on across the way to Moorea, another island about 15 nautical miles from Tahiti.  As we approached we saw it was a little more rustic that Tahiti, it was only when we turned a corner to enter Cooks Bay that we saw the huge cruise liner anchored!  Luckily it moved on later that night so the town wasn’t infested with tourists!  The next day was spent ashore exploring the town and Rob and I enjoyed an impromptu braai (SA speak for barbeque) on the side of the road where locals were cooking chicken.  It ended up being a huge meal but it was absolutely delicious to have meat cooked on a fire!  A couple of days later Rob and I caught a local bus together with a Swedish couple from another boat.  We spent the day on the bus driving around the entire island, getting off at the ferry terminal to have a look around, and then spending some time at another “resort” district.  Here we found another local eatery on the side of the road (which seems to be the favourite place we find food!) before catching another bus back to the boat.  It was a great day out and also good to hear the perspectives of another sailing couple on the pros and cons of the lifestyle.  Here were two individuals who saved up and bought their boat, moored it in Sweden and lived on it for an entire winter (fur blankets and all) while continuing to work, then cast off the bowlines and set sail into the tropics.  Now they are full time sailors, going home occasionally to give motivational talks, more often than not at sold out events, to raise money to continue travelling!  After a couple of days we picked up anchor and headed further down the coast to another bay (Opunohu Bay) which was much prettier and more protected.  The anchorage overlooked a beach which was well frequented, and the water was crystal clear with a lot of coral around so we had a great couple of days snorkelling and swimming.  We managed to see a lot of manta rays, even a rare spotted ray (leopard ray), swimming past the boat while there.  We also had two occasions of seeing huge eels poking their heads out of the coral while snorkelling.  Feeling fit and with the urge to go further inland, we chose a day where Rob and I packed a backpack and headed out for a long walk to a view point overlooking both Cook and Opunohu Bays.  We had a great strudge and on the way back saw a turn off onto a dirt road which we decided to follow and this took us way off the beaten track into pineapple plantations, through forest and past a horse ranch.  We ended up walking 20km that morning!  And wanting to keep fit, we found that the initial part of the walk was a great running route too!

 

The end of May arrived and we left for an overnight sail to Huahine.  Once there we had an afternoon stroll and if Moorea was the Cinderella of the Societies then I thought Huahine was the ugly stepsister.  The village was still neat and tidy with mown grass verges and well-kept gardens, but everything just looked a little more run down.  There wasn’t much opportunity for swimming as there was an extremely strong outflowing current and big swell coming into the anchorage.  Needless to say the morning yoga sessions were a challenge!  Rob and I took another long walk across the island just to explore a little more, but unfortunately aside from seeing ancient fish traps in the inland waterway, there wasn’t much scenery wise.  We have also commented a lot about the lack of bird life, the only common denominator being miner birds which seem to be a pest all around the world!  All in all we were a bit disappointed with Huahine; that is until we moved to another anchorage on the smaller of the two islands.  What a contrast to where we had just come from, crystal clear water, minimal swell and no current.  We had another walk ashore in very pretty surroundings, lots of colourful flowers and white sand beaches.  We had a great swim but aside from sea cucumbers, there was no other fish life.

On 01 June we had a day sail to Raiatae and arrived to see two cruise ships docked.  The Societies seem to be the place in French Polynesia for cruising!  We did a bit of shopping in the main town but again there was really nothing to write home about.  We moved to a couple of anchorages, tried snorkelling but the visibility was so poor and there was hardly any fish life to give it any “wow” factor.  One highlight though was taking a dinghy trip up a river that flows into one of the bays, passing plenty of fruit plantations on the way.  After five days we moved to Tahaa and anchored in a bay called Hurricane Hole.  Again not much to write about but Rob and I did take another walk ashore over the mountain to another bay to have a look around.  We unfortunately didn’t see anything of interest in Tahaa and only spent two nights around the island before heading to Bora Bora.

Approaching Bora Bora held a lot of promise for us because the island is absolutely spectacular when seen from sea.  The lagoon especially is a deep aquamarine colour with clear water.  After tying up to a mooring buoy Rob and I headed ashore with much excitement as you know, Bora Bora is the place everyone talks about as being THE destination in French Polynesia.  What an absolute disappointment when walking out of the yacht club!  It was dirty, dusty and generally unpleasant on shore.  The roads were in extremely poor condition compared to the other islands and the people were definitely not as friendly, not greeting when we greeted them, and it felt like they tried their best to knock us over with their cars.  We are pretty sure that if you fly in and get whisked away by boat to one of the smaller islands that Bora Bora is comprised of, where you can spend your week to 10 days cocooned in a fancy resort, you may have a different impression.

Although our initial impression of Bora Bora wasn’t great, we found some things to make our stay a little more pleasant.  One of those was finding an anchorage just off the upmarket Hilton hotel where we woke in the morning to the lagoon as flat as glass and crystal clear; 10 meters deep and we could make out detail on the sea floor.  We moved around quite a bit in Bora Bora, purely for a change of scenery as we were there for quite a while.  We spent some time at an anchorage near a restaurant called Bloody Mary’s which has apparently been frequented by all the celebs visiting the island… so what… we were just happy to have a place for a cheap cup of coffee and some Wi-Fi so we could catch up with the family!  From here Rob and I went for some long walks and found a wonderful beach where we spent a day swimming, wallowing and being serenaded by a local and his Polynesian guitar!  After moving anchorages again, we met up with Richard and Geri from Panthera and they took us to a spot near the reef where we could swim with rays.  I needed some encouragement to get into the water with them (flashes of Steve Irwin dying from a sting ray) but I was told they were harmless and were only looking for food.  So after jumping in the water after Rob we had about 10 rays all over us.  Their skin had the strangest feeling, slippery but velvety at the same time.  No biting although they do have teeth of some kind, just a sucking feeling as they glide over your skin.  Getting out of the water proved to be challenging as they completely surrounded and crowded us as we tried to get into the dinghy; they thought we were getting them more food!  We met another Australian guy Steve who just loved being in the water with them, spoke to them like puppies and said he was getting his “ray cuddles” for the day!  Richard got some excellent film footage of us in the water with them.  A great experience but not sure I’d do it again!  Especially considering that black tip reef sharks hang around looking for their share of handouts too!

Rob and I managed to get off the boat a couple of times for some good long walks.  One of our walks had us searching for the old battle cannons left by the Americans from the war.  After a slippery trek through muddy jungle we found them, it was just a pity they were covered in graffiti.  One thing I forgot to mention about French Polynesia… as Rob and I were doing our walks through the towns and outlying areas we noted that the majority of properties have gravesites in the front garden, normally tiled and with some sort of shelter over them.  The funny thing though is that these sites seemed to be the favourite snooze spot for the dogs as it was the coolest place in the garden!

While we were in Bora Bora, we were also lucky enough to be around for the yearly festival called Heiva, a mix of sporting and cultural events that went on for about three weeks.  Our best was two evenings spent in town watching a traditional dancing competition… wow, can those girls really shake their bums!  And while we were out Rob was extremely pleased to have had a photo opportunity with Miss Bora Bora!  We did get a bit bored though.  We were waiting for a weather-window so we were extremely happy when Captain said we’d be moving on via the last of the Society Islands called Maupiti.  We weren’t originally going to stop there but decided to spend a couple of nights waiting for the wind to pick up.  The pass through the reef into the lagoon was a bit tricky with the current but what a stunning island.  We are not sure if our senses were just dulled by the dirt and grime in Bora Bora but it seemed we saved the best of the Society Islands for last by stopping in Maupiti.  After a few days getting the boat ready for the next week or so at sea, we set sail at the end of June for Samoa, Rob’s favourite island of the Pacific.  I couldn’t wait for our next island experience!