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It’s 2am in Auckland, and 8am back home, so I’m far too tired to post much…but here are some photos from our trip to the village in Rukuruku (Ovalau)…lots of cute kids and the rugby team….more later!

 

Bula! Day one down, and it was great! We are sitting in the outdoor dining area (as seen here)

drinking coffee and internet-ing friends across the globe. Bryan Adams “Everything I do, I do it for you” is currently blasting over the speakers. For some reason. In just a bit we will pack up and figure out which bus to catch to Suva for our stay at Raintree Lodge. The following two days we’ll be at Bobo’s Farm on Ovalau. Our last day in Fiji will be spent going on a sunset fishing expedition with our new friend, Junior Christ, who is a non-practicing Fijian Muslim. Pretty much one of the most amazing people we’ve ever met. Here is the breakdown of our first day:

Arrived at 5am in Nadi and went through the customs and currency exchange process, then took a taxi to our hotel, the Wailoaloa Beach Resort:

Instantly loved it here, and they have some of the best coffee I’ve ever had.

We got settled in and started out on the 7 minute walk to the beach, where we came across some random dude wanting to sell us some coconuts. So we started talking with him, and wound up buying some kava and drinking it with them for the next hour in the space where they live and work. All kinds of fresh fruit and sugar cane growing, and roosters everywhere.

We promised to come back for lunch after going to the beach. We both loaded up with sunscreen but still managed a few streaks of minor sunburn (on the shoulders, which is good because we have to carry our heavy back packs today). The beach was of course amazing.

We headed back and stopped for lunch with our friends. Jr Christ cleaned a fish he had caught and cooked it with fresh coconut milk over a fire. So good.

We probably spent at least 5 hours of the day with them, drinking kava and smoking suki (Indian leaf) as Jr shared his many bits of wisdom with us. It’s really crazy to meet someone who is extremely genuine, hospitable, intelligent, and who actually lives out their philosophy on life every day, just for the simplicity and pleasure of it. He’s in the process of getting involved with the Workaway program, and he’d be perfect for it. I’m not sure I could adequately put into words how profound and wonderful it was to meet these people and enjoy our first day of the trip with them.

The day kind of left Nicole and I at a loss. It was so great. We invited Mr. Christ to stop by the hotel for a few beers, then parted ways until we get back from Ovalau.

Sunset and stars were awesome.

It’s going to be kind of hard to top yesterday, but we’ll see what we can do! I’ve spent enough of the morning on the internet now, so it’s time to pack up and get out of Nadi.
I have a lot more photos on facebook and will be working on videos and posting here as often as possible. Til next time!

Yes, we are probably trying to cram too much into our two packs, and I will admit that we even left a few items out of the photos….but here’s what we are trying to take!

Christy

Nicole

We are nothing if not over-prepared :)

One week from today!

“In the life of an individual, an aesthetic sensibility is both more authentic and more commendable than a political or religious one.”

I typically keep this blog travel oriented, but would like to give a “shout out” to my friends in The Sexual Side Effects….and by hiring me to shoot their band multiple times in the last year they have definitely contributed to my traveling funds, which I am very grateful for! These are some photos from their show at the Masquerade this past Saturday.

A talented and extremely hard working band for sure. Keep it up you guys!

Three weeks from today. Jeez! It’s all really starting to set in that I’m about to leave the country for a long time….that I won’t see family or friends…that I won’t have a home….that I will be living on two weeks worth of clothes from here on out. There doesn’t really seem to be any way to mentally prepare for it. We’re just going to have to embrace whatever comes our way and stay positive! Which isn’t to say that I’m anything less than insanely excited.

This is what our “packing room” looks like right now.

Still trying to figure out how to cram all the new clothes/shoes/equipment I’ve recently purchased into my two packs. It’s not looking good, but there is no way I’m leaving my leather pants, sequin shorts, four camera lenses, or hairdryer behind; any arguments for minimalism on this trip have clearly fallen on deaf ears over here. I need it all. I can handle the extra weight as long as it fits.

Also, our passports arrived safely home this week, complete with approved Indian visas!

I’ve moved out, sold all of my things, turned 29, and gotten being sick out of the way. Tomorrow I’ll get my equipment insured through State Farm and attend our first going away party (the big one will be Feb 25th). So far so good.

I’m so glad we decided to earn points for travel through credit cards in the last 6 months….both Nicole and I have earned about 150,000 points each just for opening up a few new cards and meeting the minimum spending requirements. Our flight from Singapore to Mumbai took about 26,000 if that gives you any idea how far the points can get you, so considering that we’ll be taking a lot of trains in the future, we may not be actually be paying for many more flights.

Hell yeah! Now if only I wasn’t scared to death of flying…

36 days til departure!!

Acquired this little drawing recently, it’s healing up nicely!

and yes, it hurt.