Los Angeles and Hollywood

I arrived after a 12h flight in Los Angeles, where my friends picked me up at the airport. Very nice and convenient, i had so heavy bags...
We drove to Pasadena, which is northeast of L.A. where they are living. The weather was unusually hot 40+ degrees during the day and even at night it was 35, but dry, not humid. To get used to U.S.A. we had dinner with a burger at a drive-in-restaurant.
The next day i was able to watch my first soccer match of the European championship. I missed the good match Germany - Portugal, too bad. In Fiji it was not broadcasted.
On Sunday we went to the beach, the only convenient place at these hot days. And with the right equipment, no problem: eski, umbrella and beach-chair-backpack






Lots of surfers have been here. The waves are tricky, if you don't take care they can overturn you.


This restaurant at the warf looked fine from the distance, we did not try the "real german sausages with sauerkraut" which was the special from today.


They had a nice plastic-shark at the warf, my head was too big to put between its teeth, so only my arm:


On the next day we first went to the Griffith Observatory, where we had a nice view over L.A. It was a little foggy due to the heat. Inside was a Foucault pendulum which kicked some small sticks every 6 minutes. Funny to watch.



The Hollywood Sign was visible from this place too.


Having seen this sign we had to drive there. We stopped at the Kodak Theater Complex, where the Oscar-party is happening. In the Hollywood Avenue you see the famous stars in the ground. You also could take some pictures with celebrities doubles, here we saw Gladiator, Marilyn Monroe, Spiderman etc. ..



We tested the hand and feet cast of Arnold Schwarzenegger and it was funny to find out that these are about the same size than my friend ones. Lets see, what kind of career he will make here ;-)




My time in Pasadena is nearly over, I soon will start my long journey through some national parcs.

Bye bye south pacific hello usa

My south pacific travel is over, I arrived yesterday in Los Angeles, where I could stay with some friends. Back into civilisation, I love to have fast internet again! The first burger was also tasty ;-) And visiting a supermarket with soooo many choices is also nice.
Another important thing: Here I could see my first european soccer championship match, in Fiji it was not possible. Soon I will rent a car and visit some of the californian national parcs.

Fiji Taveuni

The second week I spent in Taveuni, the so called "Garden Island". I went there mainly because the Rainbow Reef, one famous dive site. Unfortunately it was raining here so heavily, that I could dive there only for 3 days. I went out with a Swiss and a Fijian company. It was funny to see the differences. I liked the swiss guy much more, because he did a complete briefing including safety instructions and also did a buddy check before entering the water. The Fijian guy went into water without any buddy check and dived down instantly.

The first nights I stayed in a nice place near the airport but then moved to the middle of the island, which is closer to the rainbow reef.

On Sunday I did a waterfall tour. In the local national parc they have 3 waterfalls, we could see only 2 of them, the third one was inaccessible due to heavy rain which made the track muddy and slippery. It was quite hot and very humid, not the best conditions for a hike. The track was also a little bit adventurous, I had to pass a river, which was secured with a rope.



After some hiking we got rewarded with a nice view over the coconut farm towards the sea.



But the biggest reward was the swim in the rock-pool by the waterfall. Very refreshing and much deserved!!



The last attraction at that day was a visit to the dateline sign. One of my hands was on the "today" side of the world, the other on of the "tomorrow" side. To avoid confusion, the whole fiji is on the same timezone. And Tonga is also an exception, they joined the fijian timezone, but physically they are on the other date.




The mentality of the fijian people is similar to that of the tongan people. Some difference: In Fiji there are many indian people, which are working in government and are running a lot of businesses. And the country is more developped than Tonga. Both don´t take care much about animals and enviroment. Horses and cows are towed with very short ropes and cats and dogs are not treated well. They don´t see the veterinarian. Here you see some carwash station which is in fact a bridge, the dirt water is floating into the sea.



The diving was quite nice and also challenging. I did a famous dive which was called "White wall". The current was so strong that we saw this wall only for 2 minutes, the current let us drift so fast that I had to concentrate very much on myself.I also did a night dive which was unexpectedly very colorful because of the soft-corals. At night I saw other species than during the day. Some strange worms, a giant crab and a nice scorpionfish, which camouflaged itself very well.

Fiji Kadavu

Fiji is more developed than Tonga. I decided to see some remote islands, first Kadavu, which is south of the main island and then Taveuni, which is north-east.

You have to fly with small machines to these island, the flight was ok, but short before the touchdown the machine was shaking very strong. I was really worried but the pilot performed a perfect and smooth landing.



There are only a few roads around the center of the island, my resort can only be reached by boat. The internet is a very very very very slow dial up line and power comes only from generators. Its a very simple life there. The supply boat comes once a week and only during good weather, when it arrives all the resorts and villages are coming with their small boats and pick up their goods. The airstrip is also very small with handwritten signs.



I had a small bure at the beach. Next to the resort is a village and the beach is their walkway back to the airport or the place where they are looking for shells and do some fishing from the shore.



It was raining the first days and it was cloudy too, not the best conditions for diving. I dived 2 days at the house reef and one day at the great astrolab reef. The house reef was ok, but nothing spectacular, the astrolab was good, very many different corals, but not much fish. We had bad luck, the visibility was bad and we did not see the manta rays. And to go there was quite exhausting. First load the boat with all equipment, then go to the airport, unload everything to a truck, drive 5mins to the other side of the island and load another boat there. Then don´t have jetties, so everything has to be carried through the sand or mud. And when we returned from the reef we had to wait for more than half a hour for the truck because he break downed, i was happy when we arrived after 8hours back at the resort. All this effort was made only to save some gas, which is quite expensive here. We could have gone all the way around the island with our fast boat.


The fijian people like music and like to sing, here you see the chief of the village and one manager of the resort.



And i played the drum. This drum was used to inform the guest when breakfast, lunch or dinner is ready.



This evening we had a nice sunset.



On sunday i took the kajak and paddeled to the next resort. It was quite far away, about 10km. I relaxed there, did some snorkeling and went back. A bit too late, because it was getting dark and the way back was much harder than the other way. I was lucky to find a boat which hooked my kajak and brought me back to the resort. To prevent sore muscles I booked a fijian massage which was good. This night I slept very very well.

Then this week was also over and I had to go back to the airport. At the boat transfer it was very windy and the boat ride was choppy too. When I turned my face instantly my glasses flew away into the air and then the sea. $()=§§$)() We turned back but didn´t find them. I was really pissed, because I loved my feather lite glasses. And they have been expensive too. I asked the guys to look for them at the beach, I doubt that they will find them. So Kadavu ended with a very bad incident.

This chicken was waiting with me here for the flight back to Nadi and then to Taveuni. It was lucky that I was not too hungry. With my bad mood....

Tonga

I could sell my car and had 2 weeks left over in Auckland. Because I didn´t liked to spent this time there I went into a travel agency and asked them about some nice locations in the south pacific. The Cook islands, Vanuatu and Tonga was on my list. Tonga had the best flight times and also the best price, so I booked it for the next day. Tonga is called "island of the happy people".
I arrived there in the late afternoon and had to pass the immigration. It was looking funny because of the handwritten signs above the officers.



At the airport I talked with a taxi driver and he drove me to the first accommodation. This was not so good and we went to a second one which I booked. It was raining very much and I wanted to have a bed with a good roof above me. The next morning I woke up and still raining... and a little flooding too. Some employees tried to drain the driveway in front of the hotel and also the lobby. After breakfast I went outside and did a little walk at the waterfront street. The town didn´t look very nice, so I decided to leave the island. I read in my travel book that vava´u is much nicer. The kingdom of Tonga consists of 3 main island groups, Tongatapu, where I landed, Hapai´i and Vava´u.
I drove with the same taxi driver to the airport and bought a ticket to Vava´u. Luckily I didn´t had to wait long.

On our way to the airport we passed by many shops, which looked like that one. Its closed, but you can look inside through the fence.



Or this one



The domestic terminal looked even trister than the international one ....



There is a new airline in Tonga, called Chathams Pacific. The flight was nice and smooth.



From the plane I could have a look at some beautiful islands and coral reefs.



This time I had reserved my accommodation, it was the Tongan Beach Resort. It was founded by a german, who is married with a Tongan wife. They met in New Zealand. The German left Germany after the War. He wrote a book about his life and it was quite interesting to read. The place was really nice and really luxury compared to the places I have been to since the beginning of my journey.



They decorated the room nicely with fresh flowers.



And the view from my terasse was marvalous.



On my first day there I was the only guest. The next day I went into town and had a look at the different dive operators. Tonga is very Christian, many churches around and they love their masses. They are singing very loud in the church and it happened often that I woke up by their singing early in the morning. Some day even at 4:30h!!! The churches are usually the biggest houses in a town and also the most beautiful ones.



They also have very colourfull graves. When someone dies, they have a big feast and have to mourn some days depending on the importance of the dead person. The relatives have to wear black clothes too.



The bank also looked funny, like 2 coconut halfes.



In town I met an australian couple which has been invited to a traditional feast and they asked me, if I would like to join them, which I accepted.

We got a boat transfer to a close island and ended up in a village, where the fisherman and tourguide Soki lives. Here you see me with Soki and the taxi driver.




The table was really full, we couldn´t eat only half of that.





The food had been prepared in an earth oven called "UMU". They light a fire and heat up stones. Then they put the food in and cover and after 40mins everything is ready. Here Soki showed us the Umu.



When we finished dinner it was totally dark. The village had no power, we had only a oil light and my torch. We went back with the boat and I didn´t felt comfortable because the boat had no lights. Some other boats passed us even without lights!! Soki and my taxi driver had fun drinking whiskey-cola.
Then came adventure part 2: The ride back home with the taxi. When we arrived the taxidriver where really drunk. His family waited for him in the car and we drove home. He nearly went into a crowd of children, who where playing at the street.Then we missed a crossing and went into the grass. I made 3 crosses when we arrived at the Tongan Beach.


The next evening I attended a commercial tongan feast, this time with some dancing.




This sign here reminded me, that I am still very far away from home.



On the next day I booked a sailing trip to one of the beautiful islands, I saw from the plane. The weather was perfect, blue sky... The skipper lives with his wife on a houseboat. She is an artist and there is her gallery too.



The boat was nice, relaxing in the net at the front of the boat was nice, looking down into the water.



We sailed to a nice island with crystal clear water and a white sandy beach. Perfect for postcards.





We snorkeled at the neighbourig reef which was really nice, many colourful fish and many corals. And with warm water it was pleasant too.

Next day was sunday and I wanted to go to church and hear them sing. I woke up so often, so I wanted to attend a mess. My host drove me to a "new life church". The mess was a mixture between very loud rock music and praying, in fact it was much too loud so we left after a short time. Sundays are difficult to spend in tonga, most commercial things are forbidden, most restaurants are closed and sunday starts saturday midnight. Then every bar shuts down. They are very strict with that.



To see more of the island I booked a kart-safari. I saw them often driving through the village and assumed it to be funny and it was. We drove offroad, on the beach and through high grass. We went to the less populated parts of the islands, saw a colony of flying foxes and beautiful landscapes.



My last days I spent at the main island tongatapu. They will have an inthronisation party on august 1st for the new king so there is much painting and renovation going on. This is the palace of the mother.



The king has a nice palace too.



The royal graveyard is very colorful too



The tongan wappen describes the country, the three swords are the 3 lines of kings, the three stars are the three main island groups, the cross is the christian belief.



This is the biggest church in tonga.



One king builded a little stonehenge, which is an calendar, it points directly to the rising sun on the longest and shortest day of the year.



One other attraction is a coast with many blowholes. The stones have many holes and the incoming water presses the existing water through theses holes.



On my last day I went to fafa island resort, probably the best place to stay when you are on tongatapu. As so often, it is runned by foreigners in this case germans. Is on a small island, which can be surrounded in 20mins walking time.



It was cloudy and windy, I tried some snorkeling but without pleasure, the water was 23degrees and bad visibility.

On my way to the airport I stopped at the Tongan national museum. It consists of two exhibit halls. I arrived at opening time, but noone there. 20mins later a lady arrived, her bus was late. And sorry she could open only one hall, the key for the other hall has another lady and her bus is very late. Thats was my experience with the "tongan way". Inside there was not much to see, some photographs abouth the history and the first settlers and a war canoe. Everything was dirty, I hope they do some cleaning before the big party. The tongans have been great warriors and navigators and ruled a huge part of the south pacific islands including fiji.



At the airport I saw some women in traditional clothings. The tongans are not skinny and with these mats they are looking even bigger.




I flew back to auckland, 2 nights there and then continue to fiji.