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.
Samstag, 21. Juni 2008
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.
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....
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....
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