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  • Kyran Klazek-Schryer
  • Kyran Klazek-Schryer

South Pacific & Asia

A 144-day adventure by Kyran Read more
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  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Walk around Nuku’alofa

    March 1, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Didn’t have much of a plan today, was going to maybe rent a car, but the car rental lady said it was gonna rain all day so she didn’t recommend it. Which it did. But just in little spurts. But it’s also possible that I could borrow Lupe’s car on Monday so I’ll wait and see.

    Definitely testing my stomach w food intake lol, ate the cake from last night for breakfast. It was covered in ants even tho I wrapped it up last night. But I just ate the parts without ants and it was fine. Also had some of the starfruit I bought yesterday, but sitting overnight in a bag with a mushy one, they tasted a little fermented. Still good tho, and fine so far!

    Walked around, to the wharf where the interisland ferries take off, and bought some oranges from a roadside stand on the way. And some lychee juice from a store. Neat to see more of the town.

    Checked out the royal tomb which was under construction and was gonna go to the museum but it’s closed until Monday.

    Ate some canned sardines for dinner, and got caught up on FindPenguins and replying to people.

    Gotta get to bed early cause Lupe is picking me up at 9:15 to go to church tomorrow! The whole island shuts down on Sundays as it’s illegal to work on Sundays    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler
    The Church
    Female Dorms at the CollegeLupe on the left, taking communion from her husband SamiuThe kava bowl1

    Church Sunday

    March 2, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    On Sundays, all of Tonga shuts down because it is a 97% Christian country. Nothing is open and the streets are empty.
    But Lupe offered to pick me up at 9:15am to go to the church service at the Sia’atoutai Theological College where she and her husband teach. Before the service, Lupe showed me around the campus, where all the students and teachers live, where it’s separated into seven “villages” to represent the seven nations of the bible.
    The service was an awesome experience, with superb singing (although Lupe said not as good as usual lol), and the whole service in Tongan (except for one small part in English), and pouring rain during most of it. I didn’t want to be too disrespectful so didn’t take too many photos or videos as we were sitting right at the front where everyone could see.
    All the students were dressed in white, because today was a communion day, so got to watch that as well. I wore long pants and a dress shirt cause the knees should be covered in church here. I didn’t partake in communion but was invited to. There was also a birthday happening that week, so happy birthday was sung in the middle of the service lol.
    The Methodist church (which is the majority of Christians in Tonga) intersperses hymns with sermon, through the service. For the hymns, they had a guy press a preset button on a synthesizer and a student conductor in front, and everyone would stand up, and sing in three or four part harmonies. I caught on, reading some Tongan out of Lupe’s hymn book by the end. The singing before the service and during communion was all acapella though.
    After, I was invited by some of the boys who were studying there to try some kava, a drink that has relaxing and sedative properties and lots of social gatherings happen around it. Lupe left me alone for a bit to go finish up making lunch, and I chatted with the students of the college. There are lots of traditions and etiquettes on how to act respectfully around the reverend, and at a kava gatherings. I definitely felt out of place as a palangi but had some really nice conversations. Lots of students here are people from the states with Tongan heritage who have come to complete a bachelors or masters or PhD in theological studies.
    I had a couple coconut shells of kava but didn’t seem to feel its effects, even on an empty stomach.    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler
    2

    Lunch at Lupe’s House

    March 2, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    After church and kava we went back to Lupe’s house (the one not on campus) for a home cooked Tongan lunch! Her brother (who is actually a cousin?) is staying there right now with his wife, and so we had lunch with them and another one of Lupe’s sisters-in-law. Everyone else did not speak a lot of English so I mostly talked with Lupe but fun to hear them all speak Tongan with eachother.
    A huge lunch with so many dishes, lots of yam and taro and breadfruit, and a cooked fish dish Lupe made with coconut milk and cheese, as well as a raw fish dish with lime (kola) and the bones still in! Also her sister-in-law brought Lu Pulu, coconut and corned beef (or may have been pork) wrapped in taro leaves and cooked in an umu (a type of earth oven, that all the yams and breadfruit were cooked in too). More unknown molluscs like the buffet dinner last night, and finishing it off with some frozen lychees (from the lychee season) and mango ice cream.

    A delicious meal, that I left feeling so full. And lovely to meet more of Lupe’s family. She drove me back to the backpackers, but not before confirming that I would indeed stay there starting tomorrow night, and sending me home with bottled water, chocolates and oranges!

    Such a lovely welcoming experience. Lupe explained to me how religion shapes her world view and how it encourages her to help others and be selfless    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler
    my new favourite chocolatesHong Shao Rou!

    Chinese Restaurant Dinner

    March 2, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    After Lupe dropped me off back at the backpackers after lunch, I hung out for a bit, and walked around to explore the deserted town on a Sunday. But as soon as I left it started pouring, so had to wait it out under some awnings and go back to get a rain jacket.

    Had some Australian Cadbury chocolates that Lupe sent me home with. Ones that we don’t have in North America and very yummy!

    After it started to get dark, I decided to venture out to find the only restaurant that was open on a Sunday: Emerald Chinese Restaurant. As it’s forbidden to work on a Sunday in Tonga, only the Chinese restaurants are open, I don’t know how they get around the rules, but this one was part of a hotel, and had a few people eating dinner on a rainy Sunday night.

    I was excited to see Hong Shao Rou, braised pork belly, on the menu. I first tried this dish with Tamsyn and Matisse at their favourite Chinese restaurant in Montreal and now look for it on every Chinese restaurant’s menu haha. Not as good as the one at Chez Chen’s in MTL but still yummy with lots of ginger and just the right amount of spice. It was nice to be dry from the rain and treat myself to a nice meal out with food that I’m used to haha.

    Didn’t finish the big portion so got it to go and finished it before bed, as the backpackers had no fridge haha. But this is the last night here, sleeping at Lupe’s tomorrow!    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Tonga National Museum / Chill City Day

    March 3, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Had a relatively slow last morning at the backpackers, packed everything up, showered and got out by about 11:20, even though checkout was at 10 haha. Island time!

    As my last day in the city, I wanted to check out the museum, which was closed on the weekend. A cute little one-room exhibit that only cost $5 TOP. Nice air conditioned room where I could put down my heavy bags haha. Mostly artefacts from the museums collections, with some information. And pictures of the past royalty of Tonga. Nice map of the highlights of the island to see as well, which I took note of, for my day exploring the island.

    My next stop was going to be to rent a car, that way I could spend the day exploring the island and drive it to Lupe’s, and drop it off the next morning for a 24h rental. But unfortunately I texted and there were no more cars available today.

    But I went to the car rental place anyway, as the lady said she could rent me a car for tomorrow! She said she would give me a more expensive car at the cheaper price. So I walked over there, and figured it out with her. I probably should have gotten food first as I had barely eaten anything at this point but oh well.

    I figured out that Lupe would come pick me up from town later today, and drive me to the car rental place tomorrow around 11am. Talking to the car rental lady was funny. I was hungry and so didn’t totally have my energy or wits about me, but she’s a funny Russian lady who runs this service, and was talking to me in a way that made it seem like she thought I wasn’t that bright lol. But after some back and forth and reading the fine print and whatnot, I got the rental for what was advertised as NZ$60 a day plus NZ$40 for insurance, but with the conversion to Tongan Pa’anga and then to CAD w my card, ended up being CA$100 total. So not too bad for a 24h rental, and nice to have my own car. The plan is to pick it up tomorrow at 11:30am and drop it off on Wednesday, so I have all of Tuesday to explore the island of Tongatapu!

    Next stop was definitely getting food, so I went back to the Chinese restaurant to get some beef fried rice for only TOP$6.90 (like CA$4.50)! Had a nice little lunch by the water. Also discovered the tourism centre, which had AC and free wifi! Stopped by the post office to mail a letter to Sophie, and made my way back to where Lupe would pick me up at the backpackers. Waited under the awning of the ANZ bank as it was pouring rain    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Lupe’s Place

    Mar 3–6, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    Lupe picked me up, and we had a nice big meal at her place, with more fish (raw and cooked) and yams and breadfruit (not as extravagant as Sunday lunch but very yummy). Getting used to eating with my hands, cause all the bones have to be picked out of the fish haha. And of course more mango ice cream for dessert

    She showed me the room where I’ll be staying for the next three nights, and I had a nice shower before heading to bed.
    I’m fed very well here and always told to grab anything I want from the fridge and pantry haha. Very kind hospitality of Tongans.    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler
    11

    Rental Car! & West Tip of Tongatapu

    March 4, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ 🌬 27 °C

    Woke up, ate breakfast, and got a ride into town to pick up the rental car! Had a nice breakfast of toast and keke isite (like donut balls). Lupe was a bit late to pick me up, but had run out of data so couldn’t reply to texts, so I didn’t know if she was coming or not. So I got a ride into town from her sister-in-law’s friend who was visiting. Turns out we missed eachother by probably a minute!

    Picked up the cute little green Daihatsu Mira and started driving around for the day!

    First stop was the very northwestern point of the island, Abel Tasman’s landing site in 1643. Very windy! Met some other tourists here and they happened to be Canadians, from Port Alberni and Vancouver!

    Then stopped at a nice little beach, Ha’atafu Beach, with apparently good surfing! Met a little hermit crab here.

    Next stop was the Flying Foxes, a tree where a colony of fruit bats (which are called flying foxes here) live. They were mostly sleeping during the day but you could hear them chattering and when they flew from one branch to another they were so huge!!    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler
    11

    Tsunami Rock

    March 4, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ 🌬 27 °C

    Next stop was tsunami rock, a large boulder made of corallic rock that apparently got pushed inland by a massive tsunami thousands of years ago.

    Nice beach here too, but as with a lot of Tonga, litter almost everywhere. Helped a family from Fiji try to get their van unstuck from a rock in the thin single track road with no luck. I did not risk driving the rental car down that path hahaRead more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Mapu ‘a Vaea Blowholes

    March 4, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ 🌬 28 °C

    Super cool blowholes, that are all along the west stretch of coast in Tonga! The way that the coral has formed, and the holes in the coral, make that whenever a wave crashes ashore, the water gets forced through the holes and air and spray and water come shooting up.

    Mapu means whistle in Tongan, and Vaea is the name of an honourable family from the nearby village. So it is literally Vaea’s Whistle. There’s some debate on where the name comes from but the blowholes do indeed whistle! Super cool!

    Had a nice little snack here as there were some tables to sit at    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Hufangalupe Natural Bridge

    March 4, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ 🌬 28 °C

    Drove a little bit to the south side of the island, to get to Hufangalupe. Was going to stop at a BBQ stand on the side of the road but didn’t see any on the way there.

    Much more rural and rough roads than I expected, Google maps marks some roads as major when they are most definitely not major roads. But otherwise impressed at the road infrastructure in Tonga. The actual major roads never have any potholes.

    Hufangalupe is a natural bridge made of rock. Very cool, with a nice secluded beach down the cliffside next to it. But quite the trek to get to, single late road and then quite a few plants and bushes to walk through. Thankfully made it out without getting the car stuck and without getting bitten by anything!    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    ‘Anahulu Cave

    March 4, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ 🌬 27 °C

    After the natural bridge, got some food at a grocery store cause I was very hungry at this point. Had a meal of canned chicken spam, instant noodles, and mango juice when I got to the next stop, Anahulu Cave.

    This cave was so cool! A big cave system, with huge stalactites and stalagmites, and a first part lit up with lights, and with cement stairs so you can walk around and see the beginning of the caves. There’s pools of freshwater in the caves that you can swim in, which is what they’re known for. The water is normally very clear but due to all the recent rain, the water near the entrance was very brown and murky.
    There were two other Tongan girls and a guy from Australia visiting and the owner of the property said he would go get some flashlights and take them further into the cave where the water was clearer, so I decided to join them

    He took us past the ropes and part that was lit up, and we ventured into the dark cave with just flashlights. We went pretty far in, trekking over the rocks and stalagmites going deeper and deeper into the dark cave. For a while we weren’t following any rope or anything, and it seemed like it would be very easy to get lost in the cave system. Eventually there was a rope, and we followed it for a bit before getting to some more pools of water. They weren’t crystal clear as usual but a bit clearer than the opening of the cave. The owner/guide then proceeded to leave us there for the next half hour and went back to the entrance. We swam around for a bit, and the water was not too cold! (Although the Tongans disagreed). After the swim we started the decent walk back (started the wrong direction but eventually found the rope lol) and then the owner met us part way again.

    Saw some local boys jumping in the water in the main part of the cave, and then checked out the beach for a sec.

    What an experience! Felt like real caving haha! Cost 20 pa’anga but totally worth it!    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Ha'amonga 'a Maui Trilithon

    March 4, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ 🌬 27 °C

    The last stop of the day was the Ha'amonga Trilithon, a large stone structure, erected many generations ago. It was closed by the time I got there, so didn’t get to read the plaques or get close up, but still cool to see!

    Drove back in the dark to Lupe’s place after a very full day, and filled up w gas on the way. A successful day with the rental car!    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler
    1

    Last Day in Tonga

    March 5, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Woke up and drove the car into town for drop off, just in time. Spent the day in Nuku’alofa, mostly at the air conditioned tourism centre, with wifi and a public washroom. Took advantage of the wifi to call mom, and hung around for a bit. Then ate some lunch and bought a traditional Tongan drink called otai, that had shavings of watermelon in ittt.
    Last stop in town was to exchange the rest of my Tongan Pa’anga for Fijian Dollars, and then I walked back to Lupe’s place, only about an hour!

    https://strava.app.link/EHFePyboxRb

    Had good food again, including theses huge jumbo prawns that her brother brought from Australia! They were very yummy and apparently they had bags and bags of them in the freezer lol. Also unfortunately lost my new turtle shell ring on the walk home :( bummed cause it was a very unique souvenir from Tonga.

    Nice last day in Tonga, and now for a quick nap before driving to the airport at 3am for my 5:30am flight! 😳    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Early Morning Travel to Fiji

    March 6, 2025 in Tonga ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    There were even more people staying in the house tonight, so my room got given up, and I slept on the outside couch on the porch for my 3h nap from 11:30pm to 2:30am. Had a mosquito coil burning the whole time and put on some bug spray so not too bad for bugs! And nice to be cool outside, although still super warm!!

    Lupe and her Husband so kindly drove me at 3am to the airport, where we said our goodbyes and made sure I got through security without getting my bags weighed as they were much over weight haha. They were even heavier than last time because I’m carrying some extra clothes and shoes for Lupe’s daughter who is going to school in Suva, Fiji right now.
    They were very impressed no one stopped me to check my bags, this palangi Canadian is lucky!

    Bought a turtle pendant necklace carved out of bone as a replacement souvenir for my lost ring, and used up the last of my Tongan cash. Got on the plane, all fine no weight the bags, and with a window seat! Napped a bit on the flight, had some food and landed in Nadi at 5:45am (1 hour time difference), half an hour early!    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    NAN to Suva!

    March 6, 2025 in Fiji ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Got into Nadi airport, and spent quite a lot of time trying to figure out eSIMs, as the ones I bought would only connect to 3G and not LTE networks. Eventually got one of h tbh en cancelled and refunded but definitely a hassle to deal with.

    Ate some quick Burger King, and caught the bus from Nadi to Suva, a long 4.5h ride for only FJ$22! At first, they were blaring music, which is a very Fijian bus thing apparently, but thankfully when they switched drivers about 20mins in, they couldn’t get the music running again so we had a quiet bus where I could sleep, after running on about 3h of sleep the night before! Napped part of the way, and got into Suva around 1pm.
    The capital city, Suva is quite bustling! The bus station in Suva is a crazy place, with busses and people everywhere! Very old busses, but all equipped with a contactless payment system haha. Apparently Fiji is described as mini India, as about 30% of the population has Indian heritage, from indentured workers brought over in the early 20th century. This bus station definitely felt like what I imagine India would be like!
    As none of the busses have cash here, I decided to venture out to get a bus card and load it. Along the way I made a stop in a nice big mall with air conditioning, wifi, and a food court, where I had a much needed lunch. Bought a physical SIM card from the Digicel shop in the mall, valid for 10 days with 50GB for only FJ$10! Way cheaper than an eSIM

    Then went across the street to the Vodafone store to buy a bus card for only FJ$3 and load it with cash. Took the city bus to Brian and Marla’s place and got there no problem! I like the Fiji vibes so far!    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Marla and Brian’s Place

    Mar 6–12, 2025 in Fiji ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Made it to the Dunn’s place, on the campus of the Pacific Theological College (PTC), where Brian is teaching history and religion courses.
    So nice to see familiar faces from Thunder Bay and to stay in their beautiful home! Chatted a lot about what they’re both up to and Fiji in general. Brian is teaching and doing research as a professor here, currently working on publishing a research framework for academics working with indigenous communities in Pasifika. Marla’s completing a Masters in Indigenous Theology, through an online school.
    The PTC is interesting as it has students from all over Pasifika (Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, etc.) and so is multi denominational (Methodist, Presbyterian, Protestant, etc.) as each country has its dominant denomination depending on which missionaries arrived first.
    The missionaries arrived in this area before the colonial powers did, and so Pacific Islanders think of the two very differently, and apparently the major sentiment is that they are glad the missionaries brought over Christianity and converted Pasifika.
    Very interesting dynamics. Brian says it’s also so different than working with the indigenous communities in Thunder Bay or Canada, because about 60% of the population is indigenous here, and they have the political power, and so they’re starting from a different angle

    Very lovely house and so happy to call this home for the next week or so!
    They also have a little cat that hangs around!    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler
    1

    Another Rest Day

    March 7, 2025 in Fiji ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    Took a much needed rest day doing almost nothing today. Slept in till almost noon (needed the catch up on sleep), folded my dry laundry, ate some food, caught up on Find Penguins, and took a little walk down to the water and back.
    Always feels weird doing nothing in the day but so needed for the body to rest.    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler
    Lupe's daughter Olive (right)

    First Day in Suva

    March 8, 2025 in Fiji ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Marla and Brian took me into town to explore a bit! We caught a taxi in, only FJ$6 from their place to downtown!
    First explored the market, where there’s so many vendors selling fresh produce, and upstairs lots of kava root vendors. Then we went to the ‘Suva Flea Market’ which is not really a flea market but a building with textile vendors, lots of weaving and masi mats which are made from the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree. Sat down to have a nice fresh juice at a cafe, and chatted. A guy came up to us saying he was from Toronto, and looking for things to do in Suva and places to stay, but he had very strange vibes haha.

    Marla and Brian went to go do their grocery shopping and I headed over to the mall to meet up with Lupe’s daughter, Olive (pronounced oh-leev-eh). Olive is going to school here in Suva so I brought some of her stuff over for Lupe.
    Olive and her friend from school had to do some grocery shopping, as did I, so we walked around the market together! I bought some passion fruit and guava and bread, all at very good prices! The bag of small guavas was only FJ$1, like CA60¢! Fiji is definitely the cheapest country I’ve been to so far. We then went to the supermarket where I bought most of my groceries for the week, and taxied back, stopping at the Dunn’s place on the way so I could give Olive the stuff I brought over for her! Nice to meet her, and explore the town together:)

    A nice chill night, with the first of many spaghetti and hotdog dinners lol    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Another Church Sunday

    March 9, 2025 in Fiji ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    I joined Brian and Marla at their church this Sunday, for a nice late morning service starting at 11am. The church service they go to is actually hosted in a lecture hall of the USP (University of the South Pacific), and is nondenominational Christian.
    Nice to see so much community, as thats what really appeals to me when it comes to church. Brian and Marla knew everyone and everyone knew them, and were all very friendly.
    The service itself was interesting to witness, lots of singing at the beginning and end, with lyrics projected to follow along. And the sermon was done by a young missionary from Australia who was visiting and was invited to preach for this service. It was the most accessible I’ve ever found a church service, unpacking a part of the bible in plain words and explaining what to take from it. I definitely have more of an appreciation for Christianity after the service, even if the specific message he was preaching I don’t necessarily align with. I think Christianity is a little one and only concrete god - oriented for me. But I totally understand the sense of purpose and direction that people get from it and I think that’s really valuable, and I understand it more after this service.
    But cool to witness and be there for! We got some ready made lunches that a group from the church was fundraising with, and got a ride home from some of their church friends from Nigeria who are living in Suva.
    We were gonna explore the USP campus a bit, but it was raining too much to walk around.    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Fiji Museum

    March 9, 2025 in Fiji ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Talk a nice walk in the rain to the Fiji Musuem, about a 25min walk from Marla and Brian’s place. Nice to walk around the neighbourhood and see things from that pace.

    With a student ticket, the museum was only FJ$10! Dealing with the first stomach problems of the trip though, so had to use the bathroom first lol. But nice museum, just one room but decently sized, with lots of artefacts and information about Fiji history, old and recent. Was a little bit rushed as I only had just over an hour before they closed but still enough time to see everything!

    After, explored the gardens and parks in the area and walked back in the rain! Thank goodness for my vessis and rainjacket!

    Another cheap dinner of spaghetti tonight haha    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Colo-i-Suva Forest

    March 10, 2025 in Fiji ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Day 50 of the trip!

    Bussed out to the Colo-i-Suva Forest Reserve (pronounced tholo-i-suva) for the day! The bus system here is awesome. Everything works with the bus card, and the busses are never more than like FJ$2.50 even if they’re far. And you just ask around where the bus that takes you to where you want to go is, and people direct you toward it!

    Got a little FJ$2.50 lunch in town, brought it to eat when I got to the park.

    FJ$5 for entrance into the park, and I walked in from the main road down a dirt road to the parking lot. There’s a little 45min loop that goes through the forest and follows a river and some natural pools you can swim in! Took my time admiring the nature and went for a little swim. Beautiful forest, a few spiders in the path tho 😳

    https://strava.app.link/BAf6Jo07JRb

    A nice afternoon spent in nature, and caught the bus back no problem! The busses stop kind of wherever here, you just have to flag them down from the side of the road

    Got home and had a nice call with tamsyn and another spaghetti dinner.    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Another Day in Suva

    March 11, 2025 in Fiji ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Took the taxi into town today, as I was waiting for a while and no bus came by.
    Explored the city a bit more, saw the Sacred Heart Cathedral, and went in for a bit. Also went to a McDonald’s as I have to try one in every country that has one! Surprisingly the best McDonald’s yet, a very good (but expensive) cheese burger. The bun was sweeter than in Canada, as is a lot of food here. Lots of sugar in everything.
    Walked around the market a bit more, got some starfruit and June plum (not my favourite new fruit but interesting). Also grabbed some snacks from vendors around the bus station including a milk custard pie that was really yummy!
    Also checked out the flea market again, and almost bought a little woven hand fan but it was too expensive and really not something I need haha, even as a souvenir

    Had time to have a nice long FaceTime with dad while walking around town! Was going to go out rowing with one of Brian’s friends from the church, Paulo, but they didn’t have enough people for the boat today. Bussed back and had a nice chill evening again, but made fried rice instead of spaghetti this time!    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Travel to Leleuvia!

    March 12, 2025 in Fiji ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    I decided to book two night at the Leleuvia resort, a resort on its own private island haha. They have dorm rooms for only FJ$60 (like CA$40)! It was recommended to me by Brian and Marla, and Sophie’s dad who stayed here years ago haha.
    As the resort is the whole island, it’s compulsory to also purchase the meal plan, and the boat over costs a bit too. But all in all it comes to about CA$110 a night which isn’t too bad for a private island! And check out on Friday isn’t till 3pm!

    As I’m coming back to Marla and Brian’s on Friday, I just packed a small bag instead of bringing all my things. Left the house at 12:30pm and caught the bus right as I got to the main road! Took the bus into suva, then caught another bus to Nausori, where the airport is, about 40mins away. I had time in Nausori to grab some takeaway fish and chips for FJ$6.50 before hopping on the bus to Bau Landing, just before it departed!

    After about a 35min bus to Bau Landing, which went through some very rural Fiji which was cool, I got off, at the end of the road. Bau Landing is where all the boats take off to go to Bau island, where there’s a Fijian village, but it’s very remote and kind of in the middle of nowhere. I waited here for the resort boat to come pick me up, and ate the lunch I bought in Nausori.

    The boat came and dropped off some tourists and I got on, the only passenger going to the island! Quite a rainy day today and I think tomorrow will be too but oh well, still nice to be staying on a small island!

    When you pass Bau island, with the village, you have to take your hat off out of respect    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler

    Leleuvia Island Resort

    Mar 12–14, 2025 in Fiji ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    I got to the island, and they welcomed me, saying I was the only one staying here for the next two days! Private island to myself! For only like $100 a night lolll. They even upgraded me from the dorms to a private little hut

    The workers all live here, and it’s a very chill vibe. Because I’m the only tourist, they keep saying have your meals whenever you want! Feels kinda crazy basically having a private chef haha. They also have stand up paddle boards, kayaks, and snorkeling gear for rent for free

    I’m staying here for two nights, so I have a full day to relax. Pretty overcast and rainy when I got here. Explored the island a bit in the last bit of daylight, and had a nice fish dinner cooked just for me. Even tried a Fiji Gold beer, not too bad! During dinner it started pouring, and didn’t really let up all night. As the roofs are real thatching, some drops of water get in so I had to move to the dry side of the bed lol. Thank goodness I have my vessis and rain jacket, there’s lots of puddles to walk through!

    Huge lighting and loud thunder as I was falling asleep! Comfy bed tho which is so nice    Read more

  • Kyran Klazek-SchryerSouth Pacific & AsiaTraveler
    Sea Cucumber!Freshwater Eel Catch!

    Day on Leleuvia - Part 1

    March 13, 2025 in Fiji ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Got up nice and early for a 9:30am breakfast. No rain today, beautiful weather all day!
    Had a nice big breakfast of about 7 or 8 pancakes with papaya and pineapple, just for me!

    Then took my time getting ready and walked all the way around the island, as it was low tide. So nice to be on no schedule whatsoever and just take my time. Saw lots of hermit crabs and fish in the tide pools— although not as full of life as on the west coast. When I got back around to the main dock, the some of the workers spotted a freshwater eel that had swam over from the heavy rains. They went and spearfished it, and gutted it and cut it up—they said they would maybe eat it tomorrow!

    https://strava.app.link/CcehcMBmIRb

    As I still had about an hour or so till lunch time, I decided to grab my notebook and pen and sit in a hammock by the water sketching. I made a nice little drawing of the dock at low tide, before journaling a bit.

    I then got called that lunch was ready, and so I went to my table with one chair for a nice spaghetti lunch! It felt like breakfast had been not that long ago so it was a lot of food and I stuffed myself but couldn’t finish all of it haha    Read more

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