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Around the World

abril 2017 - janeiro 2018
  • Simon and Blake
Uma 282aventura de um dia na Simon Leia mais
  • Simon and Blake
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  • Fiji Fiji
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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Nabua Lodge

    9 de julho de 2017, Fiji ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Fiji is very Christian so Sundays are traditionally a day of rest. There were therefore no activities planned on White Sandy except for a church service in the morning so we had a lazy morning chatting to Valerie and Luig, a Belgian couple that have had the same itinerary as us so we have been together from the beginning of our trip.

    The boat arrived around midday to take us to our next island, Nabua Lodge. From the moment we stepped off the boat we knew it was going to be a lot nicer here. All I wanted was a bathroom that didn't smell like a public toilet and we got that and so much more. The room is huge and very clean. We get electricity 3 times a day and we even have hot water and a sink! At first it didn't look like we had a bathroom at all but then the lady opened the wardrobe and revealed our secret ensuite. It's like Narnia! We feel so much more comfortable here. We spent 2 days on White Sandy with another couple from the UK and they have also moved across to Nabua so there is a little gang of us now which is really nice.

    After lunch we pottered around taking photos until it was time for afternoon tea. A few minutes down the beach there is a small lodge where they serve afternoon tea and cake for $6 so we tucked into an enormous slice of chocolate cake which was delicious!

    We then spent the rest of the afternoon chilling. Simon befriended a little ginger kitten who fell asleep on his lap for ages until we realised that he had fleas and was evicted!

    For dinner we had our first meal without rice since we arrived on the islands. They love rice and serve it with every meal! Today however we had mashed potato and battered fish. It was cold but a much welcomed change from white rice. Sundays are apparently international night so we all had to sing the national anthem from our home country. There were 6 people from the UK so fortunately we didn't have to sing it by ourselves. Two of them did make a sneaky exit though so it was down to the remaining 4 to sing God Save the Queen in our best voices. There were also people representing the US, Australia, Denmark, Germany, France, Switzerland and of course Fiji. We thing we did learn is that ours is by far the shortest. The Fijans, never passing up the opportunity to play a game, played a game which involved flipping two coins and guessing whether they were going to be heads or tails. The winner got a free beer! Simons eyes lit up at this point and he was determined to win. He did and thoroughly enjoyed his free can of Fiji Gold.    Leia mais

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Day 2 - Nabua Lodge

    10 de julho de 2017, Fiji ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We woke up and headed over for breakfast at (you guessed it) the sound of the drum.

    After breakfast we had a cave trip which was included in our package. We were a bit dubious about this one as we had to sign a waiver to do it. After a ridiculously bumpy journey there, we pulled up to the caves with very sore bottoms. After a short briefing we made our way up some steps and into the cave. The ladder at the bottom dropped us into a rather cold pool and we swam into the middle of the cave. It was quite impressive but also pretty full of other people. We had an option to swim underwater into a second cave but this required a mask which our resort refused to provide us. After some negotiation we arranged to pass masks back through to other people that wanted to swim through.

    It was only me that made it through. Blake was a bit nervous as they described it as you had to swim 1 meter down and 2.5 meters across for 3-5 seconds underwater. To say it was an anti-climax is an understatement. The second cave was pitch black, pretty tiny, super cramped when we made it in and the story the guide told was missed due it being so echoey. We swam back through to the main cave and made our way out. The journey back to our island was another bottom breaking ride. Some people paid 85 Fijian dollars for the trip and it definitely wasn't worth it. We would have been very disappointed if we had paid that.

    We had lunch shortly after returning which wasn't rice! Instead we had pasta in a sauce with cheese. After lunch we just topped up the tan on the beach.

    At 3pm we made our way to the tea lodge for our daily dose of tea and cake. Another great chocolate cake this time with raspberry sauce on top. It was delicious! There were also so almost newborn kittens that kept us all entertained.

    Not wanting to spend the rest of the afternoon in the sun, we introduced Matt and Caroline to Phase 10.    Leia mais

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Nadi

    11 de julho de 2017, Fiji ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Today started with more breakfast at the sound of the drum but not before packing our bags. I may have set the alarm a tad too early as we were packed and ready about 30-40 minutes before.

    After breakfast we checked out and waited for the boat to take us on our Blue Lagoon snorkelling trip. We had heard a lot about the Blue Lagoon and how beautiful is was so we had high expectations. It wasn't long before we started to pull up by the coral and already we could see hundreds of colourful fish! We geared up with our snorkels and dropped off the side of the boat with some bread (fish food) in hand. This was instantly the BEST snorkelling we had ever done. The fish came from every direction feeding from our hands.

    After swimming around and seeing many different kinds of fish including a cute family of nemos in an anemone, we made our way towards the shallows. We waited for a while as our guide was nowhere to been seen and started to get a bit nervous that we may miss our boat back to the mainland and more importantly lunch. After around 45 minutes he appeared out from under a tree where he had fallen asleep in the shade! On the way back to Nabua we stopped at a 'ship wreck' but I'm not sure if you could really call it that. It was less Titanic and more of a little boat wreck. But still, it was something I had never seen before and lots of fish had made their home in it.

    Back on Nabua we had our final supper with all the gang and waited for the Yasawa Flyer that would take us back to the main land. We were joined on the Yasawa Flyer by Valerie and Luig, Caroline and Matt and Lena and Camilla. Only Valerie, Luig and us were going all the way back to the mainland however which was a slow and bumpy 5 hour journey. We decided to sit up on the sun deck to catch the last of the sun before we headed to New Zealand. The further South we headed, the bumpier it got and at some points the water was splashing us on the top. The crew also stated handing out sick bags!

    Back on the mainland we headed back to Smugglers Cove where we showered and then went down for dinner with Valerie and Luig before our last sleep in Fiji.    Leia mais

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Auckland

    12 de julho de 2017, Nova Zelândia ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Our flight from Fiji to Auckland was just under 3 hours and we arrived in Auckland just before midday. It took a very long time to get through customs as New Zealand are very strict on what you can bring into the country. As we had been hiking in rural areas in the last 30 days we had to have our shoes inspected. They were both fine but I felt sorry for the lady as after 3 months of lots of hiking let's just say my trainers weren't as fresh as when we left the UK. After clearing customs we went in search of the Skybus to get us to our Airbnb for the next 3 nights in Mount Eden.

    We are staying with a couple called Paul and Matt in their apartment which is really nice. The downside of houses in New Zealand though is that they don't have central heating or double glazing. Auckland is also currently experiencing its coldest winter in years so it's pretty chilly! God help us when we get down south.

    We are yet to do any planning for this trip so the plan for the afternoon was to do some planning. It didn't go so well though so we set off to Countdown, a nearby supermarket to stock up on some bits. Paul and Matt are vegetarians so we are not allowed to cook meat in the house. We therefore opted for a quick and easy dinner of ricotta and spinach ravioli and a tomato sauce.

    Paul and Matt don't have central heating but they do have an electric blanket which is amazing! I am never going to be able to get out of this bed again.    Leia mais

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Day 2 - Auckland

    13 de julho de 2017, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    After a nice lie in from our long day of travelling we woke up to a table of goodies including toast and peanut butter, a little jar of yogurt with nuts/seeds on top and fresh coffee. It was very fancy!

    As we were staying practically half way up Mt Eden we thought that as it was dry we'd walk up to the top. The views from the top were awesome although it was super windy. I think any small child would have been blown away! After snapping up some 360 degree goodness we made our way down to Mt Eden village for a wander around the shops. It very much reminded us of North Street except the nik nak shops were full of new and exciting tat that we'd never seen before. It's a good job there is no space in our bags otherwise Blake would have been buying it all.

    We popped back to our Airbnb and good timing it was too as it started raining pretty bad. We decided it was best to make some sandwiches and headed to Auckland museum for the afternoon. Like our first week in Rio, the lovely bus driver honked his horn at us when we started walking in the wrong direction and directed us to the museum. When we got there we didn't realise how big it would be. Over the 3 story's there were various different sections including Maori culture, WWII, New Zealand flora and fauna as well as a special world wildlife photography exhibition. One of the finalists was from Bristol who had taken a picture of a fox in Bristol which was pretty cool. The Maori section was really good and we got to see some beautiful carvings as well as a huge canoe that could fit 100 people!

    After a few hours of walking we were exhausted and made our way back home via the supermarket where we got some bits for a veggie chilli.    Leia mais

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Day 3 - Auckland

    14 de julho de 2017, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    We found ourselves a free walking tour around the centre of Auckland so headed out to the meeting point after breakfast (another splendid spread from Paul). We even managed to wangle a free ride on the bus as we only had a $50 note and the driver didn't have any change. He didn't seem very happy about it but he let us on anyway.

    The tour was really good and enabled us to see the highlights of city centre. It reminded me a little bit of Bath and there are some really cool shops and coffee spots around. We also learnt a little bit about the Maori culture and stopped off at the Art gallery to see some amazing portraits of famous male and female Maori's, painted by Goldie.

    After the tour we met up with Valerie and Luig who were getting tattoos (crazy kids), before heading to a Belgian pub for some Belgian beers. The pub was called The Occidental and as we learnt on our tour, the second pub that opened in Auckland. It was opened as the lawyers and other important folk in the city didn't want to drink in the same place as the criminals and other low life's. They didn't however want to change the location so it is literally next door to the original pub. Very funny!    Leia mais

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Auckland - Whangarei

    15 de julho de 2017, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    We woke up to a cooked breakfast of hash browns, scrambled egg, beans on toast tomatoes, courtesy of Matt, which was a real treat! Paul didn't join us though, I think he may have had a little bit of a sore head from the wine he drank the night before.

    After breakfast, we set off to pick up the campervan. We decided to get an uber there as for an extra $5 it saved us an hour and five minutes travelling time and 3 buses. Once we had completed all of the relevant paperwork and the lady had shown us around the van we were on our way. It's a ford transit with a toilet, shower, fridge, microwave and a 2 hob gas stove. We were very excited to get going but had to go back to Mount Eden first to pick up our bags.

    After collecting our bags and saying farewell to Matt (still no sign of Paul) we set off in search of a Pak n Save. Pak n Save is the cheapest supermarket in New Zealand so the perfect place to stock up on supplies. We did however manage to spend $150 but it is the first shop so had to buy everything. Let's hope future shops will be considerably cheaper!

    With the van stocked, I made a quick sandwich for the road and we were off. The perks of driving your home around with you means that Simon can be easily fed at all times which will make for a more pleasant road trip!

    From Auckland we took route 1 up North with a little stop in Orewa for a cup of tea in the van and a stroll along the beach. By this point it was around 3:30pm so we decided to get a wiggle on to Whangarei as we are staying on a couples property and they were going out for dinner so asked us to arrive before 6pm. We made it there with 1 minute to spare and were greeted by Eric and his wife (I'm calling her that as I can't remember her name). It's a paid site but for only $15 it was a bargain and we even get power. As it was our first night in the camper we thought we should break ourselves in gently. Our first meal in the van was a chilli con carne courtesy of Mr Thatcher.    Leia mais

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Whangarei

    16 de julho de 2017, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    It was a chilly first night in the van so we didn't get the best nights sleep. We will need to be more prepared tonight with hot water bottles and blankets. Despite the cold we slept in till nearly 8am. For breakfast we had porridge and honey. We did have to warm up the honey before we could use it as it was solid due to the cold. Eric also popped in with some oranges which was very sweet.

    The Lonely Planet mentioned that there were some good walks around Whangarei as well as some free caves were you could see glow worms. We therefore set off to the tourist information centre to pick up some guides. The lovely lady gave us a variety of trail maps around the area as well as some information on the caves. She did say though that when there has been a lot of rain (and there has been a ridiculous amount of rain) that the caves are flooded and will be waist deep so prepared to get wet. Now I'm not afraid of a bit of water but waist deep seems a little excessive so we decided against seeing the glow worms! Instead we opted for the Hatea River Walk to Whangarei Falls.

    We parked up in the town centre and made ourselves a packed lunch before heading off. The walk took us along a short boardwalk through some mangroves and then into Parihaka Forest. It was a really beautiful walk through the forest alongside the river. We also passed through AH Reed Memorial Park which is a remnant of the original kauri forests. The kauri trees are absolutely enormous and some are 500 years old. You walk through the park on a canopy walkway to protect the kauri trees as many of them are getting sick. To help prevent the spread of bacteria which they pick up in their shallow roots, you also have to clean and spray your boots on entering and exiting any forest areas.

    After the forest we continued on along the river until we reached the waterfall which looked beautiful in the sunshine. The weather today has been amazing. The sun has shone all day and we were very comfortable in just a t shirt and jeans.

    After the falls we headed back to the van via the same route and popped on the kettle for a cup of tea. I love taking our home with us wherever we go as it means I can make a cup of tea whenever I like (and after 3 months in South America with no tea, it's a lot!)

    We decided to head back to stay at the same spot as we did last night. It's cheap for a powered site and the owners are lovely. We arrived back to Eric washing his boat after a day of fishing and he was keen to show us the snappers he had caught. Later on he even knocked on the van and invited us over for some brandy. I'm not really a brandy drinker but I had a small glass to be polite whilst Eric told us all about his fishing escapades. He is very sweet but boy can he talk, bless him. After we'd made our escape, we cooked up a campervan classic of bangers, beans and mash!    Leia mais

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Whangarei - Whangaruru

    17 de julho de 2017, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We bid our farewells to Eric and his wife and continued on our route up North. Not far from where we were staying was Tutukaka Harbour where Eric had mentioned there was a short walk that you could do to a lighthouse which was nice. You could only reach the lighthouse at low tide though but when we drove past, the signs looked good so we pulled up. It was another lovely sunny day and we strolled across the green grass and you could hear the birds. I am slightly concerned that Simon is becoming a twitcher as he has started taking hundreds of pictures of literally ever bird he sees! I have also recently learnt that when he was little he owned his very own pair of little binoculars and selection of bird books! To get to the lighthouse you have to walk across the causeway (hence the reason for low tide). If the tide was going out we would definitely be fine but if it was coming in then we would probably have gotten stuck and / or very wet. After much deliberation and then checking the tide times we decided not to risk it. I think that was the right decision as whilst we had been pondering whether to cross, the tide had already come up quite a bit.

    After our failed attempt to see the lighthouse we continued on our way up along the Tutukaka Coast to Matapouri and stopped by Whale Bay. Here there was a fairly short walk from Whale Bay to Matapouri Bay and back again which we did to build up an appetite for lunch. For lunch we cooked up some scrambled eggs on toast and ate them along with a cup of tea on a picnic bench overlooking the sea. Such an amazing view!

    Our stop for the evening was a place called The Farm, near Whangaruru which is a working dairy farm and sounded pretty cool. After lunch we made our way up there with a brief stop at a coffee shop for some delicious cake. The owners also had 2 enormous New Foundlands which were super cute! One even tried to get in our van when we were leaving and I would have quite happily stolen him but he was a little smelly!

    When we arrived at The Farm it was not as cool as we had originally hoped. As I mentioned, it is a working dairy farm so they employ a few woofers (volunteers who work on the farm in return for food and board) and the woofers were really weird! One chap was from New Zealand and when I bumped into him in the kitchen and he found out I was from the UK, he repeatedly made comments about how I had come over here to ruin his beautiful country. He then proceeded to tell me about all of these beautiful spots in the North island that we could visit but he wasn't going to tell me where they were as they didn't want tourists there! Needless to say after that, me and Si stayed in the van as much as we could and made very quick strategic visits to the bathroom so as to avoid speaking to anyone!    Leia mais

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  • Simon and BlakeSimon and BlakeAround the World

    Whangaruru - Karikari Peninsula

    18 de julho de 2017, Nova Zelândia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We woke up at the farm, had a quick shower and an even quicker breakfast before making a hasty getaway. On today's itinerary we had the Bay of Islands.

    We made our way towards Russell but it was only after getting there we realised Russell doesn't face the bay but rather all the boat trips around the islands leave from there. Unfortunately we missed the morning trips and were much too early for the afternoon so decided to pop a couple minutes up the road to do a walk to Tapeka Point, a perfect spot to look out on the islands. We parked up and made our way round to the start of the walk. It wasn't long before I slipped and realised I hadn't changed into my hiking shoes. Being too lazy to walk back to the van and sure the track wouldn't get much worse I decided to go on. BIG MISTAKE! I did make it there and back but not without almost covering myself in mud many times! The views from the top were incredible!

    Back in the van we headed to the car ferry which offered a nice shortcut on our drive to the next overnight spot. Once on the other side Blake remembered a stop mentioned in the Lonely Planet that was only a very short detour in Kawakawa. It was a famous toilet (I know I thought the same...) designed by an Austrian artist called Friedensreich Hundertwasser who's work can also be found in Vienna and Osaka. We pulled up and the place instantly didn't feel good. We were told that some areas can be a bit gangland eske up North and this felt very 'Sons of Anarchy' all of a sudden. Blake was polite and made use of the toilet, took a quick snap of the outside and we were on our way out again!

    The afternoon didn't get much more exciting after that as we visited a supermarket and a dump station to empty the van and refill the water tank. We then headed to Tokerau Beach, a free spot to sleep over night. We pulled into the camp just as the sun was setting and the views over the beach were awesome. We quickly parked up, put the kettle on and opened the sliding door for a cuppa with a view!    Leia mais

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