The Yasawa Flyer is a modern catamaran that takes young backpackers and honeymooners from Denarau Marina in Nadi out to various islands in the Yasawa chain with a first stop in South Sea Island in the Mamanuca chain. The catamaran always stops outside the reef area of the island and passengers are transferred onto small fishing boats. The luggage comes on a separate boat (which sometimes means luggage gets accidentally left on the catamaran). At each island, you are greeted by a team from the “resort” singing a traditional Fijian welcome song to you. You must respond with an energetic “bula!” or, the joke is, you don’t get lunch…
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Sunset from Wailoaloa beach.
Nadi, Fiji
Nadi, Fiji is the welcoming place for almost all tourists to the islands of Fiji. Pronounced, “Nandi”, you are immediately introduced to a hybrid world of “natives” (people with heritage from the Fijian Islands) and “Indo-Fijians” (people with heritage from India). The population is split evenly. An Indo-Fijian man is currently Prime Minister. In the 4th grade, students are split briefly to take basic classes in their ancestral languages but they are quickly reunited. The separation does not last long. The capital city is Suva. I did not make it there. I spent 9 days on the Yasawa Island chain, in the northwest and 3 days in the moutains east of Nadi during Cyclone Josie. I then spent a final 5 days on the Coral Coast. It was really important for me to see what people meant when they referred to “Nadi-town”…
Read MoreWellington
From the experience of taking the airport bus, to my arrival at my Airbnb, I felt very welcomed in Wellington. (Alliteration, see what I did there). I took a 6 hour bus ride from Taupo on the Intercity Gold coach with a big cushion seat. We made a few stops for food. I found the long ride incredibly relaxing. Not being in a rush or feeling time-constrained is such a privilege. I'm not taking any minute of this for granted. Wellington proved to be a remarkable final stop on my New Zealand journey…
Read MoreThe Tongariro Crossing
This isn't about hype. This is about fear. How steep is this thing going to be? Am I going to have to do some rock scrambling (being on all fours)? Will I be walking along edges of cliffs? How easily is it going to be for me to fall? I had heard from hostelmates that they saw 7 year olds do this thing. I had read from others that it was incredibly dangerous and rocks fall and can hit you on the head and then you have to be helicoptered to the hospital (credits to Party K from Tulum). The hike is 19 km. What I encountered was a challenging day where I felt like I was walking along the landscape of Mars, without needing a breathing apparatus. There were moments where I was scared and trembling a bit. Thankfully, it was not really as scary as I had envisioned and it required no actual rock climbing or scrambling...
Read MoreTauranga, Rotorua, Taupo
How lovely was it to meet Marie again in Tauranga after spending such a great time together in the Coromandel. We arrived in Tauranga to fantastic weather. The bus pulled right up to the i-Site. New Zealand really has their tourist game on point. All of the main bus stations, sauf Auckand, are at the tourist information center. These are called i-Sites. The hostel was across from a beautiful bay. I dropped my stuff off with Marie and went up to the second floor to check out the view. There were a bunch of gap year dudes just chilling doing nothing. It made me think that I am definitely in a more chilled out place, which is good, but that I am definitely not a gap year dude. However, if I were a gap year dude, this lake view is exactly where I would want to be. In Tauranga, New Zealand, you find a youth hostel directly across from stunning Waipu Bay.
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