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chrischarly

700 Blog Entries
6 Trips
5148 Photos

Trips:

Chris and Charly Down Under
Chris and Charly's Passage through SE Asia
Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
Chris and Charly's mini trip to The States
Chris and Charly's African Adventure
Chris and Charly's Indian Odyssey

Shorthand link:

http://blogabond.com/chrischarly



Buddy List

Jason Kester
Jason Kester
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Visiting a local school and drinking with the chief!

Rukuruku, Fiji

Today we planned to chill in the morning and go for a village tour in the afternoon.
We had a good walk around the village and then had an amazing tour of the school, which has to have the best view from any school in the world.
The kids seemed so happy to see us and sung us some nice songs with very strong voices. After this Bobo took us for a hike up a hill to see the nice views and sit under a huge mango tree.
On a Normal day it would have been fine, but it was so hot it was a killer. On our return to the village we saw some local men sitting by the school enjoying a bowl of Kava, after mowing the lawn around the village.
We were invited to join them and we soon realised that they were drinking full strength grog, it was great fun and Chris was even got the privilege to sit next to the village chief!
We staggered back home, which was quite difficult after lots of kava and grabbed a quick shower before Chris and I headed to have dinner leaving Andy and Abbe to their 2-minute-noodles.
We had a delicious dinner of freshwater prawns, cassava cakes and local spinach cooked in coconut milk – Chris was very happy!
After this we joined the party on the deck which was a joint leaving doo, mainly for Andy and Abbe but also covering us too. Lots more Kava and some local music and dancing – it was great fun, but we were so knackered that soon had to call it a night.

permalink written by  chrischarly on April 10, 2012 from Rukuruku, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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Snorkelling and fishing trip. Awesome.

Rukuruku, Fiji

Woke up this morning and Bobo had hired his friend’s boat to take us out for the day snorkelling and fishing. Although it was heavy rain when we awoke, as soon as we were ready it was fantastic weather for the whole day, so we were very lucky. To get to the boat we walked for about 15 minutes to the beach through a local village greeted by loads of friendly smiles and happy faces.
The boat took us out for about 20 minutes before we all jumped in to cool off in the Fijian waters. We snorkelled for about an hour seeing some beautiful fish and corals before swimming up to the sand bar and climbing back in the boat.
We then continued on to another spot a lot deeper to throw in a couple of hand lines to try and catch some dinner. Chris was just like a fish himself and continued to snorkel and both him and Bobo saw a few sharks.
The hand-lines didn’t prove very successful, well Andy managed to catch 2 fish, and I even caught one, but I was so excited and was busy showing everyone dangling it over the water, and the fish, cleverer than myself just jumped straight off the line and back into the water. Very stupid mistake.
Bobo and his friends who were also on the boat had a lot better luck swimming and spearing fish which thankfully meant that we had 4 smallish fish for our late lunch. After a few hours out at sea we came back at around 3pm all pretty knackered and had a nice cool of in the river before showering and gladly returning back to our balcony.
Chris and Andy managed to find some energy from somewhere and soon disappeared again with the snorkels to attempt and fail to find some freshwater prawns whilst Abbe and I stayed behind, read books for a while and soon fell fast asleep for a couple of hours.
The boys returned as I woke back up having hiked in mud and wading through the river and under the bridge through a pipe for hours. We then ate some quick dinner before meeting up again with Bobo at the main house to drink a load of cava and chatted for hours before finally retiring to bed for a much-needed sleep.

permalink written by  chrischarly on April 9, 2012 from Rukuruku, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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A great big slice of paradise

Ovalau, Fiji

We awoke slightly delicate today, and had breakfast before packing up ready to move on to Bobo’s farm. They were planning to pick us up mid-afternoon, but in fact called around 11 and said they were early. We were picked up by Bobo’s dRiver and driven over the very picturesque coastal road with some photo stops on the way.
When we got there we were dropped at the side of the road and lots of locals came out to help us with our bags. Andy and Chris being men, decided to take their own, while Abbe and I took a few small things.
We were led down a track that was pretty slippery and muddy and Andy went to ground first, followed by Abbe and then Chris who at one point was seen doing the can-can on the slope before getting his balance back. How I never fell over I will never know especially considering my previous clumsy records.
When we got to the bottom of the slope we got to a River, WITHOUT a bridge, where we then had to wade through and up the other side before finally getting to Bobo’s. Bobo and Karen arrived 30 mins after us, and came from another direction with no slopes or mud, which they thought very amusing!
Which to be fair, was. We got to our lovely guesthouse in the middle of beautiful Forest and gardens. Very basic here, with no power or fridge but some basic cooking facilities, but amazingly peaceful and I’m sure we are going to have an amazing time. In the evening we went for dinner and had some local scrummy roots and ferns from the farm, with some tasty Chicken. We then had our welcoming ceremony and all drank kava (which tasted a hell of a lot better than in Levuka as it is fresh) and enjoyed chatting with Bobo and his friends.

permalink written by  chrischarly on April 8, 2012 from Ovalau, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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Too much testosterone for 1 club

Levuka, Fiji

Waved goodbye to Julian this morning as he had to get back to the main Island for his flight out and the
rest of us went for a stroll around town and went to the internet café while Chris searched for somewhere to get some clothes repaired.
It was again baking, but we decided to explore around Levuka regardless. We strolled up the steps towards the mountains seeing many inviting swimming holes to jump into and saw locals doing just that.
It was a really nice walk, but due to the heat we didn’t last long before retiring back to the hotel for some chill time. Chris and Andy went for a snorkel to cool off
and then in the early evening we headed to check out the Ovalau club, sort of like an old English gentlemen’s club that time forgot.
We then headed to a new restaurant that Chris had found during his wanderings earlier in the day, they sold huge pizzas, so we decided that a pizza night was in order.
Adjoined to the restaurant was the only ‘club’ in Ovalau, which was more like a school disco filled with lots of blokes… only blokes actually. All very friendly,
some a little too much at the sight of two white girls. We got the party started, and consumed a little too much beer and some very dodgy Bounty rum that Chris thought was a good idea. We staggered home at some point and took our sorry selves to bed.

permalink written by  chrischarly on April 7, 2012 from Levuka, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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Good Friday Celebrations

Levuka, Fiji

Chris woke me at 9am this morning as Leila the owner of Mary’s Lodge said we were welcome to go up and visit the church here in Levuka to join in with the Good Friday celebrations especially as many of the local children were doing performances.
So we woke Abbe, Andy and Julian and then ate some tasty brekkie before taking a walk to the church. The children were really sweet and tried really hard and although re-inacting some pretty gruesome historic events in Fiji involving one about cannibalism and another about Jesus before and during his crucifixion, it was light-hearted and entertaining.
The Priest and other adults in the church were really happy that we came down to join in with the celebrations and kindly translated everything into English for us after first spoken in Fijian, but this also meant that the service went on for 2 hours and we were boiling in there.
The Priest also gave us some further information on Fiji history and the relationship the country has with England, which seems to be a close friendly one. But it was also sad as he spoke of how the Fijians felt very sorry and prayed for the Australians during the recent bush fires and yet news of the
flooding that happened just last week hasn’t even reached news in other countries regardless of the lives that were lost, implying that Fiji isn’t important enough to hit the headlines. At midday we came back, Chris and Andy raced to the shops to buy some fishing line before they closed at 1pm and after untangling the line for over an hour and eating some lunch we walked down to the wharf.
The sun was yet again out in full force and was almost suffocating it was that hot (not that I am complaining of course). A couple of locals also fishing at the end kindly gave the boys some super-smelly fish eggs to us for bait as the bread they brought with them was simply laughed at.
Andy was the first to catch a fish closely followed by an almost identical one by Chris and although they were both small, they saved them both to use as back-up bait once the fish eggs ran out.
An hour or so later Chris felt a hard tug on the line and excitedly reeled in and we were amazed to see a big octopus hanging on! It was amazing! A local guy with his two children had just walked past and we exchanged some friendly ‘Bulas!’ (a bit like ‘Hello’)
with them and we called them back to show them his catch and too check if the octopus was good to eat and not poisonous. But just as they arrived the octopus let go of the line and crawled back into the water, too fast for me to get a quick photo. We were all very upset, especially when it was explained to us that the octopus is “good eating”.
Never mind. I then walked back to ‘Mary’s Lodge’ having had enough sun for the day and left the boys behind to continue fishing and a couple of hours later they returned with a big fish (can’t remember the name of it though) which we took down to ‘Kim’s restaurant’ later to get fried up and accompany our dinner. It was delicious!

permalink written by  chrischarly on April 6, 2012 from Levuka, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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An awesomely sunny day

Levuka, Fiji

What a gorgeous day! I couldn’t believe it when we awoke to fantastically beautiful blue skies, a calm sea and more importantly no rain. Perfect day to enjoy Fiji and Levuka at its best. Think some relaxing and Sunshine was in order so after eating breakfast we wandered to the shops for a crate of beer before the 5 of us booked a taxi to take us a few kilometres down the road to a resort with a swimming pool which they let us use for $1 each. Such a hot day and it is so great to finally enjoy it in a pool as the resort we stayed in in Nadi, although had a pool, was permanently closed due to the flooding as the water was fowl. We stayed there for about 3 hours, before returning, showering and going out for some dinner at the same place as last night where we once again drank lots of Kava between us for $5,

which was about 5 litres still trying to ignore the taste of muddy water.


permalink written by  chrischarly on April 5, 2012 from Levuka, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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We are now in 'The Real Fiji'

Suva, Fiji

Woke up at 6 and banged on Andy and Abbe’s door to wake them up, before showering, packing and then making our way to the restaurant for breakfast, which was a rubbish choice of toast (which I no longer eat) or black tea as they had run out of milk, orange juice, eggs, and fruit.
Luckily Abbe had a tin of baked beans to liven up the choice a bit. She also had some sausages but we couldn’t eat them either as it takes them over an hour to cook anything. But never mind, we are leaving and finally getting out of this place! Got a lift to the bus stop driving through Nadi town for the first time since we’ve been here as the road is now open.
At the bus stop we got familiar information to what we have previously heard in places such as Asia, “No bus [to] Suva. I take you in [my] car” just as the bus to Suva was just coming around the corner.
Hmmm. Need to remember that we are no longer in the ‘Western World’ so to speak… The mess and destruction that the floods have caused was shocking; too devastating to take photos of. So many homes and businesses destroyed and insurance isn’t something very heard of here, so many people have to start again from scratch, it was pretty heart-breaking.
Even the road between Nadi and Suva was in a mess including a bridge that collapsed in half, which meant we all had to get off the bus and walk across catching another at the other end. The bus ride though was pretty comfortable and we happily all enjoyed the scenery along the way.
When we arrived in Suva we had 1 ½ hours to wait before another bus picked us up and drove us to the ferry, so just enough time to eat some quick lunch and find a public toilet before a friendly guy walked us to the bus stop which we would’ve struggled to find without his help.
It was then about an hour’s drive until we reached the point to catch the ferry, again driving through some cute picturesque villages and then the bus drove straight onto the ferry, so we all got off and climbed to the top to watch Vitu Levu (the main island which we’ve been on) slowly disappear and Ovalau appear.
The ferries have only just started operating again since the floods but the sea was still too rough to drop us off at the main jetty so the ferry drove around and dropped us off the other side, in Levuka town, the first capital of Fiji, (originally chosen as it had a natural harbour due to the reef, and being the centre point of all the Fiji Islands) which actually did us a huge favour as where we wanted to stay, ‘Mary’s Lodge’ was just a short walk away, so really easy. ‘Mary’s Lodge’ is a homestay and although basic, Leila the owner is so lovely and funny we were glad we chose to stay here.
By the time we settled in, had showers and relaxed a little we were all getting hungry again, so Leila recommended a place to go for dinner, ‘Kim’s’ about a 5 minute walk away and this is where we discovered and tasted our first drink of ‘Kava’, a local drink served in a bowl and shared between a group. Can’t say I particularly liked it that much. Reminds me a bit of mud pies I used to eat as a kid in the garden at home, but the social aspect of it is really nice. It’s not alcohol or a drug but you do get a buzz from it and it sure makes you sleep like a baby later!

permalink written by  chrischarly on April 4, 2012 from Suva, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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We are safe

Nadi, Fiji

Just a quick blog entry to keep everyone updated...
The price to use this computer is on the verge of criminal, so won't talk for long or have time to write any more blogs...
After the recent floods and cyclone last night things are starting to get back to Normal and the sun is even shining!
All power has been out for days including phone lines and internet.
Hopefully will be back online in the next couple of days and will be somewhere else than in Nadi when the ferrys, flights and roads are back open.
Chris and Charly

permalink written by  chrischarly on April 3, 2012 from Nadi, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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Planning our escape

Nadi, Fiji

We thankfully awoke to no cyclone destruction, which to be fair we were all pretty terrified about, so planned our escape - Last day in Nadi today! Am so excited. Cannot wait to go exploring a bit more! The weather is slowly improving and the ferries have now started to operate again. We had done some research on the Island before arriving in Fiji and the main place we fell in love with is Ovalau an Island not too far away and apparently gorgeous and not touristy. It is also where Fiji kind of began and is the centre of the country, full of history.
We had also found the most awesome place to stay, ‘Bobo’s Farm’ but they are unfortunately fully booked for Easter weekend but we are hoping to get in just after, so we plan to just get straight to the Island and sort it out from there. Abbe, Andy and Julian are also planning to join us in our escape from Nadi, so it will be a nice place to hang-out for a couple of days. Didn’t really do anything exciting today.
Went to find some internet as the internet and power at our place was still not working and had some late lunch at a little local/tourist shack, but that is about it really. I also got a phone-call from Mum this afternoon. She is only aware of what has happened here from we have told her and by looking up the weather on the internet. I’m so amazed it isn’t plastered all over the news back home as most things tend to be and highly exaggerated, but apparently nothing has even been mentioned and as this has been Fiji’s biggest natural disaster to have happened on record, so this completely baffles me. Chris rustled together some tinned mutton, curry powder and rice, which was actually quite delicious, and Andy said it was his best meal in Fiji, very worrying!

permalink written by  chrischarly on April 3, 2012 from Nadi, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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To the shops to stock up before the cyclone hits...

Nadi, Fiji

In the night we got a text about a cyclone warning due to hit Fiji in the next 24-36 hours, so we decided to take a stroll into the local shops with Andy, Abbe and Julian, to get some supplies. After getting to the main supermarket and finding it closed, we continued on under direction from Julian who said it wasn’t far to the next one. It was actually a couple of k’s, which would normally be fine, but it was boiling hot and extremely humid. We fought our way around the supermarket as it seemed everyone was panic buying and got some tinned meat, rice and curry mix. We caught a taxi back and stopped to pick up some beers along the way. We had all bought food, but when evening came, we all decided that a visit to the curry House was in order. The 5 of us walked down and had a yummy curry before the heavens opened so yet another taxi home, and got into bed to await the approaching cyclone.

permalink written by  chrischarly on April 2, 2012 from Nadi, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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