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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
butchop
butchop
chris_j_knight78
chris_j_knight78



Waterslides

Rukuruku, Fiji


Neil having some down time

Chris on our balcony


Dragon fly

Karin's lizard

We had a nice chill day at Bobo’s today. I wasn’t feeling too great today having come down with another cold and feeling dizzy, so decided to relax for the day before our hike to Levoni tomorrow.


The pigs kissing!

Chris and Bobo on the farm tour


Nice tree

The bridge to get to the pigs

Chris and Neil went on the farm tour again as Neil didn’t go before and Chris liked it so much.


Neil and Chris

Our place at Bobo's


Coco

Chris and coco

They then went for a small hike up to a waterslide and a few swims before they came and got me for one last swim in the River.

It was then time to just have a nice early night after a few hours chatting in the evening with Karin and Bobo to store up any extra energy for tomorrow as it will definitely be needed!

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 10, 2012 from Rukuruku, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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Back to Bobo's!

Rukuruku, Fiji


Shops
We awoke reasonably early this morning so we could check out of our nice hotel and head downtown to do some internet work,

Local buses
booking flights etc. before getting tickets and heading back over to Ovalau.

Changing the tyre
We took the nice bus and Ferry as before and as we were going straight to Bobo’s, got off at the wharf rather than travelling to Levuka on the bus.

Check out their jack!
We were expecting Alvin to meet us, but when we walked off the Ferry all we could see was Bobo and his huge smile and waving arms. We exchanged hugs and boarded Alvin’s truck for the ride back to the farm.

Replacement tyre with a chunk out of the side
Neil was very happy with the ride as the views are amazing and he took several pics.

Our completely-bald flat tyre
We decided that we should take the rough track and River crossing to the farm, if only for Neil to experience arriving as we did on our first visit.

On the ferry to Ovalau
Luckily no-one fell over this time, although it did take Chris and I a lot longer than Bobo and Neil.

Road to Bobo's
When we arrived Karin and the dogs/cats were all waiting and we had some lovely refreshing mandarin juice.

Sunset
After a while of swapping stories of our travels we went up to the House,

On the way to Bobo's
to get settled in before our Kava welcoming ceremony and dinner. As ever Bobo was the perfect host and storyteller and Karin the amazing cook. Neil was very pleased with our choice, and we were pleased to be in our pacific “home”.

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 9, 2012 from Rukuruku, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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Just the 3 of us

Suva, Fiji

We moved hotels to the South Seas that was half the price of the Best

Chris
Western, if a bit basic, but still a really nice building

Traditional canoes to sail the Pacific
and the staff were super-friendly. We then went for a walk around Suva and I tried and failed to buy some new tops as all of mine are falling

Traffic
apart due to being stretched so much from hand washing. We had a very tasty lunch at the Pavilion by the sports ground, which was full of locals and not another tourist in sight serving local curries for cheap.

Chris and Neil
Then after lunch we had a good look around the Suva museum before walking into town again and finding some internet. Then, just like the old times, the 3 of us went to the cinema to watch ‘Pirates’ in 3D which was entertaining, before having a couple of drinks and grabbing a pizza before heading back.

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 8, 2012 from Suva, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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Returning to gorgeous Fiji!

Suva, Fiji

Woke up, packed, showered and checked out before spending the morning yet again chatting to fellow travellers and sorting a few things on a horribly slow internet connection. Then Peter came and picked us up along with a few others and drove us to the airport to go on a small plane to Suva, Fiji’s capitol.

We opted to go to Suva instead of Nadi as it is closer to get on a Ferry to Ovalau where we visited before and where Neil also can’t wait to go and also because it is nice to check out somewhere we haven’t really visited before.

Once in Suva we shared a taxi to a hotel with Curly and Vo (some travellers we met also staying at Toni’s and on the same flight with us) which was a Best Western. To be honest it sucked as it was expensive, had a pool that was under maintenance thus empty, faulty air-con that we only realised too late and a fan that sounded like a helicopter landing, but as it was only one night it didn’t matter I suppose. Then down into the city for a couple of drinks followed by an Indian.

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 7, 2012 from Suva, Fiji
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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Changed flights

Nuku'alofa, Tonga

With Neil still recovering from the jet-lag we had a
relaxed day again today not particularly doing a lot, but Chris and I being King and Queen of relaxation it didn’t worry us and we happily wasted away the day chatting with other guests staying at Toni’s, so although not a lot occurred we still had a great day. Oh, but we did decided to change our plans a little; instead of spending a week here, after listening to our travel tales about Fiji, Neil liked the sound about spending a bit more than 3 days there, so we changed our flights and we leave tomorrow!

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 6, 2012 from Nuku'alofa, Tonga
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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NEIL'S HERE

Nuku'alofa, Tonga

Peter, Toni’s driver had said to us we could sneak into the minibus that was driving to the airport to collect Neil and by sneak we mean not pay the transfer fee so we woke up early, showered and got ready to get a phone call from Peter to say that Toni would be driving to the airport instead. Bugger.
So we walked down to try and sweet-talk Toni into letting us come with him and to try and blag it for free. He of course was having none of it; we either pay full price or don’t go, so after some negotiating Chris managed to secure himself a seat for ½ price but there was no room for me in case he collected some more guests. So I turned back around and walked back, with the intention of going back to bed but instead stayed up and chatted to Carol, the mother superior of the nurses for a few hours before the boys turned up. It was of course fantastic to see Neil again and we were all excited to be spending 3 and a bit weeks with each other, Neil soon forgot about his jet-lag having flown for 2 days straight we all unloaded our bags in a different room and went straight to town to help keep him busy and awake. Then, after coffee and a bite to eat we headed back after a couple of hours and spent the rest of the day relaxing.

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 5, 2012 from Nuku'alofa, Tonga
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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Back to Tongatapu

Nuku'alofa, Tonga

Lee picked us up at midday today and took us to Isi’s House where we ate our last lunch in Vava’u which was a tasty fish curry shared with Isi’s family. After spending 22 hours up at the House it was a sad goodbye with Ofa and Moni, Isi’s parents who were even crying as we left. We’ll miss this place.
We then went and collected Martha and Lelei-Leka (Isi’s wife and son) from their village and Martha had made us some pretty flower necklaces as a leaving present, before driving to the airport and saying some more sad goodbyes. Unfortunately yet again we were not to fly on the DC-3 and back on the same plane we flew on before so Chris was disappointed, but at least it was on time and not delayed or cancelled. Peter, who works for Toni was waiting for us at the airport and drove us back to Toni’s via the supermarket for some basic supplies, before getting settled in and chatting to some of the other guests who we would be staying with, 11 Canadians who were training to be nurses and as they had made so much food they kindly shared some with us. It was then for an early night to be bright and fresh for Neil’s arrival tomorrow morning.

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 4, 2012 from Nuku'alofa, Tonga
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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Spit-roast suckling pig

Three Little Birds, Tonga

Our last day in paradise was spent relaxing, with Chris having a bit of a fish and a very long snorkel.

In the evening was our leaving dinner and we were having spit roast babe – the only problem was that babe was alive when he arrived, so Chris took on the manly job of dispatching him under guidance from Isi.

Chris then decided to teach the Tongan’s about black pudding and made a batch with the blood, liver, kidneys and testicles. All wrapped up in a leaf and cooked in the Umu. Surprisingly not many of them wanted to try it, but Isi did, and I did and it was actually very tasty. The pig was delicious as were all the veg we had with it. We washed it down with some beers, sitting out under the beautiful night sky.




permalink written by  chrischarly on May 3, 2012 from Three Little Birds, Tonga
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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Chris finally manged to catch some fish

Three Little Birds, Tonga

Isi’s parents came down this morning, one to see us and another to see how the guesthouse is coming along. So Chris and I kept Isi’s mother (Ofa) entertained by going out and collecting mussels and other shells and some yucky-looking things to eat.
We were out for ages and ages and we did actually get quite good at spotting the mussels and shells inbetween the corals dodging the sea urchins and sea snakes. But after a while I caught up with Ofa and saw that she had cut her feet as all around her the water was red and as I couldn’t communicate very well with her,
I ran back and made Isi take her out my reef shoes to wear so she wouldn’t hurt them anymore, which she finally appreciated once her stubbornness wore off.
I then went back to the beach and sat with Moni (Isi’s father) and we tried a few times, sometimes successful to have a conversation, but he was just happy with me sitting next to him.
God I love Isi’s parents, they are so adorable.
Once Chris and Ofa had had enough of the shell collecting Chris was taught by Vincini, one of the staff how to go fishing with a net.
His first few attempts were simply hilarious to us all, but after a while he finally got the hang of it, and after catching just one tiny fish,
on his next throw managed to catch 5 which we all ate raw straight out of the water (after displaying them in a basket for photo purposes) and Chris of course was so happy. We then cooked some tasty food on the beach before relaxing for a while and then to the family home yet again for dinner and then out to Aquarium for a couple of drinks before bed.

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 2, 2012 from Three Little Birds, Tonga
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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A nice chill day

Three Little Birds, Tonga

Had a nice lazy morning, I read my book whilst Chris worked on Lee’s website offline. Chris went for an unsuccessful fish again and then borrowed one of the staff’s kayak to play about in for a couple of hours. Then went to see the family again in the evening to be informed that they had really missed us last night, which was lovely to hear.

Over the past few days I have somehow managed to teach Isi’s Mum and nephew (with a lot of patience as they don’t speak and English and myself only basic Tongan) how to play a dice game with me which has proved immensely popular and it was nice to sit on the floor and play with them for ages, which has become another nice routine here.

permalink written by  chrischarly on May 1, 2012 from Three Little Birds, Tonga
from the travel blog: Chris and Charly's Pacific Island Pit-Stop
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