My trip began under some stress. An email the day before the trip stated that my flight may be affected due to severe weather.
On the day of the flight, there was a flash news announcement that all American Airlines flights had been cancelled. After an hour, that move was retracted. I went to the airport an hour earlier than planned to ensure I got on a flight to Dallas. My flight from Dallas to Nadi in Fiji was less worrisome.
I got a flight on a chaotic day. But the worst part was my checked baggage didn’t make it. My Apple AirTag showed me where my bag was in Dallas airport after landing in Fiji.
It was all rain and thunderstorms in Fiji after I landed. My planned tour for the day was cancelled. So I shopped for a few clothes in the little hotel store. I was still hopeful that my bag would arrive when I reached New Zealand in 3 days.
The tropical country of Fiji - reminded me of my home state of Kerala in India
After an uneventful day in Fiji, my flight to Samoa was the next day. It was over an hour long, and the hotel transfer had been pre-booked by me. The driver was from California, the first of a few Americans I would meet. I had expected more Aussies and Kiwis, but there were a lot of Americans in Samoa.
After a pretty good poolside drink and dinner, I got some sleep.
The next day would be crazy!
My tour started at 9 am in the morning, and we picked up a few other travellers for our tour. Gugi is from California, Chris is from Germany, and Nish is from India but lives in Germany. Our guides were a couple- a Samoan Australian (Janette) and a Samoan American (Shawn).
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| Espresso martini! |
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| View from Piula Cave Pool |
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Papapapaitai Falls
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Amazing colours
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| Falefa Falls |
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| Spicy tuna bowl from Samoa |
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| Creative cocktail in Hotel Tanoa |
Our stops were at the Methodist Church cave pool., a freshwater cave pool that was pretty crowded due to school holidays. Then we went to lunch by a white-sand beach. The restaurant owner gave me a free beer when she had no change!
There were a couple of beautiful waterfalls - Papapapaitai and Sapoaga. Another highlight was the Bahai temple, which had jurisdiction over the South Pacific. There is a beautiful Lotus Temple in India built by the Bahais, an offshoot of Islam.
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| Bahai Temple in Samoa |
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Sopoaga Falls
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| Next island, different time zone |
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More colourful water!
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The tour guides left me at the local bazaar to find some clothes. There were sarongs and other unappealing teams but luckily there was a supermarket with clothes so I bought some from there.
My flight was delayed by 3 hours when I got to the airport! The airline gave us a free dinner voucher so that was something. I wouldn’t get that in North America! After a long wait, we boarded and flew to Auckland New Zealand. The cab ride to the hotel was a ridiculous 100 NZ$. Luckily it is a lot cheaper in American dollars. The cab driver was Indian So were the two hotel staff members who checked me in. I hadn’t seen too many original Kiwis till then! I finally got to sleep at 5 am.
I had to wake up at 9 am the next morning and catch my Hobbiton tour. Our guide was an amicable older gentleman who drove calmly. We stopped at a Kiwi coffee chain called Robert Harris, where I got a flat white coffee after a long time. The drive was over 2.5 hours, a lot longer than I expected.
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| First Hobbit house |
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| Hobbiton site bus |
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| Chesemaker Hobbit's products |
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| Hobbit house doorway |
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| Inlet corridor |
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| Hobbit Food closet |
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Hobbit Honey products
 | Sky Tower - the tallest structure
in New Zealand
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Hobbit Dining table
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| Final Hobbit house - tourists cafe |
Hobbiton was fairly well organized. After buying a LOTR shirt, I got onto the tour bus run by the movie folks. We got down at the movie set and our young guide Kevin took us for a walk. The one thing that impressed me was the availability of free umbrellas. On a sunny hot day, they were very useful!
Apparently, half the people in NZ love LOTR and the other half hate it! The guide Kevin told us how his uncle acted in one of the movies and came to his school to pick him up in the full Orc costume. Poor Kevin who was in 5th grade was terrified :)
The main house in Hobbiton is beautifully set up. It looks very livable for short people.
That evening I went to meet Joy, a close friend from Vancouver. We then went to the Viaduct, which is by the ocean and has trendy restaurants. I met Joy’s brother Chris and members of his family. Another Kiwi friend who I knew in Vancouver, Lisa, was also there. Fun times!
The next day we met up with Chris and went to the War Memorial museum. There was a Haka Māori performance which was a bit underwhelming for the Kiwis, who watch more exciting ones during rugby games. It was good enough for me though. We then went for a drive around Auckland. And then a quick stop in the shopping mall and then we went to the airport.
Check-in was super-fast. Apparently, NZ is very relaxed about airport security. Our flight to Wellington was uneventful and short. An hour after reading my hotel, we headed for dinner to meet Jo’s sister Caryl and her best friend from college, Jen. Caryl brought me a little black sheep stuffed animal. Man years ago, when Caryl called Joy for Christmas in Canada, I told her that I knew the NZ national anthem - Baa baa black sheep….She responded and said it was white sheep now, not black sheep!
The next day was our Wellington city tour. It was cold, windy and raining. We went to the lookout point, the city emblem, and then took a cable car to the botanical gardens. Since I had winter wear, which was stuck with my luggage, I was freezing. The guide gave me his spare raincoat, which was very generous.
After the city tour, we went clothes and suitcase shopping. Apparently NZ stores are closed on January 1st and 2nd, which seems a bit indulgent to me. I was pretty quick to buy a few items. I then headed back to my hotel to catch a nap before NYE.
The plan was to go for a few drinks before heading to the fireworks. There was a wee bit of rain like the Scots would say. We went to a speakeasy which had love cocktails. After killing a couple for hours there, we headed to the fireworks location. I got a couple of hugs from complete strangers! NZ is a very affectionate place - most people meeting me for the first time gave me a hug!
The 1st day of the year was started by a visit to the famous Te Papa museum. It had a wonderful reenactment of the Battle of Gallipoli where thousands of Aussie and Kiwi troops were killed in WW1. Real-life letters from the soldiers and families were featured. The museum also had an excellent description of Māori boats, living spaces, etc.
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| Wellington sign |
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| Trendy building |
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| New Year's - third country in the world to start the year! |
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| Maori boat |
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| Maori art |
Traditionally, Māori lived in family-based kāinga (villages) or pā. They slept in rectangular wharepuni (sleeping houses), which were made of timber, rushes, tree ferns and bark, with a thatched roof and earth floors.
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Wharepuni
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Maori boat
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| Steve dropping me in his Bentley |
After the museum visit, Joy's brother Steve invited us for canapes and champagne cocktails. We ended up watching back-to-back Star Trek movies - a fantastic way to start the year!
The next day Steve very generously dropped me to the airport in his lovely custom-made Bentley limousine!
My flight to Brisbane was upgraded to business class, and they had reclining seats. The food was pretty good, and the alcohol kept flowing! My friend Kat came to pick me up from the airport and took me to the top of Mount Coot Tha, which had an iconic view of Brisbane. We then headed downtown after collecting a few ciders as roadies” - drinks one has in public while hiding from the law! Downtown Brisbane was very pretty at night, especially by the Brisbane River.
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| Brisbane downtown by the river |
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Petting a Koala - apparently not a bear! Petting a koala
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| Jennifer and her kids |
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Kangaroo napping after
being fed by tourists!
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The next day my friend Jennifer, who I hadn’t seen for 24-plus years, came with her kids to take me to the Lone Pine Park. It is a zoo where one can pet koala bears and feed kangaroos. I admit, I was a bit nervous feeding the kangaroos because I was told they can be aggressive. Apparently in the park, they are quite docile, like pet dogs. There were other birds, snakes and animals native to Australia.
Feeding a kangaroo!
That afternoon Kat and I went to downtown Brisbane again and walked through the man-made pools, parks, etc. It looked festive, including performers on stilts. Our dinner was at a French-inspired restaurant, where the starter was kangaroo tartare. Kat evilly pointed out that it could be the Roo I petted that morning!
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| An Aussie Sour between two sangrias |
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| Happy friends! |
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| Between B & R in the Brisbane sign |
The next day was a bit quiet. In the evening we went for dinner in a Spanish restaurant, where I got to try Pavalova, an Aussie ( or Kiwi) dessert named after a Russian ballerina (who was very light, Like the dessert).
The next day I flew to Vanuatu, which had suffered from a devastating earthquake two weeks prior. The roads were rough, but the resort (Coco Beach)was nice and in front of the beach. After upgrading my room, to get the very necessary air conditioning, I went into the ocean. The beach was a bit rocky, but the cool water helped with the hot weather.
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| Dinner by the beach |
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| View from my hotel chalet |
Dinner was chicken curry in coconut milk, in an Indian or Thai style. A few local cold beers helped.
The next day I was picked up for my tour of Port Vila, the capital city. Our first stop was the Blue Lagoon, where we could jump into the natural pool from a board that was 9 feet high. We could also swing from a rope and jump into the lagoon. I did both, which I had done in Jamaica. I was still a bit nervous jumping from the board.
Our next stop was the Avi (turtle in the local language) Bay. They raised baby turtles in a little pond, then transferred full-size turtles into an enclosed part of the beach. We swam with the adult turtles, and could touch them!
After a BBQ lunch, we headed to Rorru waterfalls. Due to the rains, it was a bit muddy. But my Scottish fellow tourists decided to plunge in. The Aussies followed and I figured that I should join them! The water was very cold, but fresh and it was fun!
That night I headed to the neighbouring Paradise Cove resort, which has a lovely restaurant with local food. The views of the ocean were particularly beautiful.
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| Turtles in Avi Bay |
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| Rorru Falls |
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| Vanuatu island |
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Swimming upstream of
Rorru Falls
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Geraaanimooooooo!
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| Iguana |
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Ocean view from Paradise Cove Restaurant
- no photo enhancements! |
The next day my booked taxi cancelled on me - my hotel manager called to find out. He then arranged a friend of his to drop me to the airport for a price. Despite arriving only 1 hour before my flight, it was enough time to check in, go through security and do some souvenir shopping! I bumped into my Scottish fellow tourists from the day before. Literally a small world in these Pacific islands!
The flight to the Solomon Islands on Solomon Air was quite comfortable. The air steward kept refilling my wine glass - a welcome change from North American Airlines!
It was pretty muggy when I landed. After reaching my (King Solomon) hotel, I went for a walk but had to come back soon. The hotel had a funky funicular instead of a lift. The first time I had to jump over because the little gate didn’t open. Afterwards, it worked fine.
Dinner was a tandoori chicken pizza from a wood-fired oven. Some local beers helped. I was tired and went to sleep pretty early.
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| Catholic Church |
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Belt made by using
red feathered birds |
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View from the Parliament
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| View from my King Solomon hotel room |
Funicular in the hotel!
The next day was my Honiara city tour. We started with the Memorial Park, where the gravestones of the war dead are placed individually under each tree. then we went to a Catholic Church with a nice ocean view. The next stop was in the Parliament. On the way, my guide pointed out that most shops were owned by the Chinese. The main road was built by the Japanese.
The next stop was the seaport flagpole. That was followed by a visit to the local bazaar. We then went to the local artists' gallery. We then went to the local museum. Finally, the guide dropped me off to the Indian-owned hotel next to mine, where there was an Indian restaurant. It had an air-conditioned restaurant which was a luxury!
The rest of the day was relaxed. I watched a lot of Aussie TV which was entertaining, especially with their accent!
My flight to Fiji was delayed 3 hours! The South Pacific isn't high for punctuality! I got to my hotel in Fiji close to midnight at the Fiji Gateway hotel. It is right across the airport and one can walk there in 5 minutes! I also got to collect my long lost suitcase, 15 days after it got misplaced!
The next morning my tour to Malamala Beach Resort started at 7:30 am. A bus picked us up and took us to the ferry at Deniara. The Ferry boat was for a few hundred people and a half an hour ride. As soon as we landed, people headed to the beach, bar, pool, cabanas, etc.
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| Malamala Beach Resort |
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| Lovely water |
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| Pool in Malamala by the ocean |
I went snorkelling after a long time. I used a vacuum-sealed cover for my iPhone which allowed me to film underwater. Boys and their toys!
That night I had a lovely Fijian meal and a few local rums.
The next day was my last one of the holidays. In the morning, my tour company came to pick me up. The driver was an Indo-Fijian lady who took me to the Sri Subramanian Swamy temple. We had to wear a lungi (sarong) if we had shorts on. A Chinese Australian family were there too. I explained some of the Hindu mythology to them.
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| At a Fijian Hindu temple |
Our next stop was the first inhabited village in Fiji. In the village, the hereditary chief had the largest house, by tradition. The guide told us that the indigenous Fijians came from Africa, and showed us the spot where they landed.
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The location where the first Fijians landed
by canoe |
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| Traditional Fijian home |
The last stop was the mud pool experience. This involved taking volcanic mud and smearing it all over me. Then I had to stand in the sun and let the mud dry. Which stretched out my skin quite a bit. Finally, we had to go into three pools, which had a warm, hot and very hot temperature.
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| After the mud dried out. |
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| Volcanic mud on me |
I went back to the hotel and paid for an extra half a day, so that I could nap and shower before my long flight home. After eating meat pies (famous in nearby New Zealand), I took a good nap. And then the long flight home began.
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