Anne and Stephen's Island Adventure- January 16, 2004 On Monday we were taken by boat out to Waya Island. We'd booked three nights at the Octopus Resort there (click to see web site). We'd have liked more, but it was expensive! We had a garden bure (a bure is a traditional Fijian building, made of sticks and things). The resort is quite small, but they have lots of activities and some good facilities. We did hardly anything there. We went tohttp://kent-taylor.blogspot.com/2004/01/anne-and-stephens-island-adventure.html To Lautoka- January 16, 2004 On Saturday it was back on with our packs, and onto a bus to Lautoka (on the West coast, just north of Nadi). It was a long long bus journey - five hours! The novelty of the local bus rides soon wore off and we got very bored. We were please to arrive in Lautoka and check into the hotel we'd booked. We had a nice room (if all a bit seventies in decor), and best of all it hadhttp://kent-taylor.blogspot.com/2004/01/to-lautoka.html Books Etc.- January 10, 2004 We've had lots of time to read in Fiji - it's very relaxing and we're making the most of it, as we'll soon be home and looking for jobs (see countdown on left - thanks to our man in Archway for that). I've recently read: Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - like the first book, a lightweight but hilarious book. I hope the film turns out good, though am sick of reading abouthttp://kent-taylor.blogspot.com/2004/01/books-etc.html Stinky towel- January 10, 2004 Stephen's towel is disintergrating under the pressure. After a year away, followed by a week of sun, sea, sand, showering and sitting in a soggy heap, it stinks! Today, we arrived a Lautoka to find a bathtub in our room (in the bathroom, the bedroom had beds in it). So I put the towel in the bath, with hot water and Persil and got in with in. Imagine me crushing grapes as though to makehttp://kent-taylor.blogspot.com/2004/01/stinky-towel.html Suva adventures- January 10, 2004 We were back on the local buses on Wednesday morning to travel from the Coral Coast (and Stephen's paradise on Earth) to Suva, the capital of Fiji. The bus into the city took a couple of hours and then we caught a local bus out to Colo-i-Suva, where we were staying. Raintree Lodge was very nice. However, it boasted in it's literature that there were no mosquitoes. This was proved to be untruehttp://kent-taylor.blogspot.com/2004/01/suva-adventures.html Heaven on Earth- January 8, 2004 We did a silly thing on Monday morning. We were so intent on sending stuff home, to lighten our load, that we went down the post office with tunnel vision. The choice was to send the stuff surface mail or air mail. The first option would have taken 4-5 months, so we chose the second. It cost us $111. When we left the post office we realised that it'd probably have been cheaper to throw thehttp://kent-taylor.blogspot.com/2004/01/heaven-on-earth.html And now, the learning- January 7, 2004 The internet services here in Fiji are a bit rubbish, so I'm having trouble here. I will, however, valliantly attempt to educate you all abot the place. We were too tight to splash out on a guide book, so travelled in ignorance for the first few days. We've now found some info though, so no longer have to make up facts about the place to amuse each other. Population - well, that was aroundhttp://kent-taylor.blogspot.com/2004/01/and-now-learning.html Bula Fiji- January 4, 2004 After a good Turkish meal out on Friday night, we were up early on Saturday morning and hopped into a taxi to the airport. We were ridiculously laden with bags, since we couldn't post stuff home in Auckland due to National Holiday issues. Grrr! We treated ourselves to a cooked breakfast at the airport. Unlike in British airports, Kiwi airports's main aim isn't to rip you off, so a cookedhttp://kent-taylor.blogspot.com/2004/01/bula-fiji.html Goodbye 2003- January 2, 2004 The new year scares us a bit. 2003 was very much our year off. Now it's 2004 we're thinking more and more about what happens now. As I've said, we intend to continue to rent out our flat in Ealing, and have decided to try to live in Cambridge. This means starting all over again, in rented accommodation for six months or so, and each of us has to find a job. A whole new adventure! At leasthttp://kent-taylor.blogspot.com/2004/01/goodbye-2003.html The Return of the King review- January 2, 2004 We saw The Return of the King at the Megascreen cinema in Auckland. I think it's an Imax screen, though a lot of the screen wasn't used (different ratio, you see). It was very big though, and another bonus was we got to see a good trailer for Spiderman 2 before the film. I enjoyed the long, third LOTR film. A common complaint is that it goes on a bit after the climaxes, but I think that'shttp://kent-taylor.blogspot.com/2004/01/return-of-king-review.html |