New Zealand North Island Adventure 17th to 26th Jan

New Zealand, land of the Kiwi Bird.

After two 11 hour flights, a short three hour flight to Auckland seemed like a commute to work. It has to be said that Fiji departure lounge leaves something to be desired, but to be fair they are renovating it. Of course once checked-in and through to ‘air side’, which has recently been refurbished, one is greeted with the usual myriad of duty free shopping, but not a lot else, apart from a coffee shop and a Burger King, which came as a bit of a surprise. The flight over was not too bad, a choice of meal, and some stunning scenery to boot meant that the three hours passed quickly. However, we had been warned that New Zealand Customs and Immigration are very strict about what you bring into their country, and you should declare everything, including the Tesco Finest Tea Bags (even though they were still sealed). So I duly completed our landing forms. I ticked all the relevant boxes and hoped that they would not ask me to show them the souvenir ‘tree bark table cover’ I had bought up in the Fijian islands. This was now packed  securely in the bottom of my case, and, at this point in time, once the case is open, it will not close again without a large elephant sitting on it!

Having gone through a very modern system to enter New Zealand, we collected our cases and headed to Customs. The very nice man at the desk asked me to explain all the ticks I had entered on our forms, but only seemed concerned if we had any fresh fruit. He must have asked at least three times. A few days later, we were told of a friend who mistakenly left an apple in the outside of their rucksack (having thrown all other fruit and veg away before entering the country), was fined $200NZ (£100) for entering NZ with an apple… Having confirmed we had no such fruit on our whereabouts, the very nice man let us into his country.

Now, as previously stated, we were to be met by sailing friends – Steve and Jenny from Lila (previously Tashinga), who sail with us in Greece. They are South Africans visiting their daughter and family who live in Auckland, which is all rather convenient for us. Hoping that Steve would have made a big sign…’welcome The Perrett Brits’, we were in fact met by Steve, who is not a short man it has to be said, waving his arms frantically from within the midst of the waiting crowd…got to love him.

We last saw Steve and Jenny (some of you will remember who read my blog regularly) when we sailed around the Peleponese last summer. Steve and Jenny have kindly offered to collect us, take us to our hotel, collect us again tomorrow, take us to our motor home collection depot, and finally take us back to their daughter’s house, who has kindly offered to let us stay on their drive tonight, and then drive us to the supermarket to provision. I have to say without all this help I think it would have taken us days to get organised. As it turned out we had a lovely couple of days with them before our motor home adventure truly began. We cannot thank them enough for their hospitality.

Way back, when we first began to organise this trip, one of the main deciding factors was to have a motor home that sleeps four, so that you do not have to keep making up a bed every night. So, night one, we make up the bed over the cabin. It is a very cosy space, it’s just unfortunate that you have to climb down a bunk bed type ladder to get down. Those of you who know me of old, will know how accident prone I am, and to this end, we felt this may be a ladder too far. It was also a bit un-nerving when the wind blew, and the whole motor home shook! However, with the provisioning done, unpacking done, everything in its place and a place for everything, we say our farewells and start to head north on the North Island, Bay of Islands here we come. A drive through Auckland and out onto Highway 1 sets us in the right direction. Having taken advice from the locals, we stop at Waipu for the night, a camp site right on the Pacific Ocean. This is our first experience of camping, albeit in a motor home, and we’re not really sure what we’re looking for in a camp site yet. However, this one wasn’t it. It is still school holidays here in NZ and this site was designed for those with many children to entertain, and we were truly surrounded by tents full of children, and yoof! It’s a great site if you want to spend all day at the beach, which I have to say was stunning (Camber Sands with massive Pacific rollers), but if you were after a peaceful spot to watch the sun set with a cold G&T, this was not it.

Moving on the next day, our hosts had suggested we visit Russell, a quaint little town just at the edge of the Bay of Islands, and having now downloaded ‘Campermate Ap’ I duly began to investigate our options. I had head Steve and Jenny talk about Top 10 sites, but had not realised they were talking about a company renowned for the quality of their camping and motor home sites. “There’s one in Russell” I tell my driver… I’ve not yet attempted to have a go at driving our ‘Van’ (since renamed as ‘Vin by Van’ now that we have loaded it with wine!)…I read the reviews, which all have ‘smiley faces’ and enter the co-ordinates into both our on-board TomTom and our Tablets, never knowingly wanting to get lost! The trip will take approximately 3.5 hours. I have phoned ahead (at the advice of everyone…it’s Christmas school, holidays, the sites get booked up…) and they have a spot.

The journey is not too arduous, the roads are excellent, and the scenery amazing. Rolling, undulating green fields, not unlike to Kent but with more cows! Our route seems to tell me that we need to go on some sort of ferry to get to Russell, or we will have to go on a road that our ‘on board tourist advisor’ tells us is unsuitable for motor homes, or other such vehicles. Our on board tourist advisor in a clever bit of kit that plugs into the radio and happily sits there, saying nothing, until something of tourist interest is nearby. It is linked to a GPS, so it knows where you are, and when something of importance is coming up, it cleverly turns off the radio and starts telling you all about the upcoming feature. Now this is all well and good, until the Tom Tom is trying to tell you some important directions, which at exactly the same time disagree with Google Maps on the Tablet. We have since turned off our very useful tourist information gizmo.

I digress.

The ferry turns out to be a five minute roll on roll off car ferry, that happily charges £10 each way to get to Russell. However, once on the other side of the waterway, you are greeted with a very pretty, laid back, quintessentially English village. It holds the revered position of having the oldest hotel/bar in the whole of New Zealand, the Duke of Marlborough, among other things. Our guide informs us that “At the turn of the 19th century, Russell, then known as Kororareka, served as a shore station for whalers. It became a lawless town, earning the title of “Hell-hole of the Pacific”. It was renamed Russell in 1844 in honour of the British colonial secretary of the day. (Eyewitness Travel Guide to New Zealand).

We arrive at our Top 10 site and are pleasantly surprised by the very friendly and helpful staff, who invite us to take a ‘deluxe’ spot for just an additional £4 per night. At first we decline, but are then told of the benefits that will behold us if we decide to upgrade. At this point I informed David that I was worth an additional £4 per night. As it turns out, it meant we had a beautiful spot above the rest of the camp site and other ‘vans’ and ‘families’, and were above, but not too far away from the ‘facilities’ and had our own power and grey water drainage. We were hooked. In addition, we signed up for a Top 10 Discount Card, that to date, has not only paid for itself, but has saved us heaps everywhere we go. The very nice staff also helped us decide on which of the boat trips around the Bay of Islands we should go on the following day.

That evening, having ventured into town in the afternoon, and got soaked as it decided to rain just as we had got half way to town (and yes, we had forgotten our umbrella and weatherproof coats!), we headed for the pub we had found that seemed to have a reasonable menu (well it had chicken wings and ribs!). We had enquired during the day if they had entertainment, as we had seen a small stage with a guitar set up. Unfortunately, we were told that “live music was only on a Sunday” and this was Tuesday. So it was a great surprise that we found a guy playing his guitar as we went in. However, we were the only people in there, and he was finishing in 30 minutes to catch a ferry back to the mainland…timing, as always was never our strong point.

One of the problems we are going to have on this trip is that we do not have time to do everything we want to do, let alone everything that everyone has told us we ‘must’ do. We are going to have to be selective in our route and our days out. We always knew that three weeks would be no-where near enough time in NZ. So I apologise now if you are one of the many people who have given us advice on things to do, and we have not managed to do them…it’s an excuse to come back.

The following day we headed back into town to catch our half day boat trip around the Bay of Islands and up as far as the Cape Brett Peninsula and to the famous ‘Hole in the Rock’ on Motukokako Island, with a guarantee of spotting dolphins on the way (voucher for another trip if no dolphins spotted). Maori legends tell of warriors paddling through the Hole in the Rock before departing for battle, drops from the cave above were a good omen. Personally, it seems a long way to go before a battle; they must have been exhausted before they started! Now, as sailors, we were prepared for what the Pacific Ocean may hold, and having checked the marine forecast, knew that we had a reasonable breeze and a 1.5-2m Pacific swell. 

After a brief liaison with a group of four dolphins (from a distance, no repeat voucher for us), we headed further out to towards the ‘Hole in the Rock, and the open Pacific Ocean. The Captain, (the most courteous professional skipper we have ever come across, having not only made a detour to go behind a sailboat under sail, he also slowed down so as not to cause any wake for him…). Sorry, the Captain steered the boat expertly across the oncoming swell, however, it made for even more fun watching those who had chosen to sit right at the front of the catamaran as the boat bounced over the swells. Only one person was sick! 

The scenery as you can imagine was stunning, and nature showed off some of her best features in giving us a lesson on orographic clouds and weather conditions. The return journey was of course less exciting as we now had the swell following behind us, but the scenery was still as dramatic as we watched the Pacific waves finally crash onto rocks on the shore as we returned to the safety of Russell’s harbour. 

The view of the harbour yesterday had been grey and rain soaked, and ruined by a sizeable cruise ship sitting at anchor in the deeper water. Upon our return, the sun was shining and the view of the harbour was delightful. All in all, a good time had at Russell and the Bay of Islands. Where next?

After another night stop with Steve and Jenny in Auckland (thanks again), we decided to head to Rotorua, thermal boiling pot and Maori centre of New Zealand. Again, we booked ahead into the nearest Top 10 campsite and set off on our way, another three hour journey. By now, we have booked our ferry over to the South Island, and the previous night’s accommodation, so we only have two days available to us, one to get to Rotorua, and one to explore, before a six hour drive to Wellington on Monday.

Having arrived at our destination, we spend time deciding which of the various Maori ‘experiences’ we should go for. They are all much of a muchness, and we have great difficulty in making our choice. The main attraction I/we want to see is the Pohutu geyser. Pohutu, meaning big splash in Maori, is a very reliable geyser, erupting nearly every 20 minutes, but definitely once an hour, and is the highest in the Southern hemisphere, reaching 30m at times. It sits between two Maori experiences… we decide to go to the Living Maori Village at “Te Whakarewarewatanga O Te Ope Taua A Wahiao”, or its shortened name, Whakareware, or even shorter Whaka. Translated it means ‘The Gathering Place of the Army of Wahiao’. Three centuries earlier a Warrior Chief named Wahiao gathered an army to avenge the killing of his father and the people adopted the full name for the village.

There are many interesting features to this village, where Maori people have lived since the middle of the 18^th century, and our guide explains them all expertly to us as we walk around the steaming, phosphorous smelling village.  We walk past the ‘Steam Box Hangi’, an ancient  form of steam oven, whereby villagers each morning, will place their evening meal, in any form of container, and leave it for the whole day to cook. No oils or fats are necessary, and no burning ever occurs, just perfectly steam cooked food. 

Next, we move onto the ‘Murderous Ripples’, the largest hot pool in the village, which ‘erupts’ around every 45 minutes. The water starts to pulsate and rise, after which the water level drops and bubbles rise, giving in to the name ‘the champagne pool’. The pool is used for cooking vegetables and corn (which one can buy, if one chooses to). 

Moving on through the village we come to the ‘Baths’, which are exactly that, baths that the villagers use, even today. Each morning, the elders first, come down to the baths, and communally bathe. This happens twice a day, outside of any tourists visiting, obviously. Shampoos, soaps and conditions are used, and the oily substance on the water, from the minerals naturally found in the water are known to cure such ails as lumbago, arthritis and rheumatism…David of course is sceptical of such things. However, the next two features are more meaningful to him…

The Butterfly, which is a pool affected by the weather and atmospheric pressure. When the water level drops, the villagers know the weather is going to change, not dissimilar to a barometer. Next, we meet the ‘Grumpy Old Man’. This is the most volatile spring, gushing super heated water to the surface, and you can actually see water exploding out from the ground, and has a constant temperature of 120+ degees Celcius. 

Having spent some time watching the geysers perform their upwardly mobile explosion of water and steam, we are then treated to a Maori performance including the infamous Haka (the war song), the Waiata a Ringa (action songs) and Poi dancing. All very impressive, if not with a few scary faces during the Haka. 

All in all, a very informative, interesting and impressive day. To end the day, we take a soak in one of the two thermal pools on our camp site…and guess what…David believes the pool actually helped his sore ankle. Those Maoris know a thing or two about hot thermal pools!

The following day brings us a six hour drive, along the remainder of Highway 1 (we have now travelled Highway 1 from north to south on the North island), as we drive through spectacular scenery of mountains, ancient volcanoes, forests, hills and valleys before reaching our final destination on the North Island, Wellington. Unfortunately, we have no time to spend in the country’s capital city, and after a long day’s drive, are only happy there is a restaurant on site, which can save us having to cook on board. 

Our ferry leaves at 9am, and we must be at the port at 7:30am, ready to embark on the 3.5 hour crossing over the Cook Straits and onto the South Island, where even more adventures await us. Here’s hoping for fair winds and calm seas.

Fiji 11th-17th January - Blue Lagoon Cruise

So here we are on day one of our cruise aboard the Fiji Princess. Not an enormous ship, a maximum of 68 guests on three decks, and we were told that there are 29 guests on board for this five day, four night  cruise around the islands in the Fiji Group.

Having consumed probably more champagne than we should have (it was complimentary after all), we were transported to The Fiji Princess via high speed catamaran and rendezvoused in a pretty, albeit a very rolly bay in The Sacred Islands, we were transferred to the Fiji Princess by tender boat and the crew directed us straight to the dining saloon where lunch was waiting for us.

There are already other guests on board on either a three day or week cruise, and they are ashore enjoying the delights of the Sacred Islands. After lunch, the usual safety briefing is given, and a glimpse of what the next few days ahead will entail and then off to our cabins. A quick change and freshen up before the tender boats whisk us off to the beach and to the first of many snorkelling expeditions.

After an afternoon of swimming and sun bathing, we are back on board, showered and changed for happy hour on the rear deck Saloon Bar, as the captain heeds our own thoughts and picks up the anchor to go to a less rolly anchorage. Unfortunately, by this time an early evening rain shower has started and the view of the islands is obscured in a grey misty haze hiding what we are sure is a stunning view. 

Soon after our second happy hour drink, Johnny, (the main man on this voyage) invites us to the dining saloon for the Captain's Dinner. We sit with a very nice New Zealand couple, Carolyn and Brian, and also have the pleasure of First Officer Sai and the Entertainment Manager (Johnny) joining us. We have been on board for approximately six hours and most of the staff have not only introduced themselves, but have memorised our names and room number. After a long day, we are back in our cabin by 10pm and asleep by 10:10pm.

The following day's itinerary has been left in our cabin and Johnny tries to explain to the guests as to what is about to happen. The Fiji Princess is going to ‘take a line ashore’. For those who don’t carry out this practice on a regular basis in Greece, let me elaborate. This normally entails lining the boat up, stern to the shore, and then a crew member drops the anchor (that would be my job). Immediately after the other crew member (that would be David), dives in and swims ashore to find a suitable rock or tree to tie the

first stern line to, he then swims back to get the other and repeat the process while I am tightening the first line. In the case of the Fiji Princess, they have a permanent buoy (huge), onto which one crew member is dropped off on a tender. Another crew member retrieves the huge bow lines and brings it back to the buoy. Meanwhile another crew member drops yet another crew member on the beach with an even bigger stern line, which he in turn ties this round the base of a palm tree. 













Meanwhile, back on board, two more crew members pull in the stern lines while the captain gives commands on his radio for more a less slack.

After watching all this hard work, we are expected to spend the day on the beach doing "activities". These include coconut husking and basket weaving demonstrations or a snorkelling trip. Although, I would have enjoyed watching these demonstrations, it’s snorkelling for us. Back at the beach, we are treated to an air display, or two, from the sea planes that fly around dropping off and collecting tourists from the myriad of islands that surround us. David thinks he's died and gone to heaven!

After lunch on the beach, we somehow missed the volleyball game and the burying of the Lovo dinner.


Lovo is a traditional method of cooking food under the ground. They start by digging a hole, in which a small fire is started, to which rocks are added.




Into this are placed traditional coconut palm leave woven baskets, filled with meat and vegetables, which are placed on top of the hot stones. This is then covered with more palm fronds and then with sand and left to cook for over six hours.

The uncovering of the Lovo is watched by all who will attend the feast. The sand is dug away, the scorched palm fronds discarded and the baskets lifted out of the ground into serving trays, to be served to all who attend the dinner. It was delicious.

After dinner, we watched "Meke" entertainment from the local village of Matacawalevu. Traditional dance and beautiful songs, followed by the usual "craft market" offering all manner of "local" goods from the village ladies. Unfortunately, I do not believe very much was made by the hands of these ladies, but we walked by their stalls and looked interested all the same. It may be that we have now been to so many "so called village craft markets" and seen exactly the same goods on offer, that we no longer believe their hype, even in this far off land…which incidentally is only 3 hours flight from NZ or Aus (a bit like us going to Spain where we stopped buying big sombreros a long ago... )

On Wednesday (UK time), our morning alarm call to breakfast is announced over the ship's tannoy, and we slowly gather ourselves together and head to the dinning room. We decline the hike over to Lo's Tea House, and instead take in the beautiful surroundings and the novelty of being on a boat without having to worry about the anchor dragging, who's going to anchor next to us or what the weather forecast is predicting...NMP...as David has become fond of saying...not my problem.

Lunch is served on board as the captain steers us expertly through the islands and reefs to our next destination Sawa-i-Lau and a trip to the caves hidden behind the rising limestone that forms this island. Up a few steps and entrance appears, down some steps and your only option is to jump in the cool semi rainwater pool, or go back. In the humidity and heat, the choice is simple and like lemmings, we all follow each other into the refreshing water. The temperature causes a small intake of breath, as compared to the bathwater temperature of the Pacific, this cave pool is decidedly chilly...but nothing compared to any UK water! On our return to the beach, the staff have set up a table for afternoon tea, fresh fruit juice and homemade cookies, before we return too the ship to refresh and get ready for afternoon and evening entertainment.

We anchor off the beach of Tamusua Village, and once ashore the village Chief greets us. He gives us an overview of his village, and how we would like us to behave in the confines of his village. Most importantly, all hats and headgear must be removed, as the head, and especially the top of your head is sacred and nothing must go above or on it. Secondly, no-one must show their shoulders or legs above the ankle, including men, and trousers or shorts are not permitted, everyone must wear a sarong. But  thanks to David Beckham, it is almost an accepted option for the men to tie their sarongs in an attempt to look as cool as he did in one...

The Chief explains that the population of the village fluctuates between 80 and 100, as once the children finish primary school they are then sent boarding school on the mainland. At the end of this Christmas holiday, twenty children will be leaving Tamusua. In this increasingly small world in which we live, it was hard for the Chief to say how many will return. 

There are no jobs on these remote islands, and life is hard, whereas, on the mainland tourism provides a new way of life for many of the children that leave. Although the village is remote, most of the houses are stone built, some of which were provided by the cruise ship company, for allowing them to bring us tourists to visit every week. The rest are funded, two thirds by the government, one third by the villagers. The money for which they get by selling craft goods to passing tourists (yes you've guessed it, another craft market) or from money sent back by family and children who have moved away and work on the mainland. The village has electricity provided by a generator, but is only allowed to be on at night time. Except when there is a rugby match on, then the Chief will make an exception. The houses have plumbing and toilet facilities and their waste goes into sceptic tanks which then biodegraded into the ground. The social structure of the village is determined by the village green. Every village event happens on the green, and as such, the further away your house is from the green, the higher your social standing. The Chief can choose who he wants to live around him, so if your "in" with "the big guy" you could well get a better house position! (reminds me of politicians the world over).

We are told about the Kava Ceremony that we are about to attend and for this we must choose our own Chief from our party. Murray, a larger than life, New Zealander, clearly the eldest if our group is chosen, and this a good thing, as being Chief means you get the largest bowl of kava and must drink it down in one go. When we approach the village hall, we must request entry by chanting Dula Dula Dula in unison, and as long as the village elders reply "oooooooooo Dula" we will be permitted entry. After being accepted, we all remove your shoes and take our places on the cushions on the floor provided, facing the elders. The ceremony begins with prayers (they are Methodists) and then singing and clapping as Chief Murray is presented with his bowl of kava. The elder claps three times, Murray must reply with a single clap and swallow the liquid in one. After this, the rest of us are invited to take kava. Each recipient must be presented with a fresh bowl, clapped three times to which we must respond with a single clap, but we are at least allowed to take our time. This can be construed as either a good or a bad thing...the best way to describe kava is that it looks like they dirtiest dish water, and tastes like I image the dirtiest dish water would taste like, with the added benefit that it numbs your lips, mouth and tongue! A chilled glass of Chablis it is not. 

After the ceremony we are allowed to wander freely around the green and see what the ladies have on offer at the craft market. This time there were a few things that looked authentic among the imports, so we indulged and bought a hand printed bit of tree bark!

To end the time at the village we are treated to a traditional Fijian feast, eaten sitting on the floor with no cutlery. This would not normally be a problem apart from the fish curry, the spinach sag aloo and a number of other semi soft options. But we did not let this put us off and we entered into the spirit of the occasion, even when we were asked to get up to do a conga line around the hall to "work off our dinner". Like all good tourists, we obliged, but I'm going to take a good look at Facebook to see if I can see photos of us on there... #gullabletourists. Of course, to end the proceedings a "basket" was handed round for donations to help support the future of the village, which considering there had been no charge for this excursion or dinner, we all obliged happily. Back on board one of the evening’s entertainment options was to watch a young Brook Shields in the film Blue Lagoon as it had apparently been filmed in these islands, (the Yasawas Islands) along with Tom Hanks' Castaway. We declined this cinematic delight and instead had cocktails on the Sky Deck.

The following morning we chose to stay on board and finally have a morning doing nothing. After lunch, a marine biologist gave a talk on the coral reefs, the marine life and the conservation work being carried out in the islands. After which David went off on his first dive of the trip and I headed to the spa for a massage and then up on the Sky Deck to write this blog and sit in the cool breeze watching The Pacific pass by. 

Later that evening, after cocktails on the Sky deck, we were delighted by the BBQ the chef had prepared, again high up on the Sky Deck for our last night on board. In addition, it was one of the guests 40th birthday as well as the Captain’s birthday. Many renditions of Happy Birthday, and many slices of cake later, the crew set up the kava bowl for anyone who wanted to indulge in this tongue numbing experience again...many did... I still prefer my white wine. Rachel, our birthday girl got the dancing going and it was all a bit downhill from there on in (as you all know, it takes a lot for me to get up and dance, but for once I just went with the flow..... ).

Today was our last morning on board as we packed our bags, had one last breakfast and said our farewells to our new found friends of both guests and staff. I can honestly say this has been one of the best experiences/holiday excursions we have had for a very long time. The staff and crew on the Blue Lagoon Fiji Princess were so attentive, warm and friendly it really was difficult to say goodbye without a tear in your eye. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
www.bluelagooncruises.com

Our last two days are spent back at the First Landing Resort. After another faultless transfer (all transfers have been provided by a company called Rosie, which is a local company, established 50 years ago by a half Fijian, half Chinese lady. She is 84 and still signs the cheques we are told), we are directed to our room which has a beautiful view over the open ocean and to the islands in the distance. Unfortunately, rain threatens to spoil the hotels planned BBQ, and we finish the evening watching ‘Meke’ once again, inside the confines of the restaurant. Our final day is spent lazing (oh and doing a bit of hand washing!!!), around the pool and on our veranda. 

Our final evening at First Landings is completed by a spectacular display of Polynesian Dancing (my can those girls wiggle their bottoms), and climaxed by the Fire Dance out on the beach. Stunning.

And so, as our week in Fiji draws to a close, we fly off to New Zealand today, I believe I can say that we have discovered one of the world's most wonderful places.

We're not sure what the next three weeks will hold as we set off on our camper-van adventure through the north and south islands of New Zealand...at least we’re being met by sailing friends at the airport…could be a late night!

Take care and stay in touch

Michele and Dave

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean

LA to Fiji (6th to 10th Jan, including a lost day)

So, as you can imagine this year's blog will be a little different to normal, for a start we are not on board Alhambra, but we will be on board a number of other vessels. Some will have wings, some will have wheels, some mono-hull's, some multi hulled, but all will be in places we've never been to before.

Our trip started early on Wednesday 6th January with a 10am flight from Heathrow to Los Angeles and was just over 11 hours long, although we arrived only 3 hours later, local time (1pm ). After nearly two hours to clear through US customs and immigration we finally arrived at Santa Monica, having picked up a hire car and drove to our hotel, which was only one block away (American speak) from the infamous pier.

It was however chucking it down with rain, so we didn't do much other than catch up on some sleep and go out for dinner that evening.

The following morning, the sun shone brightly through our window and we were out early to explore the area. The pier, Muscle Beach, the Pacific Ocean, the homeless men on the park benches (who were surprisingly cleaning their teeth!) Later we strolled around the very expensive shopping mall and then down Third Promenade Street, less expensive but with same high street shops we have in the UK. That evening we ate on the pier and were advised by our "bar tender" that best place to see the Hollywood sign was from the Griffith Observatory...he was right. Our next flight was not due til 21:30, and we had the car til 4pm, so we headed for the Hollywood hills.

  

The drive along Santa Monica Boulevard took about an hour and a half, along a typical US 4 lane highway. Having turned off this highway to another road we passed, on our left, the street that is on the Eagle's Hotel California album cover...its still looks the same. We zipped by Rodeo Drive (not stopping to shop) and up a winding road, through forested parks before spotting both the Griffith Observatory and the infamous Hollywood sign.

Unbeknown to us, the original reason for the erection of the sign was as an advertising board for the new housing development, down below in the hills back in the 1920s. However, the sign was never taken down and is now the symbol for the movie town we all know. Back in the 1970s, the last four letters broke off, but were saved when Alice Cooper and Hugh Heffner came to the rescue and helped raise funds to restore the infamous sign.

However, once at the Griffith Observatory the view over Los

Angeles was quite breath-taking, as its various skylines interrupted the vast, sprawling west coast of the USA. Every few minutes a helicopter or plane flitted passed the soaring towers of the skyscrapers on scenic sightseeing tours.

The Observatory, as well as having lots to see inside and out, also houses a bust of James Dean, due to the fact that Rebel Without a Cause was the first motion picture to film some scenes at the Observatory.

It is self free to enter and explore and has an interesting array of exhibits to pique your interest in the celestial stars above rather than the mortal ones that adorn Sunset Strip and the Hollywood Walk of Fame...I know which

ones I'm more interested in!

We headed back to LAX with slight intrepidation, not only as to whether or not we were actually booked in the next leg of our trip (due to the type of Round the World ticket we have, we cannot check in on line) , but also of the dubious reports we had read about Fiji Airways. We needn't have worried. Although the selection of movies was nowhere near as extensive as Virgin, the wine and food flowed more frequently on this 11 hour overnight flight. This was required as somewhere along the way, not only did we go south of the equator, we also lost a day as we flew over the international date line. So having left LA on Friday 8th January, flew for only 11 hours, we arrived in Fiji at 5am Sunday 10th January. So we were 8 hours behind the UK in LA, we are now 13 hours ahead of the UK and I'm not even sure what day it is any more...

Arrival into Fiji was reminiscent of various other non-first world airports we have visited in the past - warm, friendly, efficient, quick, and amazingly welcoming. Greeted by live Fijian guitarists we quickly passed through custom checks before getting our luggage and were very soon on our way our hotel, The First Landing Resort, named because it is right next to the First Landing village, where, you've guessed it, its where the first indigenous people landed on Fiji.

As a complete surprise the hotel is also next door to a marina, so after a morning by the pool waiting for our room, we took a stroll down to check it out, only to find they have live music to listen to and we found an Englishman who sails out of the marina to talk to. An almost perfect Sunday afternoon. We didn't stay up too late that night, as we are being picked up for our transfer to the Fiji Princess, our cruising home for the next five days.

So far it feels like we've been away weeks and travelled half way round the world, where in fact we've not yet been away a week, but have in fact travelled half way round the world!

Let's see what the next few days bring.

stay safe and stay in touch

Michele and Dave

Not on board Alhambra, somewhere in Fiji