Adventures in Fiji on the Tui Tai

Destination: Nadi, Savu savu, and Taveuni, Fiji

Days Spent: 7

Best of: The humanitarianism involved with the Tui Tai visiting different islands around Fiji to provide help and support to those in need

Worst of: Not enough sunshine (of course I still managed to get burned!)

Most Memorable: The welcoming dance from the polynesian tribe from the island of Kioa

Our trip around the world started from Perth and headed first to Auckland, New Zealand for a 7 hour layover, and then on to Nadi, Fiji. Auckland was breathtaking and we climbed the Harbour Bridge Climb in the lapse between our next flight. It was amazing to see the Harbour and have a 360 degree view of the city.

Next, we countinued our journey to Nadi to spend the night before our early 7 am flight to Savu Savu, Fiji where the group from Tui Tai would pick us up to begin our adventure cruise.

 

Day 1: Fly into Savu Savu airport and picked up by Tui Tai host Liga to take us to the boat. We had a welcome drink and met the others on board and then a delicious lunch before we headed out for our first dive at Natewa Bay at Vanua Levu.

Day 2: We set out to ride mountain bikes from the village settlement of Tabiang to a beautiful view of the Tunuloa Peninsula at the mouth of Natewa Bay. We also saw one of the most beautiful waterfalls where some of the local children were jumping off into the pool below. The afternoon was a snorkeling trip right off of the beach.

Day 3: Time for more diving! We dove the beautiful Rainbow Reef and saw colorful fish, blue-spotted rays and swam thru tunnels to see more creatures hiding between the rocks. Below is a picture of a blue eel, which we have never seen on any other dive before. In the afternoon, we visited the Polynesian inhabited island of Kioa to the Somosomo Village. Hugo, the Dutch doctor on board, provided services and medicine to some of the ill in the village and the Kioans performed a traditional song and dance for us.

Day 4: We woke up and spent most of the day near the stunning island of Cobia, a sunken volcanic crater, the inside of which has filled with sea water, forming a mystic lagoon. In the morning we hiked to the summit of the crater. The trail had an interesting terrain of natural steps formed by large tree roots. The island was home to a handful of wild goats and a dense population of fruit bats. Along the way, we came across Fijian children gathering fruit and plants to bring back to the family for dinner.

Day 5: After breakfast, we set off to the waterfalls a short 10-minute walk along a nice trail. There was a huge pool for swimming, which made it an ideal place to relax right in front of the pounding waterfalls! In the afternoon, we sailed to the island of Qamea. We visited a tiny and remote Togo Village for a tour and Melanesian cultural performance. Dinner was made the traditional Fijian method by an underground oven created by the chefs.

The last morning we woke up and had breakfast then got ready to fly out of Taveuni. The crew of Tui Tai sang the farewell Fijian song "Isa Lei" and wished us safe and happy travels as we left.

Our trip was wonderful overall and definitely relaxing. The islands of Fiji are beautiful and the people so welcoming and friendly. Now on to our next destination, the USA!!!

Trip to Lancelin

Kaes and I decided to take the dogs in the jeep and drive up the Coral Coast 1.5 hours to Lancelin. Lancelin is a small fishing village, but known to have some good beaches, beautiful water, and good places for off roading. The dogs love going to the beach and Jaek especially loves to chase the birds, whether in the water or in the air. It was a really scenic drive and a great way to spend our Saturday. Here are a few pictures below of our trip.

The white sandy beaches and beautiful water of Lancelin


Jaek about to head out for a swim


Jaek trotting along - I think he is almost "starting" to get tired

Chloe testing out the water - mmm, not so much...

Litte Chloe chasing after a bird...she has been taking lessons from her big brother, and is now quite the little hunter :)

PowerStation Triathlon and Duathlon

Last Wednesday Kim decided to sign us up for 2 upcoming triathlons/duathlons before we take our home leave in early December. The first one was last weekend (Saturday Nov 14th, 2009) and the next one is Sunday, Nov 29th. Kim did the duathlon which was 2 km run / 15 km bike / 2 km run which she finished in 1 hr 1 min. I did the triathlon which was 400 m swim / 20 km bike / 4 km run which I finished in 1 hr 22 mins. Weather was great and we both did well considering we really didnt train for the races.

Kim and I before our races

Finishing the bike

Starting the run

Starting lap 2 of the run

Finally, I'm finished. 1 hour 22 mins later.

Turquoise Coast - Road trip to The Pinnacles and Geraldton, WA

Hotel: Ocean Centre Hotel - $ 130 AUD/night A boutique hotel in Geraldton city centre and Oceans West $125 AUD/night, an apartment style weekend stay 100 meters from the beach. We are definitely not in Asia anymore! The days of $55 USD/night hotels are OVER!

Drive: 340 miles total to Geraldton; 170 to The Pinnacles, then another 170 miles to Geraldton

Weather: 70 degrees with not a cloud in the sky- It was incredible!

Well we had our first holiday here in Perth - the Queen of England's Birthday. Now this may seem odd to most since we are in Australia; why the Aussie's would celebrate the Queen's birthday. Well, it is weird, especially because of the fact that even the Brits don't celebrate the Queen's birthday, and rumor has it, her birthday wasn't or isn't even this weekend....hmmmm...Oh well, it is a good enough excuse for me because we got a long weekend out of it ;) We realized very quickly that you cannot wait around long to book a vacation here in Australia. It was the end of the 3rd term for students, so many families take the opportunity to book vacations. I called about 15 kennels to board the dogs and FINALLY found a place to take them. We also booked one room, but were scrambling to find another room for the second night. Luckily it all worked out and we were able to take our first road trip up the Turquoise Coast of Western Australia since moving here 2 1/2 months ago.

Our first stop was north up the coast 270 kilometers (about 170 miles) to Nambung National Park, also known as The Pinnacles. The Pinnacles are limestone formations in the middle of the desert. It is quite odd to see them in the middle of nowhere. It was a nice attraction for us to see as well as stop along the beaches in Cervantes to see the crystal clear and pristine waters. The weather was amazing with not a cloud in the sky.

Me in front of The Pinnacles sign

The Pinnacles

Kaes in the crystal waters of Hangover Bay, down the road from The Pinnacles

Our final destination was further up the coast another 270 kilometers (another 170 miles) to the town of Geraldton. We brought our bikes along with us and our main goal for the weekend was to relax by the beach and see the town and coast while getting some exercise. Riding along the coast was a really great way to see what all Geraldton had to offer, and offset some of the goodies we consumed during the weekend. We got up early Sunday morning for a ride north of the town and rode about 1.5 hours. Afterwards, we met our friend's, the Kirkham's, for lunch before they headed back to Perth. Since we had to move hotels, we gathered our stuff and headed to our new location. We were very fortunate because the beach was just a short 100 meter walk. The beach was beautiful and quite peaceful. A nice getaway for all the hard work (Kaes) has been doing lately ;) We passed out early Sunday night and woke up early Monday morning to head south for a nice bike ride/calorie burn. The clouds had moved in from the previous two days, but we were able to get a great ride in to end our last day in Geraldton. After our ride, we headed back to get ready and head home to get the dogs.

Our hotel the first night - Ocean Centre Hotel

The town of Geraldton

Overall, our first road trip up the coast was everything we wanted it to be - quiet, relaxing, and peaceful. Now back to reality...

Click here to view the rest of the pictures from the weekend.

Almost Settled In

Well we have made our move to Australia and found our house. We moved into our permanent house on July 31st and had some temporary furniture delivered until our shipment makes it through customs. Fortunately enough, it made it to Perth within 7 days and we are just waiting on customs to clear it (Who knows how long that will take, but we are waiting patiently)

We found our house in Bicton and didn't realize how much we would love it! The weather has been amazing in Perth getting up into the mid to high 60's during the day and in the 30's in the morning. Kaes and I went on a long bike ride this weekend around the river, almost to the city and back. The view is breathtaking and the weather amazing. The Point Walter golf course is less than a mile from the house and also has tennis courts. Many people gather around Point Walter on the weekends for barbecues, picnics and skiing on the river.

Jaek and Chloe are in quarantine in Byford and as of today, only have 13 days left! Over half way through. They have met many new friends while there and the workers are very nice and friendly. They will both be very excited to move into their new home. The backyard is big enough for them to have plenty of running room and I am sure Jaek will love going for a swim in the pool :)

Here are a few pictures below


Front of the house


The kitchen and living room looking out onto the deck and backyard


Our new backyard


Chloe saying hello!


Jaek rolling on a lemon in the exercise yard at quarantine. Some things never change, no matter where they are!

Big News...

We are MOVING AGAIN!!!

We have been in Singapore since October 2008 and were just given the news a month ago that we would be relocating to Perth, Western Australia. Kaes was offered a position to build a base in Perth and run our Australia plant. Although it will be quite a complex job, we are fortunate for his wonderful opportunity. I will continue to work for my same boss in Singapore from Perth.
Below you can see where Perth is located relative to the other parts of Australia.

Keep checking back for pictures of our new home (once we find it!)

1st Anniversary Trip to Australia - Margaret River and The Great Barrier Reef

Kaes and I flew into Perth April 30th and stayed with a friend from work that we know from Houston. Ross was very accommodating and let us stay the night before we drove to Margaret River the next morning to go wine tasting.

The next morning, we picked up Farah and Patrick at their hotel and were off heading south to the wine country. We were meeting another couple, Christina and Dirk, a little while later. Once we got to Cowaramup, a small town just north of MR, we checked into our chalet at The Grove Vineyard. It was a very nice cozy 3 bedroom chalet with living room, kitchen and outdoor grill. We even had a nice outdoor spa to enjoy after our long day of wine tasting! The scenery was very tranquil and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. A light jacket was needed in the evening and it was nice to have the change from the always humid Singapore weather.

Our first stop was Sandalford winery first that was just a short drive from where we were staying. The view was breathtaking and the wine was even better! Then we met Christina and Dirk at the chalet and were then off to Woody Nook for lunch. After lunch, it was off to more wine tasting. Most wineries are open from 10am-5pm, so we didn’t have a lot of time to taste since we had to drive a ways to each one. We then headed to Tassell Park, the Cowaramup Butcher for some Australian steaks to cook for dinner, and then last to Lenton Brae. After the wine tasting, it was time to grill out our dinner. Dinner turned out delicious and we ended the evening by getting in the hot tub to indulge in our ever so tempting wine.

The second day, after a long night over overindulgence, Kaes, Farah and I finally got up and headed to Evans & Tate. We had to leave the other couple behind to do a bit more resting. This was one of my favorite wineries with the beautiful vineyards looking out in the back of the store.

Below is a picture of Farah and me with the Evans & Tate vineyard in the background. Their wine was outstanding and the scenery absolute bliss! Patrick joined us and we decided to head into the town of Margaret River to do some cheese tasting and find a place for a picnic. On the way to Margaret River, we stopped off at The Margaret River Dairy Company to do some cheese and yogurt tasting. After the cheese tasting, we decided to go to Cape Mentelle, which was an excellent recommendation from Farah for the scenery and delicious wines. Cape Mentelle had the perfect place to have a bottle of their 2007 crisp, oaked chardonnay. The pairing of chardonnay with our deli meats accompanied by the cracked pepper cheddar and vintage cheddar cheeses were perfect for our afternoon picnic.

After our picnic, we decided to go back to Evans & Tate to make a few purchases and then headed to the boutique winery Windance. Afterwards we decided to head down to the beach to capture the breathtaking views as the sun set. It was definitely a romantic end to our Margaret River weekend.

Sunday morning we woke up and had to head back to Perth to drop off Farah and Patrick. After we said our goodbyes, we met back up with Ross and decided to drive to Fremantle to see the harbor and visit the Little Creatures brewery. The bohemian staff and hippie atmosphere was quite different than what we were used to, but nevertheless a cool place to hang out before our flight out to Cairns.

We reached Cairns at 5:30 am Monday morning after our red-eye flight from Perth. We were both exhausted since airplanes are not conducive for good sleep. We headed to the Esplanade in Cairns and hung out at the McDonald’s in front of the Tusa Dive shop where we got picked up at 11:30 to begin our journey to the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. We started off meeting everyone on the boat, getting orientated with what to expect during the next 7 days, then had a delicious spread off food for lunch. I unfortunately, did not partake in these events as I was worshipping the porcelain god…a moving boat has no mercy on me for my chronic sea sickness. Even with good medicine, sometimes there is nothing you can do when you are hitting 5 foot swells in the ocean.

Later that night I felt better and was able to do the second dive. Kaes was feeling just as sick as I was and missed the two first dives of our trip. The next morning we started early at 6:30 for our first breakfast (Yes, I did say “first” breakfast) and were in the water by 7:30 for our first of 5 dives for the day. We dove Steve’s Bommie, Cod Hole, Cod Feed, Dynamite Pass and Pixie Pinnacle for our night dive.

Wednesday morning we were heading towards Lizard Island. This was the place where some of the people would get off and fly back to Cairns and others would join for the last leg of the trip. After a long day of 4 more dives, we had the traditional “Australian BBQ” that consisted of baked potatoes, salad, Australian steak, and kangaroo. It was delicious!!!



The rest of the week consisted of more diving in the beautiful #3 and #5 Ribbon Reefs each day followed by our journey back to Cairns before flying back to Singapore. We had about 5 hours before our flight to Singapore, so we decided to visit the Cairns Wildlife Dome that was on top of a casino right in the city. This is where I met Harvey, and it was love at first site!!! You can see why below. He was the sweetest thing I had ever laid eyes on. It was a great way to end our wonderful trip in celebration of our first Anniversary!!!

.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL PHOTOS

Siem Reap, Cambodia - Home to Angkor Wat

Hotel: Tara Angkor Hotel $43 USD/night- A fabulous hotel for the price with breakfast included!!! (Booked through Agoda for the best price) http://www.taraangkorhotel.com/

Flight: 2 hours 10 mins. to Siem Reap International Airport from Changi Airport in Singapore, Silk Air

Transportation: Hired a Cambodian driver for $25 USD/day, lots of walking & Taxi or Tuk Tuk -->avg ride 10 mins. = $3 USD

Weather: 98.6 - 104 degrees each day- It was quite steamy!!!

Restaurants: Red Piano on Pub Street (where Angelina Jolie hung out while filming the movie Tomb Raider) and Le Tigre de Papier - great pizza!! Most pubs on pub street also offer $0.50 draft beers during happy hour - can't pass that up!

The first night we (Kaes, Kim, Dirk, and Norma) got to our hotel, we took it easy and had dinner and went to bed early. It had been a long week for us all.

The first morning we went to Angkor Thom and Bayon temple. Angkor Thom has 216 heads on each tower that face North, South, East and West. One of the highlights of the trip for me was seeing monkeys on along the road to the temples. I have never seen so many in one setting before. They were so cute and I was able to get a great picture of a momma with her baby hanging underneath her. They were just precious! That evening we saw the sunset at the top of Pnohm Bakeng. It was quite an exhausting climb, but well worth it once we got to the top. The panaromic view of Siem Reap was breathtaking. After sunset, we had dinner at the Red Piano and enjoyed local Cambodian Amok and curry.

The second morning, we got up at 5:00 am to head to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise. It was a breathtaking view and quite peaceful and serene. We also visited the temples Preah Khan which has a small temple-within-the temple that looks more like a ruin from ancient Greece; Ta Keo and Ta Prohm, which was in the movie Tomb Raider with Angelie Jolie and is famous for having a huge tree growing inside of the temple.

Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

During the day, Kaes and I visited the Angkor National Museum. It was very thorough and gave and great description of why Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples were built, how they were built, the religious symbolism each temple conveyed. That night we went to the Koulen restaurant to watch an Apsara cultural dance show and have dinner. It was very interesting to see the dancers in native dress and to tell stories through their dancing.

The last day we got up early and Kaes and I headed back to Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom to get some video of the temples and the surrounding area. After we went to Pub Street and had a pizza at Le Tigre de Papier, then came back to the hotel to get ready to fly home.

Overall, we had a great trip. The Khmer people have a very ancient history and have had their share of trials and tribulations, especially during the Khmer Rouge, but are still very friendly and welcoming people that always seem to have a smile on their face.

Our camera had some technical difficulties and these are some of the only pictures that made it. If we get it fixed, I will make a link to all of the amazing pictures.

The South Gate entrance of Angkor Thom

Kim and Norma at the top of Angkor Thom

The sunrise at Angkor Wat

Cambodian dancers at an Apsara cultural show

Jakarta, Bogor, and Bandung, Indonesia - April 10 - 13, 2009

Hotel: Jakarta - Novotel Mangga Dua; Bandung - Hotel Mutiara
Price: $45 USD
Transportation: Lots of walking & Taxi or Tuk Tuk -->avg ride 15 mins. = $10 USD

We traveled to Indonesia this last weekend with my parents to visit Jakarta, Bogor, and Bandung. My grandfather (Kaes') was in the Dutch military so my dad's family travelled a lot. As a boy, he lived on several Indonesian islands but stayed the longest in Bandung.

Bandung, is the capital of West Java and is located 112 miles southeast of Jakarta. With over 2.9 million population in 2007 and over 7.2 million people on the greater Bandung area, it's one of the most densely populated city in Asia.

The first night after we got to Jakarta (Kaes and Kim) to meet Dirk and Norma, we didn't have the best of luck. After the ATM machine eating my credit card, and being dropped off on the side of the road by our hired driver, and botching the little Malay we knew, we finally got to the hotel. The next morning when we woke up in Jakarta, we drove south to Bogor, which was about 1 hour away and visited the beautiful botanical gardens. After that, we continued our drive through the Puncak Pass on to our main destination in Bandung. Puncak Pass is a longer route to Bandung, but a beautiful countryside drive.

The northern part of the city has a lot more hills than the rest and is home to the Tangkuban Perahu volcano. Long-term volcanic activity has created fertile andisol soil in the north, suitable for intensive rice, fruit, tea, tobacco, and coffee plantations which are everywhere. It is definitely a beautiful site to see acres and acres of tea plantations up and down the sides of the mountains.

My dad lived in two houses while in Bandung. We found the one on Jalan Bengawan and the other one was converted into a small school. Unfortunately, the house on Jalan Bengawan was not maintained but it was still nice to see where he lived. The best part was hearing his childhood stories including the home-made tank races down his street.

The last day we headed back to Jakarta, but unfortunately Kaes and I got an Indonesian version of "Montezuma's Revenge" and was stuck in the room the whole day until our flight home that night. Dirk and Norma flew back to Singapore two days later, and finally made it back home after a little mishap with taxi cab driver on the way home from the airport. Luckily, they were okay and finally made it back safe and sound.

Next weekend, we are off to Cambodia to see the largest religious monument in the world, Angkor Wat! Stay tuned...

Tangkuban Perahu volcano
A tea plantation

At the botanical gardens in Bogor

The house Kaes' dad lived in before World War II

Phuket, Thailand March 27-29, 2009

We took another quick trip to Thailand to enjoy some more scuba and sun. We worked 1/2 day Friday then flew to Phuket. We landed around 1:30pm and it took us almost 2 hours to get through customs and take a shuttle bus from the aiport to the hotel. We stayed in Patong Beach at the Baan Thai Resort and Spa. The hotel was a lot nicer and in a much better location than the hotel we stayed at in January. We went scuba diving on Saturday with Sea-Bees diving (the same company as last time) and went on two dives in Rachai Yai. After our long strenuous day diving, Kaes and I got pampered with massages to help us relax :) Overall, it was a nice, relaxing weekend. Weather forecast was cloudy and rainy but weather turned out really nice with rains only on Sunday as we were leaving. It was definitely a wonderful way to spend the weekend!

Octopus Video

Cuttlefish Video

3rd Time's A Charm!!! - Phuket, Thailand

Hotel: Quality Resort Patong Beach

Price: $51 USD/night inclusive of breakfast

Transportation: Lots of walking & Taxi or Tuk Tuk -->avg ride 15 mins. = $10 USD

Dive Company: Sea Bees - definitely the best way to dive with breakfast and dinner served to you each day Thai style!

The first night when we arrive, The Dunlap's (Christina and Dirk) and Sara Laster all got together to walk down the streets of Patong Beach. Our hotel was located right on the beach and was a pretty good setup for the price. I could have used a softer bed since it felt like laying on hard concrete, but we were so tired each night, we didn't have to worry about falling asleep. We had a great Thai dinner with drinks in a fresh pineapple, walked around to all of the shops selling cheap knock-offs, then headed back to our hotels since we had an early morning of diving.

Saturday morning we were all picked up by Sea Bees diving company. http://www.sea-bees.com/ The boat was 2 stories and the largest boat we have dived on yet. We dove two dives that day at Racha Noi. Here we saw 3 different octopus that were quite incredible. Of course this was the day that I forgot to bring the camera, and we never saw the octopii again...after a long day of diving, we all came back to get ready to head to FantaSea.

FantaSea http://www.phuket-fantasea.com/ is a cultural themepark and show of Thailand. We had an extravagant Thai buffet before the show. Right before the show, we happened to pass a sweet baby tiger that was being fed and available to take pictures with. I was in heaven, it was the cutest thing I had ever laid eyes upon!

The second day of diving was Super Sunday. We dove 4 dives this day including a night dive. We started off going to Shark Point, Anemone Reef, then Phi Phi Le, and finally the night dive at Ko Dok Mai. Shark Point had to be one of my favorite dives because it is here where we saw the Leopard Shark (seen with Kaes below). This was the first time either of us has seen one and it was truly an amazing site. They are quite docile and don't mind if you come up close for a picture. Don't worry though, they don't have any teeth! The islands of Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Le are beautiful. They are truly a place you don't think really exists. Maya Bay at Phi Phi is the place where the movie The Beach was filmed and was quite a popular place. This day was amazing except for the fact that I got sick on the way home. Being sea sick is no fun!!!

The last day of diving on Monday was just as good as the rest of the dives. We went to the ship wreck King Cruiser and back to Shark Point again. King Cruiser had more fish than I had ever seen! You almost had to part the fish to be able to swim through them. We saw many different types of fish including large lion fish (second picture below), barracuda, turtles, crocodile fish, jellyfish (third picture below), porcupine fish, and many more. Shark Point was just as great as the first time because unlike the first time we dove it, this time we saw a momma eel with 17 of her babies!!! The picture below only shows 7, but the rest were under the coral right next to where this picture was taken.

The last day we decided to take it easy and go to another one of the beaches (Karon beach) to look around. The weather was amazing the entire time but was definitely a little steamy the last day. We were heading back to the airport that afternoon, but couldn't do so before getting one more Thai massage. The massage place was right next to our hotel and gave 1 hour Thai massages for $9 USD!!! They were great and was a excellent way to wind down after our strenuous vacation :)