James & Tracey World Tour - James & Tracey

Bright lights once more

James & Tracey — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 29
We arrived back in Vegas around 4pm. On the way back to the hostel we stopped off for a cool and refreshing drink in the pub. The evening consisted of walking tothe 7-11 to get a bit of food and chilling out watching American TV.

July 30
Left the hostel and got a taxi to the airport. At the airport had a meal in a Diner, waited around for plane.

Back to Toot Toot

James & Tracey — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 28
We arrived back to Flagstaff just in time for the rain and thunderstorm. Not haveing brought anything except shorts and t-shirts we got soaked walking/running from the Hostel to the local Thai restaurant. We enjoyed a nice meal, except James forgot how hot Thai curries can be and sweated a bit more!

July 29
Yet again the trains ran very loud and early this morning. We went on the internet and had a powercut! Got taken to the bus station ready for the 6 hour journey back to Vegas. It takes longer for the return journey, not sure why. When we stopped half way this time we made the walk to Jack in the Box, as if we had to eat burgers we were going to have a half decent one!

Viva Las Vegas

James & Tracey — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 24
Set off around 8am (yep all got up that early!). We arrived at the flashing lights of Las Vegas and went to the hotel - New York New York no less. We cleaned the RV up then went up to our room. Wow! We were all on the 17th floor, James and I had 2 double beds in our room, a view of the pool and roller coaster.
We all had a look around the hotel - downstairs inside its more like a little town than a hotel. We had pizza for lunch, of course! We walked along the strip. Watched the water fountain show outside the Bellagio, then went inside the hotel/casino. It was amazing, thet have the largest chocolate fountain in the world there - Yummy.
After realising it was far too posh and expensive at the Bellagio we went across the street to Planet Hollywood - much more our thing. The lads stayed for a buffet, but James and I made our way back to the NYNY looking at the casino and went up to our huge room.

July 25
James and I had Craps lessons in the morning - a whole hour of a man explaining everything about Craps (the game you always see played with the Dice) We understood everything (kind of) when we left. We had brunch with Melon and heard about last nights' goings on they got in very ealry this morning!
James and I went for a swim in the pool, then Kev and Si came back from there Canyon Helicopter tour and joined us in the pool.
Si, Kev, James and I all had dinner at the Chin Chin chinese restaurant. We then went to the roulette tables and played. I won James some money as he put 2 chips on my birthday (19) and it came in, he then lso all of it!
Went to the Irish bar for a drink and some live music.

July 26
James and Si went for one last swim in the pool. We packed our bags, checked out and said farewell to the lads. They went to the airport and we went downtown to our new home. The USA hostel - a bit more basic than the NYNY.
We settled in then headed back down the strip on the bus. We walked by Treasure Island hotel with all the pirate shipe outside. James took me to Venice (the Venetian) then Paris, then he bought me the biggest Ben and Jerry's ice cream ever!
We walked through Planet Hollywood shops. We were inside but the ceiling was painted blue with clouds, so it gave a feeling we were outside. As we walked along the clouds became slightly darker, then it began to rain and thunder! All very cool, but wierd as we were inside.
We went to the Planet Hollywood casino as we had an appointment for 90 minutes about the new hotel they were building and wanted to sell the rooms (in other words a time share presentation) We sat there patiently for the 90 ,minutes listening and looked round the show room, got introdused to the manager - who Trace did not like as he addresses and shook hands with James first and kept saying the English dollar was strong against their dollar which wouldn't last - stupid man we have POUNDS!! Once we told them we weren't interested as we had no money cos we are travelling the manager was extremely rude. The other guy was nice, so we got our voucher for our free stuff and left.
We walked to NYNY hotel to have a ride on the Roller Coaster. It was quite good actually, a few big dips and actually go upside down.
Walked back to Planet Hollywood and had our free buffet. This place is amazing. So many different things to eat. We started with the seafood - prawns, oysters, fish, crabs legs. Next course was some meat and veg. Trace went for 2 desserts as it was free! After resting for a bit we headed upstairs for the next free bit of the day - to see the show Stomp. It was really good, and quite loud.
We gothe bus back to Downtown. Stopped off at the Fremont street experience. A huge ceiling that has pictures/film played on it. We had a bit of a look around and more of a gamble, but lost, so walked back to hostel.

Toot Toot

James & Tracey — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 27
We left Vegas with small bags, as the hostel had storage facilities.
We joined a massive queue for the Greyhound bus service to Phoenix, Arizona (except we aren't going that far). Once on the bus we settled in to the 5 1/2 hour journey to Flagstaff. We did stop 1/2 way for a meal stop - McDonalds which was awful!
We arrived at Flagstaff and rang the hostel to came and pick us up, an hour later they arrived, it only took 5 mins to get to the hostel, so goodness knows why it took them so long!
We walked to the local supermarket to get some supplies for tomorrows journey.

July 28
We didn't really need the alarm we had set to get up early as the trains here seem to go all night and still honk the horns. Anyway we made it out and walked to the local bus stop for our next onward journey.

How Big?

James & Tracey — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 28
It took the bus 2 hours to get to the Grand Canyon South Rim. We were dropped off and headed straight for the rim. We got on the Red route (Americans pronounce it rowte - wierdos!) bus. First stop was Maricopa point. Here we got our first good look of the vastness of the canyon - it is huge. We walked to the next 3 lookout/Vista points, then decided it was pretty hot so jumped back on the shuttle bus for the next viewpoint. To Mohave Point, here we could see the Colorado river. Not what we were expecting as it was dirty, but apparently it carries a lot of silt along with it. We hopped back on the bus to Hermits End, where we had our lunch sitting looking out at the canyon - not a bad view!
GOt the shuttle back to where we started and hopped on another bus (the blue route) then walked across to the green route bus. We got dropped off at South Kaibab trailhead. He we walked down into the canyon. We reached Ooh Aah point and said "ooh" and Aah" at the view, it took us half an hour to get to this point. It is 183m/600ft down into the canyon and teh round trip is 1.8miles/2.9 km. We walked back up the hill (in the 110 degree heat) it also took half an hour but by the time we reached the top we were sweating buckets! We got the bus back to Maswik lodge where we had a well deserved ice-cream and beer/wine!
We then got on the 2 hour bus back to Flagstaff

Airport City

James & Tracey — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 30
Yep thats right we landed in Atlanta, only stayed for a couple of hours and never actually left the airport, but thought we'd put it in anyway!

Lightening with no thunder

James & Tracey — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 23
Instead of the 120 deg F, we decided to head for the cooler 110 deg F of Barstow. This took about 5 hours of driving with a stop off at Taco Bell. When we got there we had an evening meal at Peggy Sues 50's Diner with a life size Elvis looking over us. The rest of the evening was spent by the lads sitting in the pool watching the electrical storm in the distance, followed by more poker and Trace continuing on her quest of finishing Harry Potter in record time.

Lodgepole, Sequoia National Park

James & Tracey — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 22
After Melons hair raising rally down really windy roads with a massive drop to one side we finally and thankfully arrived safe and sound at the campsite. At the office they were less concerned about the camping than with the long list of rules to do with the many Black Bears in the area.
The evenings entertainment was a couple games of poker which involved winning or losing small amounts of cash from each other. Getting ready for Vegas.

July 23
We hit the road early as we had a massive drive ahead of us.
First part of oour journey involved a slight detour where we drove to see the General Sherman. This is the largest tree in the world. A few facts :- Aged 2300-2700 years; circumference at ground 31.3m; Diameter at base 11.1m; Height 83.8m; Volume of trunk 1486.6 cubic metres. All in all a very impressive tree.
When we walked back up the hill to the RV and after a short discussion, we decided not to go to Death Valley as most people we had spoken to said why would you want to go there, its boiling hot and there's nothing to see.

Bass Lake

James & Tracey — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 21
After driving about 6 hours and stopping off for Trace to buy Harry Potter we arrived at Bass Lake. Which turned out to be a very picturesque place. We booked in at the office we found a spot on the side of the road as the sun was going down quickly slipped on our bathers and charged into the lake expecting it to be cold, but found it was the temperature of a warm bath - Lovely.
We got changed and went to the local Forks restaurant. When it came to getting to our RV pitch we were greeted by a local who claimed we were goign to have trouble getting our 30 foot long RV up the windy path and parked. However, with all of us helping, as it was pitch black and lots of trees, it was no problem for us now seasoned RVers.

July 22
We got up earlier than the others to check out the prices of their watersports on the lake. There was an early bird offer, so we went back to the RV to get the others up. Four of us hired 2 Jet Skis and the other 2 hired a small fishing boat without fishing gear. While Leigh and Melon set off to pootle around, we set off on a more fun pace. Trace and James on one and Si and Kev on the other. Trace drove responsibly for the first 15 minutes, then quickly made her escape before letting James take over to go and catch up the equally mad Si and Kev.
Once the hour was over Trace went to meet the others. James arriving with a huge grin on his face, but also a touch worried when returning the jet ski they may notice the new scratches to the front end after Si had driven into the front of him, as he was temporarily blinded from doing a jump and a big wave getting round to the back of his eye balls!
Went down to the Lake in the boiling heat of the day, which James measured with our dive watch - it was 42 degrees on the beach - we decided to take a few dips in the water, which the dive watch read the water to be a freezing 29 degrees. This place is gorgeous.
Somebody else took over the navigating from Trace as she now had Harry Potter which was now taking up 90% of her time. It seems she is in a race to finish it before anyone else.

Itsa Pizza

James & Tracey — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 19
We drove up the coast to Pacifica, just south of San Francisco. Initially the lady said they didn't have our reservation, but told her the number, who I spoke to and dates and they fitted us in - Phew!
After the van was set up and shopping was done, we walked the short distance into the town for soem food. We stopped at a pizza place for 2 x 18inch pizzas, having 12 slices on each pizza, we took 6 slices back with us.

Cruise Down the Board Walk

James & Tracey — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 18
Drove up the coast to near Santa Cruz. We stayed at New Brighton State Park. ONce we parked up we headed down to the beach fro a quick dip and sunbathe, still warm enough at 6.30pm.
We all got a taxi into the nearby town of Capitola and into a lively bar called the Fog Bank. There was a great live band playing - DB Walker - so we stayed for the rest of the evening.

July 19
We had a bit of a lie in, then made our way into Santa Cruz. We got a little side tracked here as there is a huge amusement park on the front so we went straight there. The first ride was the log flume. Kev told us the person sat at the back gets the wettest, so Trace (and Kev in the other log) both sat at the front. After the first small dip Trace got absolutely covered, so the big drop wasn't so bad. We both came off drenched, last time we listen to Kev!!
We went on the Big Dipper, an old wooden roller coaster. It was really good, except Kev's camera that was in his pocket turned on and the lens zoomed out and when going round a corner the force broke it, so not so good.
A couple more rides then we were a bit peckish. So we tried our forst Corn Dog, plus the biggest doughnut you've ever seen.

Life is like a box of chocolates

James & Tracey — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 17
It was James' turn to drive. Trace was navigating and Highway 1 is a coastal road, so there were plenty of hairpins and very steep corners. On the way there were plenty of Vista points (lookouts). One of them had hundreds of Elephant Seals on the beach - they were huge! Also some friendly squirrels which seemed to like the nuts Leigh fed them (not sure if they're allowed all that salt, but they are American!)
It took around 6 hours to get to Monterey. We stopped at the supermarket to get some supplies for the BBQ. We had ribs with BBQ sauce - delicious.

July 18.
We tried to get up and leave early but didn't quite happen that way! We drove into Monterey and got the shuttle - a kind of bus that looks like a tram - to the Aquarium. We looked around the aquarium at the various fish and sharks. Saw an ocean Sun Fish - first one we've seen, shame we were'nt diving, it was massive!
Walked around the town a bit. Went into the candy store, again it was huge and so many different sweets, plus a huge selection of jelly belly beans so we got some.
We had lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp. Trace had 3/4 pound garlic shrimp and James ahd a variety of differently cooked shrimp. We met a Forrest Gump look-a-like outside so had photos with him.
Got the shuttle bus back and walked along Fishermans Wharf.

Happy as Larry

James & Tracey — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 15
We drove for a bout 4 hours before arriving at Pismo Beach and the RV park.
We realised at htis point that the air conditioning on the Rv wasn't working so it took a while for them all to figure out how to fix it. We walked to Fins seafood restaurant for dinner for Si's birthday meal. Sat chatting to a couple of American women whilst eating.
It turned quite chilly when walking back so we didn't actually need the AC on in the RV!

July 16
We drove around the corner to the car park as we had to be off the RV park early. The lads were faffing around so Trace decided to go for a walk to 'cool' off. James followed and we went to the internet cafe 10 blocks away. Onthe way back we had lunch and the biggest onion rings you have ever seen!
Melon, Kev and Leigh were playing golf and Si had met up with the woman from last nights meal! James and I sorted out tonights accomodation and the rest of the nights accomodation for the rest of the trip - this took all afternoon!
We went to the liquor store to stock up then to the new RV park. We walked in to town. Went to a bar for a drink then went to get something to eat. Most places by this point were closed, but managed to find a chinese open at the top of town.
Sat around the campfire back at the RV.

July 17
Trace was the first one up and walked to the beach. On the way back James and Kev were walking to go Quad biking for 2 hours on the sand dunes.
We moved the RV back to the car park and chilled out for a bit. James and Kev came back sweaty and covered in sand. The sand dunes are 6 miles square and you can go anywhere -Happy as Larry!

Sight for sore eyes

James & Tracey — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 14
We decided to not drive too far today and headed along a really windy raod to Malibu. One of the parks was full so we headed slightly inland to a State park.
We settled in pretty quickly watching the sun go down over the hills.Had some food and began to celebrate Si's 30th birthday (as it would be his birthday in the UK!)
Trace went to bed before the rest (as usual) then got woken up at around 2am by James as Si had gone missing for a few minutes then came back covered in blood and cuts.
Trace got her first aid kit out (first time to use it) and started to piececd him back together. It wasn't too bad as mainly they were grazes but just bled a lot. We put him to bed in the lounge section of the RV.

July 15
The lads got up around 7am (think the time difference hasn't got to them yet) Trace made everyone bacon and scrambled eggs. They all realised that Si wasn't looking too great and eas beginning to get a bit of a nice shiner on his right eye!
We left the RV park and headed straight for the beach in Malibu. Started the day off with a swim in the sea and bit of a sunbathe. We set off up the coast stopping off at a market for hotdags. Trace noticed a piece of paper on the windscreen - a parking ticket! When we parked at the beach we were parked on the opposite side of the road facing away from the line of traffic - $45, then also we didn't have a front number plate - $30.

Fly by Tahiti

James & Tracey — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 12
Yep thats right we actually made it Tahiti. Only a quick stop to re-fuel and we didn't actually get off the plane.

Muri Beach

James & Tracey — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT

July 3
We got the bus to Vara's and headed up the hill to our new home (only for 3 nights then we have to move to a double room). Its more like a house, it has a kitchen, bathroom, TV, DVD player - All very nice and brand new!
We headed back into town on the bus as now we had food shopping to do - sounds very easy except the shops here aren't quite like they are at home and don't seem to sell the things you want! We also got a couple of DVDs to watch for the evening - Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and Next.

July 4
The weather was a bit cloudy today so we decided to chill out in the house and catch up with internet stuff, all very boring!
We went to the DVD shop again and took them up to the house. We watched Shooter and Die Hard 4 (with German subtitles when they spoke in another language!)

July 5
Today was pretty much the same as yesterday, except it was raining today.
We ventured out in the afternoon once the rain had settled and walked along the beach. On the way back James went one way and Trace the other saying they'd meet up at the DVD shop. Trace waited for 1/2 hour thinking James had got lost. James had walked round the block twice as he thought Trace had got lost - All turned out ok in the end. We got a couple more pirate DVDs from the proper DVD shop and walked back in the rain to the house to really make use our own TV and DVD player
We watched The Invisible then Fantastic 4, but had to stop watching it as it was a rubbish copy and kept skipping bits out.

July 6
We packed our bags again and headed only next door to another room in a house up the hill. We introduced ourselves to the other guys in the house only to realise a couple that were moving out the next day had been on Kuata island in Fiji at the same time as us. We went down to the beach, we swam across to the little island on the other side of the lagoon. The water here is gorgeous, its like a big swimming pool with tropical fish in it. trace can stand up anywhere in the lagoon - perfect! (this is definately what Paul and Jon had described to us - Paradise) We walked around the whole of the island about 1/4 mile, so didn't take us very long, then swam back to shore the long way! We must have done over 1/2 mile swim by the time we got back. We decided to hire another scooter from Vara's. We then headed to Black rock Lagoon, had a swim and watched the sunset.
We went back to the house washed up and went out on the Bike into town to Salsa. We both had really good pizzas. James was going to have the Cookies and Cream Cheesecake, but again this week they didn't have any - Gutted!

July 7
We got up reasonably early and headed into town for the local market. We had a good look around and bought a couple of things. Hundreds of tropical flowery shirts for sale - James managed to resist them though.
We went to the supermarket to stock up on food supplies and headed back to the house. On the way back James started to slow down, when asked what he was doing he said "I think we are breaking down again". Luckily when Trace stuck her thumb up the couple from Fiji were just going past in their car so gave Trace a lift back to Vara's. James started to push the bike back and after about 40mins in the hot midday sun, decided he had sweated enough and stopped for the best can of coke he'd had in a long time. The calvary then arrived and gave him a lift back. We got changed pretty quick then went straight to the beach and waded across to the island, carrying our bags on our head. We enjoyed the afternoon sunshine and stayed on the beach until the sun disappeared over the hills. When we got to the other side James stood on something on the waters edge that got stuck in his little toe - a thorn from some kind of marine animal - Trace got it out for him but it was beginning to sting by then so we drove back up the hill to try and investigate it. There was nothing else in there but didn't stop hurting until the following morning.
We stayed in for the evening and watched another DVD.

July 8
We had a bit of a lazy morning chilling out by the house, reading and doing Sudoku.
After lunch we got picked up and went to the dive shop to get kitted out. They took us into town to their boat and we went about 200m from shore to the first dive location - Edna's Anchor. We went to 26m, there wasn't a great deal to see there, except an anchor. The anchor was from a boat years ago that had to cut it loose in bad weather, the boat then proceeded to go to another island for shelter but couldn't drop anchor as it had been cut off, therefore it sank! So the anchor is here and the wreck is on another island. Saw a porcupine puffer fish just before we went up, Trace got a picture of him!
We had our surface interval back on shore and were served with Hot Chocolate and ginger nut biscuits. The next dive we went to the site Paradise. We went to around 14m. Here we were followed by the local Triggerfish called Tommy, he followed us for the whole dive as a local usually feeds him a sea urchin each dive and think he was expecting something from us too. There were loads of different fish, most of which come really close to your mask. We saw a green Turtle eating some coral.
We then went back to the dive shop to clean up.
In the evening we went into town to Trader Jacks and had fish for dinner. It had started to rain so we had to get back on the scooter and get a little wet.

July 9
We got up early and went to the beach with the good snorkelling. It was still windy there and the sun wasn't out but we still went in. trace got out a bit early as she was freezin! We walked along the beach for a bit, the sun still didn't come out so we went back to the house had a hot shower and headed into town to pick up a few food supplies. After lunch the sun still wasn't out so we read and chilled out outside by the house, until it got a bit chiully and we had to put our jumpers on - This is meant to be the tropics?
In the evening we drove to the Flying boat for fish and chips by the sea. The restaurant is made out of an old boat. We sat by the sea and ate delicious fish and chips from a basket.
When we got back we sat with the others from the house and watched a couple of DVDs.

July 10
In the morning we had to give our scooter back, so walking from now on. We walked to the island opposite Vara's through the lagoon to get a bit of the sunshine that seems to stay on the island all day. Whilst snorkelling James found a huge fish (think it was a tuna, unfortunately didn't have time to catch it though as it swam off!) We walked back through the water for a spot of lunch then back out again. This time the tide had come in a bit so the water was a bit deeper, Well for Trace anyway! Once the sun went behind the trees we decided we had had enough of the sun and walked back to our room up the hill. In all of the sunshine today Trace had got Panda eyes - nice! We watched another DVD and noticed that the Geckos on the wall made really wierd screeching noises.

July 11
We had to get up and pack our bags this morning and walk down the hill to put them in storage for the day as our flight isn't until this evening! We were going to go to the beach and have a swim as it is our last day in paradise but the weather decided otherwise as it was intermittent rain and sometimes huge downfalls (just trying to make you guys feel a bit better in the UK it rains here too!) Spent the afternoon chatting to a couple of English girls whilst they sat at the dinner table sticking in a million different tickets and flyers into their scrapbooks.
In the evening we went to the local Italian for fresh pasta and a few drinks.
Got taken to the airport and waited for ages. James got called back to check his baggage as there was a lighter in his bag. He had no idea where it was because he put i tin there when he left England just incase we needed fire and hadn't seen it since. They re-scanned the bag and said it was in the middle, then in the side pocket, then in the other side pocket, then finally at the top. So after unpacking his whole bag they finally found it and discarded it. We left Rarotonga on time but they told us they didn't have enough fuel for the plane so would have to make a detour.

Island Hopping

James & Tracey — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

June 22
We were picked up from the hotel at 7.30am and headed for the Denarau port. We caught the Yasawa flyer along with a few other hundred passengers. We were on the boat/ferry for around 4 hours before reaching our destination of Nacula Island. We caught a small boat to the Island to Oarsman's Bay Resort. When we arrived and went to the welcome meeting we were told how much things would cost on the island - the small boat trip from the ferry to the island was $10.50 each way per person (for a 2 minute ride, bit late now to say we would swim!) the water was not drinkable on the island but you could buy the bottled water for $3, activites were extra, and lunch today was not included so had to pay $10, but welcome to the island - Over a barrell comes to mind.
Once dumping our bags in our Bure by the beach we headed staright into the crystal clear water for a snorkel - WOW! The reef was amazing and we saw so many fish - Bat fish and 2 Lion fish.
To settle things down we layed on the beach for a while.
We went to the Happy hour at the bar, although it wasn't very happy as only got 80cents off the beer (around 26p). We watched a traditional Fijian night and Trace got dragged up to dance. James managed to escape this as he went to the bar! We had a traditional Fijian meal and sat with some Americans who complained that their food didn't have enough salt on it, so added loads of it to their food - what do they expect the food was cooked underground!

June 23
We were up for the breakfast drums at 8am. Shortly after we were in the water checking out the breakfast for the fish, taking a few more photos.
The rest of the morning was rather relaxed as we sunbathed and read until lunch at midday.
The afternoon was spent on the beach until the Caves trip was announced. We went on a half hour boat ride, got the key to the gate from a village by the beach and then to the gate on another small island. We walked up some steps and down into the darkness. We were met with very dark water as there wasn't much light. We put on our snorkel gear and got in the water, it was really salty. The guide swam under the water with a big torch and we were told to follow the light one by one. When we got to the other side it was pitch black, quite an eery feeling. The guides turned off the torch and made lots of noise and splashed a lot - I think they were trying to scare us but didn't work. We swam about for a while, the guide told us that part of the caves were used for the film 'The Blue Lagoon', but none of us had seen it so weren't that impressed.
When we got to the main part again, the guides climbed up the walls of the cave and jumped off into the water. James had a go at climbing but where the first guy went he left a water trail that was quite slippery, he got to the second or third hand grip (about 2 metres above the water), lost his grip and fell into the water. Luckily he saw sense and didn't try it again - Phew!
We watched the sunset from the beach and got a photo!

Sunset between us

We got back to the island for dinner and a few drinks. James joined in on Poker, betting with pieces of shell and scrabble letters.

June 24
James got up at 5.30am and walked up the hill behind the Bures for Sunrise. He walked in the dark with a torch to the top of the hill and got there too early so took photos of himself. It was a little cloudy but spectacular views of the Island.
We packed our stuff and went for a last snorkel and sunbathe on the beach. We got told off as we were meant to check out at 10am, it now being 11.30 they weren't too happy. We showered and headed to the office to pay. We had lunch, said our farewells and went on the little boat (now paid for) to the Ferry.

It took 2 1/2 hours to get to the next islnd we were staying at and Manta Ray Resort. It is an eco-friendly resort with non-flush toilets (decomposing) and water to drink that is filtered sea water. We had our intro meeting and free drinks, then chilled out in our tree-top Bure.
Dinner was a buffet and we had Happy hour drinks. Trace had a Cocktail called Lollipop (Vodka, Malibu, Lime liquer, blue curaco and lemonade) - Yummy!

June 25
We headed out early for a snorkel to check out the reef. It was a bit different to the other reef, still lots to see and loads of Blue Sea Stars. Back to the beach for a bit of sunbathing, then had a little siesta as all this relaxing is so tiresome.
In the afternoon session on the beach we heard the Drums so ran towards the sound - This was the Manta Ray drum. We were taked just round the corner on a boat to a channel between 2 islands and got in the water quick as the guide said there was a Manta Ray close. Once in the water heads down looking a Huge Manta Ray appeared out of the blue - about 3 1/2 metres wide. It was so surprising as we didn't expect them to be so big, even a little scary. We spent the next half hour or so swimming round following various Manta Ray, none as big as the first but still impressive.

Manta Ray

After the afternoons photo activity we tried to upload some of the photos and write them to disc but the computers at the resort were rubbish and wouldn't let us so we had to edit them a lot.

June 26
We packed our stuff yet again and placed our bags in the check out area. This morning we went diving, to a place called Coral Awegasm. The water was pretty cloudy with loads of fish eggs so the coral looked average. We did get to swim through a couple of tunnels though which was pretty cool. James kept trying to blow air rings under the water and take photos of them. His first attempt was good and we managed to get an ok photo but the efforts after weren't as good, maybe next time.
Once back on land we had lunch and James chilled out on a hammock whilst waiting for the ferry to arrive.
We were sung the farewell song and waved off on the little boat towards the ferry.

Another hour spent on the Ferry before arriving at Waya Island and Kuata Resort. We had our own Bure with views of the sea, and chilled out for the afternoon.
The evenings entertainment was a Fijian night. We joined in the Kava ceremony and got to drink the Kava (made from the root of a plant of some description) It tasted warm and a bit like dish water and left your tongue a little numb. The Fijian dinner was eaten with our hands. We were then all told to get up and dance the Bula dance and various other dances, including one where you had to swap partners, not very nice as the Fijian men had their tops off and were very sweaty - gross!

June 27
Breakfast was at 7.30am. We then headed for the beach and tried to snorkel but the tide was in and water level too low to swim over the coral, so we settled for sunbathing instead. After lunch and a bit of a siesta the tide was up and we were able to swim out to look at the coral, hundreds of fish were eating the coral and being attacked by other fish defending their homes, all quite exciting.
We tried to take photos of the sunset but it was too cloudy. Dinner was Veggie Curry and rice, we chatted to an Irish couple and they were shocked when we told them we hadn't seen the news or read a newspaper since we left home and had no idea about what is going on in anything.
We were playing cards when the bar tender, Nathan, asked James if he knew anything about cocktails. James told him he's a bar designer, so know a little bit. He then got a paper and pen and asked James to write down a cocktail for him - the only one he knows is a Harvey Wallbanger, so he wrote that down (hoping he got it correct as he thinks the barman will be practising it a lot) Not sure how impressed he was by this so we soon left!

June 28
We woke up early for breakfast again - Stodgy pancakes and a piece of watermelon. We packed our stuff and headed for the beach for the last bit of sunbathing before leaving. After cooking ourselves we rested on the hammock until lunchtime. Lunch was rice served with spaghetti, unusual combination and just about edible.
The wind had picked up a bit so we had to walk to the other side of the island to get in the boats to take us to the ferry. We reached the ferry in one piece, our bags however were soaked as they were on the bottom of the pile in the boat and the waves came over the sides - Great!
We arrived at the port and headed to the Sanctuary of the Tanoa hotel where we had Steak for dinner!

June 29 (1st)
The first task of the day was to start the washing as it seemed that every single piece of James' clothing had been soaked with a mixture of sea water and beer from the boat - nice!
Jong offered us his apartment so we could use his internet and also write a couple of CDs for free so we spent most of the day doing that as internet was still slow.
After sorting more washing out we headed to the bar for a well deserved drink. Trace had a cocktail called Body Heat (banana liquer, Malibu, Orange and Pineapple juice and grenadine - just the job).
We got a taxi to the restaurtant Jong had recommended - the Lazy Cactus, except it was closed for refurbishment. Instead we went to Mamas Pizza, nice one.

June 30 (1st)
We got up and packed our bags, still a little damp from the boat. We checked out, finding that Jong had only charged us $45 per night (thats about 15 quid!).
We waited around the airport for a while and caught the flight to Rarotonga. All good except Trace had to sit next to quite a smelly man for the whole 3 hours and 15 mins and James wouldn't swap seats with her!

Farewell New Zealand

James & Tracey — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

June 16
Jen met us at the bus station. She still had lots of plans for us as it was our last day in New Zealand. We headed to the local Rugby ground to watch the end of a club match. The seats were freezing so luckily we only stayed for about 10 minutes. We picked up a couple of DVDs ready to watch later on, as we had a Basketball match to go and see at 5.30. This was the Jets (a team Jen used to be Physio for) versus Rams. The Jets won 104 - 81 (the 4th win this season, beating last season by miles!)
We got Pizza and watched the DVDs - Little Miss Sunshine and 10 til noon (we think). Both pretty average one funnier than the other!

June 17We were up and left Jens place at 6.30 am and headed for Palmerston North airport. Said our good-byes to Jenbolina. We caught a small plane to Auckland. Then after walking around Auckland for a couple of hours left the 10 degrees (approx) New Zealand for warmer climates.

Wellywood again

James & Tracey — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

June 15
We got up early so we could catch the commuter train to Wellington. Arriving at Wellington 2 hours after we set off at 8am.
We headed straight for the (oops sorry thanks for the comedy answers where we last left off!) nearest cafe for breakfast, and to warm up as it was blowing a gouly.
We then headed in the diection of the waterfront and to the Museum Te Papa. They weren't open for the museum so we just bumbled around the shop for a bit. At 10am they opened and we started our epic journey around the 5 storey building.The first floor was the sea and Mountains and the earth's heat etc.. We went on a walk outside the building as it was nice and sunny (and sheltered from the wind). The next floor was about how human settlers have afected and shaped the land.
After a short drink stop we headed to the next floor which was about the treaty and Maori influences in New Zealand, and how the settlers arrived in New Zealand.
The next floor was Art work and sculptures. We dedcided to try and enjoy some of the nice weather outside as it was 2.30 (4 1/2 hours after we started).
We got hotdogs on the water front and waited for the local water feature to get started. It is a steel narrow pole which is situated just off the waterfront and at certain times of the day sprays water and kinda goes mad. We watched the water come out of the sides of it, then as we walked away it went into spasm and sprayed the water in a circular pattern (guess you had to be there!)
We walked around town looking for the camera shop that we ordered something from in Auckland to arrive here, when we got there they hadn't heard anything about the order and therefore didn't have it, oh well!
We headed to Megans office which is near the Beehive in Wellington. She had booked us in as an appointment so we went up to see her. They were all having Afgan (type of biscuit but this was a cake) and bubbles, which we were offered and kindly accepted.
We went back to Megans by bus to drop our stuff off, then back into town to meet up with Kevin for the evening.
We headed for the Bristol, an Irish bar in town to start the evenings drinking off. Megan then took us to a small Indian, but they were full so went to another just down the street and enjoyed a lovely curry each - yummy!
We were then taken to Courtney place where there are loads of bars to choose from, we went in quite a few of them, some we would love to mention but unfortunately cannot remember any of their names - wonder why?! When we got back to Megan and Kevins the evenings entertainment did not stop there, Oh No. Kevin got the Playstation out and the microphones. Kevin thought one of the microphones wasn't working, as I think he wasn't winning, so Trace had a go with both of them and they both worked fine as she won both of the songs she sang (miracles do happen!) When Kevin got the Wii out and James started playing Tennis, then boxing, then bowling we decided to go to bed as no-one else really got a look in as he hogged the machine!

June 16
We woke up a little bleary eyed (some more than others) Kevin made us scrambled egg on toast - spot on! Megan drove us to the Train station to catch the bus and we had to say our good-byes.
Another lot of great friends we have to say goodbye to and not sure when we will see again.

Jenbolina's Palmy

James & Tracey — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

June 11
Jen dropped us off at her flat whilst she went into work for a couple of hours. We spent this time chilling out. When she got back we went out and grabbed a Thai take-away with a couple of bottles of wine for the evening.

Jen and Trace

June 12
James spent the morning getting up to date with the world of computing as Jen wanted us to help her choose a new laptop. While Trace and Jen did some chores around town (returning the hire car) when they returned, James then had to try and fix Jens car window which they had managed to get stuck in the open position. After taking most of the door apart he gave up in defeat and we then took it to a garage. Whilst it was being sorted we popped in to Harvey Norman (John Lewis equivalent) to show Jen what was available in her price range. Within an hour we left the shop one top of the range laptop and warranty in hand. She really didn't want to mess around. To celebrate we stopped at a coffee shop.

The rest of the day was spent chilling in Jens lounge playing with Jens new toy and finishing off last nights take away.

June 13
Whilst James was on the phone to Microsoft and Toshiba getting various issues sorted with the new laptop and Vista opperating system, Trace and Jen walked to the shop to get some breakfast, in the sunshine!
Jen dropped us in town as another problem had occurred overnight with James' i-Pod - it had completely stopped working. To his dismay the man in the shop told him there was nothing he could do and he needed to buy a new one (James doesn't believe him and wanted another opinion). Broken hearted we headed for the liquor store to get a bottle of wine. For lunch Jen had prepared a Roast pork with all the trimmings. This along with a glass of wine was making James feel a little better!
Jen had to go to work in the evening, and Trace went with her. We arrived at the Turbos (the local rugby team) training ground and watched them do their training. We both got to stand on the scrum machine whilst 6 huge men attacked it. Quite a scary experience but great fun!!
When we got back to Jens we finished off the wine and had apple and blackberry crumble for dessert.

June 14
Jens holiday was now over so she got up early and went into work. James and I caught up with internet stuff and chilled out, and got our stuff sorted for posting home.
We met up with Jen for lunch at Burger fuel and had a great burger!
We then went to the post office and sent a huge parcel home (with waterproofs in, so hopefully we now wont need them!) This cost us $130, so just a small parcel!

In the evening we picked Jen up from work, got ready and went in to Palmy.
We went to the Flying Fish. This is a very cosy bar where tey specialise in cocktails. We all had 2 eachbefore heading to the cinema for the Movie Premier of Oceans Thirteen. There was a fund raising for the New Zealand Masters Hockey team so we has drinks and buffet in the cinema. It was the best cinema ever, as we have never been to the cinema and drank a glass of wine during the film, the film was pretty good too!