Hot Water Beach

18-12-2013

   Hot Water Beach. Yes, that's the official title to be found on the map, but it is not exactly what it sounds like. I had thought it was hot spring water flowing into the ocean and mixing with it to make it much warmer, but not quite. It's actually a hot spot under the sand, and at low tide people walk around until they find an adequately hot (but not too hot!) spot in the sand, and then they start digging. The end result is a conglomeration of shallow, hot-tub like pools in the sand, each one surrounded by the sand that was dug out of it. It smells slightly sulfurous but really it's hardly noticeable. 

    If you get too hot you can always jump into the ocean. Incidentally, it is actually a little bit warmer than most other places. By that I mean I could actually tolerate swimming without a wetsuit. It's chilly, but not cold. (Fellow readers who have ever swam in Lake Superior can really appreciate this difference.) Also, the waves are usually a decent size and it's extremely fun to swim there. Proof is everywhere you look, since there are usually a dozen surfers to be seen in any direction. 

   The trick with these hot water pools is that the tide has to be out in order for the beach to be there, or at least the part of the beach where you can dig. Yesterday we missed low tide for the day. It was at 1:45 pm and we were tied up in Coromandel for so long we didn't get there until 5:30 or so. We made the best of it and swam in the waves. I don't (yet!) have a surfboard, so I body surfed instead. I stayed a little closer to shore for a number of reasons. One: to stay out of the surfers' ways. Two: to catch the smaller waves. I could leave the bigger ones for the surfers with boards, they were too heavy for body surfing anyways. Three: I just listened to multiple podcasts on sharks, and I now know that they are known to hang around shallow waters, but especially around shelves and drop-offs. I also read that beach sign that warned against currents because of the drop off. Not a problem at high tide, but now I know it's there. And yes, I did think about sharks, and currents, and wisely decide not to be anywhere near the drop off. 

   We swam for a while, getting out only because we were hungry and we wanted to make dinner. We rinsed off in the parking lot showers and headed to a different, less busy, spot along the beach to cook up some burgers. 

   We hung around for a while. Why? We were determined to experience this hot water beach thing. The next day we had to be back in Coromandel (we're getting our Warrant Of Fitness for the van, it expires soon), inconveniently at low tide time, so that left us with the low tide in between: 2am on the dot. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. The moon is full right now, the stars have been bright, and it seemed like a good opportunity to do something neat.

   Turns out, it was. We also weren't the first ones to think of it. We drove back, followed tracks through freshly wet sand, and arrived at precisely 2am to find a small party of people already lounging about in their pools. It reminded me of the footage you see on Discovery of baby sea turtles hatching at night and spilling out onto the sand. Every few feet there was another pool. But I don't mean to make it sound like it was overcrowded, because there were probably only fifteen people around. It was just funny to see all the pools clustered in one area, like a flash mob sand box. We respectively left a few feet between us and our neighbors and dug our own pool in a spot where the sand felt right. 

   We relaxed and sprawled out in the water. I was surprised to find that it would unexpectedly heat up, and we'd find ourselves suddenly jumping up to reposition because where our hand, or elbow, or foot had been for the last ten minutes was suddenly too hot to touch. We had fun with it, though, and laughed a lot. We only left because the tide always turns around, and eventually we were in grave danger of being invaded by waves. Cold waves, comparatively, so we quit while we were ahead. 

   The experience was awesome, and I'm so glad we actually got up at our alarm's insistence to do it. If anyone is interested in ever visiting the hot water beach, I say do it at night. It was unforgettable. 

Update

Hello everyone,

For those who are interested, we are alive and well. No worries there. In the last week we explored Northland (it's exactly where it sounds like), and now we've gone back through Auckland and are on to exploring Coromandel, which is a fairly large peninsula across the bay from Auckland to the East. 

Much of northland was the same. All very beautiful, with rolling hills spattered with sheep, horses, and mostly cows. It's interesting here that they aren't always separated into their own fields. I've seen herds of cows and sheep, and herds of cows and horses. It's pretty neat. Roads wind through and around the farms. Every single one is windy and hilly, with more single lane bridges than I think is sane. I'm glad we have an automatic car, and I don't have to learn how to drive a manual on these roads. They are a motorcyclists dream, and both of us wish we had bikes. Or bicycles, even. These roads would be insanely fun on a bicycle! 

We've been camping along the coastline, mostly of the Pacific but the Tasman Sea too. Every campground and other spot we've found to stay for the night has been beautiful, but since they're all coastline beaches, I couldn't think of anything new and exciting to write about after the last post. I think the pictures we will (eventually) post will highlight the best parts, like the beaches that consist only of varying sizes of broken seashells. They're soft on the feet, and pink, and beautiful. But rather than bore you with long, cliche poetic posts about that, we'll post pictures. 

We're both itching to pick up the pace now, I think. We've been looking harder into caving adventures, hikes, and other great opportunities around the north island. Not that I don't like moseying about the coastlines, but if we continue at the pace we've been going we'll be here for longer than our visas allow (12 months), yet alone our wallets. 

So, sorry there isn't much on here this week, but we're off to find new adventures, and therefore there will be more posts later. 

-Carolyn and Luke

17-12-2013

Freedom Camping

8-12-13

    Happy. That's what I feel right now as I look out over this small little neighborhood beach in the cove of Rahui Kahika Reserve. There's a small yacht club on one side, with a high tide and low tide boat launch on each side, and a small cost guard station next to that. On the other side of this small, quiet beach is a knotted branchy tree with two tire swings hanging out over the beach. There a a few kids playing there, climbing on the overarching branches while their mom chats with a friend by the swings. 

    Luke and I sit here in the middle, in our brand new $10 camp chairs and table, sipping a white wine. It's made here in New Zealand somewhere and it's good but not great. Certainly adequate for a picnic wine. There's pasta cooked and cooling and chorizo sausage in a red wine sauce (from a jar- don't get too excited) simmering, almost done. It smells great, and I can't wait to eat. 

   Apparently the ducks are pretty hungry, and they can't wait for us to eat either. They're hovering. I can't believe how close they're getting. Cheeky little things. I swear if this female mallard had eyelashes she'd be batting them at me in an attempt to be rewarded with food. They're the only birds around here that seem to care about our eating habits. The other birds are more intent on their low tide opportunities. There are kingfishers searching for small crabs. Small grey herons are doing the same, I think. Maybe there are small fish at the waters edge. There's a lone seagull just hanging out and staring out towards the water, although I suspect he may be asleep. 

    A few paddle-boarders are meandering around. It looks like this is a popular spot for that. The water is calm and flat with only a light, but steady, breeze. A small sailboat was out testing it, but he had a knack for finding all the dead spots and he wasn't out long. 

    Now it's getting dark and although the view is great and its a peaceful spot, we need to be moving on. No "freedom camping" is allowed around here, which means we can't sleep here. Not even in our self contained van. Freedom campers have a bad name around New Zealand, in some spots more than others, because of past tendencies to completely ignore "leave no trace" policies. I guess some people have been known to poop, pile on toilet paper, then leave. Since I've seen these very same habits in our National Parks in the USA, I have no doubts that there are plenty of people who really are that inconsiderate. Plus some other problems like leaving trash, nailing things into trees, and otherwise defacing beautiful scenes, I can understand why there are regulations. I'm just thankful that in the majority of the country we do still have the freedom to pull over almost anywhere and sleep in our van. I know that may not sound glamorous to a lot of people, but it allows for a lot of flexibility in our plans, which I like. Not to mention some pretty neat camping set-ups. I'll have to post pictures (and even this post) later. Until then, goodnight. 

-Carolyn

New Van!

Hello everyone!

Just a quick update here. We officially bought a van today, which we're converting into a camper van. I'm pretty excited about this because it means we get to custom build it the way we want it, versus buying a camper van and dealing with what we get for our money. We got a Honda Odyssey, dark blue, with tinted back windows (which provide us with a little extra privacy and shade). It looks like a soccer mom car but I like that too- we won't be pegged as a camper van, at least not right away. I don't particularly want to advertise that we have all our belongings with us in our van, like camper vans tend to do. So, that's it for now. I'm not sure where we're headed next, but I'll post an update the next time I find wireless internet. 

-Carolyn and Luke

Landed

4-12-13

New Zealand!

    We've landed, bussed into the city, and now we're getting coffee and food at a coffee shop next door to where our host family lives (airbnb.com, best thing ever). The Coffee Club, where we are, is playing Christmas music and it's the first time it has really sunk in that I'm missing Christmas. Up til now this whole trip has felt like a secret way of pausing time and living summer twice. Thanksgiving has passed? Not in my world. But it's Christmas everywhere now, and it makes me miss home a little. On the other hand, I've seen a lot of stores here, so far, that are also in the USA. Unlike Fiji, this feels like I might just be somewhere I haven't before been in the states. There's even a philly cheese steak sandwich on the menu. I didn't order that, though. I ordered a Le Croque Monsieur sandwich, which we split, and something called a Flat White coffee. Luke got a chai tea that has cinnamon sprinkled on top in the shape of flowers, and it tastes amazing. The coffee is pretty good too. 

   Now I'm content and uber excited because I have a good cup of coffee in front of me, the sandwich was great, and we seem to be in the best shopping district of Aukland. And there's a movie theatre across the street, and yes, it is playing Catching Fire. Win. Yay!

   Off to enjoy this great city! 

Later- 

Carolyn

PS: since it's still Dec 3rd in the states... Happy Birthday Kate!

Fishing

    30-11-13

   Today we went fishing. I had some reservations about signing up for it, because in the past I've found I'm way too ADD to sit in a boat and watch a bobber or a line for hours on end. I also wasn't sure what kind of fishing "line fishing" might entail. Was it what it sounds like or was it more like what we saw the village boys doing a few days ago? They spread out a net, and while two boys held the net out, three other boys ran toward it, splashing and beating the water with sticks. They were chasing fish into the net. Then they'd pull the net up, pick up their catch, and bite the heads to kill them. I had no desire whatsoever to bite fish heads, I don't care what kind of good luck it may bring. That only added to my hesitation to sign up for fishing. 

   Luckily, line fishing is what it sounds like, and there are no nets involved. We got onto a small boat with two locals and motored out past the rocks. I looked down, and to my delight I saw coral! Lots of coral. I could even see little blue fish darting in and out. Best part of all, we saw a flying fish! It was a bright, silvery turquoise color, and it moved like a fish-shaped skipping stone. It was so cool! I made a mental note to come back later and snorkel around there. Then the reef just dropped away and there was nothing but deep blue ocean.

   We motored out another quarter mile, until the guide had us perfectly positioned between two landmarks on the land. This was his spot. We set anchor and prepared to fish. He handed us reels of fishing line, and explained that we threw the baited hook (with a weight) out into the water, and to just keep feeding it line until the line wasn't taut anymore. That meant the bait had reached the bottom. Then pull up a little, maybe half a foot or so, and wait. When you feel anything, pull hard and keep pulling. 

   What were we using for bait, you ask? Live crabs. Sand crabs, not rock crabs, because apparently there is a difference. Actually there are a lot of different crabs here, but that's besides the point. Our guide put his hand right into the bucket full of fairly large crabs and plucked one out. He then ripped off its legs (yes, they were still alive) and then ripped apart the body. We used the body chunks for bait. The legs were thrown back into the bucket with the rest of the still living ones. I peered into it, wondering if that was some sort of hideous torture- if they had any idea what their fate was about to be. Poor crabs. I will say, though, they made excellent fishing bate. Luke caught his first fish within seconds of casting his line. I caught one soon after. All in all we caught at least a dozen fish in about two and a half hours. Luke caught at least six, I caught four or five, and the boat driver caught two or three. Our poor guide didn't catch any. I told him maybe we just have beginners luck, but I suspect that he was too busy helping us to really fish well. 

   We'll be having our fish for dinner tonight. Since there are only three of us here at the "resort", I hope the rest go to feeding the village. 

-Carolyn

Snorkeling

     27-11-13

Bula!

     The place we are staying is very interesting. The power is turned off during the day, except a few hours in the morning, and a few hours around dinner. I'm hoping it stays on for at least a good chunk of the night so that we can run the ceiling fan, as there is no air conditioning. Meals are provided for us; breakfast between 8 and 9, lunch between 1 and 2, and dinner between 7 and 8. There is no other option for food so we brought some snacks, but I'm not worried about it. Most importantly, the shower and toilet work just fine (although there is a strange lack of hooks to hang anything, including our towels. It's a bit puzzling). Overall, I'm pretty happy to be here so far.

     It's our first day at the Yasawa Islands. When we arrived we were given our room, a cute "bure" (roll the r and pronounce it like you would in Spanish) that we have all to ourselves. It's not the nicest quality, but the lunch they fed us was good and the views are amazing. After lunch we got roped into snorkeling. I say it like that because I've never had a successful snorkeling trip. There was the time I tried it at Disney, with my family, in the shark pool / giant coral reef pool. My mask filled with water and the salt water burned my eyes. I also managed to tip my head too far back, or too far to the side, to look at something... either way, I was quickly blinded and choking and I couldn't turn around. I also wasn't supposed to kick or use my arms much (everyone was warned not to because of the sharks), nor could we stand (delicate coral). So I ended up gently propelling myself forward with my hands at my side like disabled fins, uselessly trying to propel but doing no good, with my head craned up so I could see where I was going and not run into things. I didn't see any fish. But I was proud of myself for making it to the other end of that long, curvy pool without any incidents. 

    There were a few other times I tried snorkeling, all of them ended with a mouthful of salt water and burning eyes. I figured I'm just too used to swimming in water without the snorkel to get the hang of breathing with my face down. I'm also way too fidgety and curious to keep my face looking down and not sideways or ahead of me too far. 

   Until today. Today we tried it. We had crappy equipment, and I'm pretty sure that everything was used and hadn't been cleaned. In fact, I could see teeth marks on the snorkel, and upon looking down the pipe part I discovered a whole lot of mold. My expression must have shown my germaphobic horror because the guy behind the counter brought me a brand new snorkel and I hadn't said anything yet. Poor Luke, on the other hand, got stuck with a child's snorkel. But him being awesome like he is, he made it work anyways. That part didn't surprise me at all. What did surprise me is that in spite of apparently very poor quality equipment, I successfully snorkeled! I had to use my hands to hold my mask in place, and it still didn't make a very good seal, but at least I got the hang of breathing through a tube with my face fully submerged. So very strange at first, but by the end of the hour I felt strangely naked without that tube, and especially inadequate without flippers anymore. I'd say that's the first time I've ever felt like I have small feet. 

   I took my waterproof camera along and got a lot of pictures, and I passed it off to Luke who probably took even cooler pictures because he knows how to swim way under water. He probably got a lot closer. On the other hand, I'm not sure he knows how to use the zoom.  Anyhow, I hope to post plenty of pictures soon, and a short video I took a few days ago of the 360' view from where we car camped on the mainland. 

   Currently we have no wifi, so I'll have to post this later. It is also currently pouring down rain, but it's wonderful. I really enjoy watching the wind run across the water, hearing the wind in the trees, and having rain drum on the roof. There's even some nice thunder out over the ocean. Plus, it's a refreshing break from the heat.

-Carolyn

Kava

26/11/13

     I think it's torture having sunburn and bugbites all over at the same time. Some bites I got in my sleep; I woke up to find huge painful welts on my legs, and I think they must be spider bites. Good thing there are no poisonous spiders in Fiji. No poisonous anything, in fact. It takes a lot of the worry out of exploring and trying new things; there's not much that can kill you. Not unless you stupidly ingest something you shouldn't. 

     We were told on our tour of an old cannibalistic tribal fort about two trees that looks the same, and the names start with the same word, but one has a bigger seed pod than the other. The smaller seed pod one grows by the shore, and if eaten it will kill you. The larger seed pod tree grows inland, and it is commonly eaten. But the island is only so big and deadlier tree grows for miles inland, so any eaters had better know what they're doing. 

    The fort was definitely an interesting part of the trip. Not so much what's actually left over to look at, since the whole thing was burned down 200 years ago, and only rediscovered 20 years ago. There's not much left to look at. But the history of the tribe (given to us by our guide, a descendant of the last chief of that very tribe, or do they said) was very interesting. Plus she told us a lot about what plants were around us and what they can be used for. That was the coolest part.

   But cooler than that, on our trek around Vetu Lievu (the mainland), was visiting the village of Navala, near Ba, on the north side. That was where we actually tried Kava. We'd been warned not to try it anywhere but a local village, since you never know what else is in it in the city. And like I said, I'm not about to ingest something stupid. In the village they made it in front of us, and don't worry, they used very clean water to make it. It may look like muddy river water, and taste like it, but it's not. And to prove it, when you drink it your mouth goes kinda numb. I wondered if I had just done something stupid, but the natives drank it with us, just as much as we did. I figured that if it was going to incapacitate me, at least we'd all be incapacitated together. And since nno-one drinks alcohol around here, except the tourists, I didn't think it would be that bad. It wasn't. At least, not in that way. 

    We read in our guidebooks before we came about Kava. It's made in honor of guests, or for ceremonies, and it's considered very rude to refuse trying it. They interpret refusal as your belief that you're better than them, too good to try any of their stuff. So when we were offered some, we felt we couldn't refuse. Only I thought I'd only have to try one bowl. But apparently, the cup keeps getting passed around the circle until the whole bowl is gone. And then they made another bowl. We must have drank at least 6 bowls, maybe 8, each. I didn't think it tasted too bad but I almost threw up my last cupful just from sheer overload of liquid. I never have been a chugger, and unfortunately that's how Kava is supposed to be drank: gulped down quickly, all in one shot. I'm guessing there are about 8-10 ounces of Kava per cup, at least. 

     On top of trying Kava, they also cooked a meal for us. They gave us a tour of their village: showed us the church and the school, then the community center, whichever as just an oversized bure. In the community center we sat through one of their religious ceremonies. The whole village is Catholic but they weren't speaking in English or Latin and it was pretty strange. After church they presented us with lunch. There was a huge bowl of rice, 3 bowls of sauces (Dahl, Dahl with noodles, and a coconut cream), spinach-like vegetable in a bowl, pineapple, papaya, 2 plates of I-forget-what-it's-called but it's a really dry, starchy root, fried eggplant, and a big pitcher of water. There was more food than a Thanksgiving dinner, and it was just for us. I was already full just from Kava. They told us we had to stay until it was all gone (which they laughed at hysterically), so we did our best. I think they were joking but I wasn't sure, plus I didn't want to be rude. I don't think we finished even half of it. I just couldn't put anything more into my mouth. I explained we were just too full and asked if they'd eat it if we didn't finish it, and thankfully they let us quit. The leftovers got passed around and eaten quickly. There were still at least 20 people there, leftover from church. 

   Not long after that we gulped down one last cup of Kava (it would have been more, I'm sure, but I again begged out of it because I was too full), and then it was okay for us to leave. 

   It was quite an experience. I'm not sure it's something I want to repeat all that often, or ever, but I sure am glad I did it once. 

-Carolyn

Fiji!

After over 24 hours of flying we finally landed in Nadi, Fiji this morning!  We landed at about 6am local time with a little rain coming down but it soon cleared up and turned into a beautiful day.  We got all checked in, had a few “green coconuts” from Bobby the coconut peddler for breakfast and stored our luggage until we could get into our room.  Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising to me but I was impressed by the amount of people we have met who are traveling and vacationing like this alone, trekking and flying from hostel to hostel all across the world.  Getting to know a few of these people so far has been fun!

Carolyn and I took a cheap taxi ride to downtown Nadi to check out the city.  It was full of neat shops and little markets full of wooden masks, Fijian war axes, and other carvings and arts of the native Fijians.  We enjoyed walking around through the shops, getting lunch at a Japanese restaurant, touring an active Hindu temple (Which Carolyn had to get all dressed up for – no shorts or tank tops allowed for women), and walking though an open air farmer style market to pick up some fresh mini pineapples and some strange beet looking root to cook for dinner.  It was a fun day, and its only noon!  No big plans for tonight although we are starting to get some plans in order for the next couple days, renting a truck and touring around the island by way of both main roads and 4x4 style trails.  Checking out some small villages, the capital city of Suva, sacred sand dunes, and even the remnants of a camp/dining area and oven that was used for cannibalistic rituals a VERY long time ago!  The forks they used are quite terrifying if you ask me…

Its 80 plus and sunny here, I can safely assume the weather in Michigan is a touch cooler, although Carolyn and I are bummed we will be missing the skiing and ice climbing season!  Enough for this post, hopefully Carolyn will get on here and write the next one!

Until next time,

Luke and Carolyn

Getting ready to leave

BREAKING NEWS! Another big adventure that has been in the making for many years is finally happening!  On November 20 myself and the fantastic Carolyn Venner embark on the adventure of a lifetime.  Fiji and New Zealand for the foreseeable future, until we decide to come back which is currently an unknown date.  We will be trying to update this blog as often as we can but with no promises of reliable internet it certainly won’t be every day... You can keep up with the both of us on Facebook as well, Im sure we will be posting lots of photos.  So, check back from time to time and see what we are up to!