Fiji

The Fijians certainly know how to welcome visitors to their country properly. We had never previously been serenaded by a three-piece band in colourful shirts whilst waiting in line to have our passports stamped. It made us feel better after a 12hr flight, arriving at 5am and realising we would never see the 18^th January 2017 after crossing the International Date Line mid-flight. We made the most of the day and spent it touring around the city of Nadi and the local area. First we visited the largest Hindu temple in the southern hemisphere with its amazing brightly coloured murals. The British colonisers brought over many Indian labourers to work in the sugar-plantations in the 1870s and now a significant proportion of Fiji’s population is of Indian descent. Later we visited The Garden of the Sleeping Giant (botanical gardens with beautiful orchids) and some mud pools. Here we got into our swimming costumes and covered ourselves with thick mud before letting it dry and then jumping in natural hot pools to wash off.

Time for a wash

 

The majority of visitors to Fiji head to some of the smaller islands (Fiji is an archipelago of over 300 islands) where most of the resorts are based. Even the cheapest of these is quite expensive and we decided to save our money for later in the trip and opted for just a day trip to see a few of the tiny islands. We caught a catamaran ferry to Mana island and boarded a sail boat for the day’s adventure. Several tiny islands we sailed past were little more than a group of trees and a beach. They looked like the typical ‘desert islands’ described in books. Indeed the Tom Hanks film castaway was filmed on Mondriki island, which we stopped at for snorkelling. Unfortunately we didn’t find Wilson (sorry if you’ve not seen the film), but we did enjoy the pristine white sands, crystal clear waters and seeing lots of colourful fish.

Snorkelling off Mondriki Island

Not quite Titanic, but it'll do

 Everyone in Fiji seems very relaxed, welcoming and the pace of life is slow. Our tour guide on the first day introduced us to the concept of ‘Fiji time’ and the motto ‘No hurry…no worry’. It is such a difference from the busy pace of life back home and we could certainly learn something from the Fijians. Our guide did share his frustration that when occasionally things do need to be done quickly, problems tend to occur and opportunities can be missed.

 We spent one day in the capital of Suva, but there is not much to do for a tourist except visit a forest park with natural swimming pools and a huge rope swing. The majority of our time in Fiji was spent at a hostel called The Beachouse on the southern ‘Coral’ coast of the main island. To get there we caught a bus from Suva along the coast road, which almost goes along the beach with great views of the sands and turquoise sea. After over 100 buses we finally had our second transport mishap (the first being the breakdown of the very first bus in Colombia).  The luggage compartment under the bus came open as we hurtled along the main road and Ben’s backpack fell out. Fortunately Fiona was sat above the door that opened and saw it out the window so we got the bus to pull over quickly. One of the locals at the front of the bus jumped out before us and ran back to get my bag.  Nothing was broken or had come out the backpack, but it had sustained quite a lot of minor rips and superficial damage as it bounced along the gravel at the side of the road. Several stiches later and the holes had been closed up. It doesn’t look so new anymore, but now looks like a backpack that has been round the world.

One of many amazing beaches

Days at The Beachouse started with yoga on the terrace overlooking the sea before a breakfast of eggs, sausages, toast and cereals (and baked beans!). The rest of the day was spent sea kayaking, snorkelling, swimming or just reading a book in a hammock on the beach. Our ten-day stopover in Fiji really was paradise. Next stop 3 months in New Zealand…

Sunset on the Coral Coast

Plenty of time for relaxation

We learnt (and forgot) how to make this from a coconut palm leaf

 

Los Angeles

Two 7hr flights later and we arrived in Los Angeles to experience winter for 2016/17. It turned out that the cheapest way to get across the Pacific ocean from South America was to first fly to LA and then on to Fiji so that's what we did and enjoyed a 48hr stop over in the USA. It also turned out that winter in Los Angeles means sunshine and t-shirt weather.

Early morning surfing on Venice Beach

Our first morning started very early due to the 6hr time difference from Rio, but the pancake breakfast with lots of syrup included at the hostel made up for this. We were staying in Venice Beach at a hostel right on the boardwalk so enjoyed a quiet walk along the beach and canals before most people were up and about. The only other people on the beach before 8am were joggers, dog-walkers and surfers catching a morning wave before heading off to work. Later in the morning we headed over to Santa Monica Pier and then into the town itself for some lunch.

Mmmm Reese's Peanut Butter Cups & Chocolate Fudge cheesecake

By the time we had finished lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, the beach and famous boardwalk between Santa Monica and Venice Beach had come to life. We slowly wandered back towards the hostel taking in all the sights and doing some serious people watching. To give you a flavour of the diverse range of activities being carried out here is a short list: Roller skating, cycling, walking, running, surfing, beach volleyball, football, weight lifting, tennis and most impressive were the group practising slack-line walking. The shops along the front sell a wide range of products including tattoos, t-shirts, art, fast-food and even 'medicinal' marijuana.

Amazing slack line skills

On our second day we went on a open top bus tour of Hollywood and Beverly Hills. We spent a fun hour or so finding our favourite actors' and singers' stars on the walk of fame. After 5 months in South America we experienced serious culture shock walking around downtown Santa Monica and driving around Beverly Hills. Yes there is wealth on display in the big cities like Buenos Aires and Santiago, but the wealth is far more obvious and widespread in a rich LA suburb. Amongst the expensive cars, designer clothes, gourmet food and high-end shops (all summed up by the huge glass fronted Apple store) we felt we had come a long way from the busy streets of Bogota or La Paz. 48hours was enough for us and we were ready to cross the Pacific to explore the only inhabited continent neither of us had yet visited.......

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Someone is not too popular around here