Last full day - Nomuka - July 25th

it rained alllllllll night, pitta patter on the canvas of the tent.  Woke up and it was a little clearer for a short time, but long enough to get the wet clothes - almost dry enough to pack.

played cards, played pool and read my book - moved the washing from branch to line and back to branch again chasing the weather.

Best thing of the holiday:

Ron - chillies chicken at the airport
Graham - the company and bullshit reef
Bertie - reef at lunch island was suplime
Tara - swimming with the whales and meeting gromet dog
Stella - Surf, snorkelling and talking with everyone
Dale - gosh so many things, coral.  Every hole I've looked in has been healthy and wonderful.
Karen -
Mike -
Pete -

The food has been remarkable, the host and hostess (Dave and Tris) are lovely and very friendly, their daughter Dior who is 16 years is a very accomplished young lady - who owns her own machete and can open coconut with the best, Kaylea has been very helpful and always polite and she is tutor to Dior and also Tour Management team for bookings etc.  Upeesa a local Tonga has been the busy 'do anything man about the camp'.

Www.whalediscoveries.com
Www.whalesdiscoveries.com

The things I liked best
- coral
- snorkelling
- nice folk
- bright blue skies and the colourful coral seas
- day on the boat and the most beautiful coral gardens I have seen for an age

things I didn't like
- the dampness of everything I touch
- primitive but functional bathrooms
- the very hard bed, looking to my nice soft bed at home
And
Being sick all the way over on the boat, was the absolute worse thing, took days to get over it and get my land legs back.

See you later from Nomuka, Tonga - heading back on the boat to Nuku'alofa and then our flight home.

Rest Day Tonga

          

We have had some great days, sunshine and warm water.  Today, Bert and I got sorted to go out for a whale seek boat ride, about 30 minutes out the weather came in and the sea became very rough so skipper Dave decided to move locations with the boat, and found a lovely calm spot, we found two whales but they were not interested in us at all.  Then the rough seas and cold rain came to us, Dave called it - home we came.   Tidy up and dry out.  Bert built me a new stick clothes line for the wet clothes.

Here are some random pictures from the trip.

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The current plan is to pack and dry stuff tomorrow, "Wildlife" catamaran will be back for us on Wednesday and we will load up and go to a "posh south seas burger joint" for dinner, the on board the catamaran till 4am Thursday morning, taxi to the airport and our flight home, landing around 9:45am and then an Avis hire car home.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday to wash and dry everything.

Nomuka, Tonga

We had a lovely drive to Sydney, no trouble in the traffic and had. A lovely lunch at Watson's bay with Dale and Karen and her daughter came to say hi.

Arrived at the airport in good time and checked in easily, through customs and found everyone gathered together, a short wait in customs and on board we go.  Bert by the window, me in the middle and Graham on the aisle.

No one got much sleep the flight was very hot and stuffy but only 4 hours.  Arrived at 1:00am Tonga time and customs was reasonably efficient and luggage was waiting for us.  Through immigration and there were 2 buses waiting for us.  Bit of fun and games loading the luggage and SUP boards on the mini buses but it all happened in the end.

Bunks were allocated and we got a few hours sleep.  Started sailing around 10am and the seas got rougher and rougher as we went.  We were under sail, in the string winds which was good for the speed it was giving us.

Some went to the beds, some to the cabin, some to the deck beds and ME to the BUCKET, yes I was seasick for 4 hours and felt dreadful, but lived to tell the story.  Arrived at Nomuka Island around 4pm and stayed for dinner on the boat, I had a 3 hour sleep once we were in calmer waters.  Yes I had seasick tablets safely packed in my bag, but they were of no use to me there.

Overnight and breakfast on the boat.

Finally, off the boat and on the land.  I was really pleased to be on land.  Had a lovely lunch and a swim and felt loads better.

   

   

Had a lovely dinner, the food is excellent.  Off to our tent - called Shark, each of the tent rooms has names, Whales, Chook, Shark and Turtle.    Had a lovely sleep on a hard bed but all ok, it was very very very dark at night, our tent has see views but that also means the nights are very noisy.

More to follow.  That is all the news now, we are whales swimming tomorrow, 

Nomuka, Tonga - July 2017

This trip has been coming for what seems an age, but it has now arrived.

Monday July 17th - the lovely housesitting folk - Pamela and Kevin will arrive, we will be packed and ready to go and fetch Karen and Dale in the hire car.  DAles surfboard on the roof and luggage and is in the car.

Stop for coffee and comfort breaks, maybe a nice lunch at our fav - On the Sydney Harbour and then around to the airport.  Meet everyone aroun 2:00 to 2:30pm - group check in and then security and immigration.

We have a 4.5 hour flight to Nuka'lofa, Tonga.   We are being met there and get on a cataraman boat for what's left of that night and one more night before arriving at the island.  6 nights later - we do it all again in reverse.


         



Will post daily activities as much as the Internet permits...

Keep watching, will be a fun trip with a wonderful group of folk..
Leanne and Bert

Start of 2017 - Rarotonga....

Rarotonga - January 1, 2 and 3

Action packed couple of days here, again in no particular order:

1. We did a Dirty Buggy ride on January 1 afternoon, what a dirty load of fun that was we went to the unfinished and deserted Sheraton Hotel and drove through the muddy and smelly water holes, bogs or whatever they are called.  Mud and dirt everywhere, our legs were covered in runny wet smelly mud slop.  Bert drove so I had no idea what was ahead of us as the windscreen was already filthy.  Then up to the Waterfall, that was spectacular and flowing heavily after all the summer rain we have had, walked in clothes, sunglasses and mud covered and washed off in there.  Local kids were jumping off the rocks and it looked dangerous but they laughed a lot which was lovely.   We did too, it was good fun but smelly.

2. Beach picnics, lazying in the water shallows of the lagoon and going from coffee shop to coffee shop was the best part of the rest of the days.

3. Drove down a gravel road we hadn’t found before and there were TARRO (white sweet potato’s about the nearest description) was planted down the sides of the road, they make a mount of dirty with a “moat” sort of thing around it full of water, cover the dirt in old cardboard and then in dead palm fronds.   They have one planting and about 2-3 huge young men with a very odd looking wooden tool (about 5-6 feet long with a large bulbous bottom on it) and they seem to pound that bulb first into the ground and wriggle it around to make the deep wide hole for the new plant to go in.  Never seen anything like it.

4. Spent some time just sitting and watching the ocean.  

5. Got my new tattoo from Jason Teitinger yesterday afternoon, 2 hours and quite painful but he coloured it and it is beautiful.  Colours of the “paua” shell, like the inside of the oyster shell, very very pretty and I am very pleased with it, a little sorry for myself today while it starts to heal and am aching a bit, the direct sunlight on my clothes in that area is very uncomfortable so have been sticking to the shadows all day and can’t swim or saturate it for 3 weeks so my snorkelling days are done for this holiday.  I will get it finished with one more line when he comes to Sydney next, and the colours to match.

Bert is down on the beach taking photo’s (as I write this) of a local chap boogie boarding, there is outrigger canoes going past and lovely fluffy clouds in the sky.

Tomorrow is another rest day, no plans in particular and then Thursday 8:30am Bert has his appointment for further tattoo work on his shoulder.  We went and bought a local flowery shirt and a hippy tie dyed t-shirt for him to wear home and “leak” all over as we fly home at 3pm the same day he has his done…  We land Friday night around 7:30pm and then the 2.5 - 3 hours drive home we will get in about 11-12 midnight, cuppa tea and toast and into bed with airconditioning (if needed).

Did I mention that we don’t have air conditioning in the apartment and the humidity is 85-95% all day every day and the nights aren’t much better.  Sleeping is easier now that it was…

 Photo's to follow.

30, 31 December, 2016

Well, not a lot to tell, just swimming, photographing, coffee-ing, eating - rinse repeat day after day... Highlight over the past couple of days are:

1.  sunset on the last day of 2016 at "Black Rock", sitting sipping a bubbly or two and just watching.
2.  swimming in the lagoon for 2-3 hours in the heat of the day and keeping cool, with a picnic lunch.

Just keep the same routine and sleeping is a little difficult as the temperature is only 27-28C but boy the humidity is getting to me, and there is no air conditioning in the house.

Photo's to follow.....

Happy New Years to everyone, keep safe and well and may all your hopes and dreams come true in 2017.

Boxing Day to 29th December 2016

Well, I haven't blogged for a while, have been busy doing "stuff", snorkelling, swimming, and having a holiday.

In no particular order, we have:

• Had coffee's and waffles, coffee and apple pie, coffee and carrot cake...
• Burgers for dinner last night were massive but delicious, Bert had beef and I had the fish burger.
• Did a Raro Safari Tour, which was great fun, learnt a lot about the island, the island heritage, culture and beliefs.  They have a very specific family structure, land allocation agreements and the bond of the family and tribe (of which there are 3 on the island).  The tour guide "Capt V" was very friendly and informative, took all afternoon yesterday.
• Snorkelling different sites has been fun, sometimes I just sit in the warm shallows and chill.
• Weather has been very humid and hot, and it rains most days at some time of the day.
• Did some business of booking tours for the next couple of days, fishing and mud buggy tour too..  Watch this space for more on those subjects.
• Bought some Noni Juice on a friends recommendation, it is disgusting tasting stuff - should be good for me then!!
• Found a very interesting wood carving workshop, asked some questions and had a great old chat with the guy commissioned to do the work.  The sculptures are for the RSA (Returned Services Assoc) entrance and are rather impressive to say the least.
• Wandered around a nearby garden centre/botanical garden and took some lovely flower pics.
• Went to the Western side for sunsets (usually around 7:30-7:45pm)
• Below are some random photos from the last couple of days...

         

    

    

    

Raro - Christmas Day 2016

Good morning world, it is Christmas here and we are just about the last place on earth to get Christmas.

Had a simple breakfast of fruit and cereal, after a very very slow wake up indeed.  I wanted to go to the local church for Christmas service and that started at 10:00am and I was very nearly late (Bert joined me at church).  It was a lovely service, mostly in the local language and a smattering of english but very beautiful singing. One man came to the front and sang to his mother - who was given a seat up with him at the front of congregation and then another song for his baby daughter.  A very stocky young man played an organ and sang a Christmas carol in English he had a very soft but strong voice.

It was very still this morning so very hot, but we came back and changed and went to the Nautilis Hotel Resort for our Christmas Lunch..

    

The view from our table was lovely too..



And dessert was just a nice little something sweet too... Worked well for us both, they gave us eggnog  (alcoholic) so I had them both...



After a short nap (2 hours) we woke up very hot and bothered so off to the beach for a snorkel (2 hours there too) and an ice-cream on the way home, and a very light dinner.

We went to the beach for sunset last night and though you'd like to see what we saw....







thats all folks - for our Christmas day in Rarotonga...

Day 2 - Christmas at Raro

Well, we  both sleep really well, not surprising really.  We had tea and toast and off to the markets in Ararua town.  

Second breakfast was more Waffles and coffee at the Waffle Shack, we stopped yesterday on the way from the airport but had to have more today.



We bought - pawpaw, dragonfruit, passionfruit, banana and a smoothy made with Sour Sop, which was yummy.

Note the blender stopper - he used the local passionfruit..

   

On the way around the island for drive we stopped and got a lesson about opening coconuts and bought 6! Christmas closedown survival foods.

     

The ladies all wear lays and flowers in their hair - they are lovely and have all sorts of flowers in them, including the pretty smelling Gardenias.

Had a fruit lunch with our market purchases and Bert wanted a snorkel and I had a paddle only (still tired so lazy)..



Last night we went to the local Isobar (the Muri Yacht club) for a quiet sit, this is Bert on the Muri Lagoon waterfront.



In again for dinner tonight, and lunch out tomorrow for Christmas Day...  Hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas's and we will enjoy ours tomorrow..

Our first day in Rarotonga - 23 December, 2017

Hi Everyone,

Well, is it our first day or second day (traveling etc)  or just our first day here!!  the date is yesterday, so today will be 44 hours long, as we crossed the international date line at around 4:00am Cook Island time earlier.  I think I will just have to count the days in Rarotonga, otherwise I won't know what way is up.

We left home in Stockton on December 23 around 2pm, and headed to Sydney expecting a lot of traffic but it was a "walk in the park" - easy drive and no traffic worth mentioning.

Arrived and checked in and met a friend for coffee and catch up.  Thanks Pete it was great way to spend a couple of hours.

Through customs (I don't understand why you fill in the form when you don't hand it to anyone - the new smart passports make it so simple).  

Took off at 9:50pm and tried to sleep it was a 5 hr 45 min direct flight to Rarotonga. We arrived on Friday December 23rd at 6:30am.  We get to have Friday all over again.

It is overcast but warm here - 28C or there about... Off the plane and got our little hire car, drove straight to the Waffle Shack (in the market area) and had waffles and coffee..  Drove to the house, we knew where it was and unpacked and checked it all out.

Next we needed groceries, so off to the big market here CITC.  Everything will be shut Christmas/Boxing Day and New Years Eve/NYD.

Paid for our chrissy lunch at the resort nearby, and then decided it was time for a snorkel at the "Fruits", we snorkelling at this spot a lot in May (just gone), it was windy and currents were moving so stayed in a short while only.

Back to the house, and it was 1pm - mmmmm lunch time. Off to "Trader Jacks" in the main town, too tired to bother but had fish, chips and salad.  Had to come home and chill a bit at that point. Write the blog, have a cuppa tea and the lady we are renting the villa off - her aunt came over to see how were going.

She is a lovely lady Vina, had a long laughing chat with her on the front lawn, and she said i could pick her lemons and limes - they will go well with my gin and tonic in a little bit.  There are fireworks on the beachfront here at Muri on NY eve night, so we will be able to see them from the front of our place or we can walk through and see them from the beach.

Dinner home tonight or not - will have to decide when we both get motivated.

Will post this, and see you tomorrow "in the world of blogs"

Rarotonga - Christmas 2016_2017

Rarotonga - here we come - December 23, 2016 to January 5, 2017

➪  We will leave Australia on December 23rd at 9:35pm and fly with Air New Zealand direct to Rarotonga and arrive December 23rd, at 6:35am.  Yes after 7 hours in the air we will arrive 18 hours before we left - ummm time travel!!! here we go.

➪  We have a 2 bedroom cottage in Muri township, called Maine Villa for 13 nights.

➩ The water temperature is 27C and the weather will be anywhere from 22C to 27C both day and night.

➩ We have a hire car for the entire time we are there.

➩ We are taking snorkelling and swimming gear, and some camera gear.

The plan is: there is no plan.  

We have a deep sea fishing trip booked for 30th December but other than that we will do whatever we feel like on the day. Swim, snorkel, read, take photo's, sleep late, we might even walk next door to the french bakery and get coffee and danish?

I will be posting daily with pictures (internet permitting).  This picture is Rarotonga Island with Muri Lagoon in the foreground.

Day 10 - Nelson to Hanmer Springs. Saturday 17th September

First and foremost, happy 53rd birthday to my sister Lisa, she has had a tough couple years health wise, and now she is on the mend.

We rose early looking forward to our breakfast at the same place as yesterday and NO, they don't open till 8:30am on Saturdays - WT?? how do you open 5 days a week at 7:00am and then on the weekends its late... I don't get it.  Nelson - wake up to yourself!!  we finally found a very tiny little alternative coffee/breakfast place.

We had a 4 hour drive to Hanmer Springs, but it took us 7 hours with a few stops for photo's and a coffee.

I wanted to go out to Lake Rotoroa (not Rotorua that is on the north island), and we did the 11km drive out there and beautiful scenery and 10,000,0000,0000 midgies all hanging around us and "peeing" on us, and making us itchy.  But the lake view was lovely.

 Lake Rotoroa

We drove through those lovely mountains and took more photos.  Murchison turned out to be very cute and also industrial but lovely coffee there.

Muruio Waterfalls.

The everything store, Murchison - haven't seen one like this
for many a year.

Up into the mountains from here and snow capped mountains, nothing on the roadside or anything we could get near, but spectacular none the less.




The wifi here is quite slow so will write on and put pictures up when I get a chance. We ended up at Hanmer Springs, around 3pm. It is known for it hot spring baths, public baths at that. We are not into sharing bathing pools at 34-40C with strangers that may well pee in the pools........  Had a walk around town and an ice-cream and headed home for a break.

Had local thai food for dinner, it was delicious!!  Time to down tools and chill a bit, very tired co piloting the busy windy roads.

Home tomorrow afternoon, late afternoon flight and then drive back to Newcastle for work on Monday.

Day 9 - Abel Tasman National Park - Bus Tour (Friday Sept 16th)

Happy 115th birthday to my mum's mum for today...  strange how you think of these things..

What a day, I am exhausted tired... We went for breakfast in Nelson, found a lovely place called the Panama Cafe and they did the best poached eggs, and coffee - going back tomorrow.

Off to meet with the Abel Tasman Eco Tour team again (www.abeltasmanecotour.co.nz)  found the address and met our tour guide for the day Fay. Packed on the bus and headed to pickup 3 more (only 2 chaps as the lady was unwell) a Kiwi travel guide (Andrew) and his client (Phillip) an American working at Aramco Dhahran (where we were for 5 years) in Saudi, such a small world.

Straight to the Cave system, and met our guide there and underground we went, photo's to follow when I process them.  It was breath taking, and Bert hates small places but loved this. Just us 6 wandering around and looking and hearing the stories.  Philip (USA) was a geologist so contributed information also.... very interesting.  We were underground for about 1 hour or more and then had morning tea at the tables in the Cave Shop.

We did about 3-4 bush walks of 10-20 minutes duration into some of the most beautiful forests and river areas.  Fay told us a story about one of water pools being a "Good Will Pool" and the Maori believe that you can put a special item in the pool and it will bring you good luck, so Fay took my memory necklace down and put it in for me..  That was very kind of her and meant a lot to me.

Lunch at a lovely camping ground, in the rain!!  Today was our first overcast and rainy day but it didn't get in our way, rain jackets on and out we went.  It never poured, just continuously sprinkled.

We were gone from 9am to 4:45pm  and had a great time again...

Fish and chips for tea!  The hotel smoke alarm went off, the hotel manager rang and said we could have a wine or beer from the fridge (for free) due to the inconvenience.

We moved tomorrow to Hanmer Springs via the mountain Lewis Pass... Can't wait to get into those snow capped mountains and see what we can find.

Boat tour (yesterday) rock formations, note the holes.....

A lovely little island (Boat Tour)

     

Bert on his way down the "morning tea venue" beach..

Lovely beach, looks like no one had been there all day,
no foot prints at all.  Boat Tour day

   

Driving Tour day (Today) the wonderful caves..

More caves (Bus tour day)

     

Native fuchsia flower - bus tour day, so delicate.

Lunch grounds, we walked up from here to the wishing pool.

   

   

Beautiful old tree roots (Wishing Pool) Bus tour day

Fay with my memory necklace, putting it in the wishing pool

      

Last beach of the day, the wonderful colours of the sands at very low tide.