North Island, NZ Days - 74-78

After Kimmy's episode with Ro & Basher's cats we agreed it was best not to spend the night at the Roach's, however, a number of factors forced the issue:

1. The 10 year storm bashing the coastline had now cut power to most of the North Shore (about 15000 homes) and would have made our bus ride back into Auckland unpleasant to say the least.

2. A 3 hour time difference between Sydney and Auckland meant the 1st game of the Bledisloe cup would only air at 10pm.

3. Steve was adamant that we were going to 'dop' in preparation for the Aussies giving the Kiwi's one up the.....eeeh!

A celebration was in order after the game and it seemed that the cats were not having the choking effects expected - PHEW!! We crashed in Torbay and woke the next morning to go and collect the camper that was to be our home for the next 3 weeks. A huge thanks to Steve and Steph - will remember your laughter at the preposition joke for many years to come (where are Big Ben at, P.....!?)

Our first camper-van provided by the touring company was called 'Bunny'. She lasted all of 2 days, 200km north to Whangarei (pronounced 'fangarei') and 200km back south to Auckland via an overnight stop at the Mahurangi Regional Park. The brakes on poor Bunny were 'metal on metal' after 50km out of Auckland and were giving way rapidly! Having been warned about the treacherous roads in NZ and the mother of all storms still persisting overhead we thought it best to put Bunny to pasture. A brief explanation (with a few expletives and Polish diplomacy stirred in) did the trick and Bunny was quickly exchanged for Foxy, equipped to the brim with bedding, crockery, cutlery and a DVD player! The latter has come in seriously handy as we've seen buggerall sunshine since arriving in NZ. We've made a few trips driving south and the most excitement we've had is cuddling under the duvet watching 'Gangs of New York' and 'the Lord of the Rings'. NZ has been a disappointment to date but we've been told the South Island has a lot more to offer so we're pushing on slowly in the rain towards Wellington and the crossing over the Cook Strait.

Latest news reports have shown a P&O ferry battling 8m swells with amateur video footage capturing flying objects in the passenger hold. One guy broke his arm and an elderly lady lost her finger in a closing cabin door....... Going to be interesting?!

Auckland, New Zealand - Day 70 - 73

After a short 3 hour flight from Fiji, we had a very shaky landing at Auckland International Airport where we were met by Mary-anne, my bestest bud when I lived in Jo'burg. We were settled into our rooms, fresh towels and all (luxury when you have been travelling for 2 1/2 months) We were spoilt even further by a roast dinner and fresh veggies.We decided to go into Auckland city centre to get a feel for the place and to scope out how we were going to get around the country. Peter and I both agreed that we felt the city vibe was very much like Seattle. I was dying for a good old Starbucks coffee, which I mentioned to Mary-anne to which she scoffed! Kiwis (in Auckland) love their cafe/coffee houses and see Starbucks as the MacDonald's of coffee. Basically you shouldn't be seen carrying the Starbucks coffee cup!After walking through the city we thought it best we find the South African shop.......so after some enquiries we hopped on a bus to Browns Bay, where we rushed around the shop like kids in a toy store! Granadilla Schweppes, cream soda, biltong, droer wors, nik naks, aromat and jelly tots!!!!On Friday night we went out with Mary-anne to a great little Japanese restaurant. Wine flowed and lots of reminiscing about our school days and friendship. Was so good to see Mary-anne, and after almost 14 years apart, we still have a knack of making each other giggle (which used to drive both our moms mad!) A big thanks to Mary-lou for putting us up.Our South African friends we met in Fiji, Steve and Steph, invited us to their house in Torbay for a braai. Spoilt again. Chops, boerewors and mielie bread. We loved spending time with Steve and Steph because they, like us, enjoy the simple things in life. Hopefully we'll see you guys in SA soon.A small note regarding more good fortune that we are having with the weather on our travels....... We just happened to be in Auckland when the biggest storm in a decade hits the country!!! JOY

Walu Beach, Fiji - Days 65-70

Crystal clear blue water, palm trees, white beaches, hammocks and coral reefs - what more could you possibly ask for? An upgrade to a private villa maybe? We got all of the above when we arrived at Walu Beach and an experience to last us a life time. The "Mana Flyer"(not the most seaworthy looking vessel) picked us and a few others up at the backpackers on the beach - 55minutes later , after meandering through various reefs and islands, we arrived at Malolo Island. We had initially planned to hop on to another island 2 days later but decided very early on that this was the perfect place for us to chill out. The photo's really don't to this place any justice and if you're ever looking for a place to unwind - then this is definitely it. We also made some new friends - Steve, Stef and their 2 sons are SAFFA's living in Auckland who happen to be on the same boat transfer as us. We've been catching up with them and at least had someone to mourn with when the bokke got beaten on Saturday night.

John Thornton - this next piece is for you.

Prior to the rugby Kim and I joined the locals in a Kava ceremony as part of the evening entertainment. We'd heard all about it from John, who we met camping a few weeks earlier in Southern California. Will explain the basics quickly: Everyone gets together and sits Indian style on a woven mat. A kava chief (Steve, in this case) is elected and he is basically in charge of drinking the first cup of Kava (each round). Next they elect a “Body Guard”. The bodyguard’s job is to keep the drinks flowing. He/she determines when it is time for another round and then lastly there is the “driver” this is the guy who actually makes the Kava. Kava is created in a large wood bowl and served in coconut bowls. When being served you have two options; high tide - full bowl, or low tide - half bowl). I opted for the high tide all night. So the driver passes you your drink, and before you take it you clap (a deep “cupped” clap) and say BULA. Then you drink the Kava, pass the bowl back and then clap three more times. Then they go around and serve everyone else. It tastes like it looks - muddy water. Right from the get-go you will experience a numbing/tingly feeling in your tongue. But that was it for me…I drank and drank kava for hours but never got drunk. There is anywhere between 5 to 20 minutes before rounds and the atmosphere is really chilled, we moved the mat to the restaurant to watch the Bok game as the Fiji boys were rooting for Aus for some strange reason. Kava ceremonies can last for hours and hours and I hear from the locals that the this one ended at 6am the next morning! - long after we had gone to bed!

John, no hallucinations for me (after drinking high tide all night) but have to say that my body temp went through the roof a couple of times in the evening. This ceremony and mixing with the locals has been the highlight for me so far - the vibe was one of togetherness and chilled interaction that seems to go missing when you have 10 beers in you.



The next few days were spent exploring the coral reefs with a snorkel and Hobbie. This was a 1st for both Kim and I and was an incredibly cool experience - Bit scary at first, as you float about the edge of the reef that drops suddenly into the depths below you but once you get immersed in the multicoloured wildlife around nothing seems to matter anymore.

We were both sad to leave and were very touched by the locals who all made a point of coming down to the pier to say goodbye and wish us well. The Fijian people do things on "figi time" and "Fiji rules" - life just simply moves on at a leisurely pace and everyone seems to be mates with everyone else. They are incredibly friendly people and make a point of remembering your 1st name from the offset. Happy to speak to you about anything any time and nothing ever seems to worry them.I envy these people, there is NO RAT RACE HERE.

Vinaka to all those who made our stay at Walu Beach so memorable - Kimmy and I are already missing you.

More photo's of Fiji can be found on http://gallery.me.com/petekowalski/100073

"Bula" from Fiji - Day 63 & 64 (that means Hello)

We left the States with a weird feeling, you know the one when the holiday's over? I know, strange considering we still have just under 6 months of travelling left. Anyway, we got over that really quickly!!

On route to Fiji, we crossed over the Date Line, which means we have lost a day. We left the States at 11:30pm on Monday night (14/07/08) and after a 10 hour flight, landed at 5:10am on Wednesday (16/07/08)

We were met at the airport by Roman, our host from the hostel. We think he took lessons from our Taxi drivers in CT, in fact the Fijians are actually worse! We're in a "beach resort" outside of Nadi at a whopping 7 British Pounds a night.

Spent the first day orientating ourselves. We decided to update the blog which took about 4 hours! Loading up pictures takes sooooo long. We took a stroll on the beach and went into a smarter hostel and had some dinner. We were in bed by 7pm....a little bit of Jet Lag.

Woke up at 5am....but forced ourselves to go back to sleep until a more respectable hour. Had some breakfast and went into Nadi town centre to get a feel for the place. Fijians are a very friendly nation. We took a bus from town- to the marina where all the boats leave to take tourists island hopping (Fiji comprises of over 300 islands) Anyway, we somehow managed to miss our stop / or took the wrong bus - we found ourselves on a bumpy dirt road going through the rural areas. We didn't fell unsafe at any stage.

It's sugar cane harvesting season here so most the farms and roads are a hive of activity. Unbeknown to us, Fiji went through a military coo on 3rd December 2006, and after a lot of pressure from the EU formed an interim government, with hopes of a democratic election in early March 2009.

We've booked ourselves onto an island hopping jaunt. We've done some investigating and have been directed to an island that will have a big screen for the rugby. To be precise, Walu Beach on Malolo Isalnd. Can't wait to watch the mighty Boks after reading about last week's result!

We'll be out of contact for 5 days, so don't bother reading the blog and NO COMPLAINTS! So in the mean time please all feel free to send us some emails with news. We'll expect a full inbox

Day 60 - Last night in the US of A

Our last night in the US has come so quickly. We spent it in a motel near the airport (LAX)

Our little summary:

We have covered 13,415 miles from London Heathrow to LAX.
We've stayed in a structure (Hotel/Motel/Hostel & Neil and Mich's) for 22 nights.
We've camped for 38 nights.
We've crossed 3 time zones.
We've been into 17 States.

Some colloquialisms that have made us giggle:

Pecan (as in the nut) - pronounced as p'khan
Prius - Pree-us
Herb - 'erb
Anything well done is "Good Jaaaab"
Most dogs are called "Bud" - Buuuud

Camping is by far our favourite thing to do. We've loved every single night that we have slept in our tent, from the unbearable heat, to the leaky old tent, to the new tent, to the snow blizzard that we got caught in. In fact, I was very sad when we had to pack the tent up and send it home (My Daddy is going to have a nice job cleaning that!! But I'm sure he'll do a "good jaaaaab")

Peter and I have come to realise that we are both simple souls. Being out in nature, sleeping in a tent and eating camping mush is when we are the happiest - while going into cities and staying in hotels is fun, it just doesn't compare. When we finally get home, we'll be doing loads of camping, so those at home be prepared!!

Even though we have driven across the country, we probably didn't even scratch the surface. Some states were not worth stopping in, while in others you could probably spend months and not see it all. Our favourite places by far have been the Rocky Mountains and California.

Americans (in their own country) are not nearly as obnoxious as we thought before we got here, in fact 99% of the Yanks we have met along the way were incredibly friendly. For all the flag waving and rah, rah, rah you see in the movies, they are a fiercely patriotic country. They simply love their country, and for that you can't really fault them. We wish more South Africans could display as much patriotism.

All in all, we've loved this first stretch of the journey and are looking forward to our next stop - FIJI, so until then.........

Back to Southern California - Days 57 - 59

We've spent the last few days in the US in the trusted State Beach Campsite, San Celmente to be precise. Now until this point, we hadn't realised how lucky we have been - apparently these campsites are fully booked 7 months in advance, so today for the first time we have been entered into the lottery for all those who have arrived without a reservation.We got lucky the 1st day. It was here that we met the Thornton family who were our neighbours. John, Kandy and their kids, Jenn and John Jr took pity on these poor foreigners that were huddling around their cheap, 3 log campfire with no camping chairs. The Thornton's offered us their surplus chairs as a means of breaking the ice. John, a carpenter by trade, took pity on our little campfire and dumped a few logs on our flames and we all got to chatting about our travels to date and their affinity for South Africans. It turns out that they were good friends of Greg Alberteyn and Elmer Symons, the latter sadly passed away in the DAKAR Rally 2 years ago.

We lost the lottery the next day, but the Thornton's kindly offered to let us stay on their site for the night and treated us to an American BBQ. Steak, Salmon, corn, salad and caprese starters with fresh basil from John's home grown garden. A couple hundred kilos of surplus building material made for an awesome campfire after dinner and the stories that go with it. My Favourite being John's nostalgic recollection of his first date with Kandy almost 30 years ago. Ironically it took place at the same said campground that we were all at. The date did not go according to plan. John, convinced that he was out of Kandy's league, approached the "let's bag the younger sister theory" He arranged a double date with a mate and Kandy's sister - the girls left the boys high and literally dry, in John's own amusing words, at the end of the night there was no beer, no chicks and no camp fire. All that said and done, he seemed to have done enough, 25 years later they remain married with 2 cool well adjusted kids, who both seem to appreciate what their parents have done for them.

To the Thorton's: - thank you sincerely for your generosity, company, restoring our faith in family values and above all allowing Kim and I to see past the "loud, obnoxious stereo-type Yanks" we got to know in London. If Kim and I have half the respect you already enjoy from your children when we are your age, we'll be in a great place. Looking forward to putting you up in Cape Town one day.....sooner rather than later.

Vegas baby!!! Days 55 & 56

Cruising 320miles from the South Cal. coast to Las Vegas, we both watched watched the temp gauge in the car rise sharply from a bearable 68F to a whopping 109F (43C!). We hadn't really felt the heat yet because the Ac was working overtime in the Prius but, about 40miles short of Vegas it was time for a pitstop for water (note Dawie: NO petrol required yet) Holy Crap, 43C is hot! Vegas really is the middle of nowhere; driving out of the Mojave mountain range on the I-5 interstate a valley which the gambling capitol of the world has been built. On Niel and Mich's recommendation booked at least 2 nights at the MGM Grand on the famed Las Vegas Strip. At $90 per night, it kicked the sh*t out of the ridiculously over priced hostel in San Fransisco. Our room was 4 times the size with aircon, marbled en suite, cable TV and a palatial king size bed that probably won't have even made it into our San Fran room!
Most of the 1st night was spent walking The Strip just to get a real feel for the place. It definitely lived up to the hype, a city lit up like a Xmas tree, casino's the size of Cape Town in abundance and the (highlight for me) the water fountain in front of the Balaggio synchronised to a Frank Sinatra tune. 24 Hour gambling is obviously the main attraction - At one point we watched this poor middle aged lady blowing $200 on the slots in about 2 minutes flat - She wasn't even looking at the machine! just nonchalantly pushing the dial listening to her $1 units progressively disappear into the thirsty trinket. Scary! Most of you know my theory on gambling: THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS, and although very tempting, watching the poor schmucks lose blowing their cash all night convinced us that our unit was going to be the 5c piece. As expected our $15 budget lasted all of 20minutes.......I'll come back here one day when I have enough not to have to worry .......

The Grand Canyon was few hours away and Kimmy and I were both keen to get a few decent snaps of one of the great natural wonders of the world. BE WARNED! this is a "Tommy Tourist" trap from hell. A 2 and a half hour drive East of Vegas to the Sky Walk(a vantage point for tourists to get photo opportunities) is well sign posted all the way but, at no point is there ever an indication of costs (not even on the brochures in Vegas) - So we finally turn off the interstate onto a 20mile gravel road (that our Prius is NOT thank us for) and an ominous sign pops up that we can expect additional charges over and above the $20 parking.....Mmmmmmm? We're both thinking, "how much can it be to get to the sky walk and take a few photo's?" 300miles of interstate, 40miles of dirt road, $20 to park, $30 each to catch a 10minute bus ride to the the Sky Walk, $35 each to get onto the thing and wait for it....................!!! You CAN"T TAKE YOUR OWN CAMERA!! $150 + petrol and you still have to buy the photo's from them - we promptly turned around to go back to Vegas.

Southern California - Days 48-53

SUNSHINE!! Happy Days! We've reached the famed surf coastline and the fog finally seems to be giving way. Found an awesome State Campground about 40miles north of Santa Barbara and our site, situated on a cliff top above the beach with 270 degree sea views, is the best yet. The sun has allowed Kim to get her bikini on and the water is warm enough to brave for longer than 5 minutes. an added bonus, was that I managed to get involved in a game of touch rugby where a fellow SAFFA was teaching a few yanks. It took him a few minutes to realise that I was a fellow countryman (had to be the deft passing skills and straight lines I was running) but when he did the 1st words to come out of his mouth were beautifully Afrikaans, "Wat die DONNER maak jy hier!!" Thanks to Mr. Marlboro Lights I lasted all of 45 minute (longer then expected actually) but, love every minute of it. The "camp Kommadant" raised the RED alarm (i.e. no campfires) and listening to the radio the following day it sounds like we managed to get out of the Santa Barbara area just in time. The wild fires due to the dry conditions, high winds and electric storms made were spreading to just about 3miles from our campsite and when we woke the next morning the car and tent were covered in ash! Time to get outta here.

It's now the 3rd of July and with Kim's birthday fast approaching (along with the Independence Day celebrations) so we decided to book into a hotel in Newport Beach. We read somewhere that they have an annual fireworks display that worthwhile and having seen a few episodes of the OC (shameful, I know!) we thought this would be a good place to celebrate. Once again we've been taken aback by the sheer size of the places we visit. Newport Beach is on a peninsula about 10km long with only one entrance and exit. forget about parking anywhere near the beach! The locals simply hire bicycles and pedal to where they want to lay down their towels. Spot the tourist trying to find parking?! Rogers and I looked liked numpties until we caught on. Newport Beach is NOT for those conscious of the their bodies! Today it was filled with college jocks flexing their pecks, loads of silicone (in 20year olds as well as 60) and all were consuming vast quantities of cheap vodka from about 12 noon - generally, just a large meat market and not really what we were looking for. We had a quick burger and moved on to Newport Yacht club where, it turned out, that the fireworks show was actually based. Preceded by a moving tribute of a Newport based soldier who was killed the day before and the national anthem the fireworks did not disappoint. Kimmy is a year older and she has finally fulfilled her wish to celebrate her 4th July birthday with the US Independence day fireworks celebration.

We've edged our way further south towards San Diego via San Clemente and Laguna beaches and we both agree that this is our favourite stretch so far. A lot more relaxed and less pretentious. We're again staying in a State Beach campsite that is a few steps away from the beach filled with surfers of all age groups and skill level. I've spent loads of time on the beach just enviously watching these guys(and girls) take to the gentle 2-3 footers (mostly on long boards) and wish that I had taken up the sport as a "lighty"......maybe we'll find some time during this holiday to both give it a go, it's not like we have to go to work or anything. We're planning 2 days in Vegas that should include a drive past the Grand Canyon before we head back to LA end of the week for our flight to Fiji....might catch those surfing lessons before we leave the US.

San Fransisco Bay Area - Days 45-47

Stayed in another KOA site just north of SanFan today as our booking for the HI Hostel in the city is for early tomorrow. As we're on a fairly tight schedule we've decided to spend 2 days in the city. Our photo's are still being spoilt by the persistent fog that rolls in off the Pacific every morning but, we've managed to get a few "goodies" of the the quintessential San Fransisco landmarks: The Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and a ride on the tram system were the highlights just in time for the sun to finally burn through the fog in the afternoon. Took a stroll down Fisherman's Wharf where we sampled our 1st bit of Clam Chowder (famous in these parts) in a bowl of 'sourdough bread" - It's a bit like "fish soup Bunny chow"- not actually as bad as it sounds in fact, very very tasty. That was the starter. I thought I had tasted the best seafood dish in Vancouver the previous week, however, a combination of crab claws, clams, calamari, line fish, mussels, prawns in a tomato based "chillish" sauce was comfortably the winner. In great American tradition, the meal was served in a bowl size more reminiscent of something out of an Asterix and Obelix back page banquet and try as I may, there was simply no chance I could finish it! I think my belly is getting smaller from the camping rations we have been subjecting ourselves to. The undulating SanFran topography made for interesting site viewing and pics along every turn, I only wish we had more time to explore the city but there is more of California to visit. Like Vancouver, I will definitely want to make a return visit here one day. We're back in out trusty Toyota Prius tomorrow, heading towards the beaches and surf havens of Southern California.