Bounty Island, Yasawa Islands, Fiji, South Pacific - 11.16.2010

Wow - good fun here in Fiji, that's for sure! Just being able to dive in warm water is great! It's not as warm as Cabo was a few weeks ago, but with my 1.5mm suit it's not too bad - cold isn't a factor. I'm craving some gear though, and I'm already salivating over certain bits of dive and camera gear here in internet land...

Anywho, here is what I've written so far, not proof-read or even re-read for that matter, so I hope I wasn't too loopy in any of it for the humble reading masses of dannyblanchard.blogspot.com! : )

Enjoy! (and P.S. Mom: We're not dead on a beach somewhere!)




11.07.2010, Alaska Airlines Flight blah blah blah to LAX, elevation 40,000ft

Holy Moley, we’re actually on our way! I’ve been slowly assembling various bits and pieces of gear for the last month or so with this trip in mind, but until 11:00pm last night I had yet to even attempt to fit any of it in my backpack. Aimee, on the other hand, has been organizing, test-fitting, and planning like a… normal person! We took out the trash, washed the dishes, emptied out the refrigerator, and added the latest bits to our living will’s – and hit the road. This trip is going to be an epic, and that’s not hopeful optimism speaking – it’s the troof! When my dad proposed the idea last winter over a few rounds of beer at a local pub, we all walked away in a state of dazed and hopeful (if not a bit scheptical) excitement – opportunities like this don’t come down the chute very often, if at all, for most people, and we weren’t about to piss it away. Aimee and I said “We’re in!” on the spot, and a couple weeks later were freezing our asses off at Alki Point finishing up our PADI Open Water Diver’s Course. We figured that if for some galacticly (it’s a word in my dictionary…) spectacular reason all the pieces of this travel puzzle were to fall in place, we couldn’t be left with our wetsuits down. Soon after certification was completed we spent a bit more than a week in Puerto Vallarta testing the waters, our new gear, and our travel compatibility. I’m still working on being less of an ass, and Aimee, well, she’s probably going to come up with more adjectives for me by the end of this here journey… : ) But in all seriousness, we’re totally spoiled to get an opportunity like this, and on that note, we’re going to try to “do it up” as best we can, because to do any less would only be an insult to those who can’t. As with travel writing I’ve done in the past, my main purpose is to make those who are living comfortable, non-challenging lives to get off their proverbal butts and do something that is far beyond their normal routine – to toss it up. You can tell folks over cocktails that the water was amazing, or that the food was exotic, but photos, videos, and the accompanying text, in my mind, are far more potent persuaders. So, pay off the credit cards, fill a hollowed book with cash, renew your passport, get your tetnus and hepatitis shots, lease your place to a friend for a month or so, and make an investment in your sanity by jumping/leaping/flying/falling out of your routine. As ZooLander would say: “Do it. Do it. Do it.”

Next Stop: Nadi International Airport, Viti Levu, Fiji.

Peace yo!

11.10.2010, Tavewa Island, Coral View Island Resort, Bure #1

Wow. We traveled quite a bit yesterday, and last night’s sleep made up for it, and the dinner we had just threw us further into a state of comfort. On the plane ride to Fiji we rode on a old (it had ashtrays) Boeing 747-400, and it was the most bumpy ride I’ve ever had. On a plane that long, and in the weather we were going through, the entire fuselage took on a wagging motion, or perhaps a slithering one, throwing our entire bodies around in our seats like jumping beans. Soon after we got on the plane we were served dinner, but we both fell asleep (to a degree). Some time later we awoke to find that the dinner’s we were planning to eat had been taken from the tray right in front of us while we slept, and that was a bummer. But then Aimee started getting all extra stressed about it (I just thought she was REALLY hungry at first), and then she said that her iPod had been set on the dinner tray that was now gone. Shit. It had been dark, the cabin folks wanted to clear tables, and they didn’t want to wake us up. OR: the cabin crew was super hungry too, snatched our food, stole what they could, and pretended that the rough ride was normal. Who knows. : ) But either way, iPod is in a garbage can at the airport somewhere, and that sucks. BUT: after getting off the plane at 4:40am local time (about 8:00am for us – it’s an 18hour time difference, I believe), we walked through customs and saw a flyer for a local backpackers hotel that had dorm beds for $12FJD (about $7USD) per person/per night, with a free airport pickup. Sold. After a few minutes of waiting at the taxi pickup area of the terminal we met ‘Kesh, a hotel employee that spoke good English (god help us if we tried to understand Fijian beyond the greetings) and helped us make some travel plans for our time here in the land of…Bula! So we bit an rather pricy bullet, but now our three weeks here is rather planned out, but with a degree of freedom along the way, and we’re loving it so far! We’ll be paying about $2500FJD each to do the following: 7 days and 6 nights in the Yasawa Islands in private rooms and all meals included, with transportation between the islands on the Yasawa Flyer included. Also, and the south end of the Yasawa’s we’ll be spending one day/night at Bounty island, then traveling west by a smaller boat to Mana Island, where we’ll stay for 4 days, again with room and food included. On our last day/night in the Yasawa island area we’ll be staying at a supposedly swanky “4-star” resort of some type outside of Nadi (this is where we flew into, and it is prounounced “Non-Dee.”) to “relax before (we) go backpacking around the mainland” as ‘Kesh encouraged. It was cheap, looked nice in the pictures (that were probably taken 30 years ago, or at a different hotel… : ), and what the hell, you only live once! So after that we signed up for the Fiji Experience Hula Hoop pass with the dorm accommodation package (includes 4 nights of hotel stays in dorm rooms, plus 3-meals per day, I think….), although we’re going to take 7-8 days and just pay the extra $ to individual hotels/hostels along the way and enjoy the places we really like that much more! With this Fiji Experience pass we can hop on and off busses that are circling the island in 3-5hour increments, stopping in places along the way that may be of interest to travelers. Everything we read about Nadi was confirmed by ‘Kesh, other travelers, and our own observations: it’s a transportation hub, not exactly the Fiji that you would want to vacation at. So at his encouragement (mostly due to the fact that weather is becoming wetter) we headed out to the islands first, and we’ll be doing the mainland (big island of Viti Levu) tour later in the trip when the rains come down and the floods come up…

But about the islands, so far: They’re freaking beautiful, lots of blue (warm!) water, friendly folks, and there has been (well, at least on this island) power to charge the cameras and computer, which was unexpected. Also unexpected was the running water, flushing toilet, nice rooms, and an ocean breeze. The wind makes air conditioning unnecessary, and I like it better that way anywho. Aimee and I went on a walk around our island yesterday, Tavewa, and we met Blue Sea Stars, Sally-Lightfoot Crabs, two island doggies that loved bounding around like deer in the water while chasing fish, lots of climbing crabs, and hermit crabs. We just finished breakfast with some folks from Quebec (k’bec), real French speakers, and I’m totally buzzed on instant coffee. YAY!! Anywho, we have to check out now, then I’m going to tinker with my kite/camera rig and maybe get some shots of the south part of this island (we’re going to walk the beach….again…tough life…).

11.13.2010 Naviti Island, Korovou Resort, Beachfront Bure #6

Gosh, Fiji is great! After checking out at Coral View on the 10th, we were taken out to the Yasawa Flyer where we scrambled to get reservations for our next stop (which we hadn’t picked, as there are several options, but not every resort has availability), and in a mad dash before the ferry passed our top pick, we secured a room at the Gold Coast Resort and jumped into a Panga with a fellow named Bill. We drove to the NE around to the windward side of the island where the resort is located, hit the beach (softly), and checked in with the friendly host. When we got to our Bure (boo-ray) we found a super soft bed with a full canopied mosquito net (which didn’t keep us from getting bit, but hey, it’s the tropics), a rain-water shower and toilet, and east-facing windows that let in a fresh breeze all day long. In addition to letting in the cool wind, we found that early each morning, we could turn over in bed and look right out the window at the rising sun – quite unexpected, but seeing as the resort just down the beach is called “Sunrise Resort,” is shouldn’t have been such a surprise. : ) Once we determined that the accommodations were plenty swanky for our needs, we loaded up the diving gear and went on a hike across the island to the Blue Lagoon, as in where the movies were filmed. Of course, with my expert knowledge of the area and acute sense of direction we became lost (of sorts…it is a small island after all) in just a matter of 10 minutes, and spent the next half-hour tromping around jungle trails that appeared to be made by a drunken snake. Eventually we hit a beach, but as famous as it apparently is, finding the Blue Lagoon isn’t so easy. FYI, all the freaking lagoons in this part of the world are blue. But thanks to tourism, we found a resort called Blue Lagoon Resort, and that seemed like a good place to strike up camp and head out into the unexplored azul. Note: a day later, two islands and a mile or so away, we picked some folks up at yet ANOTHER “Blue Lagoon Resort,” which immediately caused me to raise an eyebrow, while simultaneously tilting my head to the side… But back to the Lagoon: it’s blue because there is lots of sand, and it’s shallow, which leads to a lot of direct and reflected light bouncing around in shallow water, which refracts as blue. There is also a fair amount of coral, lots of little reef fishes, and other kritters that deserve plenty of staring. I really wished I had a total encyclopedia of ocean life on my computer, covering fishes, corals, mammals, plants, and all the other critters that I don’t know much about. There was a fish guide at one of the resorts, titled “Indo-Pacific Field Guide(to fishes and marine life?)” or something like that, and it had great pictures and illustrations of fish, coral, sponges, limited mammals, plants, and all sorts of goodies like temperature ranges and seasonal info. I really wish I could have volumes of searchable content like that all on my computer, because at the end of each day it’s cool to be able to title videos and photos with what you saw, and have a little bit of education to go along with it. Anywho, I took far too many videos with my GoPro that day, but I did get some neat shots of a Lionfish, some coralheads, and us! I bought a $19 black anodized aluminum monopod the day before we left, and I also picked up a headlamp-like mount for my GoPro, so in addition to the kite rig, I have all sorts of camera attachments for fueling my interest in new and different ways to play. As Aimee pointed out this morning when I woke up at 7:00am, “You never stop going, do you? : )” and I like it that way. I can’t JUST snorkel, or walk, or sit: I have to be doing something, anything! After leaving the Blue Lagoon we headed back to base, napped for 3 hours, and repeated the same thing the next day, minus the mis-guided trek. : ) But unlike the first day, we had a couple of hang-ups. Aimee unfortunately developed ear issues similar to what I had when I was diving with Christian off Catalina Island this summer in California, in that she had serious problems equalizing when diving to 10 feet or deeper, and like me, she pushed a little too hard and ended up with a bit of a whistling ear and degraded hearing, in addition to a bleeding nose while diving (burst blood vessels in the nose are apparently common when first free-diving – I got it for the first 10 hours or so in the water this summer, but it’s gone now). So she hit the beach early in the afternoon, and I continued for about an hour by myself, but poor visibility (we were getting some stronger northeast winds) and lack of fitness brought me back to the beach before too much time had passed. So we struck off to a nearby resort and had a wonderful lunch (a burger, my first in 11 days, and Aimee had local fish ‘n chips with mango salad…mmm-mmh-good!), then worked our way back over the island and home for the evening. Whew! These are rough times, I tell you! : ) That night we played some easy card games (I learned “Spit,” and then we tried “Go-Fish” just to be a bit themed), then had a Parrot fish, taro root, and coleslaw dinner with our six other resort-mates, and then retired to our little Bure for another solid 10-hour sleep. : ) The next morning (the 12th) we were checking out, ending our two-night stay, and moving onto the Korovou Resort (which came recommended for no specific reason over it’s cheaper beach neighbor “White Sandy Resort.” But before we headed out, we threw down a few bucks to do the “Cave Trip” with some of the folks we had met the night before, and it was well worth the extra money. If you come to visit the Yasawa Islands, you’ll find that at each resort there are always extra activities you can partake in at varying levels of cost, and at the Gold Coast Resort, the “Cave Trip” was one of them. So we all waited on the rather windy (20-25kts) beach for our water taxi (20’ riveted aluminum panga) to arrive, then we all piled in and prepared to get wet. The trip was about 3-4 miles in length, mostly up-wind, and probably 2/3 of it was in the lee of Nacula Island, which helped us stay dry. That said, we got f-ing soaked! About 30 seconds after leaving the beach, he puts on a mask, shoves a snorkel in his mouth, and lays on the throttle, taking the sturdy Yamaha Enduro 40hp to wide-open and rocketing us through the spray at 20-knots, then mumbles something that sounded like, to some folks shock at dismay, “we’ll be there in 45-minutes.” Aimee (and probably some disgusted passengers) will tell you that I was beaming the entire time, with a smile plastered on my face as wave after wave slammed into the hull and sent countless gallons of warm salt water showing down on us. It was everything I love about live in the islands: water, boats, and warmth! Once we got to the caves we started to freeze a bit (still quite windy), so I jumped into the water while we waited for other folks to clear out, and it was quite nice (plus I had to take a piss). Apparently the cave is on private property, and everyone pays the landowner $5FJD (BTW, all references from here on out concerning money will be in Fijian dollars, which at this time are darn near 2:1 for USD – except for when we’re in the Solomons) to pay for upkeep and staffing, as there is a section where you have to go underwater (guides on each side with lights, mask and fins), and there is a bit of cement and rail work that has been built up to make the whole thing a bit safer. Anywho, once you get up to the entrance, you have to duck down and into the main chamber, where the super-high walls drop from 60+ feet above your head to nearly 20 feet below (which, in combination with the hand-hole-rittled wall, makes a great place to climb up and take a dive). Beyond that is the inner, dark cave that requires the brief underwater stint (just 2-3 seconds, really) – but at the end there is a vent that is only a few feet wide and goes straight upwards for probably 60’ or so, letting down enough light to see the other folks around you staring up in amazment and treading water at the same time. It really should be a new workout routine – it works the face, and the legs… After a bit we headed out, loaded up onto our water taxi, and flew back to our resort just in time to catch a ride back out to the Yasawa Flyer and onto our next destination, Korovou Resort.

As I write this, I’m sitting at the dining hall at Korovou, listening to the ceaseless Christian and Pop music that seems to be ever-present, regardless of the resort. As I look up from my screen I see a young couple walking around the fresh water swimming pool (which I think is the most stupid thing to have in Fiji – the water in the ocean is super warm, and there are cool things to look at!), and I’m contemplating whether or not I should go diving this morning, or edit photos and videos for a blog upload (which I haven’t done since Cabo, which is approaching two weeks ago – eeek!). I think I’ll do both. Since it was so heavily recommended, we paid $20ea extra each night to stay here at Korovou instead of White Sandy Beach Resort, but I think one could (and I would, in the future) stay at White Sandy and be just fine. The extra $$$ give us a pool, hot showers, a bath (cold water only) and electrical power – the power being the most valuable to me, as my camera gets lots of use, and it’s nice to charge the computer from time to time. But that said, we haven’t been to a resort yet that didn’t have some form of power available throughout the course of the day – so save what you can, keep it cheap, and enjoy the simple life. I’m on a horse. There is no SCUBA diving offered at this particular spot, but a “Plane Wreck Snorkeling Trip” is an extra activity for $30each, and I’m kicking it around, as most of the diving here is limited to about 25’ max (beyond that is just sand, and I’d like to see something cool and different. That said, I’m guessing it’s a rather shallow wreck, as it is called “snorkeling” and not “controlled breathing, low-volume-mask, minute-plus, weighted free-diving-on-a-plane trip.” Damn. I’m actually becoming a bit of a snob when it comes to diving, because I’ve seen what I feel is some pretty cool stuff with Christian while diving in both California (Bull kelp = awesome) and Mexico (deep walls and sea-mounts), and this kiddie-aquarium stuff leaves me wanting. I saw one decently-sized, red-colored snapper yesterday (maybe 2’ and 3-5lbs), but other than that I’d have to be using hand lines and bait to get me some reef fish to keep from starving. And the fact that I don’t have a speargun or sling doesn’t help either. I want to do OUTER reef dives: with Jacks, Barracuda, Grouper, sharks, and other pelagic critters that don’t just stare at you with the same stupid curiosity that we mirror back at them… : ) But enough cynicism – I’m going diving! I’ve been calming down more each day, controlling my breathing a movements in the water better, and yesterday (on my last dive, rather tired, after a two-hour session) I pulled off 52-seconds with about half of that time at 25’ – unweighted and quite buoyant (1.5mm suit, booties, 5mm head sock, and 3mm neoprene palmated gloves). Last night prior to dinner I did a beach walk and like David preparing for his bout with Goliath, I carefully went about picking up stones. Of course, the stones I picked up were about 1-2lbs each, flat and slightly curved, and smooth-ish. My method is to take my long sleeve UnderArmor shirt (that I found on a post while walking around Catalina Island this summer) and load it up with stones, then tie it around my waist as an improvisational weight belt for diving. I tried it on our second day at the Blue Lagoon, and it worked quite well, but I didn’t pack on enough weight, so today I’ll be developing a system for using my monopod, a waterbottle, and my weights to make a scale of sorts, so that at each stop on our trip I can pick up new rocks, dial in the correct weight with my makeshift scale, and dive well-weighted at each stop, without having to cart a bunch of rocks or lead around. So with that, I’m off!

Cheers,

Danny

11.15.2010, Waya Lailai Resort, Yasawa Islands, Room 201

This is our last official day of Bula Pass’ness (night six was last night), and today at 3:00pm the Yasawa Flyer is going to bum us down to Bounty Island where we’ll stay for a night before heading to Mana Island for 4-nights/5-days. I’ve spent a bit of time organizing videos and such, and doing some diving sketches and other random speculation regarding the physics of diving and how to best increase my performance under the great blue wet thing. I’m itching myself like a mad-man, since the mosquitos here are quite efficient in procuring my blood in exchange for their itch juice. Aimee is getting a “professional” massage for $40 today (1-hour, if I recall), and in the mean time most of us backpacker folks (although I feel the term is a bit more rugged than the people traveling here) are waiting for the southbound Flyer to whisk us off to South Sea Island, Bounty Island, or even back to Nadi. I watched Beverly Hills Cop #1 last night, and it was quite satisfactory, especially the music, which I strangely liked. This morning I attempted to fly my kite with the ol’ camera and a local boy, but the wind around this particular island is a bit dodgy and couldn’t keep her up for more than a few seconds, and I wasn’t about to send my baby to her death. So here I sit, and my desire to be busy is itching a bit. To dive, to improve, to write, to design, etc: I’m a bit of a work-a-holic, but I love it. Well, off we go, to something!

Danny