Bula from Fiji,

Time has been slowing ever since I started, but I think time has actually stopped here in Fiji. It is a very relaxing place. I came here to surf and I've had some good surf. They are reef breaks in the middle of the ocean. You get dropped off in a boat and paddle to the spot where the swell starts to break over the coral. It's cool sitting surrounded by so much water and also seeing the coral anywhere from 5 to 15 feet directly underneath you. I've had some good waves, but it has been small. I got to surf the famous Cloudbreak ( at Tavarua Island ) yesterday, but it was extremely small. We've seen great water life on the boat rides to the reef; dolphins, flying fish ( everywhere ), and turtles. I also went on a night dive and the highlight was a big sea turtle.

The Fijians are very friendly. Each night we enjoy their beautiful singing and guitar playing. I have had some of the Kava as well; a local root based drink ( novacaine-like ). We sit around listening to the singing and in general, chill out. Helps you sleep too. ( "Kava is good for you ooohhhhhh . . . Kava is medicine too ooohhhhhh" )

The routine here has been pretty tough. Breakfast, surf, lunch, sleep, pool/read/mudflat golf, happy hour, dinner, sleep. Repeat.

I head home tomorrow and I am looking forward to seeing friends and family very much. The trip has been really good, more than I could have ever anticipated. I have met so many people and consequently learned about many different opinions and perspectives on many subjects. I've seen and experienced so much as well!

Here are some fun facts to put the trip in perspective.

Cities/Towns Visited: 63
Countries Visited: 22
Liability Waiver forms signed: 19
Flights: 28
Days Surfed: 45
Beers Consumed: 500 ( * conservative estimate )
Youth Hostels: 34
# of times I heard Bush and a profanity used in the same sentence: 34

I hope you've enjoyed the updates. I've enjoyed writing them. If you want to read further I've passed out some international awards. These are meant to be light hearted! Just some odd, odds and ends, my quick impressions.

Craig

International Awards:

Norway: most flowing water, best national holiday
Denmark: prettiest girls, most white see-through linen pants
Finland: most saunas, most embracing ( capitalism, EU, etc. )
Sweden: prettiest port city
Scandinavia in General: best looking people, best quality of life
Estonia: quickest capitalism converts
Chamonix: most women walking dogs w/baguette in hand while riding a mountain bike
Switzerland: best dairy products; cheese, chocolate, mile, ice cream. Those cows really rock
Austria: most crosses seen ( on moutnain tops, around necks, etc. ), most women with died red hair, most lederhosen ( well to be fair, I stumbled apon a town fair )
Slovenia: most undiscovered, best rural/farm towns
Spain: most varied culture, latest dinner eaters, friendliest girls - "Ola" and a smile is all you need
Amsterdam: best coffee shops :-)
Tanzania: most animal shit per square foot - obviously fantastic wildlife, prettiest grass plain in the Serengetti
Rwanda: making it work at all costs - living together in harmony under the most trying of circumstances, the shadow of the genocide
Botswana: most ecotourism savvy
South Africa: most politically charged, best surf breaks
Australia: most girls surfing in bikinis, need I say anymore?!
New Zealand: strongest sun, most diverse terrain
Fiji: most beautiful singing, most stress free

New Zealand has been Sweet As or Good As or Flash ( all local slang for really good )! It has been a whirlwind. I flew into Christchurch on New Year's Day and made it to the southern part of the South Island to a small town called Te Anau. It sits on a huge lake and is one of the gateways to Fjordland National Park. It is also the gateway for one of the Major Tracks, the Kepler Track, which I did over the following 3 days. It was very pretty. It started on the shores of Lake Te Anau, went above treeline and roamed a ridge system ( with grassy tullocks and coral looking mosses ) perched high above a narrow arm of the the lake, then into a mossy tree forest with beautiful groves of ferns and clear running streams, and finally to the peaceful shores of a mist covered lake. You stay at really nice huts along the way with gas stoves. All you need is a sleeping bag and dried food. I made the huge mistake of adding rental boots however. Big Mistake. My feet were in agony for 3 days, huge blisters. I thought I'd need them for downpours. Turned out it did pour down rain on the 3rd day, but I would have killed for soaking wet running shoes. The other pain was the dreaded sand fly. They are a different version of ruthless mosquitos.

From Te Anau, I took a day trip to the famous Milford Sound and took a cruise. I also saw the trail heads of the Milford and Routeburn Tracks. Very pretty, glacier covered mountains. The next day, I bused it to Queenstown and did the original bungy jump at the Karawara Bridge. I had seen a picture of a girl jumping off this bridge in a Patagonia catalouge years ago. I have thought about ever since. It has grown to Disneyland type proportions with a huge ticket taking building on-site complete with cafes, gift shops, and a viewing platform. It was still awesome. I was ok until the moment just after I jumped. My heart rate went from just above resting to red line in about 1 second. The split second after I jumped, I thought, "Oh Shit!!!!!!!!". I really didn't see how I was going to make it through the next 40 meters. However, I lived. It is probably the single most thrilling thing I've experienced.

The next two days I spent in Central Otaga in Cromwell, fly fishing for Brown Trout. Dick, my guide, walked up a river identifying fish. I then scared them away by dropping the fly or fly line right on top of their head. We performed this ritual religiously for the next two days. Brown Trout stop eating the second they know something is up. If they didn't see me, as I said, they soon saw my line. It was georgeous scenary and great exploring the clear blue and evergreen colored rivers in hip waders. I did also catch a 4 pound Brown on my first day! We changed the fly 3 times before he took it. He actually saw and ignored the previous 2, but the 3rd did the trick. We saw his big head rise up out of the water to take the fly. A very cool sport, but extremely difficult.

I also bused it over to Mt. Cook just to see the mountain. We had a clear view of it. It is a massive, glacier covered mountain that rises very high above the surrounding mountains.

My surfing resumed again on the North Island. I did a 5 day surf safari. 7 of us were driven around by our guide, Judd, and he found the best surf spots for us each day. We surfed the Northland section and both West and East Coasts. I has some of the most fun surfing yet. One day, I caught so many waves I lost track of how many. That was a first and I had so many long, fun rides. The day after the surf sarfari was over, I flew to Gisborne on the East side of the North Island ( Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand at Gisborne. I'm reading Blue Latitudes so I checked out all the stuff he mentions in the New Zealand chapter ). I just spent the last 6 days here surfing with two great guides, David and John. David lives right on the beach and we mostly surfed the break right in front of his house. Not a bad life. I surfed some of my biggest waves yet. Yesterday, I got one which was such a thrill, got it at the steepest point and felt a rush as I flew down at a steep angle with the water rushing beneath my board, similar to the bungy. We were in the water for over 3 hours, another first.

I leave Gisborne in a few hours and fly to Fiji tomorrow.