20051007 Taupo - Dicky Flats, NZ

Raining today as we left Taupo, decided to split off to the Coromandel Penninsula. Found a DOC site in the middle of nowhere next to a river. Explored, cooked, ate, chilled, read, slept.

20051007 Taupo - Dicky Flats, NZ Gallery

20051005-06 Taupo, NZ

Began heading north again. Stopped in Taupo on Lake Taupo, Nzs biggest lake. Parked up on the Huka river for 2 nights. Saw Huka Falls a huge volume of water escaping through a small crack in the rock, the bluest water I have ever seen. Wanted to jump out of a plane but the weather was having none of it for the whole time we were there, so I headed on somewhat empty. Ill be back.

20051005-06 Taupo, NZ Gallery

20051004 Ohakune, Mt Rupaheu, NZ

Made camp in a chalet at the bottom of Mt. Rupaheu (an active volcano) for 8 days to get some final snowboarding in, due to poor weather only got 4 days out of it. But really enjoyed the days we had, 2 huge ski fields and nailed some more tricks before I finished up. Ohakune was a small odd hick type town, one which I dont particularly want to go back to any time soon.

20050925 Kharanga National Park - Paekakariki, NZ

Rain, light. Got packed and set off to make the 1315 ferry. Passed through huge flat valleys and miles of vineyards in the Marlborough wine making region. Made the ferry, sailed through the beautiful Marlborough Sounds. Made it to Wellington and split from there pretty shortly, though I would have liked to spend some more time there, meet up with some friends and then head on, but sure I can travel back there before Sydney. Hit Paekakariki for the night, a very small coastal town, but it started raining shortly after we arrived and didnt I really get to appreciate it that much.

20050924 Greymouth - Kharanga National Park, NZ

Awoke to an overcast and drizzly day on a huge stoney beach. Departed for Westport taking in views similar to home to begin with then took the coastal road, heading past, cliffs, sea pillars and rugged beaches. The land then changing to look and feel like what Im guessing Hawaii is. Headed on towards Picton to catch the ferry to the North Island. Followed along the beautiful, twisty Buller river. My drivers got a little tired of driving so we stopped in a beautiful little wood by a river in Kharanga National Park. Made a campfire, had dinner, chilled out and slept.

20050923 Lake Paringa - Greymouth, NZ

Awoke at 10am, sandflies everywhere, little annoying mosquito type creatures that leave bites that itch for weeks. Beautiful view though, overlooking the lake and surrounding mountains behind. Visited the Fox glacier, a huge mass of ice that covers an entire valley.Travelled near the coast over many huge deltas and huge open plains. Had Turbot and chips in Hokitika before heading on to find a place to crash for the night. Ended up on the other side of Greymouth on a beautiful spot on the beach. Fell asleep to the sound of crashing waves.

20050922 NZ Tour begins Queenstown - Lake Paringa, NZ

After 3 and a half months as a resident in Queenstown NZ, I departed this morning to begin my tour of New Zealand with Geoff, Kate and James. We will travel to Auckland over 1-3 weeks taking it as it goes. We were meant to leave yesterday but people got lazy, suited perfect though because I got to attend Alesters birthday BBQ. Was a mammoth 12 hour feast, of tons of food, beer and Capirinha (brazilian drink). Took in so much incredible, contrasting scenery from alpine to tropical, Im now really appreciating what people say about this country.

20050917-21 Last night out & Alesters Birthday BBQ, Queenstown NZ Gallery

20050922 NZ Tour Queenstown - Lake Paringa, NZ

20050919 Preparing to depart QT

Snowing all day today in town, the 2nd time since I got here, very beautiful. Spent most of the planning my tour of New Zealand which I will embark upon next Wednesday with Kate, James and Geoff (our Wanaka friend) in the ambulance and Geoffs Hilux. Finished working this week, snowboarded on Remarks, had dinner at my neighbours, Dallas, had dinner at Fionas which Natalie (miles girlfriend) cooked delish, Also went out with Carly and Alester, quality night, my last in Queenstown. Oh, and Carly cooked dinner for us too one night.

20050911 House day out & BBQ

Set up the new BBQ Alester bought in the morning. Stunning day, totally sunny and not a cloud in the sky. Went to Mote Lake, 20 minutes away for a picnic & some fun with the gang and surprisingly most of the housemates came too. Rescued a sunken boat, got back to the house and had a BBQ, had lotsa steaks and Coronas, delicious. Got invited to a Fiji kava session by Carly (housemate) in some random house, was fun. Split for home and sleep.

20050904 Cardrona snowboarding & Base Party roadtrip, Wanaka

Its been a great last few days! (well even more great than usual) Was in Wanaka for the weekend : snowboarding on Cardrona with Kate, James, Abby, Fi, Lawrence and Geoff (our friend who we met last time at Treble Cone). A spectacular days riding with soft slushy snow, the boarder cross circuit was wicked! but put my ass in bad shape again. Went to the party hosted by Base (a local snowboarding store), nice setup sorta like the warehouse in Go, gig survived because of the last dj who played a thumping set but the rest of the music was a little boring A few nice girls but I was being a sissy, a little de-energised from not eating. Geoff was really cool and put us up for the night, great time chillin there. Went to the gym tonight with Alester, felt great, its time to start training and eating properly again. Loving life more than ever now, everything is really perfect. I find myself appreciating things more, the beauty in the scenery, friends, music, people, food, the girls;)

20050831

Easy days work. I still got the injury, need it to be better by the weekend for snowboarding on Cardrona and a party in Wanaka, expecting an excellent weekend. Chilled in Nicks with Brett tonight, played Need for speed underground on xbox with the steering wheel setup, listening to tunes and eating Fergs (which was meant to be our attempt at cooking dinner)

20050829

Late for work, I havent changed that much. Met Koji and Emi at lunch today to say our goodbyes, they go home to Japan in the next 2 days. They gave me 3 snowboard movies as a present, extremely kind of them and I really enjoyed watching them at dinner.

20050828

Went boarding yesterday with Kate and Abby, the lure was too much (the boarding), but I was punished for it and have now re-injured myself. Chilled today, watched a movie and researched what way Im going to travel New Zealand, Ive narrowed it down to the Kiwi Experience and the Magic Bus, to many choices.

20050826 A New Job

Started working today with a temp agency. Labouring sorta stuff, my brain is going to mush but theres nothing else I can do right now because of my injury theres no snowboarding. On $12 an hour which is pathetic, so Im not too enthusiastic about the job.

20050822 Remarks Snowboard shoot

I came back from my injury and had been boarding again. Was up on Coronet twice and Remarkables once in the last week. Had planned to go to Treble Cone again today but weather was bad so hit up Remarks instead. Went up with Kate, James and John and met Kates friend Abby up there. Had one of the best days yet up there, went off some pretty big jumps, landing 3 out of 4, the one I didnt land has left me in lots of pain when I sit down, or get up. Got quite a few video clips and plan to put together a movie by the end of the season. Went to see Wedding Crashers on Friday night, really enjoyed it, saw the new Jessica Simpson video, awesome stuff. Thursday night went out with Alester, chilled in the bar he works in till 1.30am then headed out with 2 of the Japanese girls he works with. Didnt get to bed till 7.30am.

20050813 Injury Number 1

Twisted my knee on the mountain today, landed a frontside 180 but then fell really badly and couldnt move my leg for about 5 minutes. Initially thought this was the end of my season, but looks like I should be better in a day or 2. Beautiful day of snowboarding, nice snow and sunny weather with great company.

20050812

Been snowboarding for the last 3 days straight. Theres been a huge dump of snow and the mountains awesome. Have learned a few tricks, been sick with a cold the today and yesterday, so couldnt go out

20050807 Wanaka Day Out

Had intended to be snowboarding today, but after waking up with a pulled muscle that wasnt a runner, instead went back to sleep, woke up at 1pm, wandered down to the kitchen for bf and 30 minutes later was on a roadtrip to Wanaka for some stuffs, again beautiful scenery. Chilled in a very empty, sterile new bar in what seemed like the middle of nowhere waiting for Brett to get back. Played free pool unbeaten against everyone and listened to tunes on the jukebox for an hour or 2. Visited some of Bretts friends, drinking coffee and hearing stories of wanaka and their old friends.

20050806

Had a rest in the morning, was out the night before in town with Nick, met up in debajo around 1am, some good tunes, not so many people. Alester came in, not happy, had lost his key through a hole in his pocket. After dancing myself out, went home about 4 to see Alester trying to open the door, a half hour later success. Went out tonight, hunting again. I was so cold that I did not take off my coat once that night. Went to Winnies first, very packed, lots of putinas. Went onto Barup then after searching for a nice venue. Got bored went home.

20050804 Eventually got to Treble Cone, working again with Brett

Working today with Brett again, easy stuff, sun bathing down all day and lunch on the lake is always sweet. Made it to Treble Cone in the end yesterday, beautiful views up there and even though snow was scarce in some areas, the runs that had snow were huge in width. Hit my chin on some ice and cut myself, blood gushing everywhere. Had an awesome road trip overall despite the breakdowns and setbacks and only getting 3 hours of boarding out of the whole trip.

20050802 Exploring outside Qt

Well its another while since I last wrote an entry, messin up I am. Went on a road trip to Treble Cone ski resort today (technically left yesterday, stayed overnight in Wanaka last night). Didnt actually make it up though, van broke half way up the mountain so spent the whole day trying to get it repaired. James who is a mechanic couldnt find what was going wrong so in the end had to get towed back into Wanaka to get it repaired at a garage. Im writing this from our van parked outside the garage now, about to go to sleep. Ive gotten really bad at updating this journal, dont know why. But summing whats happened over the last week or so: been looking for a job, possibly getting some IT job in the near future, worked as a kitchen hand in Captains restaurant one night. Went for a drive to Kingston, more beautiful scenery on the way there and back, its beautiful out here. Been out again with Alester, the brazilian again, teaching me in the ways of hunting. Cooked dinner together one night, brazilian style, took like 4 hours to cook it. The whole dining and cooking and eating experience is one where you prepare a little, drink and chill a little, prepare and cook some more, and cycle it over and over again till its ready, have to say it was a great experience. Did night skiing on Coronet Peak, immense sunsets, and is a really cool experience everyone should do, having tea at the top of the mountain surrounded by mountain peaks bathed in pink sunlight.

20050731 A drive to Kingston Gallery

20050723 Loosing track & Partying in Qt

Been hiccupping for over 2 hours now, its getting a bit much and Ive tried everything with no improvement. It started this morning at 0530 on the way home from a proper night out in Queenstown and within an hour of waking up it started again. Havent been updating this journal in a while and I guess Im loosing track of whats happening, need to start remembering to write the daily goings on. Been doing a lot of thinking lately about what Im doing next, was thinking of splitting from here very shortly but instead have now decided to stick it out till the snow goes away and then continue travelling on round New Zealand. Last night went out with a mate Alester, a Brazilian guy staying in my house. Had a really good night and hit Buffalo, Winnies, Chicos, Debajo and Tardis bars. Hunting we called it. Headed tonight to Concord Dawn with Kate, hit barup beforehand, nice bar.

20050714-19 Boarding Coronet & Remaarks Gallery

20050710 Big Air!

Went to the Big Air Competition on Coronet Peak an event part of the Queenstown Festival. One of my Japanese friends Ami competed. Was well setup with hip-hop/breaks Dj Endo, stunt planes, paragliders and base jumpers (from the paragliders). Some insane tricks were put on from both the skiers and snowboarders with a lot of wipe-outs. In the end Emi came out with the womens snowboard division 1st prize of $1000. We then headed straight onto Altitude for the competition after party, was semi fun with some fitness. After 2 drinks we headed onto Kojis house to continue the party there, had a super time, partying with them is always cool.

20050708-09 Kayaking on Lake Hayes Gallery

20050704 Time flies in Queenstown

Time is flying here, cannot believe its 2 weeks since I last wrote something, feels like yesterday. Been nearly snowboarding everyday, much easier than looking for a job, though I have been searching a ltttle bit. Ive gotten to a semi-advanced level at it, and can do most anything with the board now. Tackled one of the black runs (advanced) yesterday, had to hike up for 20 minutes then took a near vertical drop of the other side of the mountain, biggest adrenaline rush Ive ever had and gotta do it again soon. It is so beautiful up there; the pictures I think just dont do it justice. Queenstown is a great place to party, have had quite a few awesome nights, one night hanging out with some crazy Japanese snowboarders was extremely cool, and have had so many other great nights with new friends. Got a days work moving rocks around tomorrow for Brett, a stone mason, who lives in my house, should be a fun day. Really trying to figure out what way to do the next few months, whether to stay here, or move somewhere else and work there.

20050612-18 Snowboarding Coronet Peak & Found in Translation Gallery

20050627-30 More boarding on Coronet Peak Gallery

20050701-04 Snowboarding on the Remarks Gallery

20050619 Settling down

Moved into my new house today, my rooms got a view of the remarkable mountains on one side and the Luge bungee jump on the other. Yesterday hit the mountain again, but it was way too icey to learn anything new. Went out last night with Sarah and some people she lives with, went to altitude (like a more modern version of what the palace used be like), then buffalo (nice bar, big fire, $2 a beer), fergburger (for some amazing huge burgers, met ian and claire, who were on the feejee experience), pool lounge (where I won one game and sadly lost the next), debajo (tiny underground club with some nice funky house, though dead) and finally to tardis (very cool, small, hiphop/dnb/breaks bar) where I stayed until 4am and went home with a cold, enjoyable night though.

20050616 Snowboarding improving

Nailed the turning, now doing the M1 (biggest slope open on the mountain so far) without falling. Learned how to ollie the board (jump from flat) from a guy from Oz called Peter (20 year old finance broker). Yesterday met himself and a girl, Sarah from the Uk, she had been slagging me about a fall I had on the 1st day and I saw her on the 2nd day getting her arm stuck in the chair lift and being dragged back down the mountain, so I got her back for that (though it did look quite nasty).Its more fun when you have a group boarding together, laughing at the mistakes.

20050614 So … much … pain!

In recovery today, taking a day off from the mountain. Everything hurts right now, particularly my upper back and my ass. Had a great last 2 days snowboarding on the mountain, nailed the turns somewhat, I can do them pretty good but I’m still falling and had a nasty one yesterday just before I went back, mountain patrol came over to check on me. Think ive figured out what I’m doing wrong so should know what not to do tomorrow. Moved to a different hostel today, Deco’s, nice enough and it’ll do until I move into my house on Sunday. From now on I’ll be trying to keep a more detailed account of what’s happening cos I think I’m forgetting stuff.

20050611 Queenstown my new home & Snowboarding Day 1

Another new experience, my new love, today I did my 1st day of snowboarding ever. Absolutely loved the whole day, including the numerous falls and a few absolute wipeouts, but as it goes in some situations no pain, no gain. After an hour on the beginner slope I was moving the board around pretty nicely, so i was told to move onto the next slope up, took me a while to get used to the chair lifts (though at the very end of the day found a nice way of sitting on the board and sliding off). By the end of the day I think we had done about 10-15 runs and I now am getting the hang of carving and turning. Tomorrow after few more runs on the same slope were heading up to the top of the mountain, its freakin crazily steep and I may not survive, but I still cant wait. My speedy progress would not be only for the help of my new german instructor and friend, Annalena, she was so cool telling me how to start and how I was going wrong and waiting for me and everything. Tomorrow herself, myself, Andy (girl from the UK I met a week ago, sorta got the whole Avril Lavigne thing goin on) and her friend Kim (I think) are heading up together.
In the last 4 days Ive been meeting a lot of cool people, more so than previous, and partying quite a bit too. Met two girls from Bristol, Claire and Helen, and had lots of fun chillin, having dinner (introduced me to the world of free backpacker bar meals), watching movies(introduced Helen to Rules of Attraction, Ferris Bueller and that clip with the star wars nerds) and going out with them. Myself and Helen got on really well, we ended up heading out one night, just the 2 of us and it was really interesting and cool listening to her life story summed up in one nights conversation and you cannot beat $2 (€1.10) a pint for beer. Yet again another gap year student, I believe she payed for the trip herself but was quite impressed with her step father driving a Ferrari 550 Baracheta, though its a bit extreme putting a dehumidifier in the garage! They left for Christchurch yesterday, rushing to get in more scenery before hitting Fiji. Last night had another party with Andy, Annalena and others from the hostel I met at Frasers bar during the rugby (BTW watching the Lions tour here is really cool and great atmosphere during and after the games), headed onto Winnie Bagoes (server of the $2 pints) and it got a bit crazy with girls dancing on tables, etc. The winter tourist season doesnt start for another 2 weeks at least, and I cant imagine how absolutely crazy partys are going to be then, cannot wait my friends! I think thats the longest post yet, Ill have pics of the skiing, the parties and all the fun up as soon as possible.

20050608-10 World Bar & Winnie Bagoes Gallery

20050605 A few days in

Well not much has happened over the last few days, been looking for somewhere suitable to stay for the winter and been sorta just settling in. Still staying at the same hostel, the people are quite boring, don’t really know how to take care of themselves and have been doing my own thing since I got here. It’s a huge contrast to fiji, most if not all of the backpackers here are scruffy, unfit looking people with absolutely no care for how they dress or eat. The majority of them seem to live on noodles and bread and have seen myself falling into there ill diet, I actually bought bread the other day! but I’ve put a stop to it. Hit the gym today, was great to get training again, it’s the best gym layout I’ve ever seen and will join for the four months if I can find the time or the money. The interior is like a luxury hotel with all the equipment one should ever need. Apparently there’s a better one somewhere else in town, which I’ll check out next. Real happy the way my body has held up since I left home, have lost a stone but seems to be mainly fat. Don’t really have a plan for this week except get job and flat and hit the gym again, still waiting for the slopes to open up.

20050601-03 Christchurch – Queenstown & Remarkable Mountains Gallery

20050601 Christchurch to Queenstown

Missed my ride to Queenstown due to spending so much time ordering my winter gear so had to get a coach this morning, was quite pleasant though. Queenstown is a really nice place, quite small but atmospheric. Staying at a nice hostel called Bunji Backpackers, it’s got a hot spa and pretty close to the town centre. On the job search for the next few days, just gonna get a bar job or something to allow me board during the day, work by night, probably will be here 4 instead of 3 months due to a slight cash flow glitch.

20050530 Location New Zealand

Ive been 3 days in New Zealand now and its still bloody cold. Got some thermal gear today though which should improve things. Been pricing up snowboarding gear here as well and looks like Ill be going with a package for $1100, looks a pretty sweet board too. Things are still working themselves out perfectly, just so happens that a guy from the hostel is driving to Queenstown tomorrow, so Im getting a lift with him, roadtrip! Also found the perfect shirt finally so picking that up in the morning and should sort me out perfectly for promoting myself in the interview in Queenstown for my season job. Other than that, Ive just been exploring the city over the last few days, wandering around, got my laundry done & getting supplies

20050528-30 Location NZ Gallery

20050528 Goodbye Fiji

Left Fiji this morning, stayed the night in Nadi Bay Hotel again before setting off for the airport at 8am, had 2 pleasant flights to get to Christchurch. Now staying in Charlie Bs hostel, a reasonable place, quite old though, and have 2 boring English girls lying across the room talking too much. One of them is actually the 1st real backpacker looking person Ive seen (braided hair, cheap hippy clothing). Spent 3 hours in a web café uploading the images and journal entries to the web for the last month, only got half of them done so Ill head over there tomorrow to finish them off. After nearly dieing of starvation in the café, I found a very nice Chinese to have dinner in, sweet & sour pork and fried rice (gotta love the fried rice). Christchurch looks very like one of those English towns we visited last summer when we went to global gathering and the drunkenness here is on a par with Dublin if not worse: on the walk back to the hostel I saw one guy pick up a man hole cover and just leave the hole open for someone to fall in and walked off with his friends.
Ps. Have now placed headphones in my ears cos of my roommates incessant talking

20050527 The Maze, Leaving Nananu, Fiji Experience Day 4 and more goodbyes

Left Nananu after 16 days at 11 am this morning just after completing my last dive on the island at The Maze. Gotta catch my flight to NZ tomorrow. Had another incredible dive and bet all of the previous ones Ive done, somehow. The colours were even more vibrant, and the fish more plentiful, visual overload, am improving on my air also. Had such a magical time even just sitting at the front of the boat on the way back: the sun booming down, the wind on my back and me trying not to fall off. Said my goodbyes to all the friends I made on the island, staff and travellers, it really was my home for the last 2 weeks and was great to be around so many great people day after day. After sheding the tears, I got back on the FeeJee Experience bus to complete my last day of the tour. It wasnt very eventful and the group were pretty boring, quiet people, went to an Indian restaurant for Chinese food and then to mud pools, which I wasnt too fond of. Got back to Nadi Bay Hotel and went inside to check-in, leaving my bag on the floor i felt something on my back, turned around and there was Kitty lying on her ass (she had tried to jump me and it went horribly wrong for her), it was so funny I didnt know whether to help her or just keep laughing, definitely my highlight of the day. After meeting back up with John, Chris and Jason in the hotel, having some fun with a twisted version of snap and some frogs, we said our final goodbyes. Kitty and Jo left at 2am to catch their flight to Brisbane. All alone again, but Sanganalanga.

20050527 Leaving Nananu Gallery

20050526 Shark diving, Attempted Jungle trek and the last sunset.

John, Chris, Jason and Aoran left that morning to hit a surf competition on Cloudbreak tomorrow. Before that, myself, Aroan and Joe (cool boat driver) headed out to do a shark dive. Saw 6-8 white tipped sharks, was crazy fun, most of them being at least 2metres in length and us just metres away from them, saw 2 sleeping on the reef as well. Headed over to One beach again to make an attempt at trekking through the jungle on the far side, involved me bending so I didnt bother, still, I loved going back there for the last time anyway. That night was fairly quiet, everyone sitting around doing nothing, so I took the opportunity to take in the beauty of the place one last time. Grabbed a few beers and chilled out on the hammock for a few hours watching the stars, then caught a fire show done by the tour guide and headed to the sunset bure for some more chilling, the energy up there was huge.

20050526 Attempted Jungle trek and the last sunset Gallery

20050525 More Mayhem

Water was ultra still today, no wind at all on the island, very weird, like a lake. Made visibility for diving great but didnt get a chance to head out. Instead, just chilled on the beach, hung out, played some volleyball and watched the sunset, another awesome one too. The place got a lil crazy that night but not as crazy as the previous. Kitty and John tried their best to keep the place lively, with kayak and food stealing on the menu, with a bit of tree climbing thrown in, was funny when john couldnt get down again.

20050525 MoreMayhem Gallery

20050524 Beer Fuelled Mayhem

Definitely the craziest night I had in Nananu, a lil bit too much vodka and beer. Had the beach olypics with Glenn as judge, came in 2nd, but I blame the team mate.

20050524 Beer Fuelled Mayhem Gallery

20050523 4 days left in Fiji!

Its crazy how time is flying here, Im nearly at the end of my visit to Fiji! Im definitely coming back some time in the future, its just too nice here. Over the last few days Ive been lazing on the other beach, playing volleyball, chasing spiders, drinking more kava, more beach bonfires and swimming. Met another beautiful girl from London, (Kitty) which Ive been hanging out with the last few days, shes more IT literate than I am. Its so bloody weird meeting so many attractive (and interesting) females. Had a few beers on the sunset bure at midnight, a full moon was on which made it quite nice, pat called me up and was real nice attempting to communicate the extreme beauty of the place over the phone.

20050521 Spiders & 7 Years Bad Luck Gallery
20050522 Goodbyes & more parties Gallery
20050523 Gallery

20050520 Another very fun beach day

Took a trip to the beach on the other side of the island again today with the friends from my bure, the beach is just too beautiful not to visit regularly. Met a girl from Kerry (Killarney or Tralee) on the way, shed been travelling for 4-5 months and this was one of her last stops before going home. We hung out there until the sun had disappeared over the hill and headed back to the sunset bure to catch the sunset. Had a cool time hanging out, she was one of the most beautiful, interesting, fun girls Ive ever met, and from Ireland!, nearly convinced her to stay longer but unfortunately she had to fly out the next day. Did the usual chillin at the bar, drank my 1st coconut courtesy of some Canadian who I now loathe, then hung out at the bonfire.

20050520 Yet Another fun beach day Gallery

20050519 Trip to Rakiraki

Yesterday took a break from diving and took it easy, real easy, followed by another kava ceremony and fire on the beach. Today went to a town on the mainland called Rakiraki to get some supplies. One of the guys working on the resort, David showed us around and helped us with the stuff we needed, got a haircut for FJ$2.50 and some food and beer. Had a lot of fun just hanging out in the town for the day, headed back on the boat, watched the sunset on the top of the boat, and jumped off the top of it a bit too far from the shore and barely made it back on to the beach without drowning.

20050518 Another party night Gallery
20050519 Rakiraki Towntrip Gallery

20050517 Open Water Day 4

The final day of my open water course today, 2 dives of a boat, followed by an exam in the evening. The 1st dive was at a location called the Pinacle, a piece of rock rising from 53m to 11m, covered in coral, bloody amazing, all the fish and plants with so many colours. The 2nd dive was to the Dreamaker, again a reef 20 minutes out into the ocean, one of the most incredible experiences of my life, diving through tunnels and cracks in the reef, not too many fish but still awesome with all the coral. Got my Open Water Qualification with 92%, even though I was given the wrong exam.

20050516 Open Water Day 2&3

My 1st time in the water yesterday, never even snorkelled before so it was quite a weird experience. The breathing I found slightly difficult at 1st even on both dives, only went off the beach so it was safe enough. Moved to a different hut on the resort, one with its own kitchen and just 30 seconds off the beach, the others in the room are quite cool, though maybe at times a bit too much, 3 english girls Rachel, Jessica and Jo and a guy Sean from Sacramento. Im really loving this place right now, dive and lounge around by day, watch the immense sunsets, play volleyball, eat dinner and hang out by night, the days go so fast. Its so incredibly beautiful lying on the hammock at night, watching the stars and listening to Sigur Rós.

20050515 Sunset & Kava Gallery
20050516 Another Sunset Gallery

20050514 Nananu Island Lodge & Open Water Day 1

Decided to start an open water scuba diving course today, only FJ$450 and seen as its only FJ$20 a night here, theres no better place, plus the instructor, Glenn, from Liverpool seems extremely experienced and knowledgeable and a very fun guy. Its a 4 day course and will qualify me to dive to 18m. Most of the Feejee experience crew leave today, while Ill obviously be staying on to complete the course. Hit up the private beach on the other side of the island. Had a nice going away party for them on the beach, the absinthe was polished off, iPod soundsystem worked quite well Had an even nicer time on the hammock afterwards till 3am, my 1st time on a hammock.

20050513 Nananu Island Lodge Gallery

20050512 Feejee Experience Day 3

Headed up the east coast today. Visited an orphanage in the morning, it was great to see so many happy people. They had more of an encouraging optimistic atmosphere than anywhere Ive been before. Set off to another village for a kava ceremony, a drink made of a dried root, meant to have a mellow effect, but it did nothing for me. You must accept the 1st drink so as to not offend the chief, even though you do not know where the water is coming from. After that, headed onto a nearby river for bili bili rafting, small rafts made of bamboo. Went down the river a bit on them where we played water polo with the chief, he was a really fun, happy, comical guy and not afraid to get wet. Headed on through some crazy rural roads to get to Nananu – I – Ra, an island on the north east tip. Stayed the night at the Nananu – I – Ra Island Lodge, a really cool resort, with a nice beach, quite secluded with a good crowd and good food.

20050512 Feejee Experience Day 3 Gallery

20050511 Feejee Experience Day 2

Set off round the south coast today. Did a 4 hour trek north through the jungle, which was awesome over hills, through creeks and steep banks, ruined a pair of shoes though. The finish was at a river where we had lunch then tubed down a mile to a waterfall, jumped off it and nearly drowned at the bottom. Then got a boat down the river about 40 minutes before heading onto the main city Suva. Had a bit of a crazy night at an irish bar and restaurant, went back to the hostel at 1am ended up half of them didnt go to bed at all and the other half were kept awake by their singing.

20050511 Feejee Experience Day 2 Gallery

20050510 Feejee Experience Day 1

Yesterday did nothing too exciting, I cant even remember what I did, I think I just laid by the pool listening to music most of the day and visited Nadi for a while. Today I set off on the Feejee Experience and covered most of the east coast of Fiji. The bus picked me up about 9am had a little delay of a half before setting off. Visited Nadi town 1st to get water and stuff. Went to Natadola beach, which is meant to be Fijis best beach but compared to Nacula aint that nice, the waves were cool though, quite big. The crowd that are on the trip are mainly nice people, 5 irish, 2 of them alcoholics. 2 more Norweigans, both reasonably pretty, 1 very funny kiwi and a lot of English. Visited a village after a bbq at the beach. Had to were a sulu (sirong) so as to not offend the local people. The kids of the village brought us around showing us the chiefs old house and the well and some of the mothers, crazy women they are. Met one really cool kid, about the age of 6, just a fun and confident kid. Went on to sand dunes on the south of the island for sand boarding. Went 1st and it wouldnt slide at all and had 20 people below shouting, me not understanding a thing. Managed in the end to get the greatest run of them all. After that went on to the crows nest hotel, played water polo for an hour and a half, and got to know the most of the people before going to bed.

20050510 Feejee Experience Day 1 Gallery

20050508 Nadi, Fiji

Been staying in the Nadi Bay Resort Hotel the last 2 nights. It’s got air-conditioning and hot showers which are so awesome when you’ve been out on islands without the basics of living. Spent the night after Beachcomber on South Seas Island, an island which you can walk across in under 3 minutes, it was tiny. The crowd there I didn’t like too much, too many unfriendly, noisy English, very nice sunsets though. Decided I’m going to do the Feejee experience on Tuesday with Joe (the Norwegian), a min. 4 day adventure tour around the Fiji mainland. Met up with the 2 Norwegians again in Nadi today, wandered around the town and went for pizza, so gorgeous, it was so huge I couldn’t even finish it, that’s how big it was and ass usual dirt cheap. The locals that live around here are totally different from the islands, they are mainly skinny Indians. The majority of them cab drivers who insist they give you a lift, even if your crossing the road. They just stop wherever they see you and start beeping and saying “I give you good price”, I keep giving them looks like as if they’re crazy but it doesn’t do anything.

I’m sitting at the poolside bar now, it’s 8pm and typing up this journal. One thing you notice is the large number of solo travellers about, particularly females. Across from me are 2 girls sitting at different tables eating alone, I know, I know I should go across and talk to them but apart from the fact I want to finish the last few days entries and pics there not pretty enough, and sorry, I’m superficial. It’s extremely weird meeting good looking semi-interesting/interesting people on a daily basis, not coping well with it right now, it’s too much of a change from home but I’m sure I’ll get into it shortly. Pity the majority of girls I’ve met so far have boyfriends, I don’t know what it is with Scandinavians travelling the world for long periods while they have boyfriends in their home countries. Still loving the life here, sun, sea, sand, beautiful islands people and sunsets.

20050505 Beachcomber Island & South Sea Island, Fiji Gallery
20050506 South Sea Island & Nadi Bay Hotel Fiji Gallery

20050504 Beachcomber Island, Fiji Day 2

Chilled most of the day, laid on the beach, got sunburnt quite a bit so no sun tomorrow. Met 2 Norwegians, Mette and Joe and hung out for most of the day. Met back up with them later, had multiple pitchers of beer at only FJ$14 €6, had a full blown discussion over the Bush Iraq situation. Ended up on the beach at 2 am with 2 weird (but hot) German girls, so it was quite a fun night (which all of them seem to be right now)

2005.05.04 Beachcomber Island, Fiji Day 2 Gallery

20050503 Beachcomber Island, Fiji

It’s so so beautiful here, temperature is about perfect, feels like 28 degrees, it’s dark by 1830 though. I seem to always wake at 7am not tired which is great too, don’t know where I get the energy though, it’s definitely not from the food, I don’t think there a big fan of meat. Moved from Safe Landing today to Beachcomber island, took 3 hours by boat to get here. The crowd is way different here, all young, a lot of really hot girls. Caught the end of the sunset, the 1st I’d seen in 2 years and watching it with groove armada as the soundtrack made it very nice. Hit the bar on the island tonight, apparently the islands meant to have the best party atmosphere, which was true, but still not totally awesome or anything. Met a Swiss girl called Martina, 27 year old travel agent, who’s being travelling on her own. We broke into a bit of the absinthe, and were meant to try the local poitin type drink ‘kava’ but just were too lazy to make it up.

2005.05.03 Yasawas & Beachcomber Island, Fiji Gallery

20050502 Location: Fiji

Well I made it to fiji, was in LA for about 15 minutes before being put on the connecting flight. Hardly anyone on the plane so I was able to stretch out and get some sleep, best flight I’ve been on yet, really friendly flight attendants and complimentary drinks. It was 2 days later when I arrived in fiji due to crossing time zones, which confused things a little. Spent the first 2 days on a resort called malbravo on an island in the Yasawas chain of island 3 hours by boat from Nadi, the town I flew into. It was a bit of a shellshock, and I don’t really want to get into it, I’ll just say I don’t have a clue why I spent a 2nd night there. Then moved onto a resort next door called Safe Landing, which was just awesome, great people, staff and guests, gorgeous beach and nice food. Went on a boat trip to the blue lagoon while I was in safe landing, waters about 2 meters deep, and tropical fish everywhere.

2005.04.30 Flight LA-Fiji & Nacula Island, Fiji
2005.04.31 Melbravo Resort, Yasawas, Fiji
2005.05.01 Safe Landing, Fiji
2005.05.02 Blue Lagoon, Yasawas, Fiji

20050430 Flying NY to LA

Flying over the USA now, can see the lights of the cities below. Am 2 hours behind schedule, and itll be extremely tight making my connecting flight to fiji. There was a 20 plane tailback to taxi onto the runway and that set us back about 45 minutes. Still I feel so happy right now, cruising over the states, watching movies, listening to music and meeting people without a worry about anything.

20050428 Leaving NY

Sitting on the floor of JFK right now, waiting for another flight to LA, meant to be already in the air 30 minutes. Went to the Woodbury Commons retail place today, took an hour to get there and $37, has every designer you can think of, but the stock is just not wide enough. For me it’s no good cos it’s all catered to the average guy (wide and/or short people), so got nothing, apart from a pair of sunglasses.
My flight to LA was scheduled for 6pm, it’s 1.20pm me leaving the park, giving me a little under 3 hours to get back into the city to the hotel, pick up my bag, catch 2 subways and a train and check-in at the airport. Somehow got there for 4.30pm, was 5pm checking-in but no problem. Got through the security, hung about until the boarding que shortened, got to the ticket checker girlie, and goes you gotta get another security check, cos there’s an S symbol on my ticket, morons. It’s now 5.50pm, headed back down and got one of those ridiculously rigorous checks you hear about, had some problem explaining what the bag of protein powder was, had to remove shoes and everything. Finally they let me go and I run to the gate but alas the gates closed and she’s asking me why the check took so long. So now she’s set me up for the 7pm so I gotta just wait, but I don’t mind so much cos I’m still enjoying this part of the journey as well. I’m in NY!

20050427 New York City

Made my way over to times square this morning, tis mindblowing, so many people, so many lights. Met a New Yorker Jeff who had been here 31 years, really cool guy, gave me a plan for the rest of the day which I needed. Went down to lower manhatten, cruised round city hall, broadway and wall st., Donald Trumps building on wall st. sucks, it’s freakin tiny compared to everything else there. The weather by now was perfect sunny and warm,. Went on the staten island ferry, out and back, got some cool shots of the statue of liberty and lower manhatten skyline. Had food overlooking Brooklyn bridge and then headed back up to the empire state building to get a look at new york by night.

2005.04.27 New York, New York Gallery

20050426 Hello NY

This morning, said the goodbyes to the family, didn’t seem to effect them too much, obviously didn’t make too much of an impression over the years. Flights are really comfortable, just barely enough legroom which is lucky I suppose. Some lady managed to spill coffee all over my pants (by accident), seemed like something out of a movie or something, but just not hot enough and me too tired to spark a conversation from it. Arrived in NY JFK at 1.30pm, got a subway into the city, thought I picked the black only car at first cos everyone started to run to get other cars instead when it stopped. Was checked in n everything by 3.30. Spent the remainder of the day walking 5th avenue and Madison avenue in search of some supplies for my trip (unsuccessfully) until I started to collapse from a total of 4 hours sleep in 36 hours.

2005.04.26 London - NY, 5th Avenue Gallery

20050426 Goodbye Ireland

Today I departed on my world tour which I somehow managed to get all sorted in a week and a half, seemed like everything was happening just perfectly to make sure I took this journey. I’ll be travelling through NY, Fiji, Australasia, South East Asia, China and Russia covering over 28,000 miles by air and what I can guess is a lot by land over the next 12 months. The map below shows the route, the red line showing my route by air and the green line my route by land.
Last Saturday we had a party in my house in meath to mark my departure, I didn’t really plan anything for it and just let it work itself out. I ended up having a great time, n won’t forget it for quite some time and I think everyone else didn’t have too bad a time either. Lots of food was had, and lots of beer, a cigar, a few people got a bit wet (one in particular) and the musical conflict raged on. I’ll be looking for the results of this beer drinking contest on james birthday (and no water allowed cillian (busted)). Who knows I night miss ya.

20050423 Departure Party Bloomsbury Gallery

keep watching

i'll have in the next few days, info on my round the world trip which i will commence in a few weeks, the reason this website was setup

2005.03.04-05 Tiesto Weekender roadtrip

another great weekend. tiesto at redbox in dublin on the friday followed by a roadtrip to tiesto @ lush in portrush on the saturday. all the limerick crew were up for the redbox and my self, t-man, andrea, jimmy and karl headed in the ford mondeo on to lush for another party with tiesto. met loads of cool people, some nice girls, tiesto was on top form both nights and the atmospheres were unbelievable!
the pics from the redbox:
http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~diego/gallery/20050304/
the pics from lush:
http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~diego/gallery/20050305/

2004.12.28 Roger Sanchez, Limerick Railtrip

An awesome time was had, limerick is a really nice city, might go back some time again (if i'm invited). the hospitality was great, many thanks to trevor, andrea and francie and was great meeting up with all the limerick crew. pics are now up:
http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~diego/gallery/20041228/