Sean Ryan and Jess

I am chillin at these dudes house...place in wellington. THey are 19, 20, and 17 and they all have their own place here. Its about 8 am on a sunday morning...I ran into these dudes about an hour ago after we all had a long night of drinking. Ryan and Jess are brother and sister and Sean is Jess's GF. they are all really chill...i'm pretty tired right now and i think I am going to go climb in bed w/ their hot roomate...good night!

The Van

So I'm sure by now you are all wondering how in the world we are traveling around NZ. Maybe you're not, but this is how:

We researched the situation and decided before we left home that buying a car would be the best way to see NZ. We planned on buying a beater in Auckland, travel the country, and return to Auckland in December and sell the car. December is the time of year when NZ gets a huge influx of tourists and travelers, and they all fly into Auckland. So we figured it would be a good time to sell; we may even make some money.

After checking out the car markets in town, we found a place that we might be able to get a car or van, but for much more than we were planning. This was not a huge concern though, because if we kept it in good shape we would be able to sell it. We decided to find a hostel close to the car market so we could get there early every morning until we found our vehicle. This hostel ended up being Conner's (see previous post). The man who owns the hostel told us while we were checking in that he had a van that he was trying to sell. It was a 1989 Isuzu WFR, all wheel drive, 4 cylinder, long wheelbase. It had a mattress in the back instead of seats and plenty of room for all of our stuff. This is exactly what we were looking for. A van that we could comfortably sleep in and basically live out of. It was Japanese, so we trusted the motor, and in NZ, a Warrant of Fitness generally means that the vehicle is good for about 10,000 kilometers which is enough to see the country.

So we staying in Auckland at the hostel while the owner fixed up the van and got an updated Warrant. Great deal we thought! We were wrong.

We drove the van around enough to be satisfied with it...it was in fairly good condition and sounded/drove great. We bought it, thinking we got a good deal. However, the day after we left Auckland, it began to overheat...badly. We were lucky enough to be close to a town on a Saturday morning, so we hit a few mechanics before they closed. The first one told us that the motor was in horrible shape, it overheated, blowing the seal on the radiator cap. The engine probably had a blown head gasket or a cracked cylinder head (both fatal) and that we needed a new motor to the tune of $1200. Needless to say, we got a second opinion.

The second guy we went to was really nice, and spent all day on the van and let us look over his shoulder the whole time. I know a little about cars so appreciated being able to watch him work. Turns out, the previous owner had neglected to put a thermostat in the engine. The T-stat is designed to slow the flow of coolant in the motor so that it only flows when it is needed, and the rest of the time the coolant is in the radiator, cooling off so that it can continue to do its job. Without a t-stat, the coolant constantly runs through the motor and never stays in the radiator long enough to cool off.

Fortunately, he diagnosed the problem pretty quickly, and gave us a pretty thorough tune up. I was a little embarrassed about bringing a van in that was over heating to find out that it had no thermostat, but then again I have not tools and no way of working on it myself.

So we get the motor running much better that it was, but not as good as we'd like it to. Either way we take off, and do our traveling. It has done well over the last month. We have been sleeping in it and driving the hell out of it. The but is getting worse. There are a few stories to tell in between then and now (which you will get to read later) but at the moment the van can't go very far w/o us having to pull over and put coolant in it. In the words of one police officer "that's why you don't buy vans."

Broken or not, the van has been a great investment. We have seen a lot already, and have done it very freely w/o having to ride buses and be at the mercy of tour guides. We have also saved a lot of money by sleeping it it, very comfortably I might add. This is definitely the way to see NZ.

More van stories to come!

Auckland slash Rum Night

PLEASE READ TO THE END! PICS COME LATER!

First things first:

- I have been informed by many of the people that I have met that when people ask us where we are from we should say "The United States" and not "America." Reason being, America consists of three countries in North America and many more in Central and South America. So Iknow say that I am from the United States. In my posts I will not use the term "American" but "United States-er" or "USer." The term USer is ironically a pretty good description seeing as the USA seems to USe the rest of the world fairly often.

As some of you may know, Auckland is the largest city (but not the Capital) in New Zealand. It has about 1.4 million people spread out over an area that is not too much larger than Raleigh. It is an expensive city, but everywhere seems to be expensive in NZ. We worked on a house in "the cheapest suburb in Auckland" that was one story, 4 bedroom if I remember correctly, and we were told that it would rent for over $2500 a month and sell for almost NZ $400,000. US $1 equals about NZ $.76. This house could not have been anymore than 2500 square feet and was about a 30 min drive from the city centre. $400,000 seems a bit much for me.

Anyways, we stayed in Auckland for about two weeks. On the day we arrived, we left the airport, heading toward an address of a hostel that had been recommended to us by a USer that we met in Fiji. When we got to the address at about 9pm, we payed our driver who was in a pretty big hurry to leave, and went to where the hostel was supposed to be; only to realize that it no longer existed. The lady who was living in the house said we could stay there for $20 each but we ran into a German guy who was also looking for the hostel, so we teamed up w/ him and tried to find a place to stay. We ended up getting a room for the 4 of us at a Bed and Breakfast (really nice) for $26. It would have been about $45 per person but they kind of felt sorry for us because there were no dorm rooms available, which is what we were looking for. A dorm room (kind of like summer camp bunks w/ a shared bathroom down the hall) is usually about $20 here in NZ.

For those who have never stayed in a hostel before, the dorms usually have between 6 and 10 beds in them, co-ed. There is a kitchen w/ cookware, a bathroom or two w/ 2 to 4 showers a piece, and sometimes a lounge/library/tv room. Most of the hostels here are pretty clean and full of travelers. GREAT FUN!

We ended up at "Conner's Top Floor Hostel" in the center of Auckland. It was on the top floor of a really nice hotel (that we were not allowed in). We ended up doing some work for the owner, and eventually buying a van from him (which you'll hear more about later). We weren't planning on staying in the city for 2 weeks but the van needed some work and we thought it would be worth it as it was a good price.

We made a lot of friends at Conner's, some of which were very sad to see us go. I think at one point there were 9 or 10 different nationalities sitting out on the porch passing joints and bottles of rum or whiskey around. We went out w/ people a few different times and had a lot of fun at the bars in the city.

Auckland is a huge mix of cultures. It has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world, and also has a large population of Asian immigrants. A walk up Queen Street takes you from the waterfront (more expensive bars), through the city center, where strangely you can stand in one All Blacks Rugby store and look across the street into another.

Side Note: The All Blacks are the national rugby team in NZ, the number one ranked team in the world, and the most important thing in the entire country. The Rugby World Cup just ended, the All Blacks were upset by the French, and the country went into a depression. The ENTIRE HOUR of news the next day was about the Rugby Union, and what they were going to do in response to the upset. There is nothing really to compare this to in the US...they care more about Rugby here that we do about all sports combined. It is 100 times more important than ACC B-Ball.

So, pass the All Blacks stores and see Victoria Park. On the weekends it is full of vendors selling clothes, jewelry, all kinds of stuff. Pretty cool to see this in the middle of a large city. This is also the spot where all the punk kids hang out. Seems to be an area where skaters congregate as well. I THINK it is legal to skate in the city in NZ. Wellington, the capital, seems to be a skater mecca, but more on that later.

Past the part, you walk up hill, past some apt. buildings, past a small Chinatown slash Koreatown slash anything Asian town, and get to K Road. K Road has the nick name "gay road" because of the adult stores and alternative people that seem to gravitate there but it was my favorite area of Auckland. Cheap sushi, cheap(er) bars, and lots of second hand shops dominate the street. There was even a cool hooka bar that I checked out. This is where you will see the real population of Auckland. The cultures all mix to form....K Road. BTW, the real name is Kxxxxxxxxxx but no one can pronounce it so it is dubbed K Road.

We had a lot of fun in Auckland. Saw a rugby game, went to the top of a tall building to get a great view of the city, and partied at our hostel a lot. Partying at the hostel....RUM NIGHT!

So we bought a bottle of Fijian rum at the duty free (airport) which is called Bounty. Actually we bought two bottles; this story concerns the second, which was opened at about midnight after everyone had already been drinking. Bounty is 116 proof, or 58% alcohol, and will make you breathe fire! I would rather drink 151 than Bountry...truly a horrible rum.

One night, everything was winding down at the hostel, when one of us (nate, cam and I) decided to go and get the bottle of Bounty. For the purpose of this story, I will not say which one of us felt the wrath of the Bounty, but I'm sure you will find out in time. The bottle made it to the kitchen, which is next to the deck, where we usually party. Very quickly, a circle formed around the table and the bottle was being passed around. Keep in mind that this is a liter, or 1000 mL, compared to a fifth at home which is 750mL.

So imagine, it is a Frenchman's birthday (Fransuoa), and he is already hammered. Two Chilean sisters (Scarlet and Victoria) who are determined to prove to the Europeans and USers that they can drink. I think they were also competing w/ each other. An off duty manager at the hostel (Garith) who is basicaly from NZ, a French girl (Dalphine) who works at the hostel and was quite fond of one of the USers, and a Brazillian (Phillip) who no one can even understand (not because he can't speak English, but because he is CRAZY!) also joined us. A random group, but we are all friends by this point in our stay at Conner's. Oh yea, an Indian guy named Moe who thinks he is a drug dealer in NYC was also with us.

As the bottle goes around, it gets emptier and emptier, and you begin to hear all of these different languages going on all at once. When people get drunk, they tend to speak their native language. Cam, Nate and I were doing the same things, speaking a sort of drunken, southern English that no one can really understand. By the time all of the babbling had finished, Phillip had passed out in the TV room, even though he had to work like 2 hours later. Scarlet and Victoria had gulped down enough rum to send them somewhere (I don't think it was the bathroom but they were obviously ready to explore the hostel), Garith was probablay following the Chilean girls around, Moe was telling someone how cool NYC was, and two of the USers were chilling outside on the deck. Where was the third USer you ask? We will call him BOB. He was passed out on the kitchen table, trying to claim that he was not drunk at all! Dalphine was sort of making fun slash taking care ofBOB, but it was impossible. He was OBLITERATED! From the table to the bathroom (about 10 meters) there were a few hard falls. Not the usual drunken fall forward, but a randomly hilarious fall backwards, onto his ass! BOB gets left in the bathroom to do his business while the other two go to find the super hot Chileans...but this peace doesn't last for long. BOB has some problems in the toilet and is found sitting on the ground in the bathroom, pants wet, staring off into space. When told that he needs to change clothes and go to bed, he denies that he is wasted and will not move. Imagine drunken rambling from a 23 year old guy, sitting on a bathroom floor of a New Zealand hostel. 30 minutes, 3 HARD falls, and a loud 4am run down the hallway later, BOB is in his bed. End of the night? Haha, I think not!

The next morning, the two other USer discover that the mattress of BOB has been tragically damaged. I will not say what the damage was (it wasn't shit) but is was pretty Fuckin hilarious!

All of the Americans, especially BOB, have learned a great lesson from RUM NIGHT. Bounty, or any Fijian rum for that matter, is not to be toyed with. We later learned that many a sailor has fallen overboard because of Bounty, and we can all thank The Lord that Bounty has not made its way to the States...yet!

NEW ZEALAND!!!

Well, it has been a while since many of you have heard from me...I'm sure you haven't really noticed but maybe you have? Anyways, we arrived in Auckland, NZ on September 23 and have been here for just over a month.

New Zealand is a wonderful, beautiful place. Everyone seems to be much more relaxed here than at home. There are only 4 million peope here and I don't remember exactly but I think either England or Great Britain (prolly england) is about the same size and has over 30 million people. Basically, new zealand is empty.

The scenery here is beautiful...this place is incredibly green and there is really no place that is completely flat. Cam, Nate and I have bought a van that we travel in and sleep in. It is comfortable for us all to sleep in as there is a matress in the back and space on the floor for a third person on a sleeping pad. The fan is by all definition a piece of shit but we sleep in it about 50% of the nights since we got it and it saves us money on travel and accomodation. Also, it allows us to carry more clothes and things of that nature. We can hit the markets, cook our own food, and save money that way as well.

In my oppinion, the coolest thing about this country is that of the 4 million people, probably 10 or 15 percent of them are traveling over seas, and they are replaced by long term travellers who are here, working year round. I think at one point, we were sharing a bottle of Fijian Rum (I have a great story about this rum, stay tuned for the next few posts) with a French guy, his Brazillian g/f, two Chilean sisters, a guy who was born in Austrailia but grew up in NZ, a girl from France, a girl from Italy, a guy from Brazil...I could go on an on. The point is, this place is so well travelled by so many people from around the world that just spendingthe two weeks in a hostel in Auckland was like visiting several different countries. We stayed for so long becuase we were looking for a van to buy, but we also made some great friends and had a lot of fun.

I could write for ever about the 5 weeks in NZ, but instead I will make short posts about wonderful, hilarious stories that I have for you all. Over the next two weeks, expect to get a new post every few days telling about something that we have done or something that has happened to us...many of them will crack you up! For now, enjoy the Fiji post which now has pictures and also the pictures in this post.

Stories to come:

-Rum Night!
-Auckland
-Wellington
-15 year old NZ kids
-Mt. Doom!
-Wine
-The Van
-Running out of gas

Kadavu, Fiji

the connection is too slow for pictures...i will add them later because kadavu is amazing!!

Cameron and I have just gotten back to Suva, which is the capital city of Fiji and is on the mail island which is called Viti Levu. We spend a week on an island south of here called Kadavu. Our fried Dillon lives on Kadavu in a village called Vacalea (Va-tha-lay-a). We stayed with her friends family for 3 nights and camped for four nights. Kadavu is a very unspoiled island with barely any roads, cars, no electricity, or running water. The population is about 15,000 but this varries as many people spend time in Suva to work and school.

We left Lautoka (pop. 45,000, not 5,000 like I said in the last email) last Tuesday and arrived in Suva in the afternoon to do some things before we got on the ferry to Kadavu which left at midnight. While in Suva we met some friends of Dillon that were also going to ride the ferry to Kadavu that night. Poni, Va, and Iukimi immediately warmed up to us when they reallized that we were going to see Dillon, and we hung out with them until the boat ride. Cam and I had planned on hitting the computer as it was my dad's bday, and we wanted to walk around a little. Instead, Poni and Va got us really drunk and we almost missed the boat!

It is weird how we can travel a third of the way around the planet and run into people who know the only person we know in Fiji. I guess Dillon sticks out as one of the only Americans on her island.

Poni and Va took us to their family's house in Suva where we prayed together and ate dinner. I noticed a large picture of a very pretty girl on the wall that I had seen in the city and it did not strike me as something that a family would have hanging in their living room. Then Cam and I reallized that we were eating dinner with the girl from the photo. There is a Hibiscus festival going on with beauty padgents and Sophie, the girl in the picture, had won two of them. The family made us take pictures with her and she got embarrassed but we were excited to be with the Princess of Suva.

We rode the ferry all night until we reached Kadavu, where we were to meet Dillon and her friend Gus. They sent Gus's uncle to pick us up in his boat and take us to the village, Vacalea. His name was Tom. We helped him load his boat, which was about 23 ft long and 5 ft wide. He ran a shop in Vacalea and had to pick up a lot of supplies to sell in the village.

The waves were rough and it was raining. Tom looked like he knew what he was doing so we weren't worried, but this boat was basically a fiberglass shell and we were in some choppy seas. At one point, a cardboard box broke open, spilling 24 cases of butter. While Cameron and I tried to clead up the butter, Tom told us where to put it as he drove the hand held outboard motor from the back of the boat. All of the sudden, the man in front, Rafi, started yelling. Cam and I were facing the rear of the boat and before we could turn around to see what Rafi was yelling about, we crashed into a huge patch of mangrove trees! We were going pretty fast, almost full speed, and we hit the trees dead on! Tom had looked down at the butter and forgot to watch the trees. Cam flew into the cases of butter, I flew onto a bunch of other boxes, and somehow Tom and Rafi held on and manages to stay in the boat. Once we reallized what had happened we started to scramble to find toe plugs for the back of the boat so that we wouldn't sink. We did not sink, and we all started to laugh.

I must say that this is the worst crash that I have ever been in, and my leg is still sore from it a week later. Hoever, everyone was ok, the boat was ok, and Tom sold all of the butter! We all laughed about it all week, especially when we would pass by the huge hole that we created in the patch of trees. Tom felt bad, but Cam and I thought it was hilarious and all of us will certainly remember it forever.

We met Dillon at the village and she introduced us to everyone. Vacalea has about 100 people. They all farm and fish. We stayed with Tom and his family for two days. This is where Dillon has been staying as well.

Everyone in Vacalea was SO NICE to us...we ate very well. Common foods are casava and taro which are roots, noodles, bread, rice, dow (peas) spinach, and lots of fish. There are many different ways to cook everything, and it is all very very fresh. Also, "fijan ice cream" which is a budi (fat banana) cooked in warm milk.

After a few days Cam and I, Gus and Dillon took a boat ride (no cars, go everywhere by boat) to a piece of land that they have cleared and are planning to build a bure (traditional grass hut). We camped there for 4 nights and during the day we kayaked, hiked and snorkelled. It is probably the most remote place that I have ever been and I loved every minute of it.

Kadavu is like going back a few centuries. Everyone works together to maintain the village, and it works amazingly well. Vacalea has a meeting every month to designate responsibilities to all of the villagers. When we arrived, Tom and his wife Rini were staying at the school every night, acting as parents for all of the boarding students. Students stay at school for weeks at a time without their parents from the age of 5, since there are not schools in every village. It is amazing how educated the children are...all of them speak english by the age 8 or 9. Everyone in Fiji is bi-lingual. The island is also very peaceful. no one is in a hurry. FIJI TIME!!

I really love the way people live on Kadavu. Fiji is a Christian nation and every 5 or 10 minutes i find myself thinking "this is how God intended us to treat one another." There is no drinking in the villages...people only drink Kava. It is a traditional drink that is made from the root of the ava plant, and it ground into powder. It takes about 5-8 years to grow a high quality root, and brings lots of money. Kava is a narcotic and makes you kind of dumb when you drink it. Kadavu has the best kava in Fiji, and Cam and I got to drink it with the villagers. It is traditional, and everyone sits around and spends time with family and friends as they drink from the Kava bowl. It makes you kind of numb, but does not alter your mind. It did, however, alter my stomach one night as I am not used to drinking like the locals do.

We arrived back in Suva late last night where we are staying with Tom's sister and her husband. We have family here in Fiji now, and it is a wonderful feeling to know that people here care about us and look foward to seeing us again. It's hard to leave such a wonderful place but as I told Cameron as Kadavu dissapeared on our way back to Suva, if we feel like this about half of the places we go on this trip, we will have an amazing time.

Well it is time to stop writing even though I have so much to write about. We love Fiji and will be back soon! Next time you hear from me I will be in New Zealand, we fly there on sunday the 23rd! Love you all!

some Words I will teach americans:
Bula - welcome
vinaka - thank you
chilo - excuse me
laco - let's go
relax - FIJI TIME!!
mhm means NO, not yes
uhuh is yes, not no

see if you can figure out what this is: dua, rua, toro, va, lima, ono, vitu, waru, (i forgot this one) teni

times i got sick from something we don't have in the states: 1
times i was uncomfortable with how nice everyone was: once an hour!

fiji

hello to everyone from Fiji!

we arrived in fiji at about 530am on september 8th, which is 1230pm, september 7th in NC. it is now sunday afternoon here in lautoka, which is the second largest city in fiji with a population of 5000. the shift key on the computer i'm on doesn't work very well so please excuse the lowercase.

we were greeted at the airport by a band of island singers with mandolin looking instruments. once we got through customs we were bombarded wiht locals trying to give us cab rides and convince us to come to their resorts. after getting some information we decided to walk (or hitchhike or catch a bus) toward the town of lautoka which is about 24 km north of the airport. nadi is only about 4 km south of the airport but is a tourist trap. once we got on the main road a man named peter stopped and offered a ride in his taxi. we bargained him down to 15 fijian dollars which is about 9 us dollars.

once in lautoka we got some food (chicken stir fry at about 7am) and went and found a hotel with a courtyard and a pool on the ocean. we hung out there for a while until the cheaper dorm style hotel down the street was ready for us to check in. While at the nicer hotel, a priest and about 5 people went to the pool and we were able to witness 3 people get baptized.

yesterday around lunch time we ran into a guy named pana on the street. he took us into the electrical/hardware store where he worked and gave us all our first taste of cava. this is a local drink that is made from the root of a plant. i don't really know how it's made but it is basically muddy water that has spent some amount of time under ground. it is suposed to make you hallucinate it just made our mouths numb and caused us to walk aimlessly around town for about an hour. pana invited us to go outside of town and go swimming in the woods but we declined. the first thing he told us about himself was that he had just gotten out of prison and he was clearly not all there. also, a man who has lived in the states before told us not to trust him.

last night we went out drinking with some kids that nate met on the street. when i say last night i mean 4pm and when i say kids i mean that the youngest was 13 and the oldest 20. the 20 year old was a police officer. we went into a dark, cave like club with music and lights that you would expect to see in america...only it was 4pm. after a few fiji beers i walked outside for a reality check and also to wake my self up a little. we hadn't really slept in 36 hours. robert, the police officer, followed me to 'protect me' and offered to show me his police station. we went in and i found a young boy with hand cuffs and a radio. fiji is under martial law so i am not sure what the police situation is but these were just kids.

anyways, we danced with some fijian girls and walked around with them and all of the kids that we had befriended...went to the sea wall and got told to leave by the cops. it was hard to drink with them because i knew that they were nice and wanted to protect us from criminals that could attack tourists but i also knew that they wanted us to buy them alcohol. it was a great first night and we learned alot from the locals.

it is now sunday afternoon, and cameron and i just left a methodist church where we sat and prayed in the empty sanctuary. we may attend the night service there but i do not expect that they will speak much enlgish, even though everyone here speaks english. everything is closed on sundays as it is a day for family and god.

the weather is nice, but hot and humid. it is about 80 or 85 degrees with a nice breeze near the coast. we haven't seen a beach yet but cameron and i are heading south to another island called kadavu to see our friend dillon. we will be on amazing beaches for about a week. nate is heading to a small island north of us where he has payed membreship dues to go and stay on the island. it is a self sustaining island with people working to create a 'zero carbon footprint island.' check out http://www.tribewanted.com/ for more info on that.

well even though it only costs 1dollar an hour to use the computer i do not want to spend all of my time inside. i will be away from email for a few weeks so until next time please take care of yourselves and if you get stressed by the grind of life in the states just think of ryan sitting on a white sandy beach in fiji! :)

love you all,

ryan

women that have told me they love me: 1

women that i have tatooed with my permanent marker: 1

times i have been afraid of getting arrested: 2

words i have learned (probably mis-spelled):

welcome - bula
thank you vinaka
beautiful - raranaka (or something like that...with the rolling r sound that i can't do)
dance - danacia

And it begins....

It has been a lot of work and a little planning (hopefully not too much) but it is almost time to leave. I have hung out w/ many of you one last time before I trek the globe. Tomorrow I am going out to a family dinner, then drinking w/ some friends; then Nate, Cameron and I are flying to LA to stay w/ Patrick for a few days before we leave for FIJI!

My pack weighs 45 lbs and contains 2 pair of pants, 4 pair of shorts, 7 shirts, 4 pair of socks, 7 boxers, some long johns, a fleece, and a rain coat. Also in the most important backpack I'll ever wear is some camping gear, a water purifier, first aid kit, some bathroom stuff, and few bottles of meds. I'll be carrying a tent, sleeping pad, and a sleeping bag as well. Oh yea, I'll be wearing one pair of shoes and carrying a pair of sandals.

We still haven't made one single reservation at any hostels or hotels yet. We are, however, planning on chilling in FIJI w/ our friend Dillon in her grass hut on the beach. Also, Cam has set up some work for us on a vineyard in New Zealand in exchange for a free place to stay and hopefully some good (free) food. Other than that we are roaming the earth with nothing more to do than have fun and stay out of harms way.

I have my cell phone for one more day 919 920 6751 and will be drinking in Raleigh Monday night so if you wanna come party w/ us give me a call. Also, while I'm gone you an leave me a free voicemail that I can listen to in my email:

To leave me a message while I'm away:
Dial this access number 1-888-579-0208
Press 2
Enter my account number 2109209085
Press # and leave me a message.

Until next time...be happy and don't do anything I wouldn't do!!