Turnbull Family Pacific Tour 2015

Tomorrow is our last day in Fiji, before heading to Tulsa Oklahoma on Saturday to spend Christmas with Catheleen's family. After Tulsa it is back to Ottawa before the New Year. On these last days of our trip abroad, sitting by the pool enjoying the weather, it's as good a time as any to reflect on the trip and write my last blog. Thank you to everyone who has kept reading throughout our adventure. I'm thinking about gathering up this blog along with the kids' blogs and Catheleen's Facebook entries, and creating a book for our coffee table. I think it will be fun to take the book off the shelf years from now, and reminisce about our family trip to the Pacific back in 2015.   Catheleen and I had been thinking about taking a mid-career break (Catheleen would say late-career break) to do some travelling with the kids for years. We agreed a year ago there was no better time than 2015 to do so. John (now 13) and Elizabeth (age 10) were old enough to get some experienc...

We're at a Outrigger Resort on the coral coast on this last week in Fiji. The resort is very nice - similar in many ways to the resorts we've visited over the years, but different. When we arrived at the resort we drove up to park our car, and were greeted by the attendant. As he opened the gate, he raised his hands high in the air and yelled "BULA!" in a loud booming voice. It startled the heck out of us, and then we started to laugh. The attendant does this every time we park the car. Today was a rainy day, so John asked that I play bingo with him after lunch. To my surprise I won the first game and a free cocktail. John was one square short, and kicked himself that we didn't swap bingo cards at the start. As I said to John, it's nice to win. Elizabeth joined the kid's club today, and enjoyed hiking, egg tossing, snorkeling, and boogie board racing. She was the only kid her age there who wasn't from Australia or New Zealand. She said that her new fo...

We're back at the Hilton for an afternoon by the pool. It's not as hot today which is nice, and it's certainly been good to get to the pools this week, something we missed in Australia and New Zealand. It gives the kids access to some exercise. Yesterday we visited the Sobeto Thermal Mud Pool. I wasn't keen on going at first. Something about the thermal part didn't appeal - it's already hot here. Also I wasn't thrilled about the mud part - who wants to get all dirty? But as it turned out it was a fun activity and I'm glad we went. When we first arrived at the mud pool in bathing suits with cameras in hand, we were presented with buckets of mud drawn from the mud pool. We proceeded to coat ourselves in mud from head to toe, and then we let the it dry. I found it cooling to be covered in mud. I can see how this works for elephants and other animals. It must be the combination of protection from the sun and the slow evaporation effect from the drying mud w...

I think the quality of life for Fijians is about average for a developing country. Their standard of living is about the same as Indonesians based on their incomes. Not as high as Thais, but much higher than Vietnamese. About 70% percent of the Fijian population relies on subsistence farming. Quality of life, based on the human development index, places it in the middle rank of countries. Average life expectancy is 72, a few years behind the developed world. The country certainly has its problems, which I think it's doing its best to resolve. One of the biggest issues it faces is racial tensions between the indigenous-Fijians and the Indo-Fijians. When the country gained its independence from the British in 1970, the Indo-Fijians wanted equal rights and privileges, while the indigenous Fijians were concerned about protecting their customary lands and communal life. We got a sense for this communal life when we visited a primarily Indo-Fijian market today. A lady saw us eyeing t...

We've been in Fiji for a few days now and we're starting to get to know a few things about another country. This is the first time we've visited a tropical place and rented a car at the same time. This has given us much more freedom to explore the area than if we just stayed at an all encompassing resort, something we tend to do for March breaks when we go to Mexico or the Dominion Republic with the kids. We're staying for a week at a place near Nadia town. It's a separate house next to the owner Lynn's place, a British lady who is married to a Fijian. It's a nice enough place with a pool. There's no air conditioning, but luckily the nights are cool. It does heat up to 30 degrees Celsius during the day pretty quickly though, so we make use of the pool often to stay cool. I can see why Fiji is a famous vacation location that everyone seems to have heard of. The weather is near perfect with a warm ocean and cool breezes. The people are friendly and we...

We drove from Thames along The Firth of Thames bay to Auckland . Here we stayed at a place north of Auckland for two nights and then spent two nights in downtown Auckland before flying out for Fiji on Saturday morning. The bed and breakfast north of Auckland had a great view of the bay. The owner, Rod, had built a pathway down a steep slope through the trees to a common path that led to the sandy beach below. Catheleen and I walked the path strewn with broken shells, and it was great to stroll the beach and look at the houses on the beach front and surrounding tan coloured cliffs. The place has a few big and modern houses, something we haven't seen much of throughout most of New Zealand. It's not surprising since this is New Zealand's only true big city with a population of 1.4 million. One in three New Zealanders lives in Auckland. For whatever reason, tensions exists between Aucklanders and the rest of New Zealand, especially the further south you go. The term JAFA for...

We spent a few days in the town of Thames , a bit east of Auckland around a bay called The Firth of Thames. We explored the town and the area, and on Sunday we drove north up the peninsula's west coast to the town of Coromandel , a quaint small town having a motorcycle convention the day we arrived for a visit. There were mostly older people walking around in black leather pants (what's with that?), and looking at each other's chopper or hog motorcycle. There was also a community band in the street playing hits from the sixties and seventies, so we stopped off at a cafe to enjoy a flat white while listening to the band. The kids have been drinking ginger beer lately, which is much like ginger-ale but with a much stronger ginger flavour. So I bought them another brand of ginger beer called 'Frank's Damn Good Ginger Beer', which they enjoyed, as much for the name as the flavour. We then drove across to Hot Water Beach on the east side of the peninsula, where we w...

On our last days in Rotorua we did a couple of fun and touristy activities. First we took the gondola up the hill for a great view of the lake and surrounding area. But the best part for the kids and us was the ride down on the luge. These were go-carts we steered and rode down cement tracks to the bottom through forests. Lots of twists and turns, not unlike driving through New Zealand's South Island. The kids loved it and were able to take a couple more rides down while Catheleen and I enjoyed the view and weather from a café at the top. The next day we stopped at another hill for zorbing, a ridiculous sport where you climb into a large inflatable ball and then roll down a hill. Both John and Elizabeth went for the wet ride, where they sloshed around in their ball like clothes in a washing machine. They weren't hurt by the ride itself, but they may have busted a gut from all the laughing and screaming on the way down the zig-zag course, all captured on a Go-Pro for our viewing...

On Tuesday we drove north west to Rotorua , and along the way we stopped at the Hobbiton Movie Set , where parts of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies were filmed. When the director Peter Jackson was planning film locations in New Zealand, he did an aerial surveillance of this area and found this bucolic sheep and cattle farm, with its green rolling hills, including a critical pond and large tree. After a couple of years of construction, the area was transformed with dozens of hobbit holes and a tavern over a stone bridge. The site was rebuilt in 2009 for The Hobbit movies, and later turned into a permanent exhibit and tourist attraction. We really enjoyed our tour on one fine sunny day, and we took a lot of pictures in front of all the hobbit holes. Some of the hobbit holes were smaller than others, which helped during filming to create the illusion that some of the characters were tall or short. The place was really well maintained. They must have an army of gardeners, wi...

While visiting Wellington we stayed at a hobby farm, or what they call a "lifestyle block". The kids enjoyed playing with the owners' kids, a boy named Dominique who was a year older than John, and a girl named Celina who was a year younger than Elizabeth. It was great to see them play with soccer balls and skateboards, and interact with the neighbour's dog and cat. Dominique had just purchased a dirt bike, and showed off for us by riding it over the nearby hills and across the stream. They had all the usual animals like chickens and sheep, along with an unusual collection of donkeys, and were just in the process of purchasing a pony for Celina, which was to arrive on the day of our departure. While the kids were all playing together, Catheleen and I chatted with the owners, Roland and Angie. We stayed two nights and both nights we stayed up to tell stories and share some food and drink. Angie is originally from Switzerland, and it was interesting to hear her tales of...

Last Thursday we had an early morning drive to catch the ferry from Picton on the south island to Wellington on the north island. The two hour ferry ride was very scenic as we passed by many coves on our way through the sound to the open ocean and across Cook Strait. The cruise through the sound with its tree-covered shores reminded me of the British Columbia ferry that rides past Salt Spring Island and other islands on the way from Vancouver to Victoria, Vancouver Island. The ferry itself was a miniature version of its B.C. cousin, except the Picton ferry included a semi-trailer filled with cattle, not something found often on B.C. ferries as I recall. I must admit the cattle were a little smelly when the wind was blowing the wrong way. It was a beautiful cool sunny day, and as the ferry made its way into Wellington harbour, we had a good view of New Zealand's capital. There was a cruise ship in port, and the ship dominated this compact city of 400,000 (including suburbs), with ...

I have to admit we haven't done too much since we arrived in Nelson New Zealand, on the northern end of the south island. We're staying in a really nice place on top of a ridge with a great view of the ocean. I find when we are at a particularly nice place, I feel like staying close to home base and just relaxing. So without many recent activities to describe, here's a list of random things I've learned about New Zealand since we arrived on the South Island. 1. What a beautiful place. Everywhere you go the views and vistas are amazing. 2. Driving on the left is tricky. I keep walking to the car to get into the driver's seat on the wrong side, and I still think the turn signal should be where the windshield wiper controls are. Then there are the ever present round-abouts - ugh. I attempted parallel parking once with some success, but I kept shoulder checking over the rght shoulder. It's confusing. 3. There really are more sheep than people here. Something like...

We stayed for two nights on the west coast near the town of Franz Josef . It rained much of the time. Not surprising since the westerly winds off the Tasman sea dump eight meters of rain a year onto this part of the world. No one in this country seems to own a dryer by the way. Of all places, this rainy location could use some dryers. I don't think there are too many "good days for the drying" here, as some Irish travellers we met in Vietnam would say. Instead Kiwis for the most part seem to hang their clothes to dry on the line. We learned this time and again when we only found a washer at our accommodation. Maybe it seems strange to say, but I can't say I have hung many clothes on a line before our trip to New Zealand. It's not rocket science, but I learned on windy days that everything needs a peg or two to stay above the dirt below. A unique custom we've noticed in New Zealand lately is people walking around barefoot. We've only seen it a few times si...

We've seen a few movies in New Zealand, and while we enjoyed them, what was more interesting was the movie theatres themselves. Unlike Canada they all seem to be independently owned and operated, and they are each quite different. In Te Anau, we didn't realise that we should have booked our seats days in advance. No matter, we still managed to get almost the last seats. We ordered popcorn for the kids, which were provided in white ceramic bowls, and waited in the adjacent Black Dog Bar while others ordered glasses of wine or beer for the show. Once inside the theatre, we placed our bowls and drinks on little tables between the seats and enjoyed the first half of The Martian. Next came the required intermission to get another drink. Others preferred a slice of cheesecake. The last theatre we visited was the Paradiso in Wanaka. This place was less upscale but no less unique. The theatre was filled mostly with sofas, along with a few regular theatre style chairs and one '50...

When we drove up to Milford Sound yesterday we stopped and hiked a few short trails. In New Zealand they call it "tramping". Along one tramp we saw signs warning not to touch any small green pellets, which were rat poison. We learned that the national park staff were trying to control the rat population, which is not native to New Zealand. In fact besides a few bats, no mammals are native to New Zealand. Like Australia, New Zealand has suffered the effects of invasive species like rats and rabbits. For instance, they tried to control the rabbit population by introducing possums, but that not only didn't work, it created a possum problem. One of the biggest issues with some of these mammals now roaming the wilds of New Zealand is they are hard on the birds. The lack of native mammals over the last 80 million years since New Zealand starting drifting away from Australia was a boon for the birds, and led to the development of some flightless species, including the kiwi and ...

Yesterday we took another impressive scenic drive southwest from Queenstown, crossing hills and heading over mountain passes. We are now in the Southern Alps, a chain of snow capped mountains that run up along the west coast of New Zealand, having been thrust up when the Australian and New Zealand tectonic plates pushed away from each other. We arrived in Te Anau , a small town supported by tourism and farming. Tourists like us use it as a launch point for visits to the Fiordland National Park mainly. Once in town, we checked into our accommodations and enjoyed the warm sunny weather, which is rare for this area, known for its heavy rain and cool temperatures year round. I actually put on shorts and sandals during the afternoon, which was a first for me in New Zealand. The sun felt strangely more intense on this sunny day than in Ottawa Canada, and I was curious if it was just me or if there was something to this. The closer to the equator you get, the more the sun is directly overhead...

Well today was a big day for Catheleen. Apparently bungee jumping was on her bucket list, so what better place to go bungee jumping than where it all started in 1988, at the Kawarau bridge near Queenstown. She was a bit nervous perhaps, but she executed a near perfect swan dive off the platform, and plunged 43 meters to the river below before bouncing back. When I asked her the secret to her success, she said that first of all you need to pay the fee to jump (which is non-refundable by way, even if you chicken out). Next when you jump you don't look down obviously, because who would jump off a perfectly functional bridge? Bet to imagine you are just jumping from a regular dock into a lake. The kids and I cheered her on as she jumped, as she yelled 'Carpe Diem' on the way down. Good for Catheleen - it was thrilling enough to watch her and others jump, one after another... much like lemmings off a cliff. Good kitty! We're enjoying our cottage accommodations i...

On Thursday we drove southeast from Oamaru to Wanaka and then on to Arrowtown near Queensland. Taking our time, we enjoyed the scenery along the way, as we drove past aqua and blue coloured lakes with impressive hydroelectric dams, meandering around foothills and over mountain passes. The towns were few and far between, and there were little sign of civilisation among the hills and mountains. As we weaved our way around the surrounding hills, we marvelled that the hills were mostly covered in the same tan coloured bushes. It created an unusual but pleasing colour scheme. The mountains were always in the distance - with their snow caps, they were a beautiful sight. In Wanaka we visited Puzzling World , showcasing optical illusions and technological trickery that had us scratching our heads. The room of holograms had a number of high quality holograms. In the room of faces, all four walls were covered in famous people's faces that moved to follow us as we circled around the room. I...

We've slowed down the last couple of days. I think it was because the weather turned for the worse. On Monday we had such a beautiful day with warm dry winds blowing in from the north. Yesterday the weather changed to blustery, cold and wet weather coming in from the south. Which is strange to me, like many other things. The days are getting longer, the sun tracks in the northern part of the sky from right to left, cold weather comes from the south, and I'm driving on the left. All opposite from what to expect in Canada. Oamaru has an impressive Main Street with large imposing white limestone buildings on a broad avenue. Some of the buildings are very beautiful with Corinthian columns and ornate facades, all built in the late 1800's when this place was booming with profits from a gold rush and other businesses. Now the town is much smaller, and I found it strange to find so few people on the street, which was built at a time when the future seemed brighter. I am told that w...

The New Zealand All Blacks beat the Australia Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup finals on Saturday. The only reason I know this is because we were in Australia for the semi-finals and New Zealand for the finals. The kids really wanted to watch the finals at a sports bar or somewhere with a crowd, but we ended up waking up early Sunday morning at 5 AM to watch the game in our hotel room. Being in New Zealand, we cheered for the Kiwis. The rivalry between the Kiwis and Aussies was on full display during the lead up to the event. Listening to some Kiwis, they seem to see themselves as under-appreciated by their larger rivals the Aussies, who they consider brash. Which is funny since the two countries are such close partners in business and politics. Reminds me somewhat of the relationship between the U.S. and Canada. We drove south from Christchurch to a rural hobby farm near Oamaru . We enjoyed the drive through the countryside, which was very beautiful. The country has been turned into g...

We've had to park in some narrow driveways at our accommodations in Australia over the last week, and at one of these places I managed to scrape the front bumper on a fence. I thought we might be on the hook for the damages but luckily the attendant didn't notice or care when we dropped the car off in Sydney. What a relief. We spent Thursday night, our last night in Australia, at a swanky downtown hotel in Sydney. The kids were happy to visit the Apple Store one last time, and it was nice to stroll down to the harbour again to see the Opera House and bridge. Catheleen and I stopped in at a pub in The Rocks district next to the harbour, and I had a schooner of beer called 150 lashes, which was really good. The beer is named after a rogue and entrepreneur from the early days of Sydney named James Squire. He was sent to Sydney in the 1790's with the first fleet for stealing some chickens. After serving his seven years, he led a colourful life in Sydney with his mistress, wife...