I spent a few days in an Air Bnb in Ponsonby, which is a hip neighborhood in Auckland. I did a lot of shopping for things I realized I needed after leaving home. I got a new backpack because the one I brought was a bit over-full (read: jam packed!) and I was having a really hard time getting it to zip, which was driving me crazy. I did a long walking tour of the city center. I learned that New Zealand was the first country to give women the right to vote in 1893. I also took a ferry boat over to a small town just across the water from Auckland. Mostly though I spent a lot of time using wifi in cafes and bars planning logistics and making reservations. I also spent some time studying the New Zealand road rules in preparation for renting a car. Driving on the other side of the road — yikes! I wasn’t terribly taken with Auckland, to be honest. But I got some useful things done while I was there anyway.

Two of the kind staff members at the resort took me for short hikes to viewpoints on the island to watch the sunrise and the sunset. Neither was spectacular but they were still pretty. No manta rays showed up, so I headed down to another island, Wailailai, to another resort where I was able to swim with sharks!! They were white tip reef sharks, so don’t worry they don’t eat people 🙂 I had a sort of a mixed mind about doing the swim with sharks because they feed the sharks to get them to come around. They spear a fish and hold it under water and the sharks circle around. I feel like that’s disruptive to their natural behavior. But it was really cool to get so close to the sharks. Some of them actually brushed against me!

While I was at Wailailai Ecohaven, I took a trip to the local village. We got to visit the school, which was a lovely experience. The students performed a few rhymes and songs for us. They were doing a ceremony to initiate their brownie girl guides that afternoon, so we got to stay and watch that as well. It was very nice. It did occur to me that it could be quite disruptive to the students’ learning if they have to interrupt what they are doing to perform for guests all the time. 

I got to visit with my brothers while I was on a layover in LA, which was lovely, and my friend Jillian happened to be flying through LAX as well, so we met up for some wine and she did some beautiful henna on me to start my trip!

I managed to sleep for most of the flight to Nadi, Fiji. When I arrived I took a three hour boat ride to the Yasawa Islands. I’m staying on Mantaray Island. The place where I’m staying is a resort, but I’m staying in the dorm so it is more like a nice hostel with open air showers. It’s mantaray season right now, but there hasn’t been enough plankton in the water to attract them since I’ve been here. Fingers crossed! 

The water here is an incredible green blue. There is beautiful snorkeling on the reef right off the beach — so many fish and very colorful coral. I’ve been doing a lot of relaxing in hammocks and drinking cocktails 😀 Last night the staff performed Fijian dance for us and then we got to join in for a communal dance. Today I went for two dives. I was a bit scared as it was only my second time to go diving but it was so beautiful I forgot about being nervous after a while. We saw two white tip sharks, an eagle ray (like a giant sting ray), an octopus, a lobster, and a sea turtle. The octopus was my favorite part — it changed color and texture to blend in with the rocks. I’ve seen videos of octopuses and cuttlefish doing that, and it was amazing to see it myself. We swam with the sea turtle for a while, which was really cool too. I’m really enjoying being here and just relaxing. 

Today I’m headed to Fiji by way of Phoenix and LA. I left Tuesday morning at 11:30 am Detroit time and I will arrive at 5:50 am Thursday morning! It’s not as bad as it sounds though — I lose a day so it’s really only about 16 hours of total flight time. I finally managed to get my backpack to zip yesterday. My biggest fear this morning was having the TSA open my bag in security and not being able to get it closed again!