Bula Vinaka

There are trips intended for exploration, and there are holidays intended for relaxation.

I've been lots of places this year and I always felt like I had to keep going and make the most of the places I was lucky enough to visit. Tours, lots of walking and visiting all the "must-see" places.

So 14 years after living in Fiji I have ventured back.

That blast of hot air as you walk off the plane immediately brought back memories!

Went straight from the plane to a cruise ship which departed two hours after I landed.

 

The beauty of a cruise ship is that you actually don't have many options for what you do. Get off the ship onto an island to swim or snorkel- each one more beautiful than the last, or stay on the ship.

I've read more fiction books in 4 days than I think I've read in the last two years, even though I love reading. Thank goodness for Kindle eliminating the need to carry heavy books with you, although I might run out of downloaded books before I get back to NZ, I can always go online and purchase more.

(drinking kava)

And I've swum more I'm the last four days than I've swum in the last four years. This heat makes any wariness about donning togs in public pretty negligible!

Today we visited an island with a cave system. Climbed the cliff face ( ok the company has made some lovely concrete steps which make climbing the cliff face easy!) and jumped into the cold water- much colder than the sea, but refreshing none the less! No sign of Brooke Shields still in the cave though!

So after the first night where I might have had the dubious pleasure of being the first, and maybe only, person to get seasick enough to actually be sick and wonder exactly why I'd set myself up for 7 nights of this, it's certainly become a very relaxing break.

There's still a lot of the world to explore and I wouldn't want to spend every holiday doing nothing but reading and swimming but it's certainly refreshing after a year of hard work and long hours and reviving for the year to come.

 

 

Three more days on the ship and then three days in Fiji where hopefully I might be able to track down a few old friends., enjoy some familiar sights and the wonderful Fijian hospitality.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

A Year of Journeys Later

Twelve months ago I'd travelled to Australia a couple of times to visit family. And I'd lived in Fiji for 18 months.

And now in the last twelve months I've been to both Auschwitz in Poland and Alcatraz in San Francisco. I've snorkelled on the Great Barrier Reef and walked in Grand Canyon.

I've taken groups of teenagers around both the East Cape and North Cape of New Zealand.

I've visited Finland and Poland, and freaked out at airports in Sweden and Amsterdam. And now I now how not to freak out so much!

In Australia I've been to Melbourne twice, Brisbane and Cairns.

In America I spent 10 days in Las Vegas and San Francisco.

I've worked some incredibly long hours this year, but I've also made a deliberate effort to get away from TK in each term break.

What have I learnt:

I have learnt that I can travel:-

• that I can sit on planes for 24 hour
• that I can deal with airports, and foreign currencies and countries and people with different languages ( some big learning steps on the way, but I've learnt)
• that I pack way too much to take away with me, but I am learning not to 

I have learnt that world is a much bigger place than the small corner of it that I've always known:-

• that there are parts of the world with tremendous history
• that there are amazing things to see and be part of out there
• that there were some terrible atrocities in the world in the past and that we all need to be part of ensuring they don't happen again

I've learnt that New Zealand really is an amazing country, and I've  learnt a lot about the indigenous spirituality of areas of New Zealand by travelling with the groups I've done school trips with this year.

I've learnt that my physical limitations are not as limited as I thought they were. I've learnt I could physically push myself a lot further than I have in the past.

I've learnt that anyone can learn new skills. I learnt to use a map, not great at it, but I've started, and can find my way around generally. I learnt that to learn something new you have to want to learn it, that you have to engage with it, and that it sometimes helps to have someone to encourage you, someone who believes in you when you sometimes struggle to believe in yourself.

I know my world has been pretty narrow and I've learnt I can expand my life and try new things. If I can't do them at first I will keep trying. Baby steps are okay.

I've learnt that panic is a wasted state of being.  I've begun to learn how not to panic. I've gained a sense of calm that I can take forward with me into unknown situations. I've  learned to stop dwelling in the past, and worrying about the future. I've learned to stop over thinking about things that might or might not happen. I've learnt that I can't waste time regretting things I've done and said. That I just need to move on and learn from everything.

I've learnt that real learning is in doing. Listening to others, watching others, reading what others have done are all good.  But getting out into the world and doing things yourself...there is no better way to learn.

I've learnt that I don't have to get everything right, especially the first time. And that knowing I might not be able to do something shouldn't stop me from trying it. I've learnt I need to try new stuff to grow into a different person, a better person. 

I've learnt to ask for help. I've learnt I don't have to do everything myself and that it's not failing to ask others for help and support.

I've learnt that travelling myself teaches me a lot about myself. And that travelling with others teaches you a lot about them. And that both of those things are great.

I've learnt that it's a big world out there, and it is full of interesting people to meet and amazing things to see. And that I want to keep doing that.

Thanks to those people who have travelled with me during the year and thanks to those new people Ive met during the year. Whether its been trips with other adults or by myself or school trips with teenagers, I have learnt. You have all helped make me the person I am 12 months after these journeys started. You know who you are, and I will be forever grateful for what Ive learnt this year. You've  helped me to learn all this, so I can go off and do it by myself. 

Next stop: Fiji. Haven't been back since I left in 2000. Looking forward to the sun and seas.