Bula, Fiji!

Happy Thanksgiving over there in the US!!  I can't say that there is any turkey or stuffing here to enjoy...(Sniff, sniff)  I could have bought a chicken or something, but I was too lazy.  ; )

On to Fiji...  Where do I start?  When we arrived in Nadi (pronounced Nan-di), we "hired" a car and found our way to the Coral Coast where we stayed at the Pearl South Pacific.  There is basically one main road all the way around the main island of Viti Levu.  One way around is Queens Road, and the other way around is Kings Road.  Along the way, we saw a number of locals walking along the main roads to the next village, school, resorts or just waiting for the open-air buses.  We noticed the local farm animals also, except there's no fence to keep them in.  So, you might see a cow or boar up closer than you might like.  It's amazing at how different the towns and villages are in comparison to the resorts.  (Link to PicasaWeb)

And I must say that stopping here was a great idea as a place to get over my jet lag.  The people are very friendly and all about enjoying Fiji time.  In addition to the local Fijians, there is a rather large Indian population there.  Actually, I work with a number of Fijians of Indian decent that have left Fiji for better work opportunities in Australia.  There has been some unrest in Fiji now and then when the governments change over.  We actually experienced how serious things are when we accidentally ended up in front of the Presidents house in the capital of Suva.  We needed directions and were promptly motioned to move our car by a militant guard armed with a machine gun.  Needless to say, we got out of there pretty quickly.  I guess it is no different than if someone approached the White House unannounced.  I certainly wouldn't make that mistake again though.

Back to the beauty that is the Pearl, there was a great view of the ocean and the Beqa Island (pronounced Benga).  I thought it was pronounced the Becca Island until someone burst my bubble and said the name.  The hotel had boats to take you there for snorkeling, but we weren't able to go as the winds made the water unsafe.  Then, we decided that we'd take a river cruise that takes you to a local village for a lunch and the local tribal dancing, but it rained that day.  And that's when we decided to drive an hour into Suva for some sight-seeing in the capital.  The last day, we drove back towards Nadi and the airport, and we stopped in Denarau Island to see some of the other resorts.  Denarau was a completely different world.  It was a gated community of resorts with a Hard Rock Cafe and everything!  After a final island drink at the Hilton, we headed back to the airport for our final plane (there were 8 over 3 wks) back to Sydney.

Vegas, Baby!

While we were in the US, Travis and I stopped through Vegas for a few days to visit with his family and friends.  There are a few pictures at his parents' house with everyone there.  Most of the shots are of us lounging around, since that's when everyone was there.

The second round of pictures is the big rivalry game, UNLV playing UNR (Univ NV, Reno) at football.  (UNR is where Travis went to college.)  UNR won the game, Go Wolfpack!

(Link to PicasaWeb)

Palm Beach & Sydney Chinese Garden

Here are a few pictures from recent activities with friends before leaving for the US.  We met up with Rutger and Nadine to check out new areas and decided to drive up the coast then take a ferry to Ettalong, which is just past the mouth of the Hawkesbury River.  There wasn't much in Ettalong, but the ferry ride was nice.

Then, we met up with Travis's friend Mehdi and his wife Sarah for the tail end of the Moon Festival at the Chinese Garden of Friendship here in Sydney.  We took a few pictures and got tea in the garden, which I found a bit comical.  I was expecting this nice Asian tea only to find they charged an arm and a leg for Lipton!  Anyway, enjoy the photos...

(Link to PicasaWeb)

Election Day!

Wow, I can't believe that it has been 21 months of campaigning to lead us here!  I must admit that it's been interesting hearing the view point of the Aussies regarding US politics, and surprisingly I would say the opinions were rather mixed as to who would be best to run our country and will support Australia better.

And considering I am American working in an Oz company, the people I work with have been very forthcoming with questions about our electoral system.  Voters here are required to vote.  Otherwise, they get fined.  They don't have the choice of voting, and they vote in the party not the person.  Although the parliment has a Senate and a House, there are still big differences between us.

The world is certainly watching the US today!  I hope you all went out today and performed your civic duty.

The Race that Stops a Nation

Melbourne Cup is a huge horse racing event here in Oz, and yesterday the nation truly might have stopped for the minute or so that the race runs.  This is certainly equivalent to the Kentucky Derby with a whole week of "carnival"events.  And with horse racing comes fashion commentary... The morning shows have been keyed up on dresses, menswear and hats galore!

Even though the race is run during the week, my company hosted a barbeque with a crazy shoe contest and of course a round of sweeps to place a little money on the horses.  We had a TV set up for those who wanted to watch.  It was an amazing race to watch with a photo finish.  The winning horse, Viewed won by just the tiniest part of his nose forward.  Amazing to watch!  The trainer for the horse, Bart Cummings has apparently won the Melbourne Cup 12 times now, not consecutively though.  (Link to Melbourne Cup)

It was a nice diversion before the final day of US political coverage...

Lions, Tigers, Bears, and Spiders, Oh My!

Seeing as it's Halloween today in the US, I thought it only appropriate to post a comment or two about scary spiders of Australia.  I think I read in a book that Australia has the most things in a country that can kill you.  If nothing else, they will surely scare the you-know-what right out of ya.

Most notable is the funnel web spider.  And then there is the Redback, which is kind of similar to the Black Widow.  Luckily, I did some research when I first got here to start learning about these little buggers so I wouldn't jump sky high every time I saw movement at night.  It's still a good idea to be cautious and aware and always check your closed-toed shoes before slipping those feet inside them.  This is why I always had shoe boxes... to keep the creepy crawlers outta my shoes!

Plus, i tend to walk in the middle of the neighborhood streets in the evening.  It's easier to see things in trees.  One night, I was walking with Travis to dinner, and I saw something move above us.  I looked up, and casually told him to move left now.  I don't know what the spider was, but he was shimmying right down from his huge web and would have been nearly on top of Travis's head had he walked directly under the spider.

The one I see most often is the Huntsman Spider.  Now, these guys can get big.  The biggest one I've encountered was as big as my hand outstretched!  Plus, they move quickly, and they look a little like a cousin to the tarantula!  And they love to catch me off guard too.  I had the pleasure of finding one on the bathroom wall right by the doorway one morning.  I thought I might be stuck in there all day.  Here's a quick blurb about the Huntsman with a bit of a comic twist.  (Link to Huntsman article)

Another site I found actually explains which ones will kill and which ones are just painful and what to do if one does bite.  This helps, but I still jump!  (Link to more spider info from the Australian Museum)

Hello USA!!

Travis and I have flown back to the US for a visit, and I'm so excited to be back!  I'm so happy to be home.  We are in Vegas for a few days to visit Travis's family and go to  to UNLV v. UNR football game.  Then, I am headed to Richmond for a couple weeks.  I'm looking forward to catching up with everybody.  

You don't realize how much you miss everyone until you're away for awhile...  So, I will write a bit when I get back.  Hope everyone has a good week!