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A Warm Welcome to Auckland (and New Zealand)

September 7th, 2004

Only one week in New Zealand, and already I’m wondering if 5.5 will be enough.

I think that this time I can dispense with the location of and general information about my current location. I’m sure the basics about New Zealand are pretty well known to most of you, and if they aren’t, then you can find ‘em out easily enough.

Auckland has, thusfar, been wonderful, due in no small part to my excellent hosts.
I arrived in Auckland from Fiji at about 18:45 on Friday September 3 (my birthday as it so happens), and took the bus downtown to meet my friend Margot. For those of you who don’t know her, Margot is a kiwi friend of mine who spent two years living in Toronto. After the standard hellos, hugs, etc., Margot produced two quarter bottles of champagne, in honour of my 29th, and we headed off to the ferry terminal.
A hop, a skip, a half bottle of champagne and a ferry ride later, we were back in Devonport, the “suburb” of Auckland where Margot’s family home is located.
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A Quick-ish Visit to Fiji

September 3rd, 2004

This entry begins not with my arrival in Fiji, but with the few hours remaining before my departure from the Cook Islands…

In this time, I managed to head to town, try some of the renowned local ice cream (one scoop of lime, one of coconut) and walk the 2km or so to the airport, arriving WAY early for my flight.

While waiting, I met Sylvie and Serge, a couple from Montreal who were actually the first Canadians I’d met NOT from BC. We talked for some time and discovered that we were following parallel routes for quite a while and promised to keep in touch en route.

I also had a chance to say farewell to Catherine, Vicky and Helen, three wonderful English ladies with whom I spent a good chunk of my last week in the Cooks.

But enough about the Cook Islands… This entry’s main subject is Fiji.

I can’t provide as detailed a summary of Fiji as I could of the Cooks, since I researched rather less.

The main Island of Viti Levu is a volcanic island, much bigger than Rarotonga, with a diameter of very roughly 70km. The population of Fiji is close to 1 million, 70% or more of which live on Viti Levu. The most significant ethnic populations in Fiji are native Fijians (a Melanisian people, different from the Polynesians of the Cooks) and Indians who were brought to the islands by the British as labourers.

Race relations seem to be a significant issue on the islands. While most of the people I met seemed quite happy to live side by side with all the other residents, there must be something important at work here, as the representation of the two main ethnic groups in the government was one of the main issues leading to the 2000 military coup in Fiji.

Anyhow, enough background. Or if not enough, all I can provide. On to the story of my time in Fiji.
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A Visit to Aitutaki and a Short, Final Stay in Raro

August 27th, 2004

Kia Orana once again from the Cook Islands. (Kia Orana is the local greeting/farewell in the Cooks [similar to the Hawaiian “aloha”] and translates to “may you live long.”)

Since I last wrote, I’ve been to Aitutaki, another of the Cook Islands, and spent a couple more days in Rarotonga. As with my previous experiences in the Cooks, everything has been pretty uniformly wonderful.

Aitutaki is, like Rarotonga, volcanic in it’s origin, but coral has had an even greater part in its growth. Indeed, save for a few 100m peaks in the centre, horseshoe shaped Aitutaki is almost a perfect coral atoll. The island is about 7km long, with a huge (15km x 12km) lagoon of beautiful turquoise water surrounding it. Dotted throughout the lagoon are many small uninhabited islands or motus.
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The Cook Islands: Paradise on Earth??? Yes, I Think That’s a Fair Assessment

August 23rd, 2004

Well, I’ve been here in the Cook Islands for a week now, but am finally getting around to writing my first entry about the place.

And what a place! I’ve been staying on the main island of Rarotonga since my arrival at 6:15am last Monday, and it has been wonderful in just about every way.

Rarotonga is a sort of “hybrid” island. It was originally formed by volcaninc activity, leading to some significant peaks (up to about 650m high) but has since been expanded by the growth of coral around it, which provides it with calm seas due to the barrier reef that almost completely surrounds the island, as well as some lovely white sand beaches.

The Cook Islands themselves are a sort of semi-independent state. The local government runs pretty much everything that deals with the islands themselves, while New Zealand takes care of foreign policy, defence and so forth.
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A Fond Farewell to Vancouver (and Canada [and North America For That Matter])

August 20th, 2004

Well… This entry is a bit belated, given that I’m posting it after I’ve already been in the Cook Islands for 5 days, but nonetheless, the remainder of my stay in Vancouver clearly needs documenting.

When we last “spoke” as I recall, Juliana and I had just returned home on a Wednesday night from seeing the Corb Lund Band at the Railway Club. So. On to a pleasant, if physically taxing Thursday.
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Beer Tasting List

August 13th, 2004

I’m something of a beer fan. In fact, as has already been stated elsewhere, brewery tours are one of my default activities (id est, the things that I plan to do if I don’t have anything in particular planned) for this trip.

With these facts in mind, I thought it would be fun to keep a list of all the local or regional beers I try over my travels (by local/regional I generally mean things I haven’t seen or tried in Toronto.) I suppose I really ought to take tasting notes too, but
a) I’m not sophisticated enough to put my observations into words.
and
b) I’m just too lazy.

I’ll keep adding to this list throughout the trip, so if you’re a beer fan yourself, or are just vaguely interested, keep checking back to this entry.
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Vancouver: Land of Great Beaches, Wonderful Friends and Thoroughly Enjoyable Food and Drink

August 13th, 2004

Once again, I’ve proved very lucky in having gracious hospitable hosts waiting for me at a destination. After a long day spent in airports and airplanes, I arrived in Vancouver at 10:30 on a Sunday night. The gracious, hospitable hosts in question, Juliana and Alex were there to pick me up at the airport. After the quick drive out to their place, we went out for dinner and a beverage or two at a nearby pub, turning in relatively soon thereafter.
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World Boardgaming Championships, Baltimore

August 9th, 2004

Greetings one and all from the world boardgaming championships in Baltimore, Maryland. As some of you are aware, I have a tradition of coming down here every year, with a roommate of mine from McGill, Nick Benedict.
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Continued Adventures in the South

August 3rd, 2004

It’s been an eventful few days since I last wrote.
The story begins on the morning of Friday, July 30. I woke up fairly late (again) and went to try and change my flights in and out of Baltimore. To my pleasant surprise, it was a breeze. Everything the folks at the Adventure Travel Company had confirmed about my Star Alliance RTW ticket proved to be true.
I just phoned up United Airlines, and they happily adjusted the dates and times of my flights at no cost. It’s nice to have done this once, so in future I’ll be able to alter my schedule with confidence.

It wasn’t long after I’d made my arrangements that Sean came home from work, nice and early, to get started with preparations for a weekend of camping. We loaded up his car, headed off to buy groceries and a few camping supplies and by 15:00 or so we were on the road, headed for the hills north of Atlanta.
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First Stop: Atlanta, Georgia

July 30th, 2004

After a late night packing, I somehow managed to get up early to say goodbye to my dad and sister before my mom drove me to the airport for my flight to Atlanta, where I planned to stay with a couple of friends: my former co-worker Sean and his wife Jen.

Sean moved from Morrison Hershfield’s Toronto office down to our Atlanta office some four years ago now, and I’ve been promising him I’d visit soon ever since. At long last I got to keep my promise (albeit a bit late.)
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