Fiji

25.07.16 - 05.07.16

Next up we visited Fiji for 12 nights. When we first arrived I was skeptical about Nadi, after driving through the town and surrounding area it did seem rather run down. However, when we arrived at our hostel and settled in I soon got to love the area. We stayed at Bamboo Backpackers, located in Nadi in a little section of hostels full of fellow backpackers. Our hostel was lovely, it had a bar, restaurant, pools and lounging areas right on the beach side. What we noticed and loved about Fiji is how friendly and genuinely nice the people are. They stop and say hi to you, which is Bula! in Fijian. It's not every place you go where people are alway happy and smiling. It was special! For the first few days we did a lot of chilling and all day tanning, which was nice and relaxing. We then decided to go island hopping for four nights and decided we would visit Mana and Bounty Island.

So we got a boat to Mana Island, an island just off the main coast of Nadi, about an half hour boat ride away. The island is very small, occupied by around 300-400 people. We checked into our room, a very basic room to say the least, with two beds and an old padlock on the door to keep our valuables safe. On our first day we went off snorkelling to an empty island, which took
about 30 seconds to walk around and you can walk across it in probably 15 seconds, it was that small! It was beautiful though! The sea around it however was very rough and not ideal for snorkelling and we only saw a few fish due to not wanting to be carried away by the current. Getting back in the boat in those conditions was an experience I'll say! Life on Mana was very relaxed, wake up, get breakfast, play some volleyball, go in the crystal clear sea and snorkel with the fish, sunbathe, have dinner (they fed us whilst we were there. Rice and pasta based, but pretty nice) and then evening activities. Whilst we were at Mana us girls got very involved with making handmade pendants out of coconuts for necklaces. So one of the Fijian men would cut out whatever pendent shape we wanted from a coconut, and then we would sand it down to make it smooth and then pierce a hole through the coconut so that it is able to be hung onto rope. This was super fun and occupied most of one torrential rain day we unfortunately had. Another activity we really enjoyed was snorkelling just of Mana Island, where we snorkelled for a bit and came across a baby shark. As soon as someone said there was a shark I was straight outta that water like there was no tomorrow hahaha, whilst everyone else stayed in and swam after it. I'm literally a baby when it comes to sharks, I can't cope! Nicola got some cool photos of it on her go pro though! Another highlight of Mana was going up onto the hills and watching the sunset with a great group of friends that we made there! Shoutout to my American girl Crystal, who we met in Mana :) In total we stayed 3 nights in Mana.

Mana

Next up we visited Bounty Island for one night only. This Island was a resort, so more expensive but much better quality. The food was a buffet which we were very glad to see after not eating too much on Mana Island, and our room was great having it to ourselves! We again went snorkelling and this was an experience! The man at the snorkel rental place told us the best place to go and gave us a water bottle full of bread so we can squirt it out in the water to attract the fish. Needless to say when we were out there and all these fish bombarded us I freaked out a little! Surrounded by 50-100 fish I was a little nervous and scared. The next morning we got up early and went out and did this again. This time I manned up and stayed out swimming around with all the fish and it was an awesome experience! I feel like I've accomplished something haha (no sharks thank god :)) There was also an awesome pool in Bounty, and a small little tank full of baby turtles which was the most adorable thing!! We loved Bounty.

Bounty

We then headed back to Nadi for one more night before our flight to New Zealand on the 5th. On our last day, myself, Nicola and Crystal went into Nadi town to have a wander around the markets. We found a gift market full of jewelery, bags and other bits. Us being girls found cute shell necklaces we wanted and got them for a good price after a barter or two. We also got our hair braided like little girls hahaha. If I was to give advice about where to go in Fiji I would definitely recommend Island hopping. It is a great way to see some of Fiji's beautiful 333 islands it has to offer. If you want an experience where you are living with the locals and seeing their culture then I would say visit Mana island, however one or two nights is enough. Bounty on the other hand was gorgeous, and I would say stay there maybe two nights as it is great but a little expensive. If I was to go again I would love to have visited Beachcomber Island which is more of a party scene, but also so beautiful with the waters crystal clear blue so perfect for snorkelling. There are many more islands heading South, but they get kinda expensive the further away you go from Nadi so it depends on the budget. All in all we loved Fiji!!

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Hawaii

06/07/16 - 25/07/16

We flew from Los Angeles LAX straight to Honolulu, on the main island of Oahu in Hawaii which was a long 7 hour flight filled with crying children.. not what you want. We arrived and after a lengthily wait for our driver, got to our hostel Waikiki Beachside Hostel, where we were greeted by our friend Hana who we met on the Contiki USA tour. She had previously been there a week and had one more week there to spend with us. We settled into our hostel rooms and went straight to the beach. On our first proper day, we decided to rent mopeds. At the time it seemed a great idea, in hind site, still a great idea yet probably should have used our brains a bit more.. you’ll see. We rented them for two days. On the first day we got to grips with them, which for the hiring staff was a worrying site with one of them telling Nicola he ‘fears for her life!’ Good to hear. Anyway after some practice we were pretty confident and went exploring locally. We did get lost numerous times but all in all it was a good day and we got to see some cute locations over the beach. We went to Hanauma Bay, which is a very popular beach, also a nature reserve, where you can pay $7 to get in and sunbathe or swim in the crystal clear sea with all the reserved coral reefs and local tropical fish. Day 2 was the day where it started to go wrong. We set off at 8.30am and went straight past Hanauma Bay and continued around the coast, stopped off at various pretty locations for rest breaks and a lunch stop. We ended up on a beach called Kaiona Beach Park, which was a very quiet beach with no one in sight and we stayed here for a few hours before continuing on. This is where we got confused.. We then continued to bike around the island, not realising how far we had to go with us thinking ‘yeah, we’ll just ride around the island’. 5 hours of non stop riding, 3 rain storms and countless close mental breakdowns we finally arrive back at the hostel, 9.15pm, absolutely sodden from the rain. At one point I thought my bike was going to give up on me because it was making some weird noises, little did I know I had hours of riding in the rain to go. After that 13 hour day of riding, we were done with the mopeds hahaha! At least we got some cute photos, right? We also took a trip to the beautiful Manoa trail, where the end point is the Manao waterfall. This was super beautiful and totally worth the sweaty hike!!

Hanauma Bay

Manoa Falls

Whilst Hana was still with us, we also took a naughty trip to the premium outlet store. Or heaven, as we liked to call it. However, this didn’t start as smoothly as it ended. We firstly got on a bus,  which was only $2.50 to the outlet, absolute bargain we thought. An hour in, we ask the bus driver how long it takes to get there. Only another 2 hours he said. Our faces. Baring in mind we had to get there before it shut, and then get home, we got off at the next stop and re-assessed the situation. Finally finding wifi we called for an uber to take it there, no messing about, which is when we met the love of our life, our Uber driver named Jeff. Although Jeff kept texting me telling us he was going to be late because of the traffic, and then again to ask where we were and then again once more (which was costing me to receive, thanks Jeff…) he turned out to be the nicest man, offering us iPhone charging and water as soon we got in (both were necessary). After chatting a while to Jeff telling him about our moped disaster, he drops the bombshell that there are no Uber drivers near the outlets so we wouldn't be able to get home. Panic stricken, he then says ‘but you have saved me a trip.. I wanted to come to the outlets so you guys shop for 2 hours and I’ll wait for you and take you home and not charge you on Uber, just give me 20 bucks’. Yes Sir Jeff! Bless him, so he waited for us whilst we shopped (we shopped hard, a designer bag may have been purchased - cheap as though!) and took us home. We tipped him gratefully as he got us back to our hostel. He really was the best. 5* for Jeff.

Moped fun

Hana sadly left on the 14th, but somehow we managed to convince our Australian friend Katie, who we also met on the USA tour to come out and see us for a few days. She booked into a hotel and kindly let us stay (hotel of dreams) and our days had the same sort of pattern. Lie in, get up, get food, sunbathe on beach, come back to hotel and nap, eat more food and drink champagne. Not a bad line up I’ll say! We had various late night McDonalds trips, a few naughty Victoria Secret and Sephora trips, a few more trips to Macy’s where the sunglasses hut lady loved us, and lots of nice food at the Cheesecake Factory. Sadly, after Katie extended her stay in the hotel and negotiated with her airline, Katie had to leave us. So sad to see her go, although already excited to see her in January when we go to Sydney, we waved her off goodbye and went back to the prison life a.k.a hostels. We only had a few nights left before we jetted off to our next location, Fiji, for some more fun in the sun!

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Las Vegas to Los Angeles

02/07/16

Three nights in Las Vegas. To sum up Las Vegas all I can say is absolutely crazy, like nothing I have ever witnessed or experienced before. Our hotel was also a huge casino, which I got lost in multiple times because it was that big.. especially at night when all the poker tables were in use. Our hotel was actually very nice, with a nice outdoor pool where we sunbathed in the 40 degree heat. The only downside was no wifi, and it cost $150 a day to get so sadly I was internet less for the most part.. first world problems! The Las Vegas strip was so bright and colourful, a city that never sleeps. The night life was big every night, with hundreds of people queuing til' the early hours to get in (luckily we had VIP entry). It was hectic, to say the least! The shopping scene was great as you can imagine, but the 15 minute walk to the mall was too much in the heat of the day! On our last night, our tour group had organised us all to have an hour limo ride to the bar, which was so fun! I'd never been in a limo before, and the free bottles of champagne were a plus too! 

The shopping centre

Roof top bar

In the limo!

05/07/16

Los Angeles

Last day of our Contiki trip ended here. Sad saying goodbye to all of the friends we have made. We have 2 nights in LA, back into the hostel life after 26 nights in lovely hotels, bad times. We went out for food with the friends who were also staying in LA for a few days. We also visited the Hollywood strip and the Hollywood sign! On and off to Hawaii!

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Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks

30/06/16
Early morning start to get to the Bryce Canyon National Park, located in Southern Utah. The park is well known for its orangey red coloured rock formations. The park is home to many hoodoos, which are strange looking pillars of rock left standing by erosion. There are the most amount of hoodoos here compared to any other national park. It is a very spectacular view! We walked along sunset peak and took some photos!

01/07/16
Next up our third national park visit, to the famous Grand Canyon, located in the state of Arizona. Again, we were overwhelmed by the views we saw. We went to the visitor centre, and took in the views whilst being entertained by some squirrel chipmunk looking animals who cheekily live of human food I presume. We then took a two hour hike up the Transept Trail, which is an easy one taking us along the North Rim from the North Rim Campground to the Grand Canyon Lodge. This place is so massive that you can fit 80 New York Cities inside of it, and the dept of the Canyon is one mile long! I think there has been around 12 deaths per year from people getting too close to the rim and falling down whilst attempting to take selfie photographs!! This place was definitely a highlight of my trip! :)

02/07/16

Finally, the fourth and last national park were visiting in America, Zion National Park, located in Southwest Utah. Another beautiful place. There was hop on and off shuttles which ran frequently and was the main way to get around the park. We took a one mile walk following the river to the Emerald Pool, where there was a waterfall located at the end. We also went to the Weeping Rock, which the name entertained us which too was essentially a waterfall. Very pretty views!

Weeping rock

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Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

27/06/16

Up and off early to spend a full day exploring Yellowstone, located in the state of Wyoming. Basically a desert. We stopped a couple of times on our way to the main focuses of the park for quick toilet stop and photo opportunities. One of the places we stopped off had this beautiful view of a small beach looking onto a massive lake. 

The reason why we set off so early was to hopefully catch some wildlife. You know, bison, maybe a deer... we saw two grizzly bears! A mum and its baby.. it was so cute! We made sure we stayed at least 100m away from them though as they can be very dangerous if the mumma is being protective over her little one. It was still amazing. I took a few photos but my camera wasn't clear enough, however, if you look closely you might be able to see them in the middle back behind a log :)

Next stop was the most interesting, yet terrifying experience ever. So it was kinda the first time we had seen bison, which is an animal which looks like a massive bull with horns, it's hard to explain just look at the photo. Anyway, they were chilling behind this fence so we were like omg! a bison! and obviously went to take photos. The park ranger told us to stay 25m away, which we did.. but then these 3 bison decide to jump the fence. So we obviously ran like the little girls we are, whilst the park ranger shouted "EVERYONE GET INTO YOUR VEHICLES". Our bus wasn't close. We ran with a terrified giggle. These 3 bison then decided to peg it towards us, so we ran onto a bridge towards a secluded path. Thankfully the 3 bison decided not to come up that way even though it first looked like they were following us. Shortly after that first scare, there was another bison looking very angry near us on the path. It then decided to peg it towards us again, but luckily running past us about 10m away. It's never good when your tour guide is also scared and cursing hahaha. I think it took us a good hour to calm down after this, we thought this was the end hahaha. We can laugh now. Here they are in all their glory. We're not the biggest fans of bisons anymore to say the least.

Being good behind the fence

Being naughty not behind the fence

Thankfully running away from us

After that eventful morning, the afternoon was much more peaceful. We went hiking for a few hours and visited Uncle Tom's Trail, which ended about 320 steps down to a beautiful waterfall where there was two rainbows created where the water hit the pool below. It was worth all those stairs for the view at the bottom. We then hiked some more and saw more beautiful views. We also stopped at many sites where there were active geysers. Finally, our last stop was the see the most famous geyser in the world, Old Faithful, which erupt varies from every 40 minutes to 126 minutes  Luckily we just got there in time to see it erupt! Here are some photos of the beautiful views and geysers I saw :) This has been my favourite place so far.

Grand Prismatic

 Excelsior Geyser

Old Faithful erupting

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