Bula! (Fijian Hello)

Kia Ora! ( Maori Hello/welcome)

Here goes yet another blog...soon coming to an end as we are nearing the finish line to our extreme adventures! Back about a week or so, as Tara so graciously informed us...it's good our P.R. manager is keeping us on track and grounded. Back to Franz Joseph-a cute and quaint town with a population of 200 permanent residents which grows to over 1000 people a day because of the major attraction---go figure, The Franz Joseph Glacier. Here we decided to take a full-day hike up and over the glacier. It began with a small walk through sub-tropical rainforest, where Taya quickly figured out that her wool socks and boots were absolute rubbish, into a canyon that was carved out by the receding glacier (already receded 2.5 km back-which we had to walk through to get to the base, we might add! Not to forget the torrential downpours we endured just to make it a little bit more extreme!) As we hit the base we strapped on our crampons (spikes) to our boots and realized that the many layers of gore-tex and base layers were far too much for us Canadians as we were sweating balls. Taya and Brittany were stripping off layers even before the big climb! The climb entailed steep inclines that required us to hold onto ropes...you know we were on solid ice...one goes -we all go, we also had to dig our spikes into the ice for traction, our guide had an ice pick to break trail for us to go up and over the ridges. Mel and Briana both were wee bit hesitant as Mel looked up at the height and Briana dreaded any small crevices that we may come across- both did remarkably well. Parts of the glacier were gorgeous, crystal clear, blue amplified by the rain washing away any sediment. Taya was cursing under breath as she scaled the ice because she felt like a big baby due to the agonizing pain from her feet. She felt a little better about whining so much when she discovered that the pain was legit when she took her boots off to discover the blood/burns/holes with wool stuck in them and the left over skin in her socks after the day---not to forgot, rented socks! Winner, winner, chicken dinner for the next recipient! GROSS!!! Ma & Pa Mark-the bruises on Mel's lower extremities are a souvenir from the glacier, not Taya's aggression or boomerang! From Franz Joseph we stopped for an overnight stay in a town called Wanaka-a large sheep farming industry surrounded by mountains and Lake Wanaka. We hope that the people really appreciate how clean and clear it is, also with depths of about 500m. Don't worry we are still rooting for Kenosee! Next to Queenstown -the adventure capital of NZ where the city itself brings in 30 million per year just off bungy jumping. This is where it first originated- to celebrate, Taya decided to donate to the 30 million dollar pot and PAID to jump off a pod suspended 134m. The cable car she had to ride out to the jump site was grates at the bottom and the floor of the pod was glass...impending doom below. Video and pictures and CERTIFICATE (maybe of stupidity) to come! No, Lindsay Dalziel, Taya will not pay you to tie a rope around her ankles and jump off the Kenosee free fall! The next day, we took a day trip to Milford Sound (on the advice of Pat Coffey), boy this was a beauty. A real wet one! In fact, over 150mm in an hour! Our guide said it was the wettest day he had ever seen-the mountains looked like they had veins running down them there were so many waterfalls! Next to Christchurch-a city-not much to say here besides we had to say goodbye to our quad-pod member- Melanie. All we have to say, sucks to be you-have fun at work tomorrow biatch! Now---ahhh.....FIJI!!!! Greeted at the airport by our transport, who adorned us with shell Lei's and a mercedes to drive us to our resort. Wow, they must have smelled us coming and realized we have been backpacking for 3 months and felt bad because we are spoiled! This resort is like no other and is to DIE for!!!! Our room---AMAZING! Ocean front with a king size bed and couch with a pullout (you guessed it, Taya & Brittany are sharing the king. Not because they want to, but more fear because they know how much Briana misses her Mick-Nugget! Gag!) The sheets are so crisp and white, we've showered and still scared to lay in the bed. Oooh! A fully stocked bathroom with robes, new toothbrushes, shampoo/conditioner....even cotton buds! bahaha... aka cotton balls! And a fully stocked coffee/tea bar in our room, yup 4 different kinds of tea. To give you an idea, there's english breakfast, Japan Sencha, jasmine and camomile...oh yeah and free internet. Oh yeah, the best buffet meal any of us has had at an all-inclusive----Taya was in heaven....all you can eat SUSHI!!!! Briana even had a go seeing that she had nothing to lose! Tomorrow's plan- nothing....beach...food....beach...sunscreen....food...coffee....beach....sunset......maybe more food...sleep! We leave this island, (oh yeah, we have our own Island-109 acres! At Shangri-La Resort) in 4 days for another island to try out for size. Mana Island Resort (we think)Will update soon. Miss you and see you all soon!

P.S. It's so nice to hear all the christmas music playing, but weird at the same time because it's so tropical here. It makes us that much more excited to see all of you! 9 days!