Animal Planet

  So far on our journey we have encountered many creatures. From elephants to mice and rats, lions to crocodiles, monkeys to dolphins the wildlife has been fantabulous. In Fiji we went scuba diving and saw sharks, huge turtles and all kinds of colorful fish like in finding nemo. In New Zealand we drove by thousands of sheep, cows, and deer. There are also lots of dead opossums in the road because they don't run away when they're in danger. We visited a wildlife park one day that had animals from around New Zealand like wallabies and weird flightless birds. However, the best part about the park was that it had lions. There were seven adult lions and two cubs. The cubs were napping and we were allowed to touch them! Later on in New Zealand we went on a boat trip through doubtful sound. There are 3,000 glaciers on the south island of New Zealand alone, so there are many fjords like doubtful sound that the glaciers have carved out. We saw a colony of New Zealand fur seals, and yellow crested penguins. Near Christchurch we went swimming with Hectors dolphins. We took a boat out into the bay and jumped into the absolutely freezing water. The dolphins swam around us and sometimes jumped out of the water. We saw our first monkeys in Indonesia. we visited the monkey forest and one monkey climbed on my dad and reached into his backpack but apparently couldn't find anything he liked. The monkeys climbed on everyone when they held bananas, so we bought some and a man held it up and made the monkey freeze on my sisters and my heads. In our small bungalow at Rona, the place where we stayed, there was a mouse that kept my mom up all night. and there were roosters that crowed at about three in the morning so it was kind of hard to sleep. In Gili Air, which is a tiny island near Bali and Lombok, we went scuba diving and saw something like six turtles. I don't remember exactly how many. We also saw an absolute monster of a gecko. The thing must have been at least two and a half feet. Indonesia is crawling with geckos, but most of them are like three inches. This one was outrageously big. In Malaysia we visited a snake temple. There were poisonous vipers everywhere, along with a very large python named Stacy. Behind the temple there was a snake farm with at least fifty snakes. One snake was eight meters long which is around twenty six or twenty seven feet. The owner kissed a king cobra. I personally got scared for him, but he survived. Not the right job for me. Malaysia also has rats running around everywhere. Once we got to Thailand we went to Bangkok where we saw really scary looking catfish in the park. After Bangkok we visited Chiang Mai, which is in the far north in the hills before the Himalayas. There we visited an elephant camp where all of the elephants are trained and put on shows where they play soccer, basketball and even paint pictures. We also got to feed and ride the elephants. In Battambang, Cambodia we went to a crocodile farm with over six hundred crocodiles. The crocodiles mostly get sold to Thailand. An adult costs about eight hundred US dollars. Now I'm in Vietnam and we have  only seen fish and cockroaches so far. I have seen some incredible creatures throughout my trip though, so I have high hopes. 

New Zealand Cows

New Zealand Sheep

Lion cubs!

The monkeys are cute. but they will stop at nothing to get food

 

Monster gecko

King Cobra

The male lion is named Max

Monkey forest

 I have more pictures but they aren't all downloaded to the computer yet so I couldn't include them in this blog. However, I dedicate these pictures to Millyan Rashion Phillips and Peter Anderson.

Queenstown

   To get to Queenstown we had a very long drive from Fox Glacier. In New Zealand there are a ton of one lane bridges going over glacier rivers, so we kept on having to stop and wait for the bridges to be empty of cars. It's definitely worth the wait though. The scenery on the bridges is amaaaazing. There are about 3,000 glaciers on the south island alone, and they all melt into rivers.The water in the rivers is really light blue and really clear. It is all pure and clean enough to drink which means I've traveled a long way from the Aberjona. On the banks of the rivers grassy hillsides with sheep and deer and cows and goats rise up and turn into enormous snow capped mountains even though it is summer here. Queenstown is on the banks of a massive deep blue lake. Mountains with snow rise up all around and there are deep canyons with rivers just 5 minutes drive outside the very center of town. Queenstown is also the capital of adventure sports and the home of bungy jumping. On our first day we went on a jet boat, which is a high speed boat that can go around 50 miles per hour and do 360's. We traveled into a river that was 99.9% pure water according to our driver, even though it drains from a lake with a city on it. At most points the water was no more than 2 or 3 inches deep and the boat just cruised over it. We saw huge rock walls and a hillside where scenes from the Lord of the Rings movie were filmed. After the jet boat we got Thai food. Now we're in a small town south of Queenstown and we're going on a trip to Doubtful sound which is supposed to be like a fjord with penguins and seals and dolphins. We are going to sleep overnight on a boat and after that only 5 more nights in New Zealand! We're headed to Indonesia next- first to an island called Bali, then a tiny place called Gili air and finally Lombok.           

Isoa

Isoa is the caretaker of the house that we stayed in on Taveuni. He lives right near the house with his wife, Pini; his grandson, Isaac; daughter, Salomi; and sometimes his nieces. He is very nice and helpful and came with us on most of our trips around the island. He and Pini also cooked a lovo (a traditional Fijian feast) one night. He was born in a small village called Wiwi village, about 1 to 2 miles from where he lives now. It was very interesting to talk to Isoa because he still does a lot of traditional Fijian things. He can free dive down 70 feet and spearfish. He also raises pigs and chickens on the property. He knows how to cut open a coconut and get the coconut milk, which is one of many foods growing around his house. There are also pineapples, bananas, papayas, breadfruit, mangoes and eggplants. Our stay would not have been nearly as enjoyable without Isoa around to help us out.

Jewel

Jewel is one of the many great people we have met on our trip so far. We met her because she is the daughter of our scuba diving instructor. She is 8 years old, same as my sister Addie so they immediately became friends. Because her father is a dive instructor, Jewel's family is one of the richest on the island. Because they are more wealthy, in some of the pictures I have posted in the next blog she can be seen wearing a bathing suit and sneakers which most Fijians don't have. You will see most of the other Fijians in the pictures are swimming in their clothes and walking around barefoot or in flip-flops. We took a trip with Jewel to a natural rock water slide on the island and to the international date line and everyone had a great time. She especially loved to jump off the rocks into the pool at the bottom of the slide. Addie loved having a friend on the island with her. Addie and Jewel even did a scuba diving course for kids who are too young to get fully certified.

Taveuni Pictures

This picture is for  Tommy Dooley, Dan Garber, and Stephen Morris.

The airport on Taveuni, the third largest island in Fiji.

Jewel is going down the water slide, Isoa is lying behind her and Sophie and Addie are waiting for their turn.

The Market in the largest village (it's not very large)

Qiolele, my mom, Sophie and I. Qio was our scuba dive master. (the q in Fijian is pronounced as a g in English, so his name actually sounds like Gio)

Jewel, Sophie, and Addie at the international date line.

They spelled Addie's name wrong on her birthday cake!

She still enjoyed it though

This is the chiefs son from a small village on Gamea island. He was super nice.

This is the village on Gamea. We ate a big Lovo, a traditional Fijian feast baked in a special oven.

Malakai (top)and Isaac!(bottom)

About to go to Taveuni falls! with Debbie and Salomi, Isoa's daughter and niece.

Me talking to Isoa

Jumping!

Sophie jumping!

Addie jumping! This is the coolest picture!

Coming back from Gamea. The guy driving is named Tommy.

Qio!

Isoa, Jewel and I below the water slide

Bula! that's what they say in Fiji instead of "cheese" when taking a picture. This is a picture of the chief's house in Gamea where we had the Lovo. I had to make this picture really big to be able to see everyone clearly.

Max, Where are you?

Max, we are missing you and starting to worry.  Where are you, Max?  Pete says you are still in Fiji.  You are?  Drew wants to know about the water.  And Dan says, "Hi?"  Are there evil tribes, and have you been taken?  (Pete is scared.)  Max, where are you?!?

Max's Replacement

Max, We normally won't post to your blog -- it is your blog afterall, but we couldn't attach this picture any other way.  Homer is saving your seat.  We miss you already. -- Silver Team