MANTA RAY RESORT !

This resort was one we spotted from the ferry boat last time - we had taken a Day Trip to it, to see if we could find the Giant Manta Rays and swim with them!
This time we stayed for 3 days in the hopes of spotting them - but no luck.



We did think at one point that they were airlifting them in for us,and that this was a bit extreme - but this one had been injured. It gives you an idea of their size!



There was excellent diving and kayaking and snorkelling.
We had one bure on the beachfront, with its own hammock and sea views and one garden top bure for the girls, with vines around it and birds in the trees.





The down side was that it was an Eco-resort (which means that it's all environmentally friendly) so the showers were all cold and the electricity was limited - the generators went off at 10pm.





What it did mean, was that the stars were amazing - with no lights to obscure them we could see galaxies and star clusters so clearly it was unreal.
Also, the crabs came out at night and danced on the sand and dug tunnels, which we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Jessie's underwater camera took this picture - it's a whole other world under the water!



The restaurant was a steep climb up the hill but that meant we had an appetite and a view! There were palm trees and hibiscus everywhere, the girls collected hermit crabs and raced them and began to get tanned running, kayaking, snorkelling around everywhere.



We went kayak surfing with our guide (who lost his sunglasses in the waves) Jess was nearly lost at sea, while Sophia and I skirted around the wildest piece of water and made it to the beach on the other side of the island. Kayak surfing involves lots of high pitched yelling and hurtling kayaks - I'm surprised there aren't more accidents!

ISLAND HOPPING !

We spent two weeks in the Yasawas - hot and heady days - blue skies and sunshine - escaping from the New Zealand winter!
I found my hammock and the bar at Happy Hour!
We visited Otto and Fanny's,Octopus Resort, Nagalia Lodge, Bounty Island, Manta Ray Resort, Nanuya Lodge and The Blue Lagoon, we sailed past Treasure Island and the island where Tom Hanks made 'Castaway'. Add Botaira to that and Beachcomber and we've 'done' nine Fiji resorts and are now experts!



I have my eye on Vomo for next time (but it's $2000 a night!)

SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK !

EARTHQUAKE !

A 7.8-magnitude earthquake has shaken New Zealand this morning, prompting a tsunami warning for parts of the Pacific Ocean ...we heard about it while sunbathing on a Fijian island! There are earthquakes all the time here, but not this scale.. so we're watching the news when we can.



The Hawkes Bay earthquake that caused so much damage in 1931 was 7.8, so it's amazing that no-one was hurt.There are between 10,000 and 15,000 earthquakes in and around New Zealand each year but most of them can't be felt - this one was, right across South Island!

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL !

We've been to see the circus - The Cirque du Soleil - we went a few years ago, but not VIP tickets - so we were excited! The show here was called 'Dralion' and promised to be spectacular! It was just the girls and I and even then the price was shocking!





Cirque du Soleil was founded in 1984. It has over 3,500 employees from over 40 countries and produces 15 shows over every continent except Africa and Antarctica. On the programme we noticed the clown was from France, the ringmaster was Australian and the planted audience member was Brazilian - an eclectic mix!



It's strange to think it was originally a one year project, founded by 3 friends, who, when they ran out of funds walked 56 miles on stilts to raise enough funds to continue! I can't even get up on the stilts! Why would you?



Each show has a storyline and is an reinvented style of circus, with no ring and no animals. We've seen plenty with the trained elephants and even one in France where they rode an ostrich round the ring - I prefer the non-animal ones..



Our show, Dralion, had a setting which is Eastern in nature. Its theme was the clash between the Eastern and Western worlds - there were dragons involved, wall climbing,trapezing, incredible trampolining, juggling, shadow dancing, body bending, ballet on lightbulbs, somersaulting, aerial hoops, amazing aria singing, balancing acts and acrobatics,clowns who were actually funny and a hourglass connecting it all.



Since we were VIPs we met the performers and visited the Big Top in advance for champagne and canapes. Servers carried hors d'oeuvres in baskets: smoked scallops, spring rolls, seared beef noodles, seasoned chicken sticks, dumplings and countless others! And all the while wines and champagnes flowed. The girls got special boxes with toffee popcorn, jelly beans, fruits and chocolates in, to keep them going during the performance!





In the interval we had a desserts only episode, served by acrobats and surrounded by ice sculptures of a dragon and a lion - quite spectacular! There were strawberry brownie, red berry mousse, passion fruit jelly, creme de menthe pastries, and other yummies that we didn't have a name for, but we ate them anyway, while the ice sculptures melted slowly and steam swirled off them!





So, no sticky candy floss and queuing for popcorn... noone behind us being sick - children don't sit in the VIP area... no struggling to park the car, we get a valet...and being five rows from the front, no danger of being picked on, but the best views! Gorgeous food and pampering all the way! Wish we could always do things in this style..



It was a real girl's night out, and tomorrow we're off to Fiji - there's a hammock and cocktail out there with my name on..aaahhhh, the life of the New Zealand immigrant, it's a tough one!

WEEKEND AWAY !

Off to my favourite place, Piha, West of Auckland, in the Waitakeres. Only this time we rented a little bach and stayed for a long weekend.



We went on the cliff walk.



And along the beach as the sun set.



The sun shone but it was cool when the wind blew.



Around the cliffs is The Gap, where the sea rushes in through a channel through the rock, and the waves are awesome.



What I love about it are the cliffs, surfers, and crashing waves. You can keep the miles and miles of sandy sameness that they have in Australia..









Lion rock looks different from this angle



Our bach had an amazing view and we snuggled up inside when it got cold. Must buy my lottery ticket this week!






The Gap



Lion Rock

NEW ZEALAND FLAG !

The New Zealand Flag is symbolic of the people of New Zealand, and a hot debate at the moment is that it should be re-designed.





Its blue background represents blue sea and sky.
The stars are the Southern Cross & show our location in the South Pacific Ocean.
The Union Flag is all about the history and the fact that New Zealand was once a British colony.



The first design for the flag was rejected by James Busby in 1833 because it contained no red, 'a colour to which the New Zealanders are particularly partial, and which they are accustomed to consider as indicative of rank'


Rejected design

In 1834 the Maori chiefs gathered at Waitangi to choose the flag from 4 possible the current flag got 12/25 votes and became the NZ flag.



When the Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840, the Union Jack replaced the Flag of New Zealand as the official flag of New Zealand. As the story goes, the Maor warrior Hone Heke, then cut down the flagstaff with the new flag on it 4 times!



During the NZ wars Maori tribes designed and carried their own flags into battle, to signify their mana. One memorable one was 52 ft by 4ft (or just under 16m by 1.2m),captured by Te Kooti in 1868.
It was decorated with a crescent moon, a cross, a six-pointed star, a mountain representing New Zealand and a bleeding heart, thought to symbolise the sufferings of the Maori people. Apparently it ended up being used as a duster in the NZ Museum !?



The New Zealand Flag has been official since 1902 and is flown from Harbour bridge every day and everywhere else on special days, such as Anzac Day.The Union Jack is used when we have a visit from Royalty!



In 2005 there was a competition to redesign the flag, incorporating the silver fern emblem. James Dignan proposed this design.



Another design being considered is Kyle Lockwood's idea here..



Here's my favourite suggestion for the new flag from the 2007 suggestions..by Alexander Jago



In reality it's probably the All Black's flag which is most widely recognized - but I don't see any red there? Is that where the expression "seeing red" comes from - the Maori?



And here we have the 'unofficial' Maori flag!