Rumspringa '14 Video

Day 75: Venice Beach to Home!!

My last ever morning of this trip HAS to be good, and a good morning can't exist in my opinion without breakfast and, more specifically, coffee. So I headed off to LA's renowned superior coffee shop, Intelligentsia. They have a branch in North Venice so I took an Easter Monday stroll with Nina through the quieter, more sophisticated perhaps, area of Venice.

Now Intelligentsia knows it's superior, with its wooden and chrome decor, its row of future Mark Zuckerbergs all lined up with their Apple Macs at the back of the shop, and of course there's it's celebrity fans like Jake Gyllenhaal. BUT, they do make extraordinarily delicious coffee. I'm no coffee snob, but this was one of the best coffees I've had and the honey and raisin bran muffin went down a treat too. 

We then diverted slightly so that we could find the few remaining Venitian canals, that were introduced in 1905 to fit inside with the seaside town's then name, 'Venice of America'. Most of the canals have been covered over now to make way for cars but some are left and they are so pretty! Hate to think the cost of real estate down there but I could definitely imagine getting out the old gondola for a paddle out the back of my little apartment on the canal then strolling down to the mile long beach and don some Lycra and roller blades... Maybe not the last bit...

Then I just sat on the beach for an hour, reminiscing over the last three months and writing cheesy signs in the sand and posing with them just for you. 

Then I'm off to Lax to fly home. On my arrival into the airport the shuttle bus driver pointed out my winged ride... A huge plane painted completely in forest green with all the hobbit characters pasted onto the side... Very subtle, Air New Zealand.

Saw Rudimental getting on the plane which provided some last minute excitement but really nothing is more exciting than going home right now. Ahh. What a trip.

Day 74: Easter Sunday x2 - Fiji to Venice Beach, LA

I spent my last day in Fiji doing pretty much what I spent my last three days doing - not that much. It was super nice and felt even hotter today even though there was a tough breeze coming in from the pacific. I'm itching to get home now though, LA seems an unnecessary obstacle. I've been to La before and I can't say I'm a huge fan. It's fun for the celeb spotting and the tourist side but as a lifestyle it didn't really appeal. Venice beach was really the only place that I remember coming alive for me, like Camden only with hot pants and roller blades, and so that's where I'm headed.

Now in Venice Beach, and it's exactly as I remember it. Full of every kind of person thronging along the famous palm-lined broadwalk and huge beach, dancing, playing music, cycling, exercising, shopping, eating, all in a cloud of dope and happiness. Groups of people were grouped together for seemingly spontaneous paint parties on the beach. I befriended a chatty Swiss girl on the shuttle bus and she couldn't quite get her head around Venice's brand of 'cosmopolitan'.

 "Everyone in the world is here," "if you don't want to grow up, this is where you come", the latter in reference to a bunch of 70+ year olds showing the younguns how to boogy to Akon and Rihanna in lycra and on wheels in the al fresco roller disco... Now I've seen it all. This guy above was my personal fav.

Having just time travelled and experienced Easter Sunday twice in the same year in completely different places, I got peckish and tired pretty quickly so opted for a slice of pizza on the beach followed by a butter pecan ice cream. As the sun set, Nina (the Swiss girl) and I watched the skaters in the beach skate park. It's a skateboarder's dream out here. And these guys are good... Even the barely 4 foot mini skaters and flipping and diving and god knows what all over the shop. I feel shamed. But in awe.

Having been told to stay away from the venice streets after dark, I allowed myself to be forced into my bed at 9pm. Exhausted but so glad I've had the extra day in LA to soak up some last minute fun and culture before heading home. *sob*

Days 72 to 73: Coral Coast, Fiji

So I went snorkelling. Huzzah! Love to tell you I've been super active these last three days but I'm afraid this is as adventurous it's got, my friends. There were so many fishies! Lots of little ones in different colours: blue, silver, black and white stripe, and one Dorey-like fish with a fluorescent yellow moustache that turned its head to me, caught my eye then charged for all of 0.5 seconds bubbling away, just long enough for me to freak out majorly and swallow a whole lot of water. Fail.

There were also some rather unpleasant looking sea snakes... I'm told these ones aren't dangerous but I didn't get too close just in case... 

More excitingly, I'm making my way through the most delicious of all oranges! Easily the nicest of all the fruit I bought the other day, they may be green but they are so juicy and delicious. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to enjoy an apple quite in the same way again after NZ or an orange orange after fiji.

On final night in Fiji, marking the last full day I'm spending in any country before heading home *sob*, I went for a short walk along the beach to catch the sunset. Followed that by treating myself to a delicious stir fry, a beer and apple pie with ice cream. 

Day 71: The Coral Coast, Fiji

I arrived at my hotel, just outside the town of Sigatoka, on the southern coast of Fiji's main island about half past 9 and was greeted with a bellowing "Buuulllaaaa" and a huge hug. Slightly taken aback I was even less ready for the band that had stayed up late after the restaurant was closed to seranade me on arrival! I tried desperate do to hide my English awkwardness and just appreciate how nice these people are (even packing me off to my room (with three beds?!) with some bread, cheese, tomato and some juice as the restaurant was closed!). Adorable

After a much needed 10 hour sleep I rolled out of bed and straight onto the beach. Thirty degrees, a nice breeze, clear turquoise water, yellow sand, palm trees. Everything I'd dreamt up in my head about these last few days of my holiday were finally a reality. I think the Brit in me was sceptical that the sun would actually come out but it has and ahhhh very happy.

I took a cab into the local town of Sigatoka in the afternoon. I was keen to drop in on the huge market in the middle of the town to get me some fruit. So ridiculously cheap! A whole bowl of paw paws or oranges for 1 Fijian dollar, which is about 30p.

In the evening The hotel were offering a special 'love' option. Lovo is essentially the Fijian version of Maori hangi, where they cook meat and veg in a brick oven under the ground to give it a really smokey taste.

4 courses included a delicious green soup from some local plant I can't spell or pronounce, some curried mussels with lime, the main Lovo dish of meat, potato, carrots etc with gravy, all finished off with a chunky custard cake. Also got the chance to try the Fijian bitter, which was just as good as they said it would be. Yum. The evening was made even nicer as a couple with a young child who I had met briefly this afternoon invited me to eat with them to stop me from sitting in silence through all 4 courses.

Days 69 to 70: Wellington to Auckland to Fiji

While it would have been nice joining the others who were driving up to Auckland, I was pretty pleased to be flying out of wellington airport (or the Middle of Middle Earth, as it says in huge letters on the outside of the terminal as we set off along the runway...). How else would I have been able to eat a raspberry and white chocolate muffin beneath a huge gollum model hung creepily over the departure lounge?

It's lovely to be back in Auckland to see Em for the lays time in most likely two years. What an emotional last couple of days! I found myself mocking back over photos of the last three months and with the right background music, I'm definitely fighting back some tears. Less than a week to go now!

For my final night we ate Mexican then headed out to a Macs bar in Kingsland decked out like an old library for ginger beer, a stunning view over the city and Eden park stadium and a discussion about the pros and cons of NZ vs UK. Oh and pulling out some last em and Claire selfies and a final rendition of Drunk In Love. Had to be done.

At the airport ready to fly out to Fiji I was lucky to bump into Georgina and Sonja from the NZ trip who were off to Australia and a final hilarious encounter with the silent German Ninja, as Matthias has come to be known...

Landing in Fiji, the first thing I feel is the heat and I know I'm going to have a great next couple of days (I tried to ignore the leaflet that basically told me I will get Dengue Fever...).

Day 68: Kaikoura to Wellington

There is little that would get me to wake up at 4.30am and get into freezing cold sea. Swimming with wild dolphins, though, is one of them. Today is the last day of my South Island tour and what a way to finish.

Dressed in the oh so fashionable wetsuit, including hood, we all went out to sea. Here waves were huge and the sun wasn't yet up but in less than 20 minutes we have found a huge pod of over 100 dusky dolphins and are getting flippers up and jumping into the water. The first swim did not go too well for me... A combination of hitting the cold water, forgetting I couldn't breathe through my nose in a snorkel, the excitement of hundreds of dolphins swimming around me and the hilarity of watching a group of people looking and sounding completely ridiculous trying to engage the dolphins with flipper actions and loud bubbling screeches and singing ("remember you are entertaining the dolphins, not the other way round") meant I became semi paralysed and could do very little but frantically tread water.

First swim done, though, the next four were honestly some of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. All these dolphins swimming around you, then doing acrobats in the air just like you're told to expect do but never actually believe they do in real life. Even Matthias, who all along the trip has wholly objected to the excessive use of the word 'awesome', blurts out "now THIS is really really awethom". 

After the swim, a lot of concerned faces are staring at me saying I've turned blue. Even with the hot chocolate (which I epically spilt all down myself) it took three hours to feel my toes again, but it was so so so worth it. Ahhhhhhh amazing. 

Preform we knew it we were back on the bus and heading up through the Marlborough wine town of Blenheim and then Picton, still smelling of sea and hot chocolate, to the ferry to take us back to Wellington.

What was supposed to be 'party boat', quickly subsided into a sleep fest as we all nodded off. When we woke from our slumber we passed the time in a way that only very tired people do, by asking ridiculous 'would you rather' questions and trying to talk to each other without showing our teeth which set us all off into uncontrollable giggles... We weren't even drunk.

Back at the hostel, I'm no longer officially a G Adventurer - it felt so sad to be in a dorm without the gang. At dinner everyone was feeling a little emotional but I've got to say I was feeling all dandy until Sofia had to leave and she started crying, which then set me off!

We then cheered ourselves up with more beer, more dancing, and watching people play ridiculous group games all in the name of free shots. Feels like the last week of university!