out of hibernation

Well, it certainly has been a while since I've updated a post; but with more adventures looming, I felt that it was time to get back in the habit.  Before I go any further, I feel I should explain how exactly I got from a train in New Zealand, through an airport in Fiji, and back to my house in New Hampshire: two updates that never really materialized.

Arriving in Auckland: a modern metropolis

I spent much of my first full day in this museum.

 Interspersed with exhibits on Maori culture, and a rather realistic full-experience demonstration of how Auckland was going to be destroyed in a massive volcanic eruption (scientists are predicting this will happen any day now) was this exhibit that included Sir Edmund Hillary's ice axe.  Having just come from Nepal, I enjoyed it.

For my last full day of travels, I charted a boat to take me out to the islands in Auckland's rather large harbor.  These islands were created by the same volcanic eruptions that now threaten to destroy New Zealand's largest city, but for the time being the volcanic soil makes the area one of the premier wine growing regions in the world.

Checking out the beaches on Waikiki Island

Beachflowers on Long Beach

Exploring the rocking crags along the seacoast

Committing a minor blaspheme, I finished off my afternoon by ordering a beer in the heart of wine country

The sun set in a brilliant splendor as I made back to the mainland

I need to interrupt the slide show here, to explain how this next set of photographs was made possible.  After a restless Halloween's night (not celebrated in New Zealand) I woke early to catch a plane to the island of Fiji.  I had arranged an eight hour layover on this tropical isle, hoping to take advantage of this brief visit by popping out of the airport to see the countryside.  When I landed in Fiji, I joined my fellow passengers in line with my customs forms.  However, standing in front of a customs official, I was informed that because I was simply on an extended layover, my stop in Fiji was not "legitimate" and I would not be granted a visa to enter the country.  I was then escorted with another young man to a waiting area where we were to spend the next eight hours lounging around an airport terminal.  As I watched my disappointed comrade glumly accept his fate, my indignation gave way to a determination to step out onto Fijian soil.  My mind raced to come up with a way to get on the other side of the custom's area.  Excusing myself from my escort, I enquired about the possibility of rearranging my flight to extend my stay, thus "legitimizing" my visit. 

In a procedure that took me the better part of an hour, I succeeded in frustrating the customs officials into granting me a visa, first by making several phone calls to my airline, and then seemingly attempting to reschedule my flight on the only computer available on this side of customs (the ones behind each official's desk).  In the end, I was granted, in the words of the officials, a "highly irregular" 4 day visa to make my necessary travel arrangements, on the condition that I submit to a full search of my bags.  This condition worried me some, as I had loaded up my checked luggage with a veritable cornucopia of plant, wood, shell, and bee-product items that all but defined any island nation's list of restricted imports.  I don't really know how I made it through the search, I just started chatting with the inspector, and being over-the-top, in-the-presence-of-your-grandmother polite.  But after an extended search, I was cleared through, and reveled in my success at thwarting the official entry procedures of a nation.  It had taken me a rather long time to do all this however, and so my series of photos from Fiji are mostly restricted to the area around the airport...

I stepped into the parking lot, knowing I didn't have much time, and started taking pictures like mad.

Fiji smells a lot like Hawaii

Flowering trees against an overcast sky

Artsy shot of a taxi whizzing by

Fiji's International Airport

All aboard: time to head home

And so I did, head home that is.  I managed to secure three empty seats in succession and sprawled out, much to the envy of those sitting behind me.  Right before midnight, we crossed the International Date Line, which reverted me back to my second Halloween of 2009 for a few minutes before I resumed another November 1st.  All tolled I spent 29 hours of November 1st in the air.  Bizarre.

Having ended my travels on a holiday, I am electing to resume travel on a holiday by departing for Venezuela early in the morning of New Years Day.  This will probably mean that I don't get much sleep, which will make all the more surreal my route from Boston to Aruba, Aruba to Bogota, and finally Bogota to Caracas.  I'm scheduled to land in Caracas just after midnight were I will either be met by my roommate and his father in their bulletproof car, or immediately set upon by the seediest elements of South America's notorious criminal population.  Further updates to follow contingent on the outcome.