JGZ

Arrival: Sunday, 7th Jan. 2007, around 19:30.
Departure: Monday, 8th Jan. 2007, around 07:00.

Arrival: Thursday, 4th Jan. 2007, around 12:30.
Departure: Sunday, 7th Jan. 2007, around 16:00.

I learned the rest of the theory for the PADI Open Water Diver course on Malolo Island where I also did all the practical exercises and finished the course. So I am now a PADI-certified open-water diver and I have seen the quite amazing coral reefs near Malolo- and Cast-Away-Island in close-up. This filled my time almost completely and so the three clips just show us leaving the island at the end of our trip.

LeavingFiji1.mp4
LeavingFiji2.mp4
LeavingFiji3.mp4

Arrival: Wednesday, 3rd Jan. 2007, around 19:30.
Departure: Thursday, 4th Jan. 2007, around 10:00.

On the last day in Hawaii I did a PADI Discover Scuba Diving course. I got hooked on scuba diving and got the theoretical material for the PADI Open Water Diver course afterwards, because I intend to get that certification here in Fiji. So I spent most of the flight learning all about decompression tables, buoyancy control and eqipment maintanance.

We arrived around 19:30 here in Nadi (Capital of Fiji) after skipping the night between the 2nd and 3rd of January by crossing the date-line somewhere near the Christmas Islands, where I our plane landed in their capital city (or rather village by our standards), called London, to re-fuel. In Nadi we will only stay one night and go on to Malolo Island by boat tomorrow morning.

Arrival: Tuesday, 26th Dec. 2006, around 19:30.
Departure: Tuesday, 2nd Jan. 2007, around 8:00.

After two days in Hawaii my cold had almost disappeared. But today, while fighting my way through the jungle to get to a waterfall which we saw from the road on our tour of the northern end of the island, I got a lot of moskito bites again. It seems I react kind of over-sensitive to moskito bites now, they swell up pretty quickly to big bumps, roughly five to eight centimeters in diameter and about 1cm thick (this is something new to me, I never had this problem before).

HawaiiHotel.mp4
HawaiiWaterfall1.mp4
HawaiiWaterfall2.mp4

Arrival: Monday, 25th Dec. 2006, around 19:00.
Departure: Tuesday, 26th Dec. 2006, around 10:30.

The trip from the Grand Canyon back to Las Vegas went a lot quicker this time, probably because it was night and the plane didn't take scenic detours.

The Paris Hotel seems a lot nicer than the Treasure Island. The service is certainly much better. Still it is very obvious that Las Vegas is all about mass-tourism.

I'm slowly starting to feel better now, my cold seems to be on the retreat.

Arrival: Sunday, 24th Dec. 2006, around 16:30.
Departure: Monday, 25th Dec. 2006, around 17:30.

I didn't really get out much here, but slept most of the time, as the jet-lag and the cold I got three days before on the way from Key West to Miami were getting to me. All I saw of the Grand Canyon was the view from the plane and the bit that could be seen from the hotel (which was very impresssive).

GrandCanyon.mp4

Arrival: Saturday, 23rd Dec. 2006, around 01:00.
Departure: Sunday, 24th Dec. 2006, around 12:30.

The plane from Miami to Las Vegas went via Denver (seems rediculous, when you look at the map). Denver's airport had been closed for several days because of a blizzard, which left Denver in about 1.5 meters of snow. The plane had to wait more than three hours in Denver, because the new pilot was stuck in a traffic jam on the snow-covered motorway.

I definetly have a cold now. Breathing extra-dry air and having the air-pressure change several times while being stuck on a plane for more than nine hours, combined with another time-zone change didn't exactly help.

So I'm staying in bed today, eating healthy things like fish-oil and spirulina and catching up on sleep.

We have tickets for a Cirque du Soleil show here in the Treasure Island hotel tonight.

Arrival: Thursday, 21st Dec. 2006, around 18:00.
Departure: Friday, 22nd Dec. 2006, around 17:30.

Back in Miami again, to take the next plane to Las Vegas. I think I might be getting a cold (damn air conditioning).

Had a very nice supper in a chinese restaurant last night, where we were served by a very attractive and flirtatious waitress. Got free deserts, because we had to wait longer than usual for our second main course.

Got a slightly better room at the Doubletree Surf Comber hotel this time.

Arrival: Sunday, 18th Dec. 2006, around 21:00.
Departure: Thursday, 21st Dec. 2006, around 13:30.

Here I have not actually left the hotel yet (except for the short visit to a very nice restaurant the night before), but it is a beautiful hotel. So have a look anyway.

KeyWestHotel1.mp4
KeyWestHotel2.mp4

Arrival: Sunday, 17th Dec. 2006, around 16:00.
Departure: Monday, 18th Dec. 2006, around 14:30.

On these vids I'm still very tired and suffering from jet-lag. So don't be surprised if I'm not making a lot of sence.

MiamiSunrise1.mp4
MiamiSunrise2.mp4
MiamiSunrise3.mp4