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Samoa, Tuvalu & Nauru, island hopping the South Pacific. Completed #197 countries!

Samoa, Tuvalu & Nauru, island hopping the South Pacific. Completed #197 countries!

Old Jun 3, 2016, 8:07 pm
  #16  
 
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[QUOTE=hauteboy;26715530]May 25, 2016
Hotel: Vaiaku Lagi Hotel; Funafuti, Tuvalu

The runway is the largest open space in Tuvalu, and as flights only come a few times a week, most afternoons there are people out excercising and walking on the runway! It must have been too early yet as we were the only ones out there.]

When I was there, people just about filled the tarmac, playing soccer and so on, especially as it cooled off a bit towards the evening.
And I know I said it on FB but congrats again!
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Old Jun 4, 2016, 2:09 am
  #17  
 
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Congrats on the massive accomplishment. Looks like a very cool time in Tuvalu too, hanging with the locals and getting super happy on Kava! Great way to celebrate your penultimate country too.

You must need a break from all the travelling now, with the next vacation slightly more conventional?
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Old Jun 4, 2016, 9:15 pm
  #18  
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May 26, 2016
Flight: Funafuti, Tuvalu (FUN) to Suva, Fiji (SUV); Fiji Airways Econ ATR72-600
Flight: Suva, Fiji (SUV) to Nadi, Fiji (NAN); Fiji Airways Econ ATR72-600
Hotel: Capricorn Hotel; Nadi, Fiji

Couldn't sleep very well last night, too much beer after the kava or jetlag finally kicking in. So I tossed and turned most of the night. About 6AM I got out of bed and went for a walk down to the runway. The police were practicing marching with bayonets. Not much else going on this early so back to the hotel for a bit.




After breakfast, Liz brought over some people from Radio Tuvalu to interview us about our travel! So I'll be slightly famous in Tuvalu if and when it airs. About 9:30 we walked down to the airport to check-in for the flight. All very informal, you get a handwritten boarding pass with a seat number sticker. Then stamped out of Tuvalu and we walked back to the hotel! So good news I had a boarding pass and would be leaving Tuvalu on time, and the weather looked good today. I had already checked out but sat around in the shade for a bit. About 11:30 or so we went back to the airport and sat in the open-air terminal. Started talking with a guy from our hotel who had been working in Tuvalu for a few weeks. I asked about the prison on the other side of the runway, apparently they only have 1 permanent resident, in for manslaughter.



Checked in

About 20 minutes before the plane arrives, the fire engine shows up and runs up and down the runway sounding the siren, warning everyone to get off the runway and get across the road while they can. We saw the plane off in the distance when the fire engine did a second run for the two-minute warning. The plane came in for a very loud landing, the terminal is just a few dozens of meters away from the runway. We went to wait in the 'departure lounge' area while the passengers deplaned.




Yay, plane is here

One of the passengers getting on the flight was a cute blonde girl, hadn't seen her around the island and wondered where she had stayed. Peter noticed a bag she was carrying said 'Expedition 196' and we started chatting with her. Cassie is going for the female record of the fastest to visit every country and had already been to 115 or so just since last July! She was just doing a turnaround in Tuvalu and was going to be on my flight to Nauru tomorrow. She had a method to validate her record, with GPS logger, passport stamps, two separate photos, etc. We chatted awhile on the flight back to Suva. She had come from New York via Dominican Republic and Christmas Island (Kiribati) and from Nadi on a bus the evening before.


The three travelers

On arrival in Suva we had a several hour layover before the flight to Nadi. Quick immigration into Suva, it's quite a small airport. My seatmate from the inbound flight to Tuvalu was there and said the Nadi flight was oversold! It wasn't yet open for checkin anyway so we went to the cafe for a bit. Had no problems checking in later though for our flight.

In Nadi we said our goodbyes to Peter, who was heading to Tonga this evening, his last country in the South Pacific before going back to Norway on Saturday via Sydney and Dubai. Whew, a long flight. I caught a taxi (15 FJD) to the Capricorn International Hotel. Nothing swish but I'd only be there a few hrs as Nauru flight departed at 5AM! It turns out Google Maps had my hotel in the wrong location, but it actually turned out better as it ended up being just across the street from a restaurant where I had dinner on my 2014 visit. There was now a Burger King across the street and prices had gone up a little. But pretty decent Indian food overall. Back at the hotel I asked about shuttles, then said 3AM but they said I'd need a taxi. The room was odd, the whole front wall was glass with a curtain that made it difficult to open/close the door without people seeing you weren't in the room.
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Old Jun 4, 2016, 10:41 pm
  #19  
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Originally Posted by DanielW
Congrats on the massive accomplishment. Looks like a very cool time in Tuvalu too, hanging with the locals and getting super happy on Kava! Great way to celebrate your penultimate country too.

You must need a break from all the travelling now, with the next vacation slightly more conventional?
Nothing to compare with your trip, just read your ISIS blog, wow!
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Old Jun 6, 2016, 3:01 pm
  #20  
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May 27, 2016
Flight: Nadi, Fiji (NAN) to Yeren, Nauru (INU); Nauru Airlines 737 Econ
Hotel: Hotel Menen; Nauru

Didn't get a lot of sleep before it was time to head to the airport again. Caught a cab at 2:45 AM and said '12 FJD?' he agreed but I've never heard anyone ..... and moan about a fare more than this guy. All the way to the airport it was 'I had no dinner', 'tourists pay 20 dollars', 'this isn't my car', 'my house was destroyed in a cyclone', finally he outright asked for more money 'you give me big tip'. All for a short 5 kms drive. I only had about 15FJD left, mostly in coins anyway, so dumped them in his hands when we arrived at the airport.

Checkin was open already, but a short line. From other flights in the South Pacific I imagined huge boxes and chaos but it actually went very smoothly. I soon had my boarding pass for my final country, #197 Nauru! I knew the plane was here already as I'd seen it on Monday. Went through immigration to check out the Priority Pass lounge, but it was closed for renovation. The departures area had been renovated in the two years since I was here, much brighter and cleaner. I grabbed a coffee and sandwich at Burger King and sat out to wait. Cassie showed up a bit later and we sat talking until it was time to board, which was a bit late.



The flight wasn't super full and I had an empty seat beside me. Cassie ended up in a business class seat. There was a gorgeous sunrise through the clouds as we approached Nauru. We landed about 8:30, 25 minutes late. Disembarked via stairs and I was standing in my final country #197! Hard to believe I had finally made it! Cassie got off the plane as well to get her passport stamp although she was continuing onto Majuro. The other Nauru Airlines plane from Brisbane was also here. A bit warm already this morning, Nauru is just below the equator and is pretty toasty year round. I gave Cassie a high five as we were waiting in line for immigration. I hadn't yet received my fixed entry permit from the consulate (They'd resent it with a fixed passport number but still got my name wrong!). At least they had the entry permit number and were able to issue me a visa. Since I was only there for two days and technically in transit, they did not charge me for the visa!




Nauru Airlines Y NAN-INU

I got my bags then went to look for the hotel shuttle. I had emailed them the night before and they said they would be waiting... but didn't see anyone. After waiting 30 minutes I had someone call the hotel and they came and picked me up. The Menen hotel was a few minutes drive from the airport, on the southeast side of the island. It looked pretty run down and they cheaped out with single-ply toilet paper. I was pretty exhausted after a week of nonstop travel so I mainly just hung around the hotel area all day. There wasn't any water in the pool and there wasn't much of a beach to speak of either. There were sharp coral pinnacles all along the water to the fringing reef. I walked down a bit to a beach where there was a woman sunbathing.




Arriving into Nauru


Hotel Menen




Coral Pinnacles

For lunch I walked out of the hotel grounds to a Chinese place across the street. Restaurants in Nauru are really basic, so don't expect too much. I wanted to go into town and asked about the hotel car to get postcards, they wanted 10AUD. I said I'd come back later, but when I came back later that afternoon the driver had already left, oops. I wanted to walk around the island (about 11 miles total), but it was quite warm and little shade. So I enjoyed the A/C in my room until about 5PM.

I decided to walk to the other side of the island to checkout The Bay restaurant, supposedly one of the best on the island. It wasn't on any of my maps though but I figured it would be in the main town, a 3-mile walk. It was late afternoon but still a longish hot walk. I passed by other tiny restaurants and some local kids playing rugby. The airport runway takes up most of the southern coast, and it seemed to take forever to walk from one end to the other. I made it just in time for sunset, catching the last light on the cantilevers. Nauru's main economy historically was phosphate rock, they had some of the purest in the world and had one of the highest GDP per capita in the 1970s and 1980s. The phosphate became harder to extract though and their fortunes declined. There's still lots of rusting infrastructure from the mining. Now Australia pays them to keep refugees, a bit controversial. There are now several camps in the interior of the island that house people from Somalia, Afghanistan, etc. that have tried to make it to Australia.


Local kids





Phosphate mining

I asked about the restaurant, only to find it was on the other side of the island nearer my hotel! Doh, that meant for a long walk back. I grabbed some water at the supermarket and started the walk back to the hotel. Luckily as I was leaving town, a local offered me a lift and took me all the way to the restaurant. The Bay restaurant is in Anibare and was busy with expat Aussie workers. I ordered the sashimi plate and lamb stew. The sashimi was a huge plate of tuna for 14AUD, an amazing deal and really a meal in itself. The lamb stew was also delicious but by then was full. I walked back the ~3/4 mile to the hotel, by now it was pitch dark with no streetlights so had to use the screen of my phone to make sure I didn't step in a hole or something!


Tuna Sashimi

They like their music loud in Nauru apparently as the hotel was blaring when I returned. Didn't seem to be anyone in the bar though.

May 28, 2016
Hotel: Hotel Menen; Nauru

Another lazy day at the hotel. I asked about getting an island tour but the ladies at the desk seemed pretty disinterested. They said the concierge car would be there at 1PM. Came back at 1:30PM only to find the lady didn't come to work today due to a funeral, and the hotel bus was broken down. I asked about scooter rental but they said it wasn't possible. So my visit to Nauru was turning out to be a bit of a bust.


Sunrise

About 4:30 I decided to walk up Topside to see if I could find the Japanese anti-aircraft guns. Nauru had originally been a German colony until WWI, then taken over by the Japanese during WWII. They had built several bunkers and gun emplacements over the island. I started walking up the dusty road when a local stopped on his scooter and asked if I needed a lift. Good thing as it ended up being a long, hot, dusty walk with no shade. The interior of the island is where the phosphate was mined, and there's not much left there anymore. We passed by some of the refugee camps. I would never have found the guns as they weren't well marked on my map, being down a road filled with trashed cars and equipment, then down another side road, and finally down an unmarked/invisible path. Jared knew the way though and guided me up to the guns. The lighting wasn't the best though and it was still pretty scorching. Got soaked with sweat just in the short climb up to the gun turret.


Local BBQ



Japanese guns


Local swimming 'pool'



Jared drove me back down into town and back to the hotel, I offered him something for the ride and guide but he wouldn't accept it! Very nice people I'd met so far. For dinner I walked back to the Bay Restaurant, past the marina which is used as the local swimming hole. Tonight though the restaurant was pretty deserted. I ended up getting the sirloin special washed down with Fat Yak beer.
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Old Jun 6, 2016, 6:24 pm
  #21  
 
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Congrats on 197!

Thanks for sharing your journey the past couple years. Highly enjoyable especially in Y.
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Old Jun 7, 2016, 9:32 am
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Originally Posted by phranktzi
Congrats on 197!
same here...hauteboy

...although apparently expedition 196 is going to miss one.... ;-)

nice feat without the sponsors...sorry to sound a little cheeky...but who would sponsor a person's trip around the world? i clearly got to get out there and hustle up some of my contacts for funds.

did i ever say you look exactly like a good friend of mine...uncanny resemblance...
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Old Jun 7, 2016, 12:39 pm
  #23  
 
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Thats awesome. I am at #30 (and I'm 25 yo). Long way to go.

Anyway, You can quote this song from Eminem now and mean it - "Here's the situation been to every nation,Nobody's ever made me feel the way that you do."
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Old Jun 7, 2016, 5:03 pm
  #24  
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Where did you get your Nauru visa?

Were all the FJ flights to FUN paid or did u mange to use points?
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Old Jun 7, 2016, 8:09 pm
  #25  
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Originally Posted by mkjr
same here...hauteboy

...although apparently expedition 196 is going to miss one.... ;-)

nice feat without the sponsors...sorry to sound a little cheeky...but who would sponsor a person's trip around the world? i clearly got to get out there and hustle up some of my contacts for funds.

did i ever say you look exactly like a good friend of mine...uncanny resemblance...
I think she was missing the Vatican. Though an easy one to make up. Easier to get sponsorships if you're young and cute vs a fuddy duddy like me. But apparently she does work quite hard at it.

Originally Posted by rankourabu
Where did you get your Nauru visa?

Were all the FJ flights to FUN paid or did u mange to use points?
Emailed the consulate in Brisbane and they sent me the application. Emailed it back to them and they sent me the entry permit letter (though they details on it wrong, twice!). Visa stamp itself I got on arrival, didn't have to pay as I was only there 2 nights.

FJ FUN flights were paid, they are never available on points from what I've seen.
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Old Jun 7, 2016, 9:34 pm
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Thumbs up

Awesome, congratulations on 197!!
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Old Jun 7, 2016, 9:54 pm
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Originally Posted by hauteboy
I think she was missing the Vatican. Though an easy one to make up.
Her website has 197 listed: http://expedition196.com/the-expedition/

Originally Posted by hauteboy
Easier to get sponsorships if you're young and cute vs a fuddy duddy like me. But apparently she does work quite hard at it.
I'm sure the chapter for Tuvalu and Nauru in your upcoming book will be more interesting than hers though.
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Old Jun 8, 2016, 9:43 am
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Originally Posted by hauteboy
I think she was missing the Vatican. Though an easy one to make up. Easier to get sponsorships if you're young and cute vs a fuddy duddy like me. But apparently she does work quite hard at it.
Good point. Suspect it's tough to also attend to the hidden costs of free...since nothing in life is ever free...just wish i was better at it since i have a hard time with getting some legitimate business expenses paid....
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Old Jun 8, 2016, 1:03 pm
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Originally Posted by DanielW
Her website has 197 listed: http://expedition196.com/the-expedition/


I'm sure the chapter for Tuvalu and Nauru in your upcoming book will be more interesting than hers though.
Geez Daniel would you stop judging her if you don't know anything about her mission???
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Old Jun 9, 2016, 11:57 am
  #30  
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Originally Posted by mkjr
Good point. Suspect it's tough to also attend to the hidden costs of free...since nothing in life is ever free...just wish i was better at it since i have a hard time with getting some legitimate business expenses paid....
She has ~$209k listed as the estimated cost. Though I've spent (double) that easily over trips for 20 years...
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