Fiji!

I took an 8 day tour in Fiji which visited 4 islands.  Here are just a few of the highlights

This is the first Island we stopped at.  It was owned by the tour company and quite comfortable.

This group came over from another island to dance for us.

Pineapples, yummy!  This island grew their own.

You could take a day trip with a guide and climb this.  I decided to just spend the day relaxing instead.

One of many gorgeous sunsets

This is the island where "Castaway" was filmed.  The water was soooo warm for swimming.

The view from "Castaway Island"

Preparing for an Extended Holiday

Sometimes we get the chance or able to make arrangements in our life to go an extended holiday. I’m not talking about a week going somewhere but a holiday where you are gone for two or more weeks. For myself, I recently went away for a month to Thailand on holiday. While this sounds great (which it was) but there was a lot I had to organize before I left. And even then, some things were ignored while I was gone.

Destination (Photo credit: _Pixelmaniac_)

House Sitting

If you own a home, or even rent a house, you need to worry about who will take care of it in your absence. If you rent, you may be able to work out something with your landlord while you are gone. If you own, there is a bit more involved with making sure that your home is safe while you are gone. Such as someone who comes in to make sure the furnace is still working or there is no water leak. Check into how often someone needs to come by for insurance purposes before you leave.

Banking

While you may not think your banking is something you need to worry about while you are gone, that may not be the truth, especially depending on how long you are gone. Years ago I was gone for three months and I thought I had set up my credit card to auto withdraw the payment but something happened and it did not work. Before I left, I had added my dad to my bank account so a quick call home to him and he was able to deal with it for me.

Don’t forget to let your bank and credit card companies know you are going and what time frame you are gone. The last thing you want to happen while you are gone is to have everything frozen as they think the transactions are suspicious!

Mail and Bills

For many of us, a lot of what we get in the mail is bills. Unless you have your bills all set up to email to you and pay themselves, you need to get someone to take care of them while you are gone. One option would be to overpay them before you go so that you have some room and do not need to worry about it. You can also leave post-dated cheques or see what types of arrangements your utility companies would prefer. If you don’t think you can make arrangements for payment while you are gone, definitely tell your utility company so that they do not shut down your services.

Pets

One of the biggest challenges I had on my most recent trip was my pets. I live with two cats and I knew there was no way I could leave them that long. Even though cats could care less about humans sometimes, they still keep us around for food and litter box duty. My preference was to have someone stay at my house to take care of them but at the same time, I didn’t just want some stranger living in my home. Thankfully, there was a friend of my family who was temporarily homeless so it worked out well that he was able to stay at my home and keep my cats company.

There are likely other things that you may need to consider when you are gone for a while. Maybe you need to deal with a vehicle while you are gone, maybe there are some other financial issues that need to be considered or it could be something related to your job.

Driving in a Foreign Country

When it comes to travelling, unless you are going to take an organized tour at your destination, you need to figure out transportation.  You can take busses, cabs and subways at your destination but these can add up quickly.  You can walk, but depending on where all you are going, and what you want to see, walking may not be feasible.  For this reason, you may want to consider renting a vehicle.

English: (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But, renting a vehicle is not as easy as just going to the rental agency.  There are some considerations that you need to check into before you leave home.

International Driver’s License

The first question is, can you drive on your current license or do you need to get an international one?  If you need an international one, check with your local licensing agency to find out what you need to do.  One of my coworkers went to New Zealand a few years ago and she had to get one but I do not remember what all was involved but I know it was not difficult.  A friend is planning a trip to Ireland and she is able to drive on her regular license.

Comfort

By comfort, I don’t mean the amenities within the car, although that may be a consideration.  But more so, will you be comfortable driving somewhere you are not familiar with and potentially on the other side of the road?   If you are already a driver who does not like to drive outside of their comfort zone, driving in another country may not be a good option.

Insurance

Don’t forget to make sure that you have adequate insurance.  What is enough is up to you.  You likely can get insurance with your rental.  But look at what your credit card may offer if you have a card that has benefits and perks on it.  Usually if you pay a few, it has some sort of rewards program.

Whenever you are travelling, you need to be able to get around.  If you want to drive, check out the official government website to find out the requirements.  But there is nothing wrong with walking and using public transport.  You never know who you will meet or where you may end up!

What Not to Do Before You Leave

We tend to talk about the things you should do when you travel, go with your gut, be safe, but there are some things that you should think about and not do.

Tell Everyone on Social Media   

International Prohibition Symbol (Photo credits: www.mysafetylabels.

I am amazed at all the people that post on social media that they are going on holidays.  Whether they are going to the lake for the weekend, on a tropical holiday or out of town to visit family, you know about it.   While chances are you trust most of the people on your social media lists, I know that there are a lot of people on my list that I do not know personally.  And they likely do not know where I live, but once you find out a person’s first and last name, you can find out a lot about them on the Internet.  Why set yourself up for this?   Just keep it quiet that you will be out of town and you can post all about it when you’re home.  This is especially important if you have young people who post on social media as they do not think to sensor what they say.

Take Everything You Own

If you are going to the lake for two days, chances are you aren’t going to need your fancy evening outfit unless you know you are going to be doing something that requires it.  Pack for the circumstances and keep yourself to one suitcase.  If you are going to be gone for more than a week, there is a good chance you can find laundry facilities somewhere to keep you going.  I remember a trip my family took when I was young and finding a Laundromat somewhere (maybe Seattle?) and going shopping in a little thrift stop next door while we waited.  Laundry can almost be fun!

Be Obvious

Chances are you know this one, but don’t make it obvious you aren’t home.  Make plans with your neighbours to take in your mail and clear your driveway of snow.  If you will be gone a while, have them mow the lawn or any other chores that might need to be done outside.  If you have a driveway or parking spot and your car is gone, get someone else to park there if possible.  Lights on timers are handy as well.  It’s likely your neighbours will realize you are gone but to a casual observer, it shouldn’t be so obvious.

While it can be difficult to keep your excitement to yourself when you go on a holiday, it can be beneficial to protect yourself and your belongings.    You will also have less to worry about when you are gone and won’t have to come home early to deal with problems.

Kuranda - Part 2

From there, we took a train trip up and then a gondola ride down.   This post is a lot of scenery which really speaks for itself.

You can see part of the train here.

More of the scenery

Kuranda

Before I left Australia, I traveled north from Cairns to Kuranda.  I went on a day tour to took us around the area.  Such gorgeous scenery!

Can you see something hiding in the bank?

One of the "trains" that goes across the water, we got to ride in one  :)

This guy was hanging out on our "train"

Such scenery!

Glass Bottomed Boat Tour

While at the Platform on the Barrier Reef, I went on a glass bottomed boat.  Here are a variety of pictures from the trip.  They were taking with a camera above water so the colour is not the greatest.

Visiting the Great Barrier Reef

I went on a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef.   This is definitely something that was on my bucket list as I wanted to scuba dive.  We took a boat trip out and ended up at this platform.   I went scuba diving, then out for a ride in a glass bottom boat as well as did a bit of snorkeling.  It was a tiring day!

Approaching our platform

Just one part of the platform.

Guided snorkel trip

A creature I saw swimming by

Where are we?

Sailing in the Whitsundays

Another thing that I did was going sailing in the Whitsunday islands.  We stopped and did some snorkeling and spent an evening on one of the many islands.  It was great, I got seabands so I didn't get sick, and got a lot of colour.

Not a great picture of our boat but all I have.

One of the goofy guides.

Our bunks.  Definitely not the most luxurious place to sleep but it did the job.  Boys and girls shared the sleeping quarters.

One of several beaches.   The sand squeaked under your feet.

Camping in the Outback

For some reason, I decided that going camping while in Australia was a good idea.

We definitely rough'ed it, at least, to me.  We slept on the ground and supper was cooked over the fire.  This is our guide cooking our supper.

One thing we did was shoot guns.  I didn't do very good.  Shot a few leaves off a tree (was told I hit a koala  :( ) and I hit the ground.  That was enough for me!

Back to the Ranch, much more to my liking!  I didn't ride on the bull, I didn't need to make any more of a fool of myself than I had already.