Steve's Trip Blogs Pre-lude

 

Welcome readers to the first of what may be a long number of blog posts.  I am attempting to document my two large trips I took, each being roughly six months in length and a number of shorter trips as well.  These blog entries will be my best recollections of the adventures and misadventures I had in on my trips.

This will be a short blog and a few pictures to show how I have changed over the years.

These blogs will cover,

Trip 1 November 1992 – May 1993

Amsterdam – Aug 1993

Woodstock 1999

Trip 2 October 2000 - April 2001

There may be some other trips as well and I will update this blog entry as I document the trips.

Well come on now, let us start our journey.

Trip November 1992 - May 1993 Pre-Trip Details

Let’s jump in the way back machine and mossy all the way back to 1992.  It was a different world, little or no internet, I think it existed but not for average people, no cell phones, and staying in touch over long distances took effort.  A phone call across Canada, let alone the world was quite expensive, remember the days the first 3 minutes was cheap and then it went up drastically.

There we find a much different Steve, one who is busy with his career, a good little corporate employee.  He is doing his best to fit in with what he thinks society wants from him.  He had a good number of suits in his closet and there might have been more suits than regular clothes. 

Deep inside though there is a yearning to see what is out there in the world, most of all at this time is a desire to see New Zealand, where it came from I do not know.  At this time I did own a book on New Zealand, which I still own, but other than that I have no idea where this desire to see kiwi land came from.  Remember this was decades before Lord of the Rings and Peter Jackson was just starting his film career.

So after ending my first long term relationship, which some of my friends thought would lead to marriage and kids and house in the burbs it was a time for a change.  I decided a major change in my life was required and I needed to pursue it at all costs.  I requested and was granted a leave of absence from the corporation I worked for and had already decided if I did not receive it I would leave my job.  I was lucky enough to get a leave of absence and with my holidays, I had almost 7 months off.  This was February 1992 and I was not leaving till November 1992.

So then I set about planning my trip, 6+ months, where else would be fun to see as well as New Zealand.  I had plenty of people who were telling me I was crazy to focus on NZ and I should be going to the warmth and sun of Australia, but Australia, never really appealed to me.  Of course Australia was on my list but only for a month or so, and I soon added Fiji and the Cooke Islands.  I thought this would be a nice 6 months worth of adventures.

Australia, like some people think of it, including some who live there.

Australia, like if really is.

Fiji could be a 6 month trip in itself so many islands and places to see

And the final stop on my trip, a Canadian with very little funds by this time.

I had the countries I wanted to visit and now to do research and planning.  By the time I was done, I had my 6+ month trip planned out to the week essentially.  Yes, I even had a spreadsheet made showing where I was planning to go, for how long, activities etc.  Here is a little foreshadowing that plan lasted approximately 1 day after landing in Fiji, 😊

So, the next major step was to sell my brand new car which was a little over a year old.  There was no sense making payments on a car, that I was not planning on using anymore.  I think when I sold the car, is when most people thought I was serious about this trip, others thought I was having some sort of breakdown.  To me it made perfect sense and was the next step.

                                     Mine was Black 

The final step in my preparations, was telling my parents, I was planning on leaving Canada for 6+ months by myself, not knowing a single soul anywhere where my travels would take me.  I expected everything from elation to silent resolve.  It would not change my plans how they reacted but was hoping they would approve.

So on a Friday night in late March I presented them with my plans, letting them know I would have a job to come back to.  How excited I was for this adventure and turning a new chapter in my life.  I should preface this with the fact that in my house, there was very little affection shown, my parents both being former members of the military.

My mother was quite happy and excited for me and was pleased with all the preparation work I had done.  My father was less receptive and from that night till my return in May of 1993, he did not knowingly speak a word to me.  In fact shortly after telling my parents about my plans for this trip some neighbors dropped over and my father said and trust me I will remember these words, “Come in and hear how my son has ruined his life”

Needless to say, was a very quiet visit.  November could not come soon enough.

When I shared the news of my upcoming trips with friends, a close friend at the time Tracy Williams wrote a poem, that is the start of my scrapbooks and is below.

The adventure is ready to begin. November 5th 1992 would be the start of the rest of my life.

FIJI BLOG 1

 

So came November 5^th 1992 a cool clear day in Edmonton, I went to the airport along with a friend or two and my parents as I started my first big trip.  I remember my father walking with me, just the two of us, not saying allot and at the end of the walk just before going into security he gave me a letter to read on the plane.

I got on the plane found my seat, and will admit when I looked out the plane window after the door closed, for the briefest of moment’s I thought WTF am I doing.  Going half-way around the world for 6 months not knowing a soul anywhere.  I had a minor panic attack that lasted all of 10-15 seconds.

Now, seeing as it was 1992, my plane ticket was extremely important, back in those days, I literally had all my plane tickets with me for 7 months, tickets to NZ, to OZ, within OZ, to Cooke’s and home.  If I were to lose this, it would be a major undertaking to get it replaced.  I wish I had take a pic of if before I left, as would have been a cool before and after, but this an airline ticket after almost 7 months of travel. 

 

I was flying from Edmonton to Nadi, Fiji, on a very hopscotch route, Edmonton – Vancouver – Honolulu – Nadi.  It was not too bad a flight but made it tough for getting rest as we had to de-plane and board twice before landing in Nadi.  By the time I arrived in Nadi it would November 7^th as I had lost a day going across the international date line and had very little sleep.  In 1992 I had no November 6^th, it was a day that did not exist for me, I left Edmonton, November 5^th and arrived in Fiji almost 14 hours later and it was November 7^th.

So there I am in Nadi, enjoying the heat of Fiji, watching the luggage carousel go round and round, people took bags and went on there way.  I was excited to get my bag and get started.  Soon there were fewer people and still no backpack, not really important it only has everything I own for the next 6 months, no biggie.😟😨😣

Soon there were just one other fellow and me, and this is how I met Murray from Switzerland as we were the only two without luggage on the flight.  We went to the lost luggage and I tried to explain where I was coming from, Edmonton, no response, Alberta, no response, Canada, oh yes the luggage official had heard of Canada and assured me my luggage would be here within a couple of days.  Murray got about the same response.

I told Murray that I was staying at Seashell Cove Resort and he could come with me if he wanted to.  I had no idea what the place was like, all I knew was I needed some sleep and would worry about my luggage later.  As I was to find out on this trip, it was common for backpackers/hostels to have vans to take customers to their accommodations and sure enough there was a van waiting for me and had room for Murray.

The place still exists but has changed a great deal from the simple backpackers I stayed at.

I had booked I think, 2 nights at Seashell Cove knowing nothing about it, other than I think it was mentioned in Lonely Planet Fiji.(back then Lonely Planet guides were the best resource for backpackers)  I figured I would be tired and wanted a place to crash when I first got to Fiji.  I was very tired but not too tired to notice the lush vegetation on the way to the resort, someone commented on a coconut tree and soon we were screeching to a halt.  Out hopped our driver and up the tree he scurried, a few whacks of a machete later and we were eating fresh coconut.  The first of many coconuts I was to consume in the next couple of weeks.

We arrived at Seashell Cove and found my room would not be ready as we were there mid-morning.  I thought that’s fine, as I had no luggage, I would just sit by the pool, relax a bit.

Well, as I sat in the deck chair watching the ocean and feeling the warm breeze, I undid my shirt as I was quite warm.  My eyelids grew heavy and I thought, I will have a little nap, 10-15 minutes at the most.  Well I was more exhausted then I counted on and I awoke hours later, feeling hot and looked down to see a nice red stripe down the middle of my chest from the first of many sunburns.

It appeared that my bed was ready and away I went to explore Seashell Cove and what $15 a night got me.  I have to admit, I was very naive about backpackers and hostels at this point and so was not expecting much.

The place was lovely and clean and seemed to have fresh fruit everywhere, which was amazing.  Don’t get me wrong there were some things I had to get use to like showering in cold sea water and not sure if you have ever showered in salt water but tough to build up a lather of any sorts.  I remember to this day tracing out the pipe from our big drinking tank of water where we would fill our glasses and water bottles only to find it led outside to the rain barrel.

That’s right, showering in salt water and drinking rain water, not luxury accommodations but was clean and the staff were so friendly that I remember them to this day.

After getting settled, I watched the first of many sunsets from poolside, tomorrow would be another adventure and much more awaited, I was here in Fiji, settled in had a bed and had met my first traveler.