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Over and over I have spent a lot of time reminding myself that this is all worth it.  I continually made jokes to my friends just before leaving that I made a huge mistake a year ago when I presented this idea to Bouey.  Next thing you know, I was on a plane after the emotional roller coaster of goodbyes and the stress and chaos of getting out of the country, only to find myself with a stomach ache from the food on the plane.

From there we got off the plane in Fiji to a pretty amazing sunrise and some pretty fierce heat.  Customs was a breeze in Fiji as we were greeted with a group playing acoustic guitar and singing local tunes with a soothing South Pacific flavor.

Off the plane we made our way to the money machine only to find that we could not withdraw money.  After some further investigation and runaround we finally figured out a way to get some cash.  From there we met the Margaret, the travel agent to book our stay at Walu Beach.  We lugged our 300 pounds of camera gear, clothes and laptops to the bus station that was about 5 blocks away, and then sat in the rising morning heat for about 35 min waiting for the bus to the marina.

From there we proceeded to work out our situation for our boat ride to our island.  On our boat ride we did ourselves the courtesy of sriding on the top deck and setting the stage for a nice sunburn in the intense Fijian sun.  After we arrived in our little paradise, our exhaustion and idocy helped us finish off that sunburn with a nice nap in the hammocks for a couple of hours sealing our sunburned fate, but only on our stomachs. 

Then it heated up and the mosquitoes came out to assult both of us.  Between the heat, no air conditioning, and our sunburns it was nearly impossible to sleep.  Our third morning was welcomed with a nice headache from the local Kava we drank with all of the local guys the night before.  This was followed with rain for the remainder of the afternoon.

Our last night was plagued with some pretty annoying roommates and the unfortunate news on the phone that our paperwork for the vehicles is still not in order.  All of this and you might ask , "Is this all worth it?"  Was this crazy idea something that should have never gone farther than a conversation over a couple beers? 

As you travel around the world, as in my past experiences, you encounter a great deal of adversity as we certainly have.  However, as we meet people like the Tarns, who are travelling with their 3 year old daughter around the world for the next 6 months, drive down coastlines the seem to look like paintings and are greeted by the smiling faces and laughs of people from around the world, the adversity pales in comparison to the memories that you end up with on a daily basis.

And in regards to my jokes with my friends, this continues to be the best decision I have made in a long time.

We have all of the photos up from Fiji.  Keep in mind that Steve Bouey has the worst run of Mosquito bites I have ever seen and there is a nice picture of them in there.  Make sure to check the pictures of the bites out right before dinner, they will help with your appetite:)

Click here to check out the photos.

The most grueling is done…I hope.

We are in Fiji now and I can rightfully say that the last month has been the most trying of my entire life.  Between the goodbyes, bureaucracies, last minute planning, last minute lack of planning and trying to accomplish all of this predominately between Steve Bouey and myself, I am exhausted.  However, for the next three days we will be enjoying the sun and good life in our little paradise called Walu Beach in Fiji.  It is a quiet little mini resort about an hour boat ride from the airport in Fiji.  We get to sit in hammocks all day and east delicious fresh fish and sit by the pool with nothing but the breeze through the palm trees and the sound of the ocean as a distraction.

From our room up on the side of the mountain we can see miles of blue and green water that almost glows because the colors are so bright and the visibility in the water is so good.  The Fijians all wear skirts (boys and girls), which gives it an even greater sense of laid back flavor.  In all honesty, I want one too as it is incredibly hot and humid here.  When you arrive at the dock in the little dinghy there is a group of locals waiting to greet you playing guitars and singing.  Everyone smiles and says, “Bula” to greet you, and the best part is the smiles keep coming even after the first greeting.  In a tropical paradise, I would guess it is hard to find many reasons not to be smiling.

There are fresh coconuts on the trees outside and we even went to the trouble of picking some of them for your viewing pleasure and will have a video up soon for you to see of the adventure with coconut fetching, boat riding, scuba diving, and even a Kava ceremony with some locals.  We hope to have it up in the next couple of days.

I am eagerly awaiting the chance to give you all more details on this experience, and truly looking forward to the content we will be producing for you in New Zealand.  For now, I will be saying goodbye, I think there is a snorkel and fins waiting for me at the activities hut.

You could say that this is our first blog entry from the road, although we are not really on the road just yet. As I sit on the deck of the lodge house we are staying at on Malolo Island in Fiji, I am greeted by the smell of fresh air, the sight of crystal blue waters and lush green vegetation and thoughts of our Toyota’s sitting on the dock in Long Beach, CA.  We are in Fiji for a handful of days before moving on to New Zealand. We are here to clear our heads and ensure that they are screwed on correctly. It is extremely relaxing here, especially in the island groups off Nadi where we arrived. But no matter how calm, peaceful and beautiful it is here and no matter how many friendly locals greet you with a comforting “Bula!,” there are always thoughts of the task at hand and the road ahead.

The Department of Motor Vehicles in Colorado has to be some of the most incompetent people around yet they control the initial fate of our expedition. We are waiting for a title for the Sequoia which should have been in our possession over three weeks ago, but the bureaucracy that is the DMV has somehow managed to turn a simple task into one of the most drawn out, stressful and complicated processes I have ever had the misfortune of being involved in. Compounded by the difficulties in obtaining a carnet for the vehicles, simply getting the cars out of the United States has been a true test of our wits and determination to make this trip a success. These trials have been a good experience though as I am sure this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of dealing with the red tape of getting in and out of counties… wait until the language barrier comes into play. However there is some comfort in knowing that in some countries, for the right price or product, bureaucratic necessities can be more easily and quickly overcome.

I guess if something like this were easy, everyone would be doing it. We have definitely blazed some new trails and have had to do so with little or no guide. We have learned as we go and many lessons have been learned the hard way, but nonetheless, we are now out of the country and it is hard to imagine two years ago that we would actually be where we are at now. Hopefully the DMV will get there act together in the next day or two so that the shipping company will have the proper documents to set the collective minds of U.S. Customs officials at ease and ensure them that the cars have not been stolen even though we have numerous documents proving that they are not. After that, the long wait continues while the Tundra and the Sequoia make their own journey to meet up with us down under.