New Zealand is the perfect destination for those who enjoy traveling alone. The country is small enough to easily find your way around and lodging is affordable and the people welcoming and affable. Part of the fun of traveling is to plan your own schedule and travel preparations, decide for yourself where to go, when, and for how many days. New Zealand is about free choice and independence with its spectacular mountains and diverse scenery.

The main cities in New Zealand are Auckland and Christchurch, and Wellington the capital. Other cities of interest include Napier and Nelson, Tauranga and Rotorua. Queenstown ought to be a stopover in this captivating and exceptional country.

The landscape in New Zealand offers a wealth of natural delights with fiords and glaciers, mountains and rivers, striking beaches and lush forests and lakes.

Many travelers visit New Zealand for its range of exciting activities, you can easily find something much closer to home if it is a beach holiday you want, and here you will experience something truly unique. Water based activities can be experienced in the seas, on one of the numerous lakes or in a swiftly-flowing river, from surfing and deep sea diving to boogey boarding, kayaking, parasailing or fishing.

If it is the ultimate excitement you are after there are plenty of opportunities for white or black water rafting, jet boating or four wheel drive practice. The Bridge walk entails scaling the Auckland Harbour Bridge where some of the best views of Auckland can be seen, or head to the 192m Auckland Sky Tower and bungee jump off the top, plummeting at a speed of 75kph.

For those who like to stay on firm ground then a walk in the bush can offer some spectacular hiking trails or take off to the mountains for a hike, snowboarding or skiing. Whether you need a Sydney hotel with all possible amenities, cheap accommodation in Dunedin or budget hotels in Napier, have a look online for affordable rates.

Whale watching is possible in Kaikoura on the South Island. A leading centre for whale watching it is possible to view sperm whales here that can grow to more than 15m long. Orca Whales are also spotted between December to March, and humpback whales in June and July.

Penguins are an amusing species as they dive and swoop like other birds do in the air, whilst on land they waddle along upright. There are 3 three species of penguin around New Zealand, the Korora is the world’s smallest at only 25cm tall and can be seen at The Marlborough Sounds, Akaroa Harbour, Oamaru and Stewart Island. The rare hoiho, has a striking yellow eye band sweeping back from each yellow eye and can be spotted at the Otago Peninsula, and along the South Otago Coast. And the Fiordland crested penguin is one of the worlds rarest found in Fiordland and Stewart Island. Book your cheap hotels online NZ before you travel to avoid disappointment as you don’t want to miss these beautiful creatures.

New Zealand’s bird populace is worthy of note and certain to keep you busy with more than 80 kinds of seabird breeds found on the seashore, some only found within New Zealand whilst others migrate here from thousands of miles away. Uncommon national species can be seen at various locations including Tiritiri Matangi Island in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, Motuara Island in the Marlborough Sounds, and Kapiti Island.

There is a broad range of lodging choices to suit your price range, from luxury to a shoestring budget. Finding cheap hotels in New Zealand around the country is an easy process and there are ample pickings for the free thinking traveler.

http://www.cheaperthanhotels.co.nz/New-Zealand/Dunedin/

If you fly directly east from northern Queensland for 2500 kilometres, you will be over Fiji. Looking down, you would see more than 800 islands – some large enough to hold thousands of people, others are very small. About 100 of these island are inhabited. If you flew down to 1323 metres while over the island of Viti Levu, you might hit the top of Tomanivi, Fiji’s highest peak. South-east of Tomanivi is Suva, the capital of Fiji. Main cities include Nadi, Sigatoka and Lautoka on Viti Levu and Labasa and Savusavu on Vanua Levu.

Fiji was populated for more than 3000 years before contact with white people. Most people living in Fiji had come from other islands in Melanesia, although some came from Polynesia and Micronesia. Villages developed their own traditions and language. Although the Dutch visited Fiji in the 1600s, regular visits from Europeans did not begin until traders and missionaries made contact with the Fijians in the early eighteenth century. This delay was partly due to the reputation of Fijians as ruthless cannibals.

In 1874, Fiji was declared a British colony. The British brought to Fiji many thousands of Indian labourers to work on the sugar cane. Indigenous Fijians resented so many non-Fijians settling in their land, and the British government introduced laws that banned non-Fijians from owning land. Fiji became an independent country on 10 October 1970 with a system of government based on that of Britain.

About 800 000 people live in Fiji. The nearest Australian city in size is Adelaide, with a population of 1050 000 people. Three-quarters of the population live on the island of Viti Levu. Indigenous Fijians make up about 50 per cent of the population, with Indian Fijians accounting for 45 percent. The remaining five per cent are of European or Chinese or people from other Pacific Islands.

Most Fijians live in rural areas, but the number of people migrating to the cities has increased. Life for indigenous Fijians in rural areas revolves around their village. Each village has a chief, who is usually a man. The way of life in the villages is communal, with everybody helping everyone else. Indigenous Fijians speak Fijian and English.

Indian Fijians speak Fijian Hindi and English. Although most Indian Fijian families have lived in Fiji for many generations, their culture remains similar to families in India. Women wear saris, and most marriages are organised by parents when their children are young.

Fiji, like Australia, has a high literacy rate. About 90 per cent of Fijians can read and write (in Australia, it is 98 per cent). However, unlike Australia, education is not compulsory in Fiji, but it is encouraged. The government pays for children to attend, school until year nine, then fees must be paid by students’ families. Most schools are run by religious or community organisations. Fiji also has the University of the South Pacific and the Fiji School of Medicine.

Most Fijians work on the land, and the main crops are sugar and coconuts. Fishing is a large part of Fiji’s agricultural sector. Gold mines also provide work and much-needed income for the country. Fiji’s most important industry is tourism, and many of Fiji’s tourists are Australian. In 1987 and 2000, military coups discouraged foreigners from visiting Fiji, which resulted in economic hardship.

Fiji’s major attractions are its natural attributes: the sea, the highlands and the islands. Most visitors to Fiji go to enjoy the beaches, with diving and snorkelling being popular pastimes. The Mamanuca group of islands, off the west coast of Viti Levu, have some of the country’s most beautiful beaches. The Abaca Cultural and Recreational Park, north-east of Nadi, contains waterfalls, rainforests and walking tracks that guide visitors through unimaginable beauty.

In 2000, George Spejght, an indigenous Fijian, led a coup against the Fijian Government. Speight and his followers kept Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and other Politicians captive for more than three weeks before releasing them and forming their own government. Chaudhry is of Indian Fijian descent. Speight claimed he was representing indigenous Fijians who did not want Indian Fijians to have political rights. Speight was arrested, and power was given to a newly elected president.

Some time ago, Bite Me Gamefishing was contacted by Peter Mumford, a regular Australian East coast black marlin fisherman who was looking for the chance to explore new waters in search of his favourite species, the black marlin. Peter had landed a number of huge fish (including granders) on the world famous black marlin fishing grounds of Queensland Australia and was looking to find a new fishery.

Aboard Bite Me, we occasionally head well offshore and successfully target Blue Marlin on 80lb class bent butt chair tackle but looking for a grander black along Kadavu island’s Great Astrolabe Barrier reef was going to be a whole new experience for us.

We know the big Blacks are here, I have personally seen a black in excess of 16ft swim right under the inshore game boat and resort divers have returned with stories of huge marlin herding them up against the reef…and photos to prove it.

One of my colleagues skippering the charterboat Wai Tadra tagged a black on the Kadavu seamount estimated by BlueWater magazine editor David Granville at 950lbs.

There is no doubt that large Black Marlin cruise the Astrolabe Reef but targeting and catching one was another matter. Peter’s quest gave us the perfect opportunity to give it a serious try.

We didn’t muck around. We flew in Glen Gardener, a friend and professional deckie from Sydney Australia who normally works the deck leadering marlin aboard the charterboat ‘Bounty Hunter’.

Glen brought with him and extra 18″ flying gaff and two of Bounty Hunter’s 130lb chair rods.

We fished ‘Cairns style’ in that we spent the mornings catching and rigging bait, then moved to trolling big lures around lunch time. Lures such as MBT’s 22″Buddha and Pakula’s big Smokin Joe.

Early afternoon, the time we most expected a bite, we switched to just one skip-bait and one swimming bait on the 130s run off the riggers. Strike drag was set at 20kg but when run, the reels were left just in gear with the ratchet on and a large drop-back loop was pulled off the reel and dropped back in the wake.

We used shark mackerel (scad) and Narrow barred (spanish) mackerel as baits with the scad generally making the best swim baits.

All baits were gutted, stitched with waxed thread and rigged with a 130lb dacron bridle on the nose to a 16/0 Mustad 39960BL circle Demon hook. The hook was held securely away from the bait with a three inch piece of stiff tubing.

The Penn Internationals were spooled with 130lb Greenspot Dacron with a 200 yard mono top shot ending in a short plaited double and Yo-Zuri HD ball bearing snap swivel. The 600lb mono leader to hook was then attached to this.

Our prefered fishing grounds were just 10 minutes away, right in front of the resort. It didn’t take long. At 12:55 the skip-bait on the left rigger was engulfed in a ball of spray as a billfish left a hole in the wake. Everybody sprang into action. Peter grabbed the howling outfit and made for the chair as the fish swam away with the circle hook rigged bait. When Peter was strapped in and ready, the drag was eased up, the circle hook lodged in the corner of the fish’s jaw and 300 pounds of angry black marlin took to the air.

I have seen and fought many blue marlin but this was my first black and the differences were amazing. Blues eat hard and fast then pick a direction and go go go with no intention of ever stopping. If you do manage to stop one, they then often sound on you and it can turn into a slug-fest. Blacks are totally different and this fish fought like a typical black. It charged around, mostly on or just under the surface with no clear battle plan and put on a spectaculor show for the photographers. As acrobatic as a Pacific Sailfish and as strong as an angry bull she typified why so many anglers spend yearafter year fishing for black marlin. What an amazing fish.

It took us one hour and ten minutes to bring the leader to hand. We had her in close fairly quickly but she was so green and therefore a serious danger to the crew, that we eased off and took our time. At 320lbs she smashed the existing M-130 Fiji National Record and Peter decided to weigh the fish. The first ever documented Kadavu Great Astrolabe Reef black that I know of tipped the scales just shy of 320lbs. Hardly a grander but what a start !

It is our intention to take every opportunity to continue fishing for Kadavu island’s Black marlin and to tag and release enough to paint a clear picture of their habits and seasons. Given the sightings by divers and our own experiences of huge Black marlin here, our aim is to find Fiji’s first Grander.

Sometimes its fun being a charterboat skipper…..