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  August 1983: Two young adventurous skiers from Colorado made their way to New Zealand for some pre-winter skiing and snow fun. as they returned home, they found themselves on the Fiji islands, which changed their perception on life forever. All over the island they are greeted with "BULA BULA", a Fijian expression which translates into Good life, Health and happiness. Otherwise known, as “Life is colorful, Relaxed, Simple and Mellow In Essence life is GOOD!" The attitude for enjoying life is what BULA is all about! Enjoying life is what BULA is all about!

    Sewn in their parent's garage, these hats had shocked the skiing world when they unwittingly introduced the fun and colors of summer to the cold harsh snowy winters of Colorado. The response was unbelievable and their hats become more popular year by year, and more popular than they could have ever imagined in their wildest dream! Soon enough the company grew worldwide and BULA was created!

 

Well I'm back in Canada after 26 days of travelling, 10 flights and many, many kilometers and adventures. What can I say, that was one of the best trips of my life, with lots of fun things done, people met, drinks drunk and more. Starting from Vancouver we flew to San Diego for a quick stopover, then it was a 14 hour flight to Sydney, then over to Melbourne from there. After spending a few days there we grabbed Chewy and headed up on another flight to Brisbane to explore the Gold and Sunshine coasts, Surfers Paradise was fun, as was Noosa Heads. After we got back to Melbourne we spend a few more days relaxing then hopped in Chewys car and drove along the Great Ocean Road and checked out the sothern coastline, it was amazing. The rock formations at the 12 Apostles were rad. Chewy then headed off for Fiji and Nels and I caught another flight, this time to Hobart in Tasmania. We rented a car and drove up the East coast and stayed in a place called Bichno which was quite close to Freycinet Park which had some great hikes. After we got back to Melboune we quickly flew up to Fiji the next day and transferred over to the Outrigger Resort. Pretty fancy I gotta say. After relaxing by the pool and watching the wind (and too much rain for my liking) Ryan (Chewy) and Kristy's wedding was upon us. The sun was out in full force that day and everyone looked great! The cermony was quick and awesome (with the minister in sandals) and then it was party time! I'm pretty sure everyone had a great time. A couple days later we went to Beachcomber island, and it was the very definition of a tropical island, it only took 10 minutes to walk all the way around the island on the beach. The bar had a sand floor and there were tons of activities to do, we went snorkling for too long (resulting in a nice burn on my back) and then we rented kayaks and paddled over to Treasure Island. On our last night in Fiji Nels organized a traditional dinner for us in one of the local villages and we had a great Lovo feast (earth oven) with lots of Kava (special Fijian drink, very relaxing). Here's a few highlights, for more pictures see my gallery:

 

 

Chewy, Nels and I climbed one of the Glass House Mountains, it was only 322m (1000ft) but it was quite a steep climb! I sweated my ass off, but the views at the top were worth it (see my gallery for more pictures)

 

 

We travelled to the Australia Zoo, former home of Steve Irwin, the "Crocodile Hunter" shortly after his death. It was pretty amazing to see the outpouring of emotion and interest in this Australian icon. Love him or hate him, he sure made a big impression on a lot of people. The zoo was really cool too (the main reason for going there was to see the zoo).

 

 

Drove along the Great Ocean road and ended up at the "12 Apostles", which are some really cool rock formations on the edge of the ocean (you can see them behind me in this photo). Had a lot of fun exploring and watched a wicked sunset as well.

 

 

Chewy then headed for Fiji to get ready for the wedding, so Nels and I caught a plane to Tasmania, rented a car and toured around exploring that little island. We had an amazing time and really enjoyed ourselves. (And I had the best steak ever at the Ball and Chain in Hobart). We went to Freycinet National park and checked out Wineglass bay and hiked up Mt. Amos (452m - 1500ft), which was another relatively steep climb.

 

 

Then it was time to go to Fiji and join in Ryan (Chewy) and Kristy's wedding at the Outrigger resort. Tons of fun, lots of drinks, sunshine and a great crowd made this day super enjoyable. I also got to play wedding photographer on my little point and shoot for a sunset photo opp. Turned out pretty good if I may say so myself.

 

TONS more photos available here: http://snowboard.colonies.com/members/Joe/Galleries/photo/127633/

 

Thanks to everyone who made this a rad trip!

Holy cow, Joe's taking a vacation!

 

It's been a long time since I've gone anywhere (I think the last one was Mexico for a week in 2004), so it's time to pack up the bags and head on an adventure. It just so happened that my friend Chewy is getting married in Fiji at the end of September, so my friend Nels and I decided that we should not only go to Fiji, but head down to Australia for 3 weeks and remind Chewy of what it's like to hang out with us (we have all been roomates here in Whistler).

 

So between the 1st and 3rd of Sept, I will be on my way to Melbourne (via San Fransisco, Sydney, and finally Melbourne) and return home at the end of the month (via Fiji).

 

So yeah, if you're down that way, let me know

Secret, Short List of Stuff, Things To Do Preferably Before I Die   get married on a beach in Hawaii, invite no one (if only for a short period of time) go surfing and snowboarding in the same day (learn to surf first) stay in a state of intoxication for a week (or so…) snowboard on every continent (maybe not Africa, at least until I know for sure if they have snow or not) make a secret stop in Fiji on way to Australia in which case sleep in hammock for at least 12 hours (or until I see fit) write a memo (send to all those I see memo worthy, maybe) attempt to cross-breed palm trees and bonsai trees (just because) if successful call them palmsai trees, sell and make millions create a conglomerate of some sort (possibly with palm tree and bonzai tree people, oh the possibilities ) fly a kite at night(no further explanation needed...)