Follow the Journey

Hello again!   Lucy here, by the way, forgot to sign my name on my last blog. We have been enjoying our time on the Marai so far. We arrived late Monday night and met the members of the Marai who have been so welcoming and generous. On Tuesday we hiked through the magnificent mountain ranges surrounding our new home to go down to the river. We stopped among a forest… Read More

Hello All!   Writing to you from the beautiful lake town of Taupo. We have begun our journey to the Maori village and stopped here yesterday for one night. We're all very grateful for the immense amount of work Emily put in to set up our transportation. We've been taking responsibility in our roles and supporting each other to develop the skills of a traveler so major kudos for Emily's dedication… Read More

This is a shot of what Highfield Farm looks like from a distance but doesn't nearly do it justice. That white house way out there is the place where we've been staying.   Sorry about the delay of photos… and if this last one turns out sideways, but I hope you enjoy the few I've managed to get on here!   Sincerely,       Ryan Gasdia… Read More

Just a couple o' guys shooting pool at the Farm. Cliff and Dylan.… Read More

Auckland skyline from Kelly Tarlton's.… Read More

The natural waterfall/waterslide and some of the crew in Fiji.… Read More

The Victory Picture after completion of the footpath in Fiji!… Read More

Well, as you can see from the below blog post, there are no pictures. I have failed you! But i have not yet given up. It's pushing 2 am now, but I refuse to leave you – our family and friends – without a single picture! I will try to make sure that before we leave today at 515 am that you will have at least one solid picture!… Read More

Well hello there! The days have flown by since my last posting. I'm not sure if it's the work schedule or the regular hikes through the hills, but time here has certainly taken an agressive pace.   It seems like it was just earlier today when we were getting the stuff out of our bags but now, as I write even, we are all working on cleaning and packing our bags… Read More

Hello friends and family!   I'm writing you from a very pleasant cow farm a few hours drive north of Auckland, New Zealand. In fact, I'm writing this blog with the soothing voice of Willem in the background, reading off the prologue to Star Wars II (We are all jazzed about the plasma screen that this nice house is sporting).   We arrived just a few short days ago and have spent… Read More

Hello from Auckland! Our group has spent the past three days in Auckland New Zealand which has been pretty sweet. It is a drastic change from the village life we are used to but everyone is adjusting and having loads of fun.  There are so many things to do in Auckland and as a group we took advantage of this. On Friday a group of us (Me, Lucy, Kelsey, Hannah,… Read More

Bula!!!   Our last week in Nananu was AWESOME we had so many fun activities and time with the villagers and our new families.   On Tuesday of last week we took a group hike to a natural water spring where Nananu gets their water supply. Following the Fijians we found the beautiful spring with waterfalls and all went swimming and most of us even climbed it at one point. On the… Read More

And so continues the amazing adventures of Carpe Diem in the South Pacific:  We spent the first week in Nananu constructing the footpath until an almighty rain came down from the heavens (no literally it rained for 3 days).  We finally got to continue our work on the footpath after 3 days of sitting around.  Our free time is spent hiking, swimming, and playing with all the little kids.  Gotta… Read More

Greetings from Carpe Diem Headquarters, As the group is continuing their journey in Fiji and remain out of communication with email and internet, we wanted to post a word or two to address any concerns about the most recent earthquake in New Zealand. As many of you may already know, Christchurch, NZ (the northern part of the South Island) was devastated with another earthquake on Monday. This is the second… Read More

We’re coming to you from the downtown Nadi backpacker’s hostel. After a long flight we’re finally here!We spent our first day swimming at a very scenic beach, along with some orientation activities and everyone is getting along swell! Today, the boys went on a run (except for Kareem who was busying running around every girl’s head  ;)). While some of the girls, Lucy, Hannah (me-holla), Kelsey, Cliff and Ryan had… Read More

We’ve just received word that all are present, accounted for, and checked in for Nadi, Fiji. Woot! More from the group when they arrive and get settled. Until then, this is HQ signing off…… Read More

Bula, from your very enthusiastic trip leaders, Karen and Cliff! This blog is a place for you to post photos, tell stories and share your experiences with friends and family back home. Send your loved ones this link so they can see and read about the places that your adventurous spirit is taking you. Throughout our semester, each of you will have the opportunity to post to this blog, documenting… Read More

So we now come closer to the two week mark of the end of our trip through Fiji New Zealand, and Australia.  To some of us it might feel like it was all a dream, composed of beautiful landscapes, wonderful scenarios, crazy, and sometimes inappropriate, characters, and of course, fried shapes.  Coming back home can be like waking up from a dream.  Suddenly we realize many of the responsibilities awaiting… Read More

It has been a fabulous last week here in beautiful and sunny Cairns. We spent our week getting scuba certified in the classroom for two days and then off onto our overnight live-aboard on the Kangaroo Explorer. During our dives, we spotted much colorful wildlife including clown fish, many types of coral, sea turtles, sharks, manta rays, sting rays, sea cucumbers, and many more. It was a very exciting trip… Read More

Hello back home,We sit here in Cairns after our plane ride this morning from Brisbane.  We intended to board a train last night that would have taken 22 hours, but the train was canceled due to flooding.  Instead, we got the whole day to check out the city and find out all the information we needed for our next group activity.  Tomorrow at 9, 7 of the 11 members start… Read More