Holy smokes - here I am in Fiji!
Donna and Lynn took me to the Phoenix airport on Tuesday just after noon. From there I went back to Los Angeles. I was a little concerned about how I was going to get from one terminal to another in LA with my significant baggage, sciatica and a knee that is waiting for a partial replacement. I have had wheelchair assistance in the airports because I would never manage them , they are so huge. Anyway, at LA they had it down to a science. They took me and my whole cart of luggage in a van with a lift, and when we got to the international terminal, he put the lift down and off came the whole cart.
Sharon, Lynn, Donna at the airport in Phoenix
The plane was to leave at 10:30 PM, and the counters at Air Pacific were to open at 5:35. I figured I would be the only one to get there 5 hours ahead of time, and if I went back down to the counter at 5:15 I would be first in line. NOT. I was at the end of four snake lines back. Eventually I made it through, went and got dinner then got the wheelchair folks to do their magic.
The Bradley International Terminal is new, and part of it is still under construction. Beyond security there are no stores or restaurants, just a few bags of junk food hanging off a rack and some bottles of pop and water. Here's the part that took all of us in my little corner of the waiting room by surprise. When you go out the door at the gate, it is ground level. Departures on major routes with large planes always have a ramp leading down to the plane, right? Wrong. Here they load you onto a bus. Can you imagine how many buses and runs back and forth it takes to load a 747? They had us crammed in there like a Toronto streetcar - or a New York subway. This Fijian guy sitting next to me was cracking jokes and said, "We should put photos on Facebook of the bus we took to Fiji". Everyone around broke out laughing. We took off at about 11:15 PM.
I had an aisle seat, and as the people filed past me I prayed as usual for some small little woman who didn't need armrests. Every time I saw a large person - of either gender -coming along I silently said "noooooooooooooo". Well, it appeared to have worked because nobody sat down in either of the seats! I rejoiced when the door closed and I was seat-mate-less. After a while a fellow came along who wanted my window seat. That was fine with me, and it was great for both of us to have the seat in between empty. Ten hours and forty minutes is a long time to have your right arm across your chest, holding onto your left thigh!
Even with the wonderful seat situation I was in agony a lot of the time with my knee and sciatic pain. So when we rolled into Nadi it was a big relief.
When you land here and make your way to immigration, there is a four man band playing for you. I did not get a photo, but today Judy Muir sent me a photo she took of them just about a month ago when she and Alan stopped here on the way home from New Zealand. Here it is below.
All went well at customs and the fellow helping me grabbed, at my direction, my red and black bags and handed me over to the shuttle driver from the hotel. I got here at about 6:40 AM local time. They said housekeeping starts at 8 and they would have my room done up right away. At 7 the restaurant opened, so I got some breakfast and hung around until sometime just after 9 when my room was ready.
I opened my red bag and wondered why it looked different than it did when I packed it yesterday. Seems someone else has a red bag like it! So they call me a cab and off I go back to the airport. I told the folks there what had happened, and someone went off to look for my bag. They told me to take a seat. About 30 seconds later a man and his son came in dragging my bag. What are the chances we would get to the exact same spot at the same time?! He thought it was pretty funny and said that he wondered why it felt so much lighter than it had (that's right, someone DOES have a heavier bag that I). And I said to myself when I first picked up his, "what in the world did I PUT in here?" So we had a good laugh and happily went off pulling our own red bags.
This is a two story hotel, more like a motel but it does not feel like a motel. I have a poolside room, and it is literally 4 or 5 steps out my door. I went in this afternoon, after having had two naps. The water was beautiful and so refreshing.
I am trying to decide what to do over the next two days. I have had the shuttle driver, two taxi drivers and the tour signer-uper here at the hotel courting me, all wanting my business. I told them all I was in no shape to even think about it today, I was so tired.
At this very moment I am feeling OK, having had a couple of naps. During my second one I heard a huge noise outside. I sat up and saw that it was teaming - and I mean teaming - rain. When I got up it was dry. Unbelievable.
It is low season here, and there are not many people here at the hotel. Just past the pool, toward the front are an open air bar and restaurant. At lunch I was the only one in there eating. The nice lady took my order, then went about drying silverware. Later, she was mopping the floor in the restaurant (it seems there is always someone mopping a floor). When I would ask her for something, she would go and get it then come back and continue to mop. Yep, it is quite laid back here. What a nice environment.
That's it for today. I'll be back.
