The Trip Here

oe and I arrive to LAX with plenty of time to spare, thanks to my father’s cautious nature. The car we were supposed to take had a flat just as we were about to leave... thank god it did not blow out on our drive to LA...

We passed the time in LAX playing some rummy, Joe properly spanked me at that.

Before boarding the plane, we requested seats next to each other.  Our charm must have had a great effect on the man working the ticket counter, as he not only gave us spots together, but we were also placed in an emergency row, which means about five extra feet of leg room. Not bad for a 10 hour flight.

Aboard the plane, we were served dinner, and had some sweet space aged personal entertainment sets, and, as predicted, the wine flowed like water.

I slept pretty well, but was surprised by how many people stayed awake for the whole flight. It sounded like lots of different time zones were represented on the plane, so that could probably explain that phenomena.

Once we arrived in Fiji (local time 5 AM), we waited in line to go straight to the departure gates, but were told we had to leave the airport for a few hours and return when we were told.

A bit confused, we go down to claim our luggage (which we were supposed to check back in in a few hours... very frustrating, and the attendants didn’t seem to know much about what was going on).  

Anyways, while figuring out the luggage in the middle of this fiasco, we met two wonderful girls, Natalie and Sarah, who stuck around with us and explored (huh huh huh) for a bit.

We walked outside the airport, and it felt like about 90% humidity and 80 F (26 C) degree weather.  It was nice, and Fiji looks like a wonderful island.  People were friendly, we were offered many services (cabs, escorts, ect), but were content walking about with our new friends.  A hotel down the street allowed us to explore, and it was quite beautiful.  Fiji definitely has the feel of a lovely tropical island whose economy relies solely upon tourism.

We returned to the airport area, and taught the girls to play rummy.  More because we liked the idea of purchasing alcohol without being carded than out of desire for a beer, we bought a round of Fiji Bitter beer, which was actually pretty good.  Nothing like beer at 7 in the morning in Fiji.

Everyone wears traditional garb here, even the mean are in skirts.  Nevertheless they look like badasses and I wouldn’t cross their paths if you paid me.

Time came around to board, and pre flight Joe ate some Indian food, but I opted for a protein bar out of fear of mid flight runs...