Fiji

June 12, 2016

Ok, for my friends who have not crossed the equator, you gain a day when you arrive at your destination.  For me, June 11, 2016 will never exist.  I arrive at Nadi (pronounced Nan-di) Fiji at 5:42 this morning.  When we exited the plane, we were greeted by a 3-piece band.  It was just beautiful, and totally choked me up.

Right away, I went through immigration, and was stopped by the nicest lady from Fiji Department of Health.  She told me that I need to pay $54 Fiji to bring John in.  No problem.  Here’s the funny part, I have to go back and pay it because they were closed!  I can’t believe how kind and wonderful these people in Fiji are.  Yes, It is a bit like Hawaii, but I am so in love with this place that I think I’d rather come back here!  I am sitting here at my hostel, on the beach, talking with an Aussie ex-pat, and I must tell you how wonderful the people are.  There is always a smile and a “Bula”.  It is wonderful.  It isn’t forced at all, nothing like the “ALOHA” you here in Hawaii.  Just wonderful.

After I left the airport, my first stop was church.  I went to 7:30 am mass at St. Mary’s in Namaka.  Ok all you OLA’ers, they projected the words to the songs!  of course, they were all in Fijian.  The whole service was, but that is the beauty of the Catholic Church.  I can go to mass anywhere in the world, and I know when to get up and when to kneel.

 

After church, I started driving around.  I went to the Garden of the Sleeping Giant.  It was so incredibly beautiful.  This park was started by Raymond Burr.  How incredible. Acres of beautiful jungle. I can just imagine Mr. Burr looking at the area and building a beautiful orchid farm.  Just amazing. I met the nicest Australian family from Burleigh Head, which is on the Gold Coast.  That is near where John lived when we met.  They helped me take a bunch of pictures.  They were so nice.  Then, after they left, a sweet Kiwi man told me all the places to go! They were a bit out of my reach, but still, what a nice man.

 

After I left the Orchid farm, I went around a bit more, and then wound up at the Bamboo Hostel.  I had reserved a single room.  How incredible it is.  The room is beautiful, way too nice for a hostel.  It is ON THE BEACH. I can’t believe how nice it is.  I am having a decent time. I decided I wasn’t going to pay the high price for the wine, so I walked to the local store for a bottle.  I was feeling a bit down, and then I saw this car.

For those who don’t know, John always called me Pet.  It was short for Petal.  Well, when I arrived at the hostel, I was feeling a bit sad.  I went for a walk for a bottle of wine, and there was this car. The license plate clearly says Petal.  It made me smile.  I know he is watching over me.  Tonight, there is a Kava ceremony, and I am sure I will have a swig.  I am not at peace yet, but working towards it.  I think that I may actually get going on the changes to my prospectus tonight.  I think John would be happy!

Update: As I was writing this, I  met a surly old Aussie named Bob.  He was the Ancient Mariner, for sure.  I talked with him for while, polished off most of the bottle of wine, and went to bed at 4pm.  I woke up for the Kava ceremony, but I felt rotten, and went back to sleep.  When I work up this morning, I have a full blown head cold!  Oh well, another Poopy day in paradise!

June 13, 2016

Today was a big driving day.  I made it halfway around the island to Suva.  It is the biggest city in Fiji, and their capital.  It is a typical big city, Noisy, pretty dirty, lots of traffic. It is also really hard to get around.  I got lost a couple of times.  I had to go back in because I didn’t have a cord to charge my laptop.  The people were so nice, and sent me in the right direction.

ON the way to Suva, I saw so much beautiful scenery.  It is really hard to describe, but it was just amazing.  I stopped a couple of time just to look and put my feet in the water.

I am staying at a really nice hotel tonight.  It is the Novotel Lami Bay Suva.  Just gorgeous. The picture can’t possible do it justice.  I can walk out my door to the swimming pool and onward to the bay.  It is so quiet and just what I need.  I have come down with a terrible cold, so I need some rest.  No kava ceremony tonight!  LOLOL.

Well, the evening was rough.  A group of Japanese tourists were running up and down the hallway, slamming doors and shouting at each other.  It’s the first time I had to call a front desk to tell them to shut up! Oh well.

 

June 14, 2016

Today started of well.  Free breakfast at the hotel.  I then set off for what turned out to be a very strange adventure.  I was forced off the road outside of Suva and blew a tire.  A wonderful man named Rajoo stopped and helped me change the tire.  What I didn’t know until later that day the the inside of the back tire was about ready to go too.  Anyways, I gave Rajoo a ride into town to thank him, and then I headed back to Nadi.  It was wonderful taking with him.  He told m e he rents a room in a house that has no electricity.  Apparently this is the norm.  He is a student at a trade school.  Very nice young man.  When I got back to Nadi, I went straight to the airport to turn in the car.  Even though I had full coverage, I still had a $1000 deductible, so it cost me about $300 US for the tires. At least I didn’t wreak the car!.

I took a taxi back to Bamboo and checked in.  I decided to have a bottle of wine at the bar, and just sat and watched the ocean.  After a couple of hours, I was joined by the nices family.   Jane and wayne are native Fijians, and they own a company that goes in and redos the food service for hotels and the like.  They were working on the Bamboo, and they invited me to join them taste testing the new menu items.  What a tremendous feast!  They were the warmest people.  They had their three children and a friend who had just flown in from Auckland, and I was made to feel like a part of the family. Wayne regaled me with many stories of Fiji, the life style and the culture.  I learned so much, it was a tremendous evening.  I fully fell like I have made friends. We finally parted about 10:30 at night.  What an intriguing and incredible day.

June 15, 2016

I woke up with a heavy heart.  I have fallen in love with Fiji.  The people are so nice, and the beach incredible.  Last night I also met the co owner of Bamboo.  He is an Aussie ex-pat.  So kind.  One of the other guests was a sweet young lady named Sitara.  She works for Customs at the airport.

I walked along the beach feeling pretty blue.  I knew it was time, so I went back and got a “baggie” from the box and went down the beach aloe.  I think the picture says it all.  I had a bit of a cry, but then it was time to get moving.  “Quit yer sniveling, woman”.  I checked out and took a taxi to the airport.  When I went through customs, who was there but Sitara!  I thanked her for last night.  I won’t soon forget that evening.

I am sitting now waiting to board for Auckland.  This is a nice little airport with only 8 gates for international flights.  I hope Fiji doesn’t “grow up” and become Hawaii. This is a special place.

The flight to New Zealand was uneventful, with two notable exceptions.  When I got on the plane, the monitor on the seat in front of me said “Welcome Susan”.  What a surprise! The other notable exception was the screaming child.  This poor kid screamed for the whole 3 hour flight, and then continued to scream all through customs and immigration!.

Once I arrived in Auckland, I couldn’t raise the hotel.  They were supposed to bring a car to get me, but of course no one answered the phone.  I wound up sharing a taxi with a very nice girl from… Los Angeles!  She was here for a hair show.  We laughed and talked the whole way.  When I finally got to the hotel, it was nice.  It reminded me of a road side motel from the 70’s.  Instead of a front door, it had a sliding glass door.  It was clean and comfortable enough.