Even though this is a post about traveling to Fiji, I thought I'd start with a picture taken right here at home-sweet-home:
Here we are in the backyard, enjoying some sunshine for the first time in months along with some nice frosty libations. As nice as this was, it only lasted about 20 minutes before we got cold and had to go back inside. But by the time the middle of March rolled around, this winter with it's coldest January in 50 years and it's 2nd most snow ever (as of 10 AM today we were 0.9 inches short of the record and its been snowing ever since, but I haven't seen an official update saying we've broken the record) was getting to us to the point that we were bursting at the seams to start our trip.
So when we did start the trip it was all smiles. Here we are just before take-off in Anchorage:
I should mention that we flew first class(!) for the first leg of this trip, which was a great way to spend 6 hours on planes without freaking out that we still had 10+ hours of flying to go. The first class tickets also let us hang out in the Alaska Airlines lounge between flights - another great perk. Still, by the time we were on board the plane for the flight from LA to Nadi, Fiji, we were exhausted from a full day of travel. After watching the first 6 minutes of "The Neverending Story," it was lights out and we both ended up getting a solid 7-8 hours of sleep (hooray Xanex!).
Crossing the international date line meant that we took off on the 22nd and landed on the 24th, skipping March 23 entirely. Here's a picture of the plane:
And here's a picture of us, feeling surprisingly good after the overnight flight.
Initially, it was kind of stressful to be trying to figure out where on Earth we had to go next. We had been thoroughly warned about hard-selling timeshare agents who would accost us in the airport and we also had no idea where to catch our next flight, since it wasn't with an actual airline. Eventually we found the right person to ask for help, got directed to the travel company responsible for our next flight, and once we made it to the gate for that flight we found ourselves reassured that the flight wouldn't be leaving without us:
We had a couple hours to kill, which we spend at a small cafe. After looking forward to this trip for weeks, being stressed at work and home trying to get everything ready to be totally out of touch for 10 days, traveling for a full day and worrying about how to make our connection in Fiji I found all my worries suddenly evaporating. Somehow, sitting in the airport cafe and waiting for our flight actually became an incredibly relaxing experience...
This picture mostly serves as a reminder of how badly I was going to require sunscreen.
Once the ticket counter opened, "Ben" (pronounced Bean) checked us in, which included not just weighing our baggage but then weighing ourselves as well, and directed us towards security. While waiting on the other side of the security check, we saw Bean walking by outside carrying our two bags. Then Bean came back and told us we could follow him to the plane. I should mention a couple of other things here, one being that Bean was to be the pilot, two being that this was my first experience as clearly the oldest person on an airplane, and three being that Bean gave us 3 different options for our flight path: direct to the harbor, scenic along the coastline and scenic along the coastline with a detour out to do a fly-by of the resort itself. We took the direct option, Bean loaded us onto the plane and we put on our headphones as we taxied along with the door to the plane wide open to prevent overheating in the passenger compartment.
Which was also the pilot compartment:
We both had cameras out to document the flight,
which was quite scenic despite the fact that we had chosen the less scenic route.
We were also, um, well within picture range, particularly as we crossed the top of the mountains.
More scenery:
Sometimes, as a passenger, its less comforting to be able to see the pilot's instruments.
But Bean skillfully avoided the terrain and brought us in for a smooth landing at the Pacific Harbor airport. See, there's the runway straight ahead:
And there's the airport:
Although I guess you could say the airport was appropriately scaled to Bean's plane.
After about a 4-minute drive to the marina, we boarded the Royal Davui boat to head out to the island. Believe it or not, we actually stayed awake the whole time despite our past track record with boat rides.
After about 15 minutes the island appeared above the horizon:
Before long we were there. Julie (one half of the management team, a native Pennsylvanian who had lived in Australia long enough to have a pronounced accent) met us on the jetty to guide us in.
I don't have any more pictures from the rest of our initial tour. But moments after this picture a group of the resorts employees sang a song to welcome us to the island. We were handed a pair of tropical fruit smoothies and cold towels and given a quick tour of the restaurant, pool, and marine center while our bags were taken to our vale. A few minutes later we arrived at the vale, and the honeymoon had officially begun!
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