WHERE IS SEPTEMBER 9?
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| INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE |
The South Pacific
Island nation of Fiji is far and from door-to-door it has been over 24 hours of
traveling. We left for the airport at 12:30 pm September 8, and arrived in
Nadi, Viti Levu, Fiji at 5:30 am on September 10. Friday may be on my mind, but
for us Friday, September 9 never existed. When we finally arrived at the
Bendarra Beach Inn on the Coral Coast outside of Sigatoka, a hour away by car
it was 3 pm at home.
FROM RIGHT TO LEFT
Considering the
distance and the time involved, this trip was easy all because of Janet’s diligence
and attention to detail. All the forms and receipts and confirmations were kept
in her blue book, set in chronological order on the right as needed. When the
tasks were completed, those forms are moved to the left.
I take pictures and
write silly stories about our trip, but Janet gets us there.
Because of her diligence
there were no surprises. We knew about the Rapid Antigen Test Fiji required all
visitors to schedule and to pay for before arriving, and had us all ready to take the test, but she learned that on
the Monday before our departure Fiji lifted that requirement and had ALREADY
applied for a refund before I even charged up my phone.
She was on the phone
with Allianz, our travel insurance company to confirm our policy COVID related issues,
which remains a requirement of Fiji.
I struggle to decide what
Aloha shirts (Bula shirts in Fiji) to bring.
You could trace our
trip in that booklet. From flight information, the travel insurance policy
(which we had to present to FIJI Airways agents before being allowed on the plane),
the RAT test, the car pick-up we had in Nadi for our final leg of the trip,
reservation and payment confirmation (my contribution) for the Bendarra
Beach Inn, the reservation for the 2-tank dive we are taking with Diveaway
Fiji, and the reservation for the Navua River white water trip with O.A.R.S. as
well as our reservations and payment confirmation with Blue Lagoon Cruises (my
contribution).
There were no surprises.
For her it was like filling out a grocery list at the supermarket. Very
impressive.
I did recommend we go
down to the beach and get a couple of chaise lounges rather than hang by the
pool when we finally settled in.
Janet thought that was
a good idea.
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| JANET APPROVED |
Despite the early hour
we were greeted with plenty of smiles and “Bula’s” and breezed through customs.
Our driver was pleasant and informative and spoke of the history of Fiji and
the influx of Indians under British rule who worked under indentured servitude.
He talked about the Fiji’s history of tribal warfare and the practice of
cannibalism that thankfully ended about 200 years ago. He spoke glowingly about
the World Cup Seven and how the Fiji National Rugby Team was playing Samoa in
Cape Town, South Africa the next day.
Halfway to “home” we
stopped for coffee and a bathroom break at a surprisingly beautiful and clean gas station /
supermarket / restaurant. Everyone spoke beautiful English and patiently explained the different exotic fruits that were being sold.
We got our room right away
at the Bendarra Beach Inn, although official check in wasn’t until 4 pm, but rather than flounce directly into bed we were determined to get over jet lag as quickly as possible.
We walked the coral
strewn beach, saw a live clam spurting water as it tried to propel itself in the
receding low tide waters. We saw several cobalt blue starfish in ankle deep water. We visited the comparatively
busy Outrigger Hotel, where the dive shop is located and confirmed our dive
next week.
Back at the Bendarra we had complimentary foot massages, had lunch,
had happy hour drinks at half price. Happy hour was announced by a guy wearing a sulu and Bula shirt wailing away on wooden drum. We dragged ourselves over to the beach again to watch a brilliant sunset around 6:30 pm. We then shuffled a bit up and down the road marveling at all the beauty before finally dragging our drooling selves back to our room to finally sleep. Janet slept 12 straight hours.
I got up several times during the night to make sure I locked the door to the hotel room properly.
Thanks to Janet for
getting us here.
Thanks to you all for
reading.
Love Janet and greg
© 2022 by Gregory Dunaj
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