Hello from the Los Angeles airport
Tuesday afternoon May 7, 2013 USA time (seventh travelogue of this trip).
Depending on how you look at it, this is our second Tuesday or a very long Tuesday (recall that we lost Sunday on the trip to Fiji).
We tried to watch TV in Fiji, but there was nothing that we were interested in. We thought that they might have some news channel that would give world news. If they did, we did not find it. Given that we did not have TV in the bus and now in Fiji, we have almost been able to wean ourselves from TV {yeah right!}. I have been able to catch up a little on the news via Denver paper and TV apps on the iPhone.
The internet in Fiji was interesting. They gave you 30 minutes a day on each apparatus (computer, iPhone, Kindle, etc). Sounds like enough, but it takes about 15 minutes to get a blog post made, even though I prepare the text in advance. I have to insert the hyperlinks and upload the photos and then do a couple of other things before I can finish the post. Worse yet, the 30 minute free connection has a rather small bandwidth limit and the last two days I have been kicked off after about 10 minutes. I think good old Windows or some other software package has been downloading updates. They offer packages of 2 hours and all day. The two hour package is $13 Fiji dollars (about $7 US) which doesn't sound too bad. However, they also have a fairly small bandwidth limit in the two hours and if you exceed the limit, they throttle you down to about dial-up speed unless you pay more money. I like to do some research for the blog, and it has been frustrating to get that done with their system. On the positive side, it keeps me from spending too much time on the computer {grin}.
The flight from Fiji was about 10 and a half hours. Again, I slept some of the time, but not as much as on the way over. Pat had a restless night. It was terribly crowded and not at all comfortable, but we survived. Clearing customs was another fun event. We landed a bit after noon and that must be the “rush Hour” for international flights. It was a madhouse. Between clearing customs and picking up our bags, we were there for almost 2 hours. We then had to transfer our bags from the International terminal to the Southwest terminal. There is a shuttle bus and it was not a huge deal. We now have about 3 hours before our flight leaves. Time to catch up on the Internet and relax.
That is all for now.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
Hello from Nadi, Fiji – Part 6
Hello from Nadi, Fiji – Part 6
Blog posted: Tuesday morning May 7, 2013 Fiji time (sixth travelogue of this trip).
Now that the majority of the SU folks have left, there have been significant changes at the resort. For one thing, it is a lot quieter {grin}. SU ladies are always enthusiastic and they tend to get excited and just keep talking louder and louder.
Next, the breakfast lines are much more manageable. With the SU folks they all tended to go to breakfast about the same time and that overwhelmed the resources of the restaurant. There was always a long line at the omelet bar and often the coffee was not ready {grrrrrrr}. The last two days have been great and much more relaxing in the breakfast area (see photo).
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Looking out of the breakfast room
Lastly, the population at the resort has changed drastically, There are lots of kids – mostly well behaved. It also appears that there are many folks from Australia and New Zealand. We talked to one couple and the feeling we got is that Fiji is a great “holiday” (vacation) destination. It is only a four hour flight. The interesting thing we noted is that the folks from Australia/New Zealand walk on the left side of the walkways – same side as they drive on. So far we have avoided any head on collisions {grin}.
Almost all of the public areas have huge open “windows”. Most do have windows, but they are never closed. There are lots of birds that fly in and out of the areas. This is especially true of the breakfast area. As soon as someone leaves, they swoop in and pick up some of the food. The seem to be “potty trained” as we never see any signs that they have been in the public areas.
We have been eating our dinner at what is called the Salt restaurant/bar. Each night we have gotten a table right by the wall that overlooks the Pacific. We try to time it to arrive a bit before sunset (early here – about 6:00). At the SU dinner, several folks noted that they saw large bats flying around. Well, Sunday night, at the Salt, we sat under a large palm tree that was the landing spot for one of those bats. The wingspan was huge. I think about 1.5 feet and Pat said about 3 feet. In any case it can get your attention. Thankfully, it did not seem to want to share our dinner. There are two types of bats in Fiji (said to be the original native mammals). They have the normal insect eating bats – presumably like we have in the US. The other variety is called the monkey-face fruit bat, or “flying fox” (called beka by the Fijians).
We made the decision to just relax for these last few days. The tours that were available just did not jump out as being something we had to do. We got to see a lot of this island on our river safari tour. In addition, the weather has been great, but a bit hot. It is much more fun to relax in one of the open air public areas. The breeze in these areas keeps it cool and we get to do a lot of people watching.
We did walk on the beach Monday morning. The sand is not all that great, and the water is a bit murky. That said, it was still fun to collect shells. We even got to see some snails that had just washed up on the beach and were “scurrying” around trying to find a shell to hide in.
As I have said many times, I look for things that “normal” people do not. I noted that most of the internet for small businesses and homes is from satellites. I got to thinking about what direction they would be pointing. Most TV, Internet, and communication satellites are in what is called geo-synchronous orbit over the equator. In the US, our satellite dishes are pointed in a generally southern direction. Since we are over 17 degrees south of the equator, I assumed that the dishes would be pointing north. So I got out my trusty iPhone with the compass app and walked down to the marina area where I had noted several dishes. Sure enough, they were pointed in a northerly direction.
Today is our last day. We get the use of the room until 5:00 PM and then a bus takes the SU folks to the airport for a 10:00PM flight.
That is all for now.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Hello from Nadi, Fiji – Part 5
Hello from Nadi, Fiji – Part 5
Blog posted: Sunday morning May 5, 2013 Fiji time (Fifth travelogue of this trip).
I will try to continue to catch up on the details/events of this trip.
When we visit remote island destinations (Hawaii, Bermuda, Fiji, etc.) I am always amazed at the logistics of providing basic necessities for the population. For example, none of those areas have petroleum resources – oil products must be shipped in. There is also the issue of energy to produce electricity. In the case of the main island of Fiji, about half the electrical power comes from Monasavu hydro electric dam. The rest uses diesel fuel. I was a bit surprised that fuel was said to be $2.35 Fiji dollars per liter which work out to about $4.90 per gallon. I suspect the government has a very low tax on the fuel and may even subsidize part of the cost.
In a previous post I talked about the Kava ritual at the village we visited. As I looked through our Fiji book, I found that it is called the Yaqona Ceremony (info here). If you looked closely at the pictures I posted, you might have seen that we had white baby power on our cheeks and fresh leis that were presented by our hosts. The baby powder apparently represents the innocence of children (did not completely understand the explanation).
Thursday we had signed up to be volunteers at the local hospital. Pat did not feel good that morning, so we had to say at the resort. The group that went was huge and they did a great deal of work on the hospital (exterior painting, gardening), etc).
I did my dives on Friday. I am frustrated with the logistics/results of the dive. The boat was very small, and we had 8 people on board (two extra people for a demonstration dive - suspect the boat was overloaded). The ride from the resort to the dive area (map) was about 40 minutes. After our first dive, we had to remove our BCDs and tread water for several minutes while they installed new tanks on the BCDs (no room for them to work in the boat with us on board). Then, entering the boat was extremely difficult, as it was rocking and the steps were very small rungs on either side of a center support (easy for your feet to slip off). There was nothing to grab onto to get into the boat.
The first dive went pretty well. We saw a lot of fish and a rather large sea turtle. The water was not as clear as I expected, and the coral was a bit less than what the books describe. The second dive was a disaster for me. As soon as I got in the water, I knew I had an air leak (I could hear it). I flagged the dive master and he said there was no problem. I watched in frustration as my air gauge dropped like a rock. About 20 minutes into a planned 40 minute dive, I was almost out of air. The dive master hooked me up to his buddy breathing apparatus and we continued on, but it was very clumsy to be tethered to the dive master. We ended up surfacing about 12 minutes early. The dive master was adamant that I had done something to use all my air quickly. That caused the other divers to be uptight that they, too, had to surface early – likely blaming me. It did not help that the other three divers were macho men who had a lot of experience and were very stuck on themselves. I tend to use slightly more air than really proficient divers, but no where near what I used on that dive. So, what should have been a great experience turned into big disappointment.
Friday night was an amazing dinner prepared for the Stampin' Up! attendees. It was held on the lawn and had great entertainment including very talented fire dancers, and a great children's choir. The food was great, and the deserts even better. We sat at a table with folks that were very congenial. We enjoyed great conversations and the weather could not have been better.
The actual event ended Saturday with many people departing in the late afternoon. We, along with several others are staying an extra three days and will depart Tuesday. I believe that they said that there were about 200 demonstrators that made this trip and about 450 people total with spouses/friends and SU staff.
That is all for now.
Blog posted: Sunday morning May 5, 2013 Fiji time (Fifth travelogue of this trip).
I will try to continue to catch up on the details/events of this trip.
When we visit remote island destinations (Hawaii, Bermuda, Fiji, etc.) I am always amazed at the logistics of providing basic necessities for the population. For example, none of those areas have petroleum resources – oil products must be shipped in. There is also the issue of energy to produce electricity. In the case of the main island of Fiji, about half the electrical power comes from Monasavu hydro electric dam. The rest uses diesel fuel. I was a bit surprised that fuel was said to be $2.35 Fiji dollars per liter which work out to about $4.90 per gallon. I suspect the government has a very low tax on the fuel and may even subsidize part of the cost.
In a previous post I talked about the Kava ritual at the village we visited. As I looked through our Fiji book, I found that it is called the Yaqona Ceremony (info here). If you looked closely at the pictures I posted, you might have seen that we had white baby power on our cheeks and fresh leis that were presented by our hosts. The baby powder apparently represents the innocence of children (did not completely understand the explanation).
Thursday we had signed up to be volunteers at the local hospital. Pat did not feel good that morning, so we had to say at the resort. The group that went was huge and they did a great deal of work on the hospital (exterior painting, gardening), etc).
I did my dives on Friday. I am frustrated with the logistics/results of the dive. The boat was very small, and we had 8 people on board (two extra people for a demonstration dive - suspect the boat was overloaded). The ride from the resort to the dive area (map) was about 40 minutes. After our first dive, we had to remove our BCDs and tread water for several minutes while they installed new tanks on the BCDs (no room for them to work in the boat with us on board). Then, entering the boat was extremely difficult, as it was rocking and the steps were very small rungs on either side of a center support (easy for your feet to slip off). There was nothing to grab onto to get into the boat.
The first dive went pretty well. We saw a lot of fish and a rather large sea turtle. The water was not as clear as I expected, and the coral was a bit less than what the books describe. The second dive was a disaster for me. As soon as I got in the water, I knew I had an air leak (I could hear it). I flagged the dive master and he said there was no problem. I watched in frustration as my air gauge dropped like a rock. About 20 minutes into a planned 40 minute dive, I was almost out of air. The dive master hooked me up to his buddy breathing apparatus and we continued on, but it was very clumsy to be tethered to the dive master. We ended up surfacing about 12 minutes early. The dive master was adamant that I had done something to use all my air quickly. That caused the other divers to be uptight that they, too, had to surface early – likely blaming me. It did not help that the other three divers were macho men who had a lot of experience and were very stuck on themselves. I tend to use slightly more air than really proficient divers, but no where near what I used on that dive. So, what should have been a great experience turned into big disappointment.
Friday night was an amazing dinner prepared for the Stampin' Up! attendees. It was held on the lawn and had great entertainment including very talented fire dancers, and a great children's choir. The food was great, and the deserts even better. We sat at a table with folks that were very congenial. We enjoyed great conversations and the weather could not have been better.
The actual event ended Saturday with many people departing in the late afternoon. We, along with several others are staying an extra three days and will depart Tuesday. I believe that they said that there were about 200 demonstrators that made this trip and about 450 people total with spouses/friends and SU staff.
That is all for now.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Hello from Nadi, Fiji – Part 4
Hello from Nadi, Fiji – Part 4
Blog posted: Thursday Morning May 2, 2013 Fiji time (Fourth travelogue of this trip).
There is so much to write about in order to capture some of the details of the trip. I wanted to catch up on a few details.
Sigatoka has had many major floods over the years. When I talked to the Chief, I asked him when the village was built. He said 1964 and it was built to replace the village that was wiped out in a flood. In 2009 they had a major flood that destroyed the bridge to Sigatoka. Last year they had a flood that wiped out about 80% of the crop just as it was ready to harvest.
Like many of the places we have visited over the years, Fiji has a huge contrast in the economic status of the citizens. We are actually in an area called Denarau. It has several upscale resorts and a residential area called the Cove. In the Cove, the houses are huge and there are small yachts docked at the homes. About 10 miles from here in the actual town of Nadi, the businesses are very much like those in Mexican border towns.
Once you get into the rural communities, the living accommodations are very primitive. In many cases the kids have to wade or swim a major river to get to school. It appears that many of the people in these areas are small farmers who work the fields using horses or cattle to pull the implements.
That said, many/most of the people of Fiji that we interacted with seem to be very happy. I always try to gauge how sincere the friendly attitude really is, but it does appear that they are welcoming people. All of the guides are very outgoing and have a great sense of humor.
The tour had told us that all of us must remove our hats when in the village. In addition the women had been advised to wear “modest” clothes. When we got to Sigatoka The women were given sarongs to wear in the village (see photo).
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The kids in the village seemed to be happy and liked to interact with the visitors. I fell in love with one little boy who seemed to be very inquisitive about us. He was visiting with his grandfather (who was a major participant in the “ritual”). The boy was very shy, but when I put my hand out for a “high five” he lit up (see my friend in the photo).
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Pat, the Chief, Jim and Jim's friend
While English is one of two major languages (was one of the British Colonies at one time), it seems that most of the population speak the other major language: Fijian. When we were on our tour, we found it hard to communicate with the people of the village.
Fiji's major agricultural product was, at one time, sugar cane. Today, sugar cane is still grown on small farms (one estimate suggests about 22,000 small farms) and there are four sugar mills still operating. They are outdated and are said to be unprofitable. In spite of the decline in the sugar industry, they still export about 250 thousand tons each year and 45,000 people are employed directly or indirectly by the industry. The cane is shipped to the mills on very old narrow-gauge trains.
It appears that the rest of the agricultural industry produces crops for local consumption. That includes a huge variety of fruits and vegetables. We saw a few cows, but it would not appear to be enough to support the necessary meat supply for a population that is a bit less than one million. We did see lots of chickens and that seems to be a big part of the diet.
Fiji is also a major exporter of hardwoods – primarily mahogany. The British planted the mahogany trees in the '50s and they are now mature. Commercial fishing is also an important industry.
One phrase you hear all of the time is “Fiji Time”. The information source I cited in the last post makes the tongue-in-cheek observation that maybe the slow life style is partly a result of the consumption of Kava. In any case, the country does, indeed, operate on Fiji Time. The generalization is that Fijians are relaxed and don't seem to have an urgency to operate by the clock.
I have so much to say, but: That is all for now.
Hello from Nadi, Fiji – Part 3
Hello from Nadi, Fiji – Part 3
Blog posted: Wednesday Evening May 1, 2013 Fiji time (Third travelogue of this trip).
I forgot to mention working on my dive watch. In one of the earlier posts, I mentioned getting the tool to remove the bezel of the watch so that I could replace the battery and O-ring. Well, things are never as easy as they might seem – especially for me {grin}. No matter how hard I tried, I could not hold the watch and remove the bezel. I found some maintenance folks and tried to convey to them what I wanted to do. Finally, I got the point across that I needed a vise. They took me to the maintenance shop and allowed me to use their equipment. That did the trick. Replacing the battery would not be intuitive, but I had downloaded the instructions off the internet. All went well. The test will be when I dive Friday and, hopefully, the watch will be sealed.
Prior to leaving on this trip, I converted two PADI diving course videos to DVD. It has been a couple of years since I last dived, I used the DVDs to help me recall all the important techniques that must be followed to make a safe dive. Hopefully, I am good to go.
Now for the fun part of this travelogue. Today we took the Sigatoka River Safari tour (information). What an absolute fantastic tour it was. We drove from our hotel to Sigatoka, Fiji (about 45 miles). This was a very scenic drive. At Sigatoka (map), we checked in and signed the waiver. We then drove about 20 miles on a gravel road to our boat dock. The boats had two engines. I am not sure what kind of engines they were (boats built in New Zealand), but they were very “throaty”. Once the boat got on plane, they really went fast. The “captain” put the boat into several drifts going around the bends in the river. On the way back he did several 360 “turns” in the river and got all of us quite wet. It was a ton of fun.
The boats took us to a rather remote village (map). (Note: I had to do some searching, but I am pretty sure this is the village – you may have to zoom in). The village has about 200 people living there. They welcomed us will a full “ritual”. The best part of the ritual is that I was the visiting “Chief” (via my elderly status). I got to sit with the village chief and be served the first cup of Kava. We were then served a great meat, consisting of all kinds of food (fruit, vegetables, meat, etc) raised by the members of the village.
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I was not sure what to expect when drinking the Kava. It is supposed to knock you on your tail. I had thought it was a liquor of some sort. Then I had been told that is was a mild narcotic. I had two cups and did not feel any effect. I did a bit of searching and found a great blog post on Kava (here).
That is all for now.
Blog posted: Wednesday Evening May 1, 2013 Fiji time (Third travelogue of this trip).
I forgot to mention working on my dive watch. In one of the earlier posts, I mentioned getting the tool to remove the bezel of the watch so that I could replace the battery and O-ring. Well, things are never as easy as they might seem – especially for me {grin}. No matter how hard I tried, I could not hold the watch and remove the bezel. I found some maintenance folks and tried to convey to them what I wanted to do. Finally, I got the point across that I needed a vise. They took me to the maintenance shop and allowed me to use their equipment. That did the trick. Replacing the battery would not be intuitive, but I had downloaded the instructions off the internet. All went well. The test will be when I dive Friday and, hopefully, the watch will be sealed.
Prior to leaving on this trip, I converted two PADI diving course videos to DVD. It has been a couple of years since I last dived, I used the DVDs to help me recall all the important techniques that must be followed to make a safe dive. Hopefully, I am good to go.
Now for the fun part of this travelogue. Today we took the Sigatoka River Safari tour (information). What an absolute fantastic tour it was. We drove from our hotel to Sigatoka, Fiji (about 45 miles). This was a very scenic drive. At Sigatoka (map), we checked in and signed the waiver. We then drove about 20 miles on a gravel road to our boat dock. The boats had two engines. I am not sure what kind of engines they were (boats built in New Zealand), but they were very “throaty”. Once the boat got on plane, they really went fast. The “captain” put the boat into several drifts going around the bends in the river. On the way back he did several 360 “turns” in the river and got all of us quite wet. It was a ton of fun.
The boats took us to a rather remote village (map). (Note: I had to do some searching, but I am pretty sure this is the village – you may have to zoom in). The village has about 200 people living there. They welcomed us will a full “ritual”. The best part of the ritual is that I was the visiting “Chief” (via my elderly status). I got to sit with the village chief and be served the first cup of Kava. We were then served a great meat, consisting of all kinds of food (fruit, vegetables, meat, etc) raised by the members of the village.
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On our way to village
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Jim and the Chief
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Our meal in the village
I was not sure what to expect when drinking the Kava. It is supposed to knock you on your tail. I had thought it was a liquor of some sort. Then I had been told that is was a mild narcotic. I had two cups and did not feel any effect. I did a bit of searching and found a great blog post on Kava (here).
That is all for now.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Hello again from Nadi, Fiji
Hello again from Nadi, Fiji
Blog posted: Tuesday afternoon April 30, 2013 Fiji time (Second travelogue of this trip).
Tourism is a big part of the Fiji economy and they really make sure that you feel welcome. When we arrived at the Nadi airport and stood in line to clear customs, there was a great group playing music that is native to the country and it sounded great. Stampin' Up! had arranged for a bus to pick us up. Our group had arranged to come a day early, but the bus was nearly full. At the meeting area, they had bottles of chilled water. That was great, given the very dry atmosphere we had experienced on the plane.
When we got to the hotel, they greeted us with neat shell leis, and a wonderful fruit type drink. We had been pre-registered, and the check-in took almost no time. We then went to the free breakfast that is a part of the hotel charge. It is a smorgasbord that is among the very best we have had. They have an omelet bar and a huge assortment of meats, fruits, breads, and even stir fried vegetables/noddles. Then to top it off they had individual french press coffee pots!!!
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We went again today and it was a zoo, as the folks who arrived today all showed up at one time. We skipped the long omelet bar line and still had a wonderful breakfast. I made a European type breakfast sandwich (cold cuts, cheese and wonderful European style loaves of bread that you cut to your preference). It really brought back fun memories of our European travel.
The weather here has been quite rainy. The storms come in fast and leave fast. Hasn't really stopped us from enjoying the resort.
Yesterday we walked down to the Denarau Marina. It is mainly a small shopping area with many restaurants (including a Hard Rock Cafe). I had a beer at one of the pubs, and Pat ordered mineral water – the water was about 50% more costly than the beer. We ate dinner at what we think was a locally owned Italian restaurant.
One of the reasons for going to the marina was to look for diving companies, but I was sorely disappointed. We ran into a couple of women who had just dived that day and had arranged the dive at our hotel. Today, at the hotel, I booked a dive for Friday. It was hugely expensive but I can't not dive in Fiji {grin}. The weather was bad enough today that they canceled the dive. You get to the dive area on a small boat and seas were to rough for safe travel.
Tonight we have a reception and general meeting. Lots of fun for Pat and OK for me {another grin}. There really is not all that much planned company activities.
That is all for now.
Blog posted: Tuesday afternoon April 30, 2013 Fiji time (Second travelogue of this trip).
Tourism is a big part of the Fiji economy and they really make sure that you feel welcome. When we arrived at the Nadi airport and stood in line to clear customs, there was a great group playing music that is native to the country and it sounded great. Stampin' Up! had arranged for a bus to pick us up. Our group had arranged to come a day early, but the bus was nearly full. At the meeting area, they had bottles of chilled water. That was great, given the very dry atmosphere we had experienced on the plane.
When we got to the hotel, they greeted us with neat shell leis, and a wonderful fruit type drink. We had been pre-registered, and the check-in took almost no time. We then went to the free breakfast that is a part of the hotel charge. It is a smorgasbord that is among the very best we have had. They have an omelet bar and a huge assortment of meats, fruits, breads, and even stir fried vegetables/noddles. Then to top it off they had individual french press coffee pots!!!
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The view from our patio - that is the Pacific in the background
We went again today and it was a zoo, as the folks who arrived today all showed up at one time. We skipped the long omelet bar line and still had a wonderful breakfast. I made a European type breakfast sandwich (cold cuts, cheese and wonderful European style loaves of bread that you cut to your preference). It really brought back fun memories of our European travel.
The weather here has been quite rainy. The storms come in fast and leave fast. Hasn't really stopped us from enjoying the resort.
Yesterday we walked down to the Denarau Marina. It is mainly a small shopping area with many restaurants (including a Hard Rock Cafe). I had a beer at one of the pubs, and Pat ordered mineral water – the water was about 50% more costly than the beer. We ate dinner at what we think was a locally owned Italian restaurant.
One of the reasons for going to the marina was to look for diving companies, but I was sorely disappointed. We ran into a couple of women who had just dived that day and had arranged the dive at our hotel. Today, at the hotel, I booked a dive for Friday. It was hugely expensive but I can't not dive in Fiji {grin}. The weather was bad enough today that they canceled the dive. You get to the dive area on a small boat and seas were to rough for safe travel.
Tonight we have a reception and general meeting. Lots of fun for Pat and OK for me {another grin}. There really is not all that much planned company activities.
That is all for now.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Hello from Nadi, Fiji
Hello from Nadi, Fiji
Blog started: Saturday evening April 27, 2013 (First travelogue of this trip).
Blog posted : Monday morning April 29, 2013 (Fiji time)
I am starting this blog in the Los Angeles Airport. This morning we flew from Denver and arrived at about 2:30 LA time. We then had to get our luggage and transfer to the International terminal. We had to kill a lot of time, as the check-in counter did not open until 6:35. Our flight to Fiji leaves at 11:30.
As has been the case in several previous occasions, Stampin' Up! is paying for the trip. As some of you know, Pat has earned several trips over the years. We have been on eight cruises and this will be our second resort stay. The demonstrators have to work very hard for these trips, but what trips they are!!!
It has been an interesting couple of days getting ready for the trip. One of the items that cropped up at the last minute – I discovered my dive computer/watch batteries were dead. Normally the watch has to be returned to the manufacturer to get serviced (no time for that!!!). I did a search and found that, with a special tool, you can replace the battery. I found an Ebay ad for the tool and battery (plus new O-ring) for a very reasonable fee. The seller is located in the LA area. After a bunch of communication, I arranged to buy the tool, battery, and O-ring and have a courier deliver it to the airport. The kit was cheap, but the courier was not {frown}. In any case, I have everything to get the dive computer/watch running again. I really wanted to have it for the dives I plan to do. It does a wonderful job of documenting the dive.
Fortunately, travel to Fiji does not require significant medical preparation. Your Tetanus shots need to be current, have current hepatitis A protection and we needed to get typhoid protection. In my case, I could take oral typhoid vaccine, but Pat had to have a shot, since the oral has live virus and she can not have that with her compromised immune system.
OK, now I can update this blog, as we are in our hotel room in Fiji. We are at Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa (map). I will post a couple of quick pictures that give a hint of how beautiful this place is and will follow up in later posts.
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We departed LAX at about 11:30 PM on Saturday and arrived in Nadi at 5:10 AM on Monday. While a quick glace would say that that is a hell of a long flight, or that Jim screwed up again, it really reflects that we crossed the date line and are one day ahead of the USA. So, I guess you could say we missed Sunday this week. I texted the girls and said that it was 6:30 AM on Monday in Fiji and 12:30 PM on Sunday in Denver – to give you a better understanding of the time relationship.
The flight was just a bit short of 11 hours. Almost every seat was full and we had three people crammed together in our row. That is the makings for a miserable trip – well, not when you have chemistry on your side. Our doctor prescribed a sleep medication for the trip – generic Ambien. It did the trick and we slept pretty well. Sure made the trip bearable.
A couple of the grandsons wanted to know about the planes we took. The Denver to LAX was a 737-800. The LAX to Nadi was a 747-400. I have always loved the 747 planes. Gates had a project to develop a V-belt conveyor system for the cargo containers. I made several trips to California to work on the design and testing of the system. Then I made a trip to Chicago for one of the first commercial flights of that great plane. When I saw it coming in, I was convinced it was crashing. The plane is so big that it looks like it is going too slow to fly. Over the years, I have taken many 747 flights and it is the smoothest flying plane I have been on. I have been saddened that most of the airlines are phasing them out. Imagine how delighted I was to fly one again.
That is all for now.
Blog started: Saturday evening April 27, 2013 (First travelogue of this trip).
Blog posted : Monday morning April 29, 2013 (Fiji time)
I am starting this blog in the Los Angeles Airport. This morning we flew from Denver and arrived at about 2:30 LA time. We then had to get our luggage and transfer to the International terminal. We had to kill a lot of time, as the check-in counter did not open until 6:35. Our flight to Fiji leaves at 11:30.
As has been the case in several previous occasions, Stampin' Up! is paying for the trip. As some of you know, Pat has earned several trips over the years. We have been on eight cruises and this will be our second resort stay. The demonstrators have to work very hard for these trips, but what trips they are!!!
It has been an interesting couple of days getting ready for the trip. One of the items that cropped up at the last minute – I discovered my dive computer/watch batteries were dead. Normally the watch has to be returned to the manufacturer to get serviced (no time for that!!!). I did a search and found that, with a special tool, you can replace the battery. I found an Ebay ad for the tool and battery (plus new O-ring) for a very reasonable fee. The seller is located in the LA area. After a bunch of communication, I arranged to buy the tool, battery, and O-ring and have a courier deliver it to the airport. The kit was cheap, but the courier was not {frown}. In any case, I have everything to get the dive computer/watch running again. I really wanted to have it for the dives I plan to do. It does a wonderful job of documenting the dive.
Fortunately, travel to Fiji does not require significant medical preparation. Your Tetanus shots need to be current, have current hepatitis A protection and we needed to get typhoid protection. In my case, I could take oral typhoid vaccine, but Pat had to have a shot, since the oral has live virus and she can not have that with her compromised immune system.
OK, now I can update this blog, as we are in our hotel room in Fiji. We are at Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa (map). I will post a couple of quick pictures that give a hint of how beautiful this place is and will follow up in later posts.
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Jim and Pat with pool area in the background
(sorry about picture quality)
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Our room with ocean in background
We departed LAX at about 11:30 PM on Saturday and arrived in Nadi at 5:10 AM on Monday. While a quick glace would say that that is a hell of a long flight, or that Jim screwed up again, it really reflects that we crossed the date line and are one day ahead of the USA. So, I guess you could say we missed Sunday this week. I texted the girls and said that it was 6:30 AM on Monday in Fiji and 12:30 PM on Sunday in Denver – to give you a better understanding of the time relationship.
The flight was just a bit short of 11 hours. Almost every seat was full and we had three people crammed together in our row. That is the makings for a miserable trip – well, not when you have chemistry on your side. Our doctor prescribed a sleep medication for the trip – generic Ambien. It did the trick and we slept pretty well. Sure made the trip bearable.
A couple of the grandsons wanted to know about the planes we took. The Denver to LAX was a 737-800. The LAX to Nadi was a 747-400. I have always loved the 747 planes. Gates had a project to develop a V-belt conveyor system for the cargo containers. I made several trips to California to work on the design and testing of the system. Then I made a trip to Chicago for one of the first commercial flights of that great plane. When I saw it coming in, I was convinced it was crashing. The plane is so big that it looks like it is going too slow to fly. Over the years, I have taken many 747 flights and it is the smoothest flying plane I have been on. I have been saddened that most of the airlines are phasing them out. Imagine how delighted I was to fly one again.
Our 747-400 plane from LAX to NADI
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