Arrival in Fiji
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2006
1
3
228
Trip End
Jul 15, 2008
Nadi,
Fiji
Thursday, November 23, 2006
"Bula" is the universal greeting here in Fiji and we have to check ourselves from answering "hola", which is what it sounds like. We arrived this morning in Nadi, Fiji. Nadi is actually pronounced "nandy", sounds like sandy, and after we cleared immigration we headed to the nearest sandy beach. Not a nice white sand but the darker suspect sand of New Town on Nadi Bay 15 minutes north of Nadi city. Still it's a beach and nice enough. There are several backpacker hotels along this stretch of beach to choose from and buses, with out windows, make the run to downtown Nadi for $0.65 Fijian. The exchange rate is about 0.68 Fijian dollars to $1.00 US. We are staying at Travelers Beach Resort $40 Fijian/night. One reason we chose this place is they advertised free internet service. The free part turned out to be only the first ten minutes and it's available only from 6 to 9 PM. Ten minutes is just about how long it takes yahoo to load on land connections here
Nadi Beach north
. The flight from LA to Nadi was 11 hours of agony even though Air New Zealand did their kiwi best to make us comfortable including a champagne breakfast. We took off from Los Angeles at 8:30 PM on November 20, 2006 and when we finally landed in Nadi it was 5:30 AM, November 22, 2006. We had told people in Fiji we would arrive Nov. 21st. Oh well. And if we continue all the way around the world we'll never get that lost day back. To make it worse as soon as we learned Fiji made its own rum we got a fifth of it and two liters of coke; staked out our deck chairs by the pool facing the sea, and lost another day. There's a chance we could lose yet another day if we stay here because the chalkboard propped up on the beach says that tomorrow we can watch the 1st test of the world cricket championships between England and Australia from 11 AM to 9:30 PM. Just too much excitement!
So "bula" to you, we've taken to Fijian time, lost days and all. Tomorrow we search for the famed fire walkers of Fiji.
We are at Latitude: south 17 degrees, 45.856" (minutes). Longitude: East 177 degrees, 25.677' (minutes). You can cut and paste
17 45.856S 177 25.677E in to Google Earth.
Comments
Bula, to you, too!
Glad to hear you are among the lost days...you are good at losing them, Arvid, you always have been!
Happy Thanksgiving to you, yesterday, for you...I think. We are going to go for a hike this morning in the Catalina State Park, right here, and then cook the rest of the day.
We will think of you, as we drink our latest bottle of Two Buck Chuck...the Gamay Beaujolais that you introduced me too...Jen, Joe and I will try it out today.
Happy Firewalking, you wild and crazy kids.
Love, San
Re: Bula, to you, too!