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Preface: I've been writing this for about 10 days now with little to no access to the internet for time to post.
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Greetings...
I had hoped to keep this up everyday but due to slow internet or none at all I've only now had the chance publish the beginnings of my journey. Early morning Saturday Nov 10 I left DC to embark on my journey to Fiji and Queensland Australia. I return late evening Nov 27. Yes, I'm missing traditional Thanksgiving.
Of course, getting away from work is a perk, but really minor at this point. I don't take vacations to escape from my job. For so many, vacation is just the word used to state our excuse to go somewhere. For me this is not a vacation, this is living, and us Americans don't seem to get enough of it. If your job shuns the idea of a lengthy vacation, get the hell out. That is, only if you enjoy travel. I've learned that only as an American am I fortunate to take this trip. However, a lot of Americans don't think of traveling the way the majority of people around the world do, and a majority of the people I've met think my trip is ridiculously short and almost laugh at my itinerary. To them, two weeks travel is good enough for one or two cities, and taking 1-12 months visiting a country or doing an around the world adventure is more like it, not to mention, promoted quite heavily. So forget long weekends, holidays, and all the usual days off. We're way of track with that notion. The people I've met are really doing it right...how can we achieve that!!?? Not sure we ever will, but here's my best next step at it =)
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Day 1 - Sat Nov 10
I woke up after a mere 90 minutes of sleep. I shuffled to the airport and was on my way. Despite my lack of sleep, my bargaining skills were at an all time high. I was able to convince the airline to drop the cost to bring my surfboard to $35 instead of the initial $115. I slept the entire trip to LA.
Once there I was picked up by Tony, Mr. Riggs' (Bob) personal chauffeur and driver. Since my flight didn't leave until 10:30pm that night, I had plenty of time to kill. Bob and Teri greeted me with a smile and a beer. One of the highlights of traveling is new food - there are so many types of food out there that we just don't see back home. Well, I never expected this part of my trip to begin in LA. Bob cooked his very own "3 Bird Burgers" - Ostrich, Chicken, & Turkey. Sounds like something Senor Rianhard would conjure up. The burgers were delicious.
I made my way back to LAX around 7pm. Since my bags were already checked I had some time to kill. Coincidentally, Katy (Brown) was flying to Boston and connecting that same night. We were able to suck down a few drinks before boarding our flights...key preparation for extremely long ones.
It was all a great intermission to a lengthy flight plan.
Next was boarding. This was my first time on a double decker airplane. This thing was MASSIVE.
-seats 430 humans
-carrying 4 tons of cargo
-two stories with 100+ rows on each level
-coach seats suck
-the stewards/stewardess wear flower shirts, the ladies have a flower in their ear
-this flight was 11 hours long, going to Nadi, Fiji
-open bar on all intl flights
- flying Air Pacific
-cost of ticket: $1250
We were supposed to depart at 10:30pm. In fact, we made it to the runway just in time for the pilot to announce their was some engine failure!!?? We had to go back to the gate and have the mechanics work on the plane...for 3 hours...very sketchy. My only concern was that I'd arrive too late Monday morning to catch the boat to the reef to surf (which I did). So we finally took off just before 1:30am.
I arrived in Nadi, Fiji around 8:30am Monday (we lost a day crossing the Intl Date Line), not very well rested and with a 14 hr time difference from DC. It was 11am by the time I got to
Rendezvous Beach Resort (http://www.surfdivefiji.com/). I drank two beers and retreated to my personal "bure" - the word for Fijian residence. It's as simple as can be with a bed, sink, shower and toilet. All I need.
I learned that many Japanese come to Fiji to learn English so a few of them were doing just that. The others were there to dive or surf. What was really interesting is none of them spoke good English. Only a couple even had what I would describe as very broken English. Attempts at conversation were few and far between. But when they did occur, it was really cool. It's almost like a mini game of
charades, with a lot of hand and body movement...lots of fun for sure.
So Monday was a chance to catch up on sleep. Monday night, however, was a different story. We had an official Kava ceremony. You can read a good quick description here http://kavaroot.com/aboutkava_frames.htm. Kava numbs the mouth and is sort of the opposite of coffee. Levi was the gentleman leading the ceremony and telling all the history behind it. There was another Fijian playing guitar and singing songs - it was all very cool. We had to keep a big "Bula" smile the whole time. "Bula" is their term for hello...sort of like "Aloha" in Hawaii. I ended up passing out by 9pm or so in preparation for an early start and good morning surf session.
Tuesday we ate breakfast followed by a 20 minute boat ride to Wilkes Pass around 8:30am. This is a reef about 1/2 mile from an extremely tiny island on one side and probably 1.5 miles from another larger island. The waves were breaking pretty well, with about 20 second rides if you were able to catch it right at the right spot. The reef was anywhere between 3-8 feet below, so flailing out after a wave was not ideal. Actually, I had to do my best to stay afloat to avoid cutting my body or feet. The coral is literally as sharp as razor blades. The water was crystal clear with a dark blue tint in the deeper parts and a bright turquoise in the shallow sections.
Like any long surf session, we came back and grubbed our faces off. A guy I met, Taylor (from Seattle - but on his way home from a 5 month school session in AU) and I literally had about 4 refills, but the ladies cooking seemed to love us so it was no problem at all.
Around 3pm a few of us caught the bus to town. We could've gotten a taxi, but it's just not as interesting. This was a wonderful decision. I began talking to a lady I met named Macarena (sp? but like the song). She was super nice and we were chatting up a storm. She even invited us to her village the next day, a 20 min walk up the road, and told us to bring Kava so we could meet the chief - a tradition when visiting any Fijian village...you must bring Kava. So we trekked through the hills mostly over dirt road, picking up and dropping locals off at their houses. The area is all farmland except for downtown Nadi. One of our stops was a school where about a dozen or so kids got on the bus. It was pouring down rain, so they literally got on drenched from head to toe. The kids were super cute...I was taking pictures of them and showing it to them. They seemed amazed, but were also really shy so it was difficult to tell what they really thought. I wished I could've printed them right there and given them all a copy.
Panoramic photo from the outside of Rendezvous.
We finally got to town and it was pretty wet and muddy. We didn't do much other than walk around through different markets. We also grabbed a few small dishes while waiting for the bus back a couple hours later. I ordered a plate of goat over rice....yummmm....haha. I thought it was okay, but not too delicious. I think it was this guy's bro b/c he was giving me a funny look the next day when I met him.
Some of the locals and guests at the resort.
One of the coconuts and juice we opened.
So Wednesday morning we awoke to go surfing, but the wind was blowing at 22 knots and the reefs were all chop, aka no bueno for swimming or surfing. So we did some snorkeling briefly nearby a super tiny sand island that was on our way back. Once we got back, a few of us decided we wanted to go on a walk around the farm land. Levi was our guide, as usual, and Taylor, Tomo, him, and I all left the resort to explore. Levi brought a machete to chop sugar cane. Sugar cane grows year round and is Fiji's primary export. For those who may not know, sugar cane is the same as that bamboo looking sweet stick they put in your mojito drinks back home. This sugar cane is much thicker...about as thick as my forearm. We just kept sucking on it the entire walk and it was delicious and as fresh as could be.
So we made our way about and I shot a ton of photos. We ended up at this tiny train track, which actually also runs straight to the resort where we were staying. Levi decided to pull one of the carts on the track so we could all take turns pushing and riding it back. It took us about 5 minutes to get back and was really cool. It's a hell of a workout, too. I wish I could do that for my cardio workout instead of the monotonous treadmill sessions back in VA.
Right-side up panoramic of me sitting on the beach.
Panoramic of the beach out front of the resort.
Downtown Nadi (pronounced Non-dee)...it's not very big at all. Probably just a few square blocks.
A shot of the main building of the resort from the trees. 
Wednesday night was the one night I actually stayed up late and hung out with everyone. I had to leave for the airport at 6am, but I had already packed and since I was waking up really early anyway, I decided to let loose. By the end of the night, another guy and I had ended up in the pool with a bunch of the japanese kids. Unfortunately I had my wallet and my iPod in my pocket (My mom will just love that) so I'm not sure if it works anymore.I was able to get up on time and make my way to Brisbane, AU. I can't wait to post more...
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