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| Last day at Likuliku Resort! |
We
had a nice breakfast at the Likuliku Resort, again with fantastic fresh fruit
and local produce. We’ve gotten up very early each day on this trip and
really have not adjusted to the wild changes in time zones/days. But
with each day a new adventure (and a few Diet Cokes) gets us pumped for the
day. Our journey today started with a hike to the end our out long
dock at Likuliku and a send-off by the staff with music and frivolity. We
boarded our small people shuttle out to the middle of the Malolo bay where our
luggage boat met us. Then, the ferry approached and we headed for
the mainland of Fiji (Vitu Levu). Upon arriving there, there was a
bit of chaos around where to retrieve bags. Fiji is a major tourist
destination, but you deal with so many different companies to get around—that
it’s rather disjointed. You also realize again that this is an
Island of leisure—even for the workers it seems—and you momentarily feel like
you are in a third world country. The South Pacific Islanders
haven’t been to LA or NY, and if they have—they don’t like all that speed and
efficiently, I guess. So, we Americans get rather frustrated and
even mildly concerned about the chaotic process of finding and gathering
bags. As it turns out, we were in the entirely wrong area for our bags
since we were transferring to the airport and not staying on the Island, but
NOBODY tells you what to do nor where to go, so we and 100 Australian tourists
all gasp with frustration and head to the “right” place. International
travel is always a crazy journey, no matter where you go.
Our
bus ride to the airport is comfortable and gives us a rapid tour of Nadi, a
larger town in Fiji. The airport is crowded and we get in a crazy
long line for “Jet Star Airline.” Immediately, if feels like a cheap
Southwest Airlines (and that’s saying something as we find SWA to be a royal
pain for travel.) We are correct! Long lines, slow service and HUGE
bag fees. As we found in Europe, they charge by pound (or Kilo) here and our 2
weeks of luggage totals $600 for bags and we now realize why Jet Star is so
cheap for the ticket. At least Southwest (which we still dislike)
offers FREE bags. We negotiate a better rate for our bags and go to get light
lunch. In darkly lit corner of the Nadi airport is a little pizza
place, Mario’s or something, where we manage to pull a worker away from her
daily gossip hour with her co-workers to make us a pizza and get a couple of
Fiji Gold. Like Europe, they hate light beer here, so you get
slightly lighter brews, and the one here is Fiji Gold. Forget an A-B
products or even Eurobeers. Fiji sells Fiji beer.
We
head to our flight on Jet Star for the long 5.5 hour journey from Nadi, Fiji to
Sydney, Australia. While boarding, we note lots of rambunctious and
out-of-control kids and toddlers running all about in security. Most
have bizarrely spiked or even colored hair, which for a 2-4 year-old in the US
is considered quite inappropriate. We figure Fiji is a surfing
country, so maybe these couple of crazy kids are an anomaly of our security
line. NOT SO. The next five hours are the most painful of
our trip. Imagine a flight with 120 adults and 100 kids. Seriously. Most
aged 1-7 and they all have just eaten two chocolate bars and had two
cokes. They are not ready to sleep, they are ready to climb. Somehow,
Jet Star loves small kids and lets them run up and down the aisle all flight.
We have kids kicking and climbing on our seats in front of us… pushing the
“call button” over and over and behind us… LOUD screaming and kicking. Look
to the aisle and see girls grabbing seats and headrests and the run down the
aisle and do “parallel bars” on each seat. Yep. Jet Star. Our first
and last flight. We later find that Fiji is the “Disneyworld” for
Australians and Fiji offers huge deals to families with kids. Back in the
US, Fiji is a tropical, exotic, adults-only private 5-star resort place. The
two collide. Should you travel to Fiji, be careful what you select. Even
noise cancelling headphones were put to the task on this flight and you can’t
ignore kids when they are kicking your seats for hours on end. Ugh. Control
your kids Aussie parents. Americans get bashed a lot. But
rarely do you see this kind of rambunctious kid behavior in public, and
post-9/11 NEVER would they allow kids to run about on a plane during
flight. Plus, really? Do your kids want/need spiked hair and
colors? Really? Bad taste does not begin to cover it.
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| View from our room at the Shangri-La Sydney |
OK,
after that mess of a journey, we find ourselves in world-class Sydney!
Wow. The taxi to our hotel is quick and we check-in. Unfortunately,
the Shangri-La does not hold room types, so our honeymoon room is TWO SINGLE
BEDS. Really? There goes your Trip Advisor 5-Star rating
Shangri-La! We have a so-so view at a hotel known for harbor views,
so we head to the 36th floor restaurant, Altitude, where they
give us a fantastic window table facing the harbor and beautifully lighted
Sydney Opera House. Wow. A good four course meal and we now are
uber-tired as 11PM Sydney is 1AM Fiji time and heaven knows what time in the
US. The wonderful meal and wine made us forget the Jet Kids flight
and we are now tired enough to sleep in our tiny beds.
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