Update from the Road

We’re wrapping up our first week back on the road.

Today we took the Ratu Kini Cruiser from Mana Island back to Nadi on the main island of Viti Levu. Tomorrow is a 4 hr bus ride around the island to Suva, the capital of Fiji. We’ll spend a few days in Suva and then catch a shuttle an hour down the coast to Pacific Harbor. From there we’ll get on another boat and head to Beqa Island, where we’ll spend a week celebrating Kat’s 40th birthday at Beqa Lagoon Resort.

We’ve really enjoyed our time in Fiji so far And we’re looking forward to the rest of our time here. There have been lots of odd and funny happenings this past week. Here are a few of the funny highlights from this week. As the Fijians say: Seqa na leqa (no worries)!

• I killed my second watch in 4 months. This one died on the plane mere weeks after I bought it. We think it suffered HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema) and stopped working at exactly 6:25am mountain time. In my defense, I didn’t even get a chance to get this one wet before it died.
• Aubie, our beloved MacBook Air, is having battery problems and won’t charge. We have to wait until we get to New Zealand to get him looked at. So please bear with us while we do all our posting from the iPad & iPods. This also means any photos after our next post (Castaway) will be solely from the iPad/iPod cameras since the card reader for SD cards from the good cameras is on the laptop. Hang in there with us. Good photos and more Fiji pics will be coming down the road. Get well soon, Aubie!
• Always, ALWAYS, order the special meal (kosher, halal, vegetarian, etc) on your flights. You get your meal before they serve anyone else, it’s always a better meal, and usually you get a more complete & larger meal. We were the envy of everyone in our section, especially at breakfast when we got an omelette & hash browns & everyone else got a muffin. Tip of the week, people! We do this every time we fly. Oh, and it doesn’t cost any extra.
• Found out yesterday that they filmed Survivor: Fiji on the other side of Mana Island from our hostel so we hiked over there. Funny thing is that Survivor beach was beautiful and secluded but not at all remote. We walked up and over the hill from our beach shack to Survivor Beach in less than ten minutes. Kind of hard to feel like they are surviving in the middle of nowhere when they’re 8 minutes from a bar, the production crew is sleeping in a posh house just off camera, and there is a high end private resort in the next cove over. But the beach was beautiful and a treasure trove of coral and seashells washed ashore from the reef.
• To the guy in the Fijian customs line last week. No outside plant or animal products allowed into the country means that yes, you do have to throw out your beef jerky. No, it doesn’t matter that it is made in America and prepackaged. Stop throwing a temper tantrum, toss it out, and get over your American self. Hell, we threw out our Ecuadoran peanuts without a fuss.
• We’ve discovered we love Weetabix.
• Today is Fiji Day! Fiji is celebrating 42 years of independence today with parades & loads of sporting matches.
• We have traveled 18 time zones away from the states. And where are we having dinner tonight? At the restaurant in our hostel:
• Hey, did you know Tang comes in flavors other than orange? P.S. this is good with rum. 

Have a great rest of your week!