We finally make it to Fiji!

June 23,2012

The past couple of days took a toll on us. We were exhausted so decided to sleep in a little this morning and go to the airport early. With Dan's AMEX card we got into the Admiral Lounge.  We flew American Airlines to Honolulu and arrived quite late but were determined to have dinner on Waikiki Beach so after checking into an airport hotel, we hopped in a cab and headed to Dukes, a popular beachside restaurant.

After a casual dinner, we walked along the beach and explored some of the shops that were still open downtown.

We got back to the hotel at 1:00 AM and set our alarms for 4:00 AM.  

This Air Pacific flight was not going to leave without us!!!!  We were the first in line at the Air Pacific Counter and the plane was only half full,so we had space to relax....

We finally arrived in Nadi (pronounced Nan-dee), Fiji and we were so happy to be greeted with our very first Bulas (warm hellos) and shell necklaces by Pacific Destinationz.  

Tom, our driver guide, took us to the Radisson Blu for the night. The Radisson is a very nice resort on Denarau Island. It is modern but has a warm Fijian feel to it.

It was great to finally be in Fiji. We just took it easy and went into Port Denarau for the afternoon (5 Fiji dollar cab ride), had lunch at Lulus and watched the boats and ferries come and go.  It is a major terminal for ferries going to the islands.  This is where we will board our Captain Cook Cruise tomorrow. 

We got back to the Radisson just in time for the torch lighting ceremony and Happy Hour. 

I ordered a margarita, thinking it meant half price...but instead got 2...YIKES!!! Camera guy had no problem with his two mojitos.

He guided me to the restaurant for a lovely dinner...goodnight!

Brian from ICE limos picked us up - we love Brian and Ice the owner and recommend them highly!  They feel like family and I actually stopped myself from giving Brian a goodbye hug when he dropped us off at the airport...and so began the wackiest 24 hours...

Checking in went fine, the Premium Lounge was very nice and the plane was scheduled to leave on time - 6:10PM.  And then we got to the gate, in time for boarding BUT lightning struck and all airport staff scampered off the tarmac - none of the luggage could be unloaded from the plane we were about to board and so we waited and watched nervously for the blinking lights (lightning alerts)  to go off. We had 4 hours to  wait in LA before our connecting flight with Air Pacific so we weren`t worried...yet.

And then some flights were cancelled-but not ours!  We pulled up the LAX airport plan on Dan's laptop to be sure we understood where we would have to run to catch the Air Pacific flight at the Tom Bradley Terminal - not too far from the Air Canada gate...just another terminal.

7:50PM We board the plane and wait for passengers who have been enjoying the bar (My inner voice wants to scream)   and some who are late arriving in Toronto because of this weather.

8:10PM The pilot announces that we need to remove luggage from the plane for those passengers who have not made it.

8:45PM We are waiting in line for a position to take off...a long line... because of the back up!

I have read a few chapters of my book and we are still on the ground.

Are we ever going to leave???????

9:00PM Yayyyy we are in the air...but the scheduled arrival time on the live seat map reads 10:30PM, the time they close the Air Pacific flight in LA (1 hour prior to the flight taking off). I am not sure how many times I checked the live map hoping the arrival time was going to change...hoping that they would keep the desk open as other people were trying to get on that flight.

We were set to run as soon as it landed and were very close to the front of the aircraft allowing a quick exit. I called Air Pacific immediately to advise them we had landed and we were on our way.  Our baggage had been checked through to Nadi so we didn't have to worry about it.

Dan was faster than me, so I ran barefoot behind him.  We got to the Air Pacific counter in record time,but it was  10:50 when we got there - and the flight was closed...the flight was not leaving for 40 minutes. We were upset, along with others, but the response from the agent was `too bad`. I waited for the Manager to return from the gate after the flight departed.  She told me that those were the rules and the next flight was Saturday, in 2 days..and it was oversold.  She put us on a waitlist.

Where is the luggage?

Because it was checked all the way through, we figured it would be with Air Pacific, but they told us to check with AC, so Dan went back to the other terminal to talk with Air Canada.  

12:00 I went to meet Dan at the Air Canada terminal, hoping to find him with our luggage and a hotel for the night, but no luggage and Air Canada said they were not responsible for helping us get a hotel or assisting us wth re-routing because of the way our tickets   were issued.  We would have to ask Air Pacific about our bags.

In fact, they did say that a Microsoft convention was in town and every hotel was sold out...Feeling bad for us, they gave us each a toothbrush and deodorant and wished us luck.

12:30AM We return to the Tom Bradley terminal and the Air Pacific staff has now gone home and won't be back until Saturday since they don't have flights the next day.  We are told they are the only ones who can give us our bag.  I have not cried...but I really want to at this point...We are about the only ones left in the terminal...

1:00 AM  We call our insurance companies.  Dan has a policy with Manulife (Deluxe Annual) and I have one with RBC (Deluxe Annual)

We are told that we would have coverage for our missed connection and the hotel would be covered up to a maximum  limit.  We could also book a flight with another routing in order to  get us to our destination, as we were on a waitlist presently with no guarantees that we would get on that flight.

1:10 AM We call EVERY hotel near the airport and they are ALL sold out!  The security guard now feels bad for us and recommends some hotels which may have rooms left. He is suggesting other cities.  We finally find a room at the Mariott.  They won't take a cc over the phone to hold it.  We run for the shuttle and get the room! Yayyyyyyy!

Breakfast at the hotel was entertaining.  A pole dancing convention was taking place and  many of the girls were talking  about the new techniques they learned. Dan wanted to ask them if they were all Polish...I had to explain.....

We called Carl to ask his advice and he strongly suggested we look at alternative flights since we were only on a waitlist. He looked up some options and found us a flight at a reasonable cost with a forced overnight in Honolulu. He booked it for us so now, we could feel assured we would get to Fiji.

Once the flights and hotel in Honolulu were out of the way, we headed back to the airport on the very convenient hotel shuttle to see if we could retrieve our luggage.  Luckily we convinced the baggage handlers who work with Air Pacific to take a look in their storage area and lo and behold it was there.

By now it was early afternoon and we took the Big Blue Bus to the Santa Monica Pier. 

We had a great afternoon- cocktails on the pier at Bubba Gumps, dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant.

We even watched a skateboarding dog!

This was one of the most stressful travel days that both Dan and I have ever experienced.  Yes, we weren't happy that we didn't get on the flight, but immediately realized that this was our vacation and this set back was definitely not going to ruin it.  We looked harder for the solutions rather than at the problems.  Thanks to Carl for assisting us from LA to Fiji and the Pacific Destinationz group for modifying our itinerary. We are on our way tomorrow.

During this afternoon, we realized how fortunate we are.  This was more than just about a destination-  it was about being together and sharing special moments.  At the end of the day we laughed together and that was what was important.

More details!

May 2012

It is all planned - June 21-July 7 2012!
Castaway Island Resort, Captain Cook Cruise for 4 nights to the Yasawas, Likuliku
and more....

Special thanks to David Boigne at Exotik Tours for connecting us with all the right people to help put some of our itinerary together.


I'm going to start packing now!

Fiji planning with Carl

January 21, 2012

The snow was lightly falling when we  met Carl at Balzacs in the Distillery District in Toronto to     talk about Fiji. Carl is a friend, a South Pacific specialist and great  Travel Consultant at TPI,        (Travel Professionals International) the company I work for. He brought along some key brochures and presented us with some options and recommendations with the incredible passion he has      towards this destination. Check out Carl's site here. 

We were very enthusiastic and returned home to book off the dates and reserve the flights.

Let's go to Fiji!

Christmas 2012 - I find a Fiji Lonely Planet book  in my stocking
Dan finds a Fiji Rough Guide in his stocking.
We laugh....Let's go to Fiji!!!!!

Welcome to Scotland!

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

After a lot of worry over the weight of our luggage…it was all for nothing.  We flew from London to Edinburgh on BMI and the weight allowances for each of us is 20 kg in addition to one carry on.  I know many people have had issues with discounted airlines but things went smoothly for us on British Midland. 

The flight went well until we were about to land - and I mean we were waiting for the wheels to touch the ground - when all of a sudden the pilot gunned the engines & put the aircraft into a steep climb!  It seems the aircraft ahead of us hit a bird and protocol is that the airport personnel check the runway for remnants….so we circled and got a nice tour of Edinburgh before landing smoothly.

We rented our car with Auto Europe (prepaid) and were upgraded to a Ford Titanium…. the challenge – driving on the left side of the road and shifting a standard with your left hand!  

And so it began, the nail biting and dashboard clutching - I think it is even more difficult being a passenger at times like this.  I don’t believe there is anyone I would trust more than Dan to drive me around in a foreign country, but I needed a little time to have faith in him – especially in the roundabouts!  All I could think of was “keep left!”  After a while we did settle in to the rhythm of the driving but camera guy still had a problem with his perspective on the passenger side of the car.  We were always on the very edge of the road – awfully close to parked cars or the ditch.  I know he was trying to maintain room in the middle of the road but really….

After being told to please stop screaming every time he got close to the edge, I developed this technique that we agreed on (actually I am not really sure Dan agreed, but he seemed to be ok with it and even got a laugh once in a while).  I would say “Beep!”  when he moved towards the edge and “BEEP BEEP BEEP”  at a slightly higher frequency when getting dangerously over – remember there are no shoulders on these roads.  Or very few. 

After a spectacular two hour drive north, we settled in at Polmaily, our bed and breakfast for the next four nights, outside the town of Drumnadrochit- pronounced Droom-na-drock-it.  This is right at Loch Ness and no we didn’t see Nessie- I tried talking to her and begging her to come out but she didn’t co-operate….

 Tomorrow – The Isle of Skye!

Mind The Gap – Getting around in London

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The past two days have been spent poking about London.

I have already told you that the Heathrow Express is really the best way to get from Heathrow to Central London (Paddington Station).  It is easy and fast (takes about 20 minutes) and you can buy your tickets easily at the station.

We took a cab back to Paddington to catch the Heathrow Express back to the airport.

Getting around London is not difficult by the Tube .

There are so many trains in so many directions with maps of the routes everywhere.  You can also pick up a pocket map to keep handy.

The question that you’re faced with is what kind of ticket or pass do you buy?

London Oyster cards can be used on all buses, trams, Tube and more. 

Oyster is an electronic smartcard ticket. Simply touch your card on the yellow reader to get through the Tube gates or board other London public transport services. Oyster pay-as-you-go cards are charged with an amount of credit of your choice.

If you make lots of journeys, the Oyster card will automatically cap the day's charges at the price of an equivalent 1-Day Travelcard.  The aim is to ensure that Oyster always charges the lowest fare. Where it doesn't, you can get a refund. 

Then there is a London Travelcard – we bought this one.  Each day we bought one and we thought it was very convenient as it allowed us unlimited trips in one day.  We weren’t as familiar with the Oyster Card but it would have worked out to the same amount.  It would have saved us having to purchase a Travelcard each day, but that wasn’t really an issue.

There are also the very popular Barclay Bikes similar to the rental bikes we now have in Toronto and Montreal. We considered these, then thought better of the idea. We were having a difficult enough time knowing which way to look when we crossed the street.

 We discovered London….

Trafalgar Square was covered with Harry Potter fans – celebrating the next and last movie of the Potter series coming out shortly.

Pret a Manger, a chain of “take-away” stores which prides itself on fresh sandwiches with quality ingredients, provided us with a nice lunch for a picnic at Tower Hill and a view of the Tower Bridge.

 Queens Horse Guards...

 A quick call ….

 A stop at the Parliament Buildings at Westminster.....

 And of course Big Ben.

 And a walk over to Westminster Abbey….

Canary Wharf was quiet.  It looks like it has potential with pubs and restaurants around the water (like Harbourfront in Toronto)  but it was quite lifeless…

It seems many of the local pubs have been taken over by the same corporation. We had been in 5 different pubs with the exact same menu…served often by people who weren’t familiar with the local beers at all….a little disappointing. Camera Guy ordered lager and got cider - ugh, he didn’t fancy it.

 Tomorrow we leave for Scotland! The pipes, the pipes are calling.