We departed Auckland at about noon the other day. A few hours' flight, and check this out: due to a scheduling irregularity, our few-hour layover in Fiji ended up turning into about 36 hours.
Bula indeed! I've had unexpected overnights on long trips before, but usually it means I get waylaid, exhausted and grumpy, in some sketchy airport motel outside of DFW or something. This, though. This was not that. No. We were still fresh and happy and walked out the front door of the airport to see this:
For those of you who are unaware, our last trip to Fiji nearly five years ago was pretty great. So we have a soft spot in our hearts for this place.
So, OK, we picked a hotel from one of the brochures in the airport and caught a shuttle to check in. And yeah, there we were. A surprise day in Fiji! But packed for Chicago. Chicago in December. Yeah.
But we are resourceful and know how to make the best of things. We went down to the shade by the pool and had some cold drinks...
...and sat there being all, Holy moly this sure beats the Fort Worth roach motel!
We slept well under the fans in our room. The next morning, Arram and I took a walk in the early morning dew before the other boys woke up. We liked the sunshine and the flowers.
Our hotel was ringed by mango trees: large, low, spreading, and easy to climb. We watched a troop of ten-year-old boys systematically harvest the trees one by one, expertly tossing the mangoes down to their mates on the ground, and then departing with bulging plastic bags. We sampled one and it was amazing.
Once it got too hot to think (you know, by 8:30 am), we spent the rest of the day swimming, playing in the playground, and rescuing the World's Tiniest Gecko that had gotten stuck in our kitchenette.
We got a late check-out from our hotel and flew out late that night bound for LA. What a wonderful surprise. Bula Vinaka, Fiji.
2 comments:
So glad you guys made it to Chicago just in time! Can't wait to see y'alls.
What a nice surprise mini vacation!
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