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Published: June 29th 2011
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BULA!!!!!!!!!
I made it to the other side of the world in one piece!
My mom gave me a St. Christopher's (traveling saint) necklace as a gift the night before leaving for New Zealand, seeing as I have not had the best luck this past month with traveling. Thinking that the necklace would help change that luck I put it on that night and have not taken it off since.
After my final goodbyes on Thursday with Hillary and my mom in the middle of the departure terminal at JFK, I was ready to start this adventure. Ticket, bag checked, security, plane on time, everything thing seemed to be running smoothly, that is until the flight attendant made an announcement saying we would be delayed on the runway for up to an hour. Of course the first thing that popped into my head was “technical problems” with the plane, however that was far from the reason. It turns out that when Air Force One arrives at the same time that Justine Bieber arrives at an airport that airport must shut down until the two people onboard those planes are safely in their stretched limos before resuming air traffic.
When we reached LAX I head on over too the next terminal to awkwardly stare at every kid sitting at the Fiji gate trying to figure out whether or not they were between the ages of 19-22, in college, and going to New Zealand. I thought that when I saw a rather large group of kids my age it had to be the kids within my program, turns out that on our plane there was another program called people-to-people doing a similar trip. Needless to say I did approach them and they looked at me as if I had two heads, my group was one seating are over. Whoops! At first impressions everyone within the program seemed really down to earth, we all choose New Zealand for the same reasons so we have a lot in common, which made it easier for us to get along.
The flight to Fiji went quick and before I knew it was 5am and I was clearing customs. Standing at baggage claim is when my St. Christopher's necklace failed me, as all twenty of us watched the conveyer belt as it kept going around and my bad was no where to be
seen. Yes, I was the kid who lost their bag. When I met up with our program representative, Matt, he insured me not to worry and that my bag would be located. So I forgot about it and was ready to have a fun time in Fiji.
Fiji Day 1:
Within two hours of landing in Fiji we had boarded a boat and head to one of the Islands of the mainland. It was a three hour boat ride but when we finally got to the island where we were staying, we had all forgot all about the boat ride. The only way I can describe what it looked is go to google and search postcard of Fiji. We were shuttled into the island on a small dingy and were greeted by the staff, which consisted of four people . There was one main hut for all meals and drinking, and then five/six sleeping huts. Our hut consisted of 30 beds, toilets and showers were outside, and there was a single sheet on the beds. There was absolutely no service any kind, it was like being in a mix of L.O.S.T., Cast Away, and Gillions Island.
In
Fiji there is legitimately no time, they call it “Fiji Time” which means things or events for the day happened whenever they felt like it. All meals were signaled with a sound of a drum and they served whatever they were able to get that day, so if the caught a fish in the morning that was lunch that afternoon. We did not do much the first day we got there but lay on the beach and play some volleyball (which Fijians are very skilled at).
Fiji Day 2/3:
Second and third day it was either over cast or raining which wasn’t the ideal weather but it didn’t stop us from doing things. The afternoon of the second day I went hiking up the mountain ridge with three of the girls and we made it to the peak of the island which was amazing, we could see islands for miles and miles. The following day in the morning we headed out to a reef in between our island and another to go swim with some mantra's, which was one of the coolest experiences I have had. The water in Fiji is a crystal clear blue and bath tub temperature. After
lunch that day we hiked over the island and visited the only village on the island. We got to go hang out with all the kids in school and at the end of the day we played rugby with the whole school, where most of us got our butt’s kicked.
Final Day:
Our last day in Fiji was the most beautiful day, clear sky, sunny, perfect. That morning I hiked up the mountain one last time with my friends Max and Ian, and we watched the sunrise. The last time I had done that was in Charleston with Becky and Alyssa, and I am sorry to say this sunrise was so much better, although I wish Becky and Alyssa could have been there. We spent the rest of the day tanning, swimming, kayaking, and playing rugby. When the boat came back to get us and bring us back to the mainland we were all incredibly sad yet very excited for a hot shower and a real bed. When we returned to the mainland it was pretty late we grabbed dinner and showered, then I had to figure out were my missing luggage was for it still had not been delivered to the hotel. After six phone calls to the airport, matt yelling at two different people it finally arrived at 3am. With all my belongings back in my possession I felt better about departing Fiji.
We are now headed to Auckland. Spending a few days there and then headed to Wellington towards the end of the week.
P.S. Richard I was able to locate a article of clothing that meets your demands. Hope the road trip is going well.
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