Fiji Jim's Blog - Part 1
This is FijiJim.com.
Leaving Los Angeles, Heading
for the Fiji Islands
Saturday August 19, 2001
8:30 PM –
The airport shuttle arrived in a cloud
of dust. Cagey was talking to the
driver in on the telephone while I tried
to flag him down as he roared up and
down the street. He stopped; we piled
in and were off to
Los Angeles International Airport,
better known as LAX.
8:45 PM –
We arrived at the
Tom Bradley Terminal at LAX, paid
the driver and were sucked into the
entrance, expecting to emerge again ten
days later, on our way back from Fiji.
They made Cagey take most of the items
out of her carry-on to get it down to
the weight limit. Since mine was a soft
bag, they did not care how much we put
in it. By the time we were done, Cagey
was wearing some of the extra clothes
and I had many new cosmetics in my bag.
9:15 PM –
We arrived at Gate 122, which had the
appropriate
Air Pacific
(the
National Airline of the
Fiji Islands) signs hanging and the
flight was scheduled to leave at 10:30
PM. There was an unusual cast of
international characters, including
Koreans, Africans, Brits and many
American vacationers with kids it tow.
I remembered that I had forgotten my
spare chap stick and wished I could
quickly go back home and get it. Silly
me.
(the
National Airline of the
Fiji Islands) signs hanging and the
flight was scheduled to leave at 10:30
PM. There was an unusual cast of
international characters, including
Koreans, Africans, Brits and many
American vacationers with kids it tow.
I remembered that I had forgotten my
spare chap stick and wished I could
quickly go back home and get it. Silly
me.
11:00 PM –
We still had not boarded, but we knew
that international flights were often
delayed. The Air Pacific
Boeing 747 had pulled up to our
gate, but no one had anything official
to say about the delay.
11:30 PM –
The gate agent announced that there was
a delay caused by the engineering
staff. They were affecting a repair, we
were told.
Sunday August 20, 2001
1:00 AM –
Officially, Air Pacific cancelled the
flight, but offered to put everyone up
at a local hotel until the problem could
be fixed. First they marched us all off
to
McDonalds for $6 each worth of
food. We were so tired by that time
that we actually ate chicken sandwiches,
soft drinks and cookies! I guess that
demonstrates the power of free food.
2:00 AM –
Before we could finish belching after
our meal, we heard an announcement that
the flight was “back on”. They had
found the hydraulic unit that they had
been searching for all over LAX and they
were going to install it, or so they
told us. We all camped out again at the
gate; the international entourage, the
families with the kids in pajamas and
us, all sitting there with a combination
of hope and resignation.
3:40 AM –
They cancelled the flight for the final
time that night. We ascertained that
the flight would go again that afternoon
at 3:30 PM, which would have us arrive
in the middle of the night
Fiji Time (which is five hours
earlier that
Pacific Daylight Time, plus one day
ahead). They wanted everyone to go to
the same hotel, but we were only fifteen
minutes from home, so we took a cab and
headed there.
4:30
AM – We realized that we were still in
Santa Monica, rather than half way
across the
Pacific Ocean. We struggled to calm
down and get to bed, Cagey awakened
first, then finally I arose.
11:00 AM –
I found my missing chap stick (which
probably caused the whole thing). We
showered, dressed and got ready to go
again. We figured that if we could
retrace our steps and do everything
right this time, the fates would smile
on us and allow us to depart for our
long-awaited vacation.
In 2000,
Cagey and I had planned to visit Fiji,
but the nasty “coup
plotters” tried to overthrow the
government, all in the name of “native
rights”. They succeeded in killing
three or four people, holding the
Parliament Building for three weeks and
summarily destroying the economy of Fiji
for at least the next two years. They
missed the heyday of the American
Dot.com economy and all the travel
it implied.
2:00 PM –
We took a cab to the airport. It was a
typical pre-911
August Sunday afternoon.
3:00 PM –
We were well into our check-in at Air
Pacific when we learned that the flight
had been cancelled again. Then
miraculously Air Pacific figured out
that their 767 had arrived that
afternoon and after some schedule
juggling with
Qantas Airlines (then a partial
owner of Air Pacific), they were going
to forget the 747 and cram as many of us
as possible on to the smaller
Boeing 767 and fly that night at
10:30 PM.
3:30
PM – We made sure that we got boarding
passes, along with ten or so others who
had gotten to the terminal early. After
discovering and correcting the fact that
the dates were wrong on our boarding
passes, they whisked us off to the
“elegant”
Gateway Sheraton Hotel to hang out
in our own room and have a complimentary
dinner before returning to our newly
scheduled flight later that evening.
4:30 PM –
We arrived at the “elegant” Gateway
Sheraton, watched some TV, had dinner on
Air Pacific’s tab and prepared for what
we hoped would be the final push to
Fiji.
9:30 PM –
Our carry-on luggage and we went
downstairs to await the shuttle to LAX.
A woman waiting outside was impressed
that we apparently traveled so light.
We tried to explain that our real
luggage was sitting on a disabled 747
over at the airport, but it was time to
go.
10:00 PM –
We carefully retraced our steps through
security and right back to Gate 122, as
we had done several times the night
before. After about fifteen minutes, we
discovered that there was only one
problem. They assign gates at the
Bradley Terminal on an “as needed” basis
and we were needed at the far end of the
other concourse, where our 767 was
supposedly waiting. Trying not to look
like fools, we got up and made our way
to the appropriate gate, only to find
that our plane wasn’t there either.
After a minor panic attack, we found our
now-familiar international entourage and
the families with kids, so despite the
lack of an airplane, we knew we were in
the right place.
11:30
PM – After an additional delay of an
hour, we boarded our 767, took our seats
and held our breath until…
11:45 PM –
The pilot released the brakes and the
tug pushed us back from the gate.
11:55 PM –
We rumbled down the runway and were
airborne at last. This better be worth
it, we thought. Soon, we each were off
for eight hours of halcyon dreams.
Tuesday August 21, 2001
4:00 AM
(Fiji Time) – The cabin crew awakened us
for breakfast and landing preparations.
After departure from LAX, we had skipped
the meals and movies in favor of some
sleep.
5:30 AM –
We landed at
Nadi (pronounced Nandi) International
Airport on the main island of
Viti Levu, Fiji. Miraculously, our
luggage appeared in the terminal within
a few minutes. It seems that in order
to get the now-fixed 747 back into
proper flight rotation, they flew it
empty of paying customers just ten
minutes behind our loaded 767. It was
the most expensive “baggage car” in Air
Pacific history.
6:15 AM –
we made it through Fiji Customs,
shifting back and forth,
from
one line to another and thus being one
of the last groups through. We watched
as the international entourage departed
for remote locations all over Fiji, to
observe the elections, scheduled to
start while we were there. We watched
as the bleary-eyed children started to
wake up and run around like their crazy
selves again.
from
one line to another and thus being one
of the last groups through. We watched
as the international entourage departed
for remote locations all over Fiji, to
observe the elections, scheduled to
start while we were there. We watched
as the bleary-eyed children started to
wake up and run around like their crazy
selves again.
7:00 AM –
The local ukulele and guitar band
greeted us with local songs. I put a
dollar in their box, which was only one
of two tips I handed out until we
arrived back home in L.A. In Fiji, you
do not ordinarily tip for service. I
changed money while Cagey rescheduled
our return trip to Los Angeles. We
figured that since our vacation had been
shortened by one day on the front end,
we had better lengthen it by two days on
the back end. Sound thinking.
That is
where I will leave you until the
next exciting episode of
Fiji Jim in Fiji. This is Chapter
One of ten. To read Chapter Two, please
click
HERE.
The Flight from Nadi Airport, Viti Levu to Savusavu Airport on Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands
Tuesday August 21,
2001
7:10 AM – While we were
waiting for our local flight from
Fiji’s
Viti Levu Island to the more remote
Vanua Levu Island, Cagey noticed that we
were missing a baggage claim check for one
of our bags. We were lucky she did, since
it was not going to get on the plane.
7:30 AM – We changed more
money to the local
Fiji dollar. At the time, the exchange
rate was approximately at one Fiji dollar
equaled 45 cents U.S., which meant our
dollar went a long way down there. On a
last minute whim, we raced over to
Air Pacific and extended our return two
extra days, to make up for the time we had
lost at
LAX.
8:30
AM – We boarded our
Sunair, local flight to
Savusavu, a town on Vanua Levu. While
we were waiting, we had spoken to an Air
Pacific employee from
New Zealand. He indicated that as each
Sunair plane came up for major overhaul, if
the repair price was too high, the company
simply mothballed it. As we set out across
the “Bligh
Water” to the other island, that
knowledge gave us a tremendous feeling of
confidence.
8:45 AM – We took to the air
and got a great view of the coast and the
various small islands, each with its own
resort. In fact, one or two of them were
nothing but a resort and a beach. Looking
down, the extent of the deforestation
through burning of grasslands and logging of
hardwoods on a commercial scale was
disappointing to see. Agriculture, mostly
sugar cane, covered almost all practicable
areas and the burning of the bush is deeply
rooted in the Fijian tradition, practiced
throughout the islands in seemingly random
ways.
9:15
AM – As we climbed, both of our Indian
pilots held the overhead throttles full open
in what looked like some kind of
Los Angeles Gang handshake. It made me
wonder if it was some form of bonding or if
they had experienced the throttles snapping
back to their “idle” position at some time
in their careers. After that, the pilot in
the left seat never seemed to do anything
more than to chat with his right-side
compatriot. I always thought the guy on the
left side was supposed to do the flying. I
guess if they can drive on the “wrong” side
of the roads (in the
British tradition), they can fly from
the “wrong” side of the plane.
9:20 AM - As we skirted the
coast of the main island, we climbed
steadily and soon were at 4000 – 6000 feet.
From there, we headed offshore towards the
unseen Vanua Levu, up ahead. We crossed the
Bligh Water, where in 1789 cannibals chased
Captain William Bligh, of
Mutiny on the Bounty fame. He and the
remnants of his loyal crew and almost lost
their lives in that chase.
The
Fijians were the original human settlers of
these
Pacific Islands. At their peak, prior
to the
European conquest of the islands, the
Fijians had developed incredible
seventy-foot long "warships”,
with up to 250 warriors aboard a craft that
could travel at speeds up to twelve knots.
Perhaps this that type of craft chased and
almost caught the Englishmen during the
first European encounter with the “friendly”
natives of Fiji. The legend of Fiji as
the “Cannibal
Islands” persisted for centuries and
somehow got mixed up in our American culture
with natives
boiling Europeans in big pots (probably
thanks to a recurrent theme in New Yorker
Magazine cartoons).
The reality is that
cannibalism was practiced as part of their
warfare, politics and as a crude form of
humor. It was relatively common for the
victor to lop off some fingers or a hand of
a vanquished enemy. The appendages would be
cooked and then eaten in front of their
former owner. The epicurean would comment
on the tenderness and flavor of the flesh
and might even ask if the former owner might
enjoy having some himself.
Fiji
has more
Christian missionaries per square
kilometer than any other place I have ever
seen. Although they claim to have put an
end to cannibalism during the 1800’s, we
have it on good authority that ritual
killing and possible cannibalism was still
practiced as late as sixty years ago in some
of the more remote parts of the islands.
9:30 AM – Well out over the
Bligh Water we began to see a profusion of
reef structures seeming to block any logical
navigation of the shallow sea below us.
Waves crashed over the reefs, and narrow
bights were the only passages we could see
between them. One of our pictures, taken
through the Plexiglas of the airplane window
gives you an idea of their scope and
beauty. Only the live-aboard scuba
dive-boats spend any time out here in a
wilderness of reefs and fishes.
9:45 AM – As
Arlo Guthrie said in verbal introduction
to the song “Coming
into Los Angeles”, “We were coming down
mighty fast”. I think that the idea was to
get our airplane as high as we could in case
we had to try to glide in “engineless”. If
the engines had failed over mid channel, we
would not have had a chance to get to dry
land in either direction. Still, it is the
thought that counts. As we approached
Savusavu Airport, there was no sign of
civilization, then suddenly we could see a
narrow strip of tarmac that extended from
the beach directly inland for about a half
mile. The pavement appeared to be a few
feet wider than the width of the landing
gear, as we roared in at what seemed to be
very close to our cruising speed. Somehow
touched down and braked to a stop in front
of the terminal, which is typical in its
tropical-minimalist approach to facilities.
It had an office, open air bench seating and
restrooms out back. That was all.
_lg.jpg "Suzuki Jimny Budget Monster Truck on the unpaved coastal highway, Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands in 2001 - Click for larger image (https://jamesmcgillis.com)")
9:50
AM – Since the aborted
Fijian coup of 2000, times have been
tough for business in Fiji and all the
rental car companies have pulled back their
operations. Through a series of telephone
conversations with our resort owner and her
ability to help reschedule our rental car
rendezvous, our vehicle was waiting there,
as we had hoped. To us it seemed like a
miracle, since the
Budget Car Rental agent had to drive it
over to us from
Labasa, on the far side of the island.
That required a 90-minute trip by car, over
a mountain pass. Cagey had booked the car
on the Internet. They had given us a rate
that would have been good in the U.S. let
alone out in the middle of nowhere (which is
where I was sure we were). I asked the
agent how he would get back to his office,
thinking at that time that it was just over
the hill in
Savusavu. He indicated that he would
take a taxi back to the office. It was only
when we drove half way to Labasa, several
days later, that I realized where he had
gone in the cab. So there we were in our
little
Suzuki Jimny (yes, it is spelled
correctly) four-wheel drive, ready to hit
the trail to
Lomalagi Resort (which, by now you have
figured out is pronounced “Lomalonghi”).
Well, we did not travel very
far today, but you have to admit that we are
getting closer to our ultimate destination…
The Flight from Nadi Airport, Viti Levu to Savusavu Airport on Vanua Levu, Fiji Islands
Tuesday August 21,
2001
7:10 AM – While we were
waiting for our local flight from
Fiji’s
Viti Levu Island to the more remote
Vanua Levu Island, Cagey noticed that we
were missing a baggage claim check for one
of our bags. We were lucky she did, since
it was not going to get on the plane.
7:30 AM – We changed more
money to the local
Fiji dollar. At the time, the exchange
rate was approximately at one Fiji dollar
equaled 45 cents U.S., which meant our
dollar went a long way down there. On a
last minute whim, we raced over to
Air Pacific and extended our return two
extra days, to make up for the time we had
lost at
LAX.
8:30
AM – We boarded our
Sunair, local flight to
Savusavu, a town on Vanua Levu. While
we were waiting, we had spoken to an Air
Pacific employee from
New Zealand. He indicated that as each
Sunair plane came up for major overhaul, if
the repair price was too high, the company
simply mothballed it. As we set out across
the “Bligh
Water” to the other island, that
knowledge gave us a tremendous feeling of
confidence.
8:45 AM – We took to the air
and got a great view of the coast and the
various small islands, each with its own
resort. In fact, one or two of them were
nothing but a resort and a beach. Looking
down, the extent of the deforestation
through burning of grasslands and logging of
hardwoods on a commercial scale was
disappointing to see. Agriculture, mostly
sugar cane, covered almost all practicable
areas and the burning of the bush is deeply
rooted in the Fijian tradition, practiced
throughout the islands in seemingly random
ways.
9:15
AM – As we climbed, both of our Indian
pilots held the overhead throttles full open
in what looked like some kind of
Los Angeles Gang handshake. It made me
wonder if it was some form of bonding or if
they had experienced the throttles snapping
back to their “idle” position at some time
in their careers. After that, the pilot in
the left seat never seemed to do anything
more than to chat with his right-side
compatriot. I always thought the guy on the
left side was supposed to do the flying. I
guess if they can drive on the “wrong” side
of the roads (in the
British tradition), they can fly from
the “wrong” side of the plane.
9:20 AM - As we skirted the
coast of the main island, we climbed
steadily and soon were at 4000 – 6000 feet.
From there, we headed offshore towards the
unseen Vanua Levu, up ahead. We crossed the
Bligh Water, where in 1789 cannibals chased
Captain William Bligh, of
Mutiny on the Bounty fame. He and the
remnants of his loyal crew and almost lost
their lives in that chase.
The
Fijians were the original human settlers of
these
Pacific Islands. At their peak, prior
to the
European conquest of the islands, the
Fijians had developed incredible
seventy-foot long "warships”,
with up to 250 warriors aboard a craft that
could travel at speeds up to twelve knots.
Perhaps this that type of craft chased and
almost caught the Englishmen during the
first European encounter with the “friendly”
natives of Fiji. The legend of Fiji as
the “Cannibal
Islands” persisted for centuries and
somehow got mixed up in our American culture
with natives
boiling Europeans in big pots (probably
thanks to a recurrent theme in New Yorker
Magazine cartoons).
The reality is that
cannibalism was practiced as part of their
warfare, politics and as a crude form of
humor. It was relatively common for the
victor to lop off some fingers or a hand of
a vanquished enemy. The appendages would be
cooked and then eaten in front of their
former owner. The epicurean would comment
on the tenderness and flavor of the flesh
and might even ask if the former owner might
enjoy having some himself.
Fiji
has more
Christian missionaries per square
kilometer than any other place I have ever
seen. Although they claim to have put an
end to cannibalism during the 1800’s, we
have it on good authority that ritual
killing and possible cannibalism was still
practiced as late as sixty years ago in some
of the more remote parts of the islands.
9:30 AM – Well out over the
Bligh Water we began to see a profusion of
reef structures seeming to block any logical
navigation of the shallow sea below us.
Waves crashed over the reefs, and narrow
bights were the only passages we could see
between them. One of our pictures, taken
through the Plexiglas of the airplane window
gives you an idea of their scope and
beauty. Only the live-aboard scuba
dive-boats spend any time out here in a
wilderness of reefs and fishes.
9:45 AM – As
Arlo Guthrie said in verbal introduction
to the song “Coming
into Los Angeles”, “We were coming down
mighty fast”. I think that the idea was to
get our airplane as high as we could in case
we had to try to glide in “engineless”. If
the engines had failed over mid channel, we
would not have had a chance to get to dry
land in either direction. Still, it is the
thought that counts. As we approached
Savusavu Airport, there was no sign of
civilization, then suddenly we could see a
narrow strip of tarmac that extended from
the beach directly inland for about a half
mile. The pavement appeared to be a few
feet wider than the width of the landing
gear, as we roared in at what seemed to be
very close to our cruising speed. Somehow
touched down and braked to a stop in front
of the terminal, which is typical in its
tropical-minimalist approach to facilities.
It had an office, open air bench seating and
restrooms out back. That was all.
9:50
AM – Since the aborted
Fijian coup of 2000, times have been
tough for business in Fiji and all the
rental car companies have pulled back their
operations. Through a series of telephone
conversations with our resort owner and her
ability to help reschedule our rental car
rendezvous, our vehicle was waiting there,
as we had hoped. To us it seemed like a
miracle, since the
Budget Car Rental agent had to drive it
over to us from
Labasa, on the far side of the island.
That required a 90-minute trip by car, over
a mountain pass. Cagey had booked the car
on the Internet. They had given us a rate
that would have been good in the U.S. let
alone out in the middle of nowhere (which is
where I was sure we were). I asked the
agent how he would get back to his office,
thinking at that time that it was just over
the hill in
Savusavu. He indicated that he would
take a taxi back to the office. It was only
when we drove half way to Labasa, several
days later, that I realized where he had
gone in the cab. So there we were in our
little
Suzuki Jimny (yes, it is spelled
correctly) four-wheel drive, ready to hit
the trail to
Lomalagi Resort (which, by now you have
figured out is pronounced “Lomalonghi”).
Well, we did not travel very
far today, but you have to admit that we are
getting closer to our ultimate destination…
