Today started off great, a little early, but still fine. We went to the fitness center, had breakfast and sat in the outdoor hot tub. We had until 10:30pm to find something to occupy our time. Ryan suggested we go hang out at Venice Beach. This turned out to be a great idea. We spent the afternoon walking around among the freak show that is Venice Beach. We almost looked out of place because we are kind of normal looking. We checked out all the junk they had for sale and sat at a sidewalk cafe for a couple hours enjoying the scene. If you have never been to Venice Beach I recommend everyone go at least once in their life to experience it.

We watched an amazing sunset and decided to head to the airport. It was a little on the early side but I like to get there early and get through customs and security and relax on the other side of TSA. We dropped off the rental car and made it to the ticketing counter almost 4 hours early. This is when all hell broke loose. The line was probably 250 people long and growing fast. The sign on the wall said flight delayed. We waited in this line for about 45 minutes and never moved. Ryan found a representative wondering about and she told us to go to the Hilton and come back tomorrow at 6pm for the flight. Really? They just cut our Fiji time from 5 nights to 4 nights.

Air Pacific has not handled this situation very well. There was supposed to be a representative at our Hotel to give us some information. That never happened. We called the airline (in Fiji) and they said they did not have the information and to check the website or call the local office. We called the local office and they did not answer. We checked the website and it said the plane was leaving at 8am. So Eric and I took the shuttle back to the airport to talk to the ticketing agents. They confirmed 6pm. By now it was midnight and we are exhausted.

Our friend Lesley flew from Sydney today to meet us in Fiji and is probably already there. I have emailed her several times explaining the situation but she is not very good about checking in. Hopefully she will log on when she realizes we are very late. We have a 2 bedroom bure at a beach resort in Nadi that is non-refundable. So she should go enjoy it. If we do take off at 6pm tomorrow we will land in Fiii in the middle of the night and we have to take a water taxi to the island our hotel is on. I am not even sure we can make it out there until morning.

What a mess. I am amazed that as much traveling as we do we are hardly ever delayed. I can't remember the last time one of us was more than an hour late and now this. After all the planning and anticipation of this trip this is the time we are delayed? We are all a little bummed and annoyed but handling it well. Hopefully next time I write I will be doing it from a tropical beach.