That was a fairly major journey...

Starting after lunch on Thursday in San Diego, there was a 2 hour drive to Los Angeles airport (LAX), trying to get the car there on fumes alone. When I'd finished, I had completed 4,800 miles in my USA road trip. Although I doubt that I will ever buy a Ford "Escape", my little red SUV did me fine. I checked and apparently it is going to be sold rather than returned or re-rented. "One careful lady owner" might not apply.

Another culture shock at LAX; most of the airport facilities are before security, whereas in the UK most of the facilities are after security. Of course, I didn't realise this until after passing through security, so was left with a long wait with very little to do, except try to figure out the most that I could buy with my few remaining dollars in the sweet shops.

The flight left at 23:30 and lasted 10 hours. They fed use, put us to sleep, and finally woke us and fed us again just before landing at 5:00 am. The breakfast included a small cheese omlette which I've seen in several places in the US. I'm not sure where they get them from, but I'm sure I've seen something similar sold as bathroom sealant in DIY stores.

The flight was interesting in that we firstly crossed the equator into the southern hemesphere, then crossed the international date line (so Friday didn't very last long for me), and finally crossed the 180° line of latitude. The latter is not quite the same as the international date line since the date line bends a bit around here. It is not often one takes a flight which covers that much ground (or water). Being 180° degrees around the world, I am the furthest away from home that I will get. From here on in, instead of drifting off further and further west, I'll be coming back from the far east. Curious.

After running the gauntlet of taxis at the airport, I caught my bus from Nadi (on the west of the main island) to Suva (on the east of the main island). I don't think I realise how big the main island was when I booked my hotel on-line. The bus journey was officially 4 hours, but this is of Fijian time which is somewhat slower than the rest of the world! It took about 5 hours by the watch on my wrist. This meant that I reached my hotel shortly after midday Saturday.

The little bit of Fiji that I've seen is more like England than the US. For instance, they drive on the left, they have round-abouts and most places close on a Sunday. The closing blows a hole in my "book 2 days on arrival to sort myself out" strategy, since one of those days is sort of lost. Therefore, I've booked an extra night here at the Tanoa Plaza so that I can arrange my travel on Monday - I hope.

Saturday afternoon I got some Fijian money (easy), but most other places I wanted were shut till Monday. So instead I watched Fiji play Namibia in the hotel bar. A slightly partisan croud appreciated the Fijian victory. England were also playing later on in the day, but I was so tired I decided to just rest my eye for an hour, and then woke up at 22:30 having missed the match. Still, it was a long day or two; I think I had some catching up to do.

One final note, I've now left the land of the complimentary WiFi, and will probably have to pay for my internet addiction from now on; and that will only be where I can find a service. Therefore, my postings to this blog might become a bit more spare for a while. This doesn't mean that the earth really is flat and that I've dropped off the side - just that I'm chilling out on some beach with hot sand and cold cocktails.