December 1, 2012

Got up at six to drive out to the airport to get Suzanne.  Getting through customs is Nadi takes some time.  When we walked into the airport we checked the arrivals and wouldn't you know it, Suzanne's plane was delayed.  We had to wait in line until we could speak to a check in agent who told us that her plane had not left LAX yet.  WHAT?  She is still in the U.S.?  The agent also told us that her plane would not be in Nadi until 5 p.m.  We went back to the Mercure to see if we could get on line with Kristin or Chaya to find out if Suzanne was OK.  I had talked Scott into leaving the laptop in Suva.  Things left in locked cars are not safe in Fiji.  I ended up in the back office of the Mercure on a computer.  Kristin had, indeed, emailed us that Suzanne was worried about us, but OK.

We decided to spend the day on one of the cruises we had learned about the day before.  We changed clothes, raced to Denerau, and just made a 3/4 day cruise.

Our Cruise Ship
Looking towards similar cruise ship

Spent the morning on this island.

Island Along the Way
This Island was home to one resort,
plus a native village.

Island We Cruised By

Our cruise ship was also a ferry
for Islanders, and island visitors.
This is how they got to our ship.

We spent the morning on an island which had a class bottomed boat for those of us who did not take a swimsuit, kayaks for exploring, snorkeling gear, a wonderful lunch, and great entertainment.  The island was about 200 yards long by 50 yards wide.  The main building had dorms on the top floor.  I visited with a young lady from the UK who was spending twelve days (2 nights on each island) on different islands in the western/northern ocean off of Fiji.  Her ticket allowed her to travel by any ferry/cruise ship to six of the islands.  It seems that there are twenty or so that have dorms like youth hostels in which one can stay.  The ticket includes three meals a day, activities on the islands, and a bed.  We met several young people who were doing this.

Sadness of the day.  I talked to two Norwegian students who had spent the last semester in Australia studying and had decided to do the island hopping thing in Fiji before they left for home.  I offered them a pass along card that would give them a free DVD.  When I offered it to them they recoiled as if I were handing them a poisonness snake.  I obviously have to perfect my delivery.  It bugged me all day.

Happiness of the day was Suzanne's safe arrival at 7:45 p.m.  Our hug made everything better.

Nadi Ward Bishop's Son.
Arrived on same plane as Suzanne from a
mission in Spokane, Washington.

We missed Suzanne coming out of immigration, because we participated in welcoming home this elder who had served in Spokane, Washington.  They found her out on the curb waiting for us to pick her up.  They brought her into us.  Cute family.  We have the best experiences because we are wearing our name tags.