Here We Are

We are finally in Australia after many days of travel. After transfers
in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, three days in Fiji, and final four-hour
flight into Sydney, we finally made it.

Our journey began with breakfast and cards at Nana's and Grampy's house in Thornhill.
After a good breakfast and two loner hands by Nana to win the euchre
game, we were off to Terminal 3 at Pearson International Airport.

Checking in involved re-sorting out luggage so that none of our checked bags
exceeded the 50lb maximum. After good-byes were said we continued on to
customs and security (please remove your shoes) before arriving at our
gate.



The flight to Minneapolis was in a Canadair regional jet (capacity - 60 passengers) and went very well. Our luggage had been forwarded to Fiji and we took the leisurely stroll through the airport: what a beautiful airport! The long walk to our next gate took us past many people, shops, and restaurants. We had a good dinner, stretched
our legs, and made our way to our next gate.

The second leg of our journey was also with Northwest Airlines. It was on a Boeing 737.
We arrived in LA four hours later; 8PM local time, 11 PM our time.
After exiting the plane we proceeded to Terminal B: our third gate.
Getting to the gate was much crazier than the previous two. LA was very busy and involved getting new boarding passes as we were changing to Air Pacific. Our plane for this flight was a 747 Jumbo Jet; it was
enormous (it had two levels of seats!). The 11 hour flight was tiring
but the staff were excellent.



Landing in Nadi (pronounced "Nandi") was smooth and not very hard to take. Getting off the plane and stepping into the warm morning air (24 C) was something to experience. Just inside the terminal building all were greeted by four men playing
traditional Fijian tunes on their guitars and ukuleles; I automatically
thought of how much my dad would enjoy being there. Our passage through customs was fairly quick, and it saw most people shed at least one layer of clothing before being served by the immigration attendant.

We boarded the bus to our resort, The Hideaway Resort, and arrived about 90 minutes later. The morning sky was mostly cloudless, the fields were green, the homes were tidy, and many people were walking (not too many owned cars) to their work. We arrived at our resort about 9AM, and tucked our luggage into storage until our bure was ready. We enjoyed breakfast, swam, and rested our weary bones.


Over the next three days: Rachel and Susan snorkeled
around a rocky outcrop and saw some really neat fish, while John and Natalie practised closer to shore; John took a SCUBA introductory lesson - very cool!; the four of us went on a horse trip to the hills overlooking the coast (wow); swam; slept; woke up really early; travelled into a nearby village for the afternoon; slept; met a fabulous family from Perth, Western Australia; and enjoyed the pool some more.


Our departure on Thursday morning would have been
more difficult if we weren't on our way to Australia; Fiji was a
beautiful place to visit with wonderful people and it was difficult to
leave. We were blessed with wonderful people and just the right weather
the whole time we were there.

The flight to Sydney was on the same kind of plane which took us to Fiji: a 747 Jumbo Jet. Our flight was generally smooth and landed safely just after 1PM local time.
Customs and Immigration were very polite and quick and by 2PM we were
met by my sister, Bernadette, who lives here. We spent the afternoon
with her driving around Sydney, walking aroundBondi Beach, and planning
activities for the next couple of days. Actually touching down in
Sydney was the "it's for real" moment: we are really here. Bernadette
commented how nice it was to have us, and how natural it was to have us
around; we commented on how natural it was to be there.




















So here we are, and our luggage made it too. Yeah!