Fiji...day one...3 hours...a long journey ahead

A women's soft voice whispered in my ear "Mary, wake up. We are here. We have landed."

I opened my eyes slowly and took a gaze outside my window. It was true. I had finally arrived in Fiji.

I remember boarding the flight in complete exhaustion from my busy week prior in Ventura. I walked down the aisle of Air Pacific's flight 811 where I found myself awarded the very last seat in the plane parallel to the toilets. A lovely Fijian woman took her seat next to me and began telling me her life story. Her Fijian accented voice was soft , subtle and sweet. Her green eyes were glowing brightly amongst her tanned sun-kissed skin. She had been visiting the US because one of her 5 children was attending University in San Diego. She proceeded to tell me how much she loved the US and how lucky we are to live here. I agreed with her but honestly all I could think about was how awful of a check in I had combined with the hustle and bustle of the LAX airport frenzy. As she continued to speak, I envisioned crystal clear water refreshing my pale skin, green palm trees blowing in the wind, perfect Fijian swells and the next 14 days of pure bliss aboard the Tui Tai. Our conversation banter continued about an hour before we finally lifted off the runway. The last thing I remember her telling me was, " Mary, you are going to the island of Nami. It is sacred, magical and identifies beautiful." Suddenly my eyelids began to feel heavy, my attention slowly faded and I was out like a light.

Our crew consists of 5 female surfers, two photographers (one from LA and one from National Geographic Magazine), Tim the tour guide, a female yoga instructor, one family vacationing with us and apparently 18 staff members aboard the 140 foot yacht known as the Tui Tai.

We are currently sitting in a local hotel getting to know one another, reading magazines, sipping on Fiji Water, cyber spacing, and killing time before we head onto our next adventure. Due to the large amount of surfboards and equipment we cannot take a small inter island flight to our destination. We will be enjoying our first sights of Fiji by a 3 hour taxi ride followed by a 13 hour ferry ride. If all goes as planned we will be boarding the Tui Tai sometime tomorrow morning, November 24th, Fijian time.


Check out the gorgeous boatt http://www.tuitai.com/


Ill try to email again soon but I doubt I will have much reception after this point.

Bula and Cheers!


Mary