On May 6 we left Rondon Ridge Lodge for our return to Port Moresby. We then transferred to our NGS jet for the relatively short hop to Fiji. We arrived quite late and then had a 1hr bus ride to our hotel - The Fiji Golf Resort & Spa. Everyone had a quck dinner and crashed. The resort was really nice but, frankly, could have been anywhere.
Next day there were a variety of planned activities (snorkeling, boat rides, etc.) which Carol and I completely ignored. Instead we lounged around in our room (luxurious) and nearby. It was great to relax and charge our batteries (personal and iPads).
The big deal was the evening’s farewell dinner. On previous trips we have enjoyed these events since it’s a chance to say farewell to our fellow travelers, plus eating and drinking too much!
The event did not disappoint with fire dancers, a great dinner and even dancing afterward. For a group that had spent over three weeks jetting around and never resting, there was plenty of energy in reserve!
Next day we departed Fiji for our final destination - Honolulu, Hawaii. This would be just a pit stop on our way back to San Francisco.
Up till now, the logistics at each stop had been really well handled - immigration, customs, transportation, etc. Upon arrival back in the good ‘ol US of A we expected nothing less. How wrong we were!
First, as we piled off the plane, the doors to immigration were locked and the security guard couldn’t find the key. While waiting, it was a good time for me to check on the UK General election and marvel at the success of the SNP!. 30 minutes later they found the key and let us into immigration. Surprisingly, we were waved through, straight into baggage claim where we began to collect our luggage. Somebody suddenly realized we had not completed immigration so we all had to go back and complete the entry process. Huge lines and chaos ensued, with much frustration. We then went back to baggage claim to find that the conveyer had jammed with only half our bags delivered. Nobody was even paying attention until we grabbed a baggage handler who basically ignored the situation. One of the NGS staff had to climb on the machine and free things up. By this time, a huge line had formed at customs because a jumbo from somehwere had decanted several hundred passengers into the claim area. So we were faced with standing in line for ages before we could get through customs. We were lucky, we slipped through on an empty line and were set free.
This was the first time I had seen the entire group complain, en mass. We’re normally a tolerant lot but this was just crazy, especially on our return to the US. It made us look like a third World country. Oh well. we did get to our hotel eventually.
Our friends Jeri and Jerry live in Honolulu and invited a group of us to their (spectacular) home for dinner. Despite fatigue (and over-indulgence from the previous night), we all had a great time. Jeri’s mud man head made it home in one piece and was christened “Mr Bull”. I can’t remember why but it seemed to fit.
Right now, we’re on the plane from Honolulu to San Francisco which seems a fitting time to wrap things up. I’ll do that in my next blog post.