We need what?
09 April 2015
Frustrated Bill
We got to the San Francisco airport, checked our 3 blue boxes and my Bill Bag: no problems. Even at $60/box or bag, it was much cheaper than shipping.
We arrived at LAX a bit late, but within reason. Grabbed two carts to haul the mountain of gear and trekked to the terminal holding Fiji Air, ten minutes away from our arrival terminal. We arrived at the Fiji Air ticket counter ten minutes prior to its opening at 1900, but there was already a queue. No problem. After a 45 minute wait, we shuffled to the ticket agent, begged for and received exit rows, and were told that we had been refused admission into Fiji because we needed special paperwork to enter with a one-way ticket. What we need what? It wasn't really a one-way ticket but the return ticket of a two-way ticket. Did that matter? Nope.
We were on the phone with Vuda Marina, Fiji Immigration, and various other agencies for the next few hours, as the time crept inexorably to 2230, boarding time. At 2200, 10:00PM, Conni finally contacted someone in Fiji Immigration who allowed us to enter with the mountain of paperwork that we did have.
We were also faced with some odd restrictions on our carry-on baggage. They had to fit in a tiny box and could only weigh 17 pounds. That might sound like a lot, until one tries to pack a laptop, books, camera, etc into the carry-on pack. Conni and I both pulled some slight-of-hand by removing items, weighing them for the certified carry-on tag, then returning everything. Hey, we were both at our two-carry-on limit.
Rush to the gate in time to board the aircraft, plop in a seat, and gaze at the ceiling for a while, as we caught our breath. Holy smokes! For most of the time, we
The trip went very smoothly, all 11 hours of it. Sleeping is simply impossible, but we were so tired that we dozed for a longer period than we usually can.
We left on 9 April and arrived on 11 April: another confusing facet of traveling just across the International Date Line.