the longest of days

 

Easy, relaxing days, even final ones, minutes to hours, the Fiji world just drifting by and we happy to float with it. Remember many days like this when backpacking, sitting and watching the world go by as we waited our next segment.  The Beachouse as good a place to do this as anywhere. The running total today meant our day had an extra 19 hours due to us crossing the international date line, almost two for the price of one you might say.

So we had our last pile of toast, and then checked out, a very reasonable weekly total for the 4 of us considering we have eaten most our meals here and drunk the nights away, as well as taken a few trips.  Whilst not going into details I'd say accommodation/trips and food/ regular drink a tad cheaper than a cheap package holiday to the Med back home. (there were flights of course but they take you to many places!)

I decided to remain in Fiji mode all day, trunks and trainers for a run along the beach one last time, and amongst the local villagers. Bula and Farewell in one go. 

Plenty of time to dry off, surf the net, play table tennis and generally while away the hours in our tropical home.  

We are around 2 hrs from Nadi airport so the only jeopardy of the day was needing our taxi to turn up on time. It was arranged with the guy who picked us up at the roadside when we went to see the rugby, and whilst it was his mate who turned up (obviously), the big yellow taxi was the same one we had previously ridden in and meant a far more luxurious return to the airport than when we arrived.

Took in those villages one last time, a stray cow nearly taking us down at dusk, and plenty of yelled Bulas as we passed groups of happy folk. They really do not seem to have much, but my word they are happy with what they do have, a lesson for us all I think!

Cabbie gave us loads of interesting facts, he was just about old enough to recall Fiji as a colony of the UK, and pointed out many of the relics of that era, not least driving on the left of the road. Its always roads and road signs isn't it that provides the foundation of a culture. Just ask the Welsh.  He loved his football too (and yes, I believe he was of Indian heritage) but also incredibly proud of the Fiji 7s team. The whole nation is, the rare note I picked up earlier in the day my priceless souvenir of this fact.

The only time the houses seemed to become more modern was when we closed in on the airport. Cabbie bowled over with his tip, a smiling Fijian how I want to remember this place.  We got our snacks and checked in quickly and smoothly.

We based ourselves in a bar/pizza place, nearest Nadi had to a Wetherspoons.  Spent the last of our Fijian dollars, and got myself a Bollywood Pizza - last taste of India .. for now!  As it turned out it was a taste of cheese, dough and pineapple .. yuk, I'll keep that cabbies smile as my farewell memory of Fiji.

The flight to San Fran was lovely 10.5 hrs, slightly more organised and less chaotic than on the way here, they wanted us to sleep and so in a way did we, as we knew that was the way to make this longest day work to all of our advantage.

I did watch a short and unmemorable film 'When you've finished saving the world' and 3 episodes of Friends. That combined with the Weird Al Yankovic autobiography on the flight from Tokyo means I won't remember Air Fiji for its viewing, or perhaps its food.  A pumpkin currry one step up from the Pizza.

Luckily, got a number of hours sleep which meant that looking for entertainment was only needed at the top and tail of the flights. The lasting message was thankyou, Vinaka, which I think was as much me to our hosts as them to us.  Such a lovely crew, the pride in their badge and their culture was writ large in their service.

So San Fran, the final stop over, and this is more of a stop over, I've been here a couple of times before. Vegas kept cropping up on the flight map and there was a bit of me wishing we were heading there.  However, we are staying just outside of the City, and that turned out to be very much in our favour as we build our next series of activities.

Firstly, it was a surprisingly quick zip through immigration and then the collection of our motor for the next few days. Not sure if we need it really, but was booked a while back as a bit of a safety net, and it certainly was big enough to transport all of us and our large bags to Palo Alto, the birthplace of Silicon Valley, but more importantly near to the airport, parkrun and easy freeway connections for a couple of days.

Bryn and I had been scoping a sporting event ever since we booked this trip, not a lot going on, but an MLS match between the San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders had been on our radar. Getting there depended on a lot of things going smoothly on landing, and us all having the energy post flight.

It turned out all of the above worked out well, it was a 7.30 kick off and we were in our lodgings by 5, and I knew it would be around 40 mins away. I didn't feel like a drive and associated parking was quite in keeping with a relaxed evening, so Uber came to the rescue and we were in the Pay Pal stadium by 6.15, and soaking up the US sports entertainment business. My, they can put an event on even if the event isn't an event.

Food carts, great music, beer, friendly vibes, and a Summer evening just the perfect backdrop for a bit of footie. The stadium was new and very attractive, and felt so welcoming and homely.

Football is of course one of my favourite things, airports is another.  The stadium is right next to San Jose airport which is a pretty big international (but mainly national) airport, and the planes take off and land just behind one of the goals. As I did my research into the airport I was surprised and slightly disbelieving that BA is one of the few international outfits to fly there. And lo and behold I looked up just after kick off and a BA plane honed into view, just too quickly for my camera. Big cheer from me though, bigger than for either of the 2 San Jose goals, the second of which was a belter which I will try and find the footage for.

Managed a cider and a beer and some nachos alongside the football, probably lower Championship standard, but with a good atmosphere provided by the noisy San Jose shirtless ultras.

It was then an uber back to our AirBnb, which, based on a short walk to a local liquor store is in perhaps not the best of neighbourhoods!  Could do with an extra bolt on the door (the one we do have we were struggling to actually work), but hey ho, its all about risk and reward this travel business.  

(Carys)

Today really has felt like a continuation of yesterday, despite the sleep break. And sadly, today is the day we leave FIji. However, not all sad, as we aren't yet going home, and are off for a little jaunt to America, which is very exciting. We've had a slow day mixed with packing and waiting around, but still in lovely Fiji, so it's been nice to just appreciate the scenic surroundings for a while. 

We had something to eat and I called my friends to catch them up on last night's ticket antics - it's still bizarre that we're at such a different points in the day, and after our next flight, this will be flipped on its head even more. Then we gradually got all our packing together, managing to leave (Hopefully) with pretty much everything we brought that needs to come home with us. Suitcases zipped up, it was time to take a seat and chill out. I had a veggie burger and chips, a last Beachouse bar meal, which I'm sad to say goodbye to. I made sure to bid Puja the dog farewell, and was sad that the others did not seem to be around, but I have plenty of photos and videos to remember them.

 We hopped into our bag yellow taxi, and took the surprisingly long journey back to the airport, but there was a pretty sunset to enjoy at least, along with some last glimpses of Fiji and all its amazing people. We got some airport snacks and checked in our bags, went through security and found a bar to have pizza and drinks at, whilst waiting to board. 

Once on board I got comfy, and fully committed this time, using my hoodie as a blanket and putting my bag and even shoes in the overhead compartment. The flight went pretty quickly, I listened to a lot of music and podcasts to pass the time, and did end up sleeping a few hours I believe. I decided against the plane food - I just really don't think it's for me, so ate some snacks I'd brought with instead. I got off the plane to find out my friends had secured even more Taylor Swift tickets, so was feeling over the moon, along with the fact that we were now in America! 

Excitedly, we made our way through the airport, which is all very modern and fancy looking. The man at customs was a bit intense, but we were through and reunited with our bags quickly. After a ride on the Airtrain (which gave some lovely panoramic views of the airport and scenery, including the mountains) to the garage, where picked up our beast of a car, reminiscent of our 2018 Northern America Roadtrip vehicle which we did actually call 'The Beast'. This is slightly smaller, but also a van, with lots of space which is very nice indeed. 

Dad managed to get us to our Airbnb safely, with navigation support, and we passed lots of promising shops on the way that I'd like to visit - basic as it is, i get excited by the idea of a Target. 

Our Airbnb is nice and cosy, with pretty decor and in an easy location, which is all perfect for the next few days. Despite feeling sleepy, we had a quick turnaround, acting on the sort of impulsive idea (previously mentioned but not set in stone) to attend the San Jose Earthquakes vs Seattle Sounders soccer match tonight. We Ubered there, and arrived just outside of the stadium, which was bustling with lots of people.

 The stadium is very new (built in 2015), and felt very modern and clean which made the experience all the more enjoyable. The fourth side is open without a stand, so the pitch was observable from the open space next to ti where a multitude of stands and food vans were set up. I opted for A mex for dinner, choosing a veggie bowl. Although they had no grilled veggies left, the mix of sauces, avocado, rice, chips and herbs was absolutely delicious - just what I fancied and reminded me why I love Mexican food so very much. 

We enjoyed the sun on the field area for a little while before everyone started filing in to their seats. We took ours, in a good spot which felt quite high up but had a great view. The stadium wasn't packed by any means, so we had plenty of space, but had a nice community of supporters. I really enjoyed watching the match - it felt different to a Swans game of course but there is something comforting about just enjoying the sport. The stadium being situated next to the airport too, and there being the most beautiful sunset in the background also made for a lovely evening too.

 The Quakes also won which was an added bonus - it felt nice to be involved in the team spirit. We headed back via Uber and picked up some USA snacks - milkshake, salted caramel Twix and 'Dove' (equivalent of Galaxy chocolate) to end off our first day in America. I'm now hoping for a good sleep before tomorrows antics!