The Longest Day!

Today we're having a 43 hour Tuesday! Having never been this far from England I've never been over the dateline and it's a weird one to get your head around. We've got a full day in Fiji before we fly at 21:40 and land in Los Angeles the same day at 13:25. So after 11 hours of flying we'll have landed before we take off! We've been losing time the whole way round the world and have now gained it all back and some, we're currently 8 hours behind England! The mind boggles!

We started this crazy day in the idyllic Octopus Resort. We mentioned to the office that we have half a day to kill after our transfer to Nadi and such is the incredible Fijian hospitality they let us stay at their sister resort for the day with a free transfer to the airport in the evening. The resort wasn't as perfect as the island but gave us a nice base for the day.

After breakfast in the resort we checked out of our room and had a lovely final morning relaxing by the pool, more reading and saying our goodbyes. Our friend Clarke that we met on the transfer out to the resort is doing his PADI diving course and was doing some of his pool work which was fun to watch.

We got the transfer back to the mainland with a lovely couple from Australia, the man was very nervous of being seasick and the ride certainly wasn't as smooth as the way out had been! At one point we had to stop and bob in the sea as one of the engines had overheated! Once we got away from the islands however things levelled out and the rest of the journey was pretty calm and problem free.

We transferred to their sister resort and had a lovely afternoon sitting by the pool reading, sleeping, eating and drinking! The resort wasn't a patch on the island but it was still lovely to be able to relax and use the bar and restaurant. It wasn't long before we were transferring back to the airport and checking in for our flight.

After dinner and a few movies on the plane we both tried to get some sleep before our Tuesday continued in the US! I've never been one for sleeping on planes but I actually successfully managed to get quite a few hours in before we were woken for breakfast. Carly wasn't so lucky but after a few more movies she managed to get an hour or so's kip.

Landing in LA we had no real problems getting through customs although this process always seems to take forever after a long flight! We'd taken a big loop over the city as we'd flown in and it looked as you'd expect, a huge sprawling metropolis stretching as far as the eye can see! Our bags were waiting for us and we were soon onto the car hire shuttle bus.

Check in for the car hire was also an absolute breeze. I was unsure how they were going to process a bus full of people but there were a large number of automated machines that took down all your details and returned your booking! You even get to pick your car from the price level that you're in. We could have had a minivan in the economy class we're in but have ended up with a nice little Hyundai Accent for the next 6 days.

We've decided that in big cities it works better if I navigate and Carly drives so she was first to experience driving on the right hand side. LA is notoriously busy with traffic but she handled really well as we got used to the slightly different rules, you can turn right on a red light if it's safe to do so for example. It took us an hour or so to reach our motel in Long Beach and were both grateful to have a few hours rest and shower to freshen up.

Around 6pm (our second of the day!) we headed out to a craft beer brewery to meet Carly's friend Adam and his girlfriend Aleks who have moved to the City. We were there first and had our first experience of american service. They are so over the top friendly and it took some getting used to! Carly hadn't even finished her diet coke and a new one appeared as the other was whisked away. Soft Drinks are slightly different here, we payed $2.75 for about four diet cokes, it seems to be the same price however many you drink.

I was in heaven with a huge choice of craft beers to pick from and soon settled in to the beer flights. The pale ales and ipa's I opted for were some of the best I've had this trip and very knowledgeable staff were able to offer good recommendations. It was lovely to catch up with Adam and Aleks when they arrived and hearing how they've settled in after moving from London 6 weeks ago.

For dinner we decided to stay at the restaurant and the food was also great. Carly had a monster of a salad with sweet potato, goats cheese and blueberries through it. I went for their signature pulled pork and brisket combo with fries which was delicious, the meat was beautifully tender. It wasn't long before the long day caught up with us and we headed back to our beds ready to explore the city in the morning.

Fiji Summary:

Bula! = Hello

£1 = 2.50 FJD

Fiji time is when activities start 10/15 minutes late, this can often be longer!

People we've met:

Clarke - from Arizona, working in Melbourne, on our transfer to the island and sat with us most meals and played volleyball and did snorkelling with us.

Annie - Slightly strange Australian lady here with her parents. Told me her life story and got very sunburn across her chest. Her dad worked out here when she was young and she thinks this is the best island she's been to here.

Alice and Bridget - 20 year old's on holiday together as friends. Alice was a waitress, loved travelling and very into animal rights and Bridget who didn't say a word at dinner but was quite sweet on her own.

Jordy and Jen - couple from Newcastle, Australia, lovely couple only met for two nights and didn't get to chat too much but showed us some card games and played volleyball.

Aussie family with 3 young girls - from Melbourne on a 20 day holiday to get some family time. Had chosen octopus island because they didn't want their children to grow up too snobby. The mum was lovely and would have much rather been in a 5 star hotel but the dad wanted his kids in a pool full of other kids interacting (this place is still pretty special!) the girls were lovely, the middle one was incredibly switched on and very sweet, she helped me make a shell anklet and when her family left half way through the church service she stayed with one of the women from the village and sat up front in the choir.