We woke up this morning, March 22, 2016, in the Octopus Resort in Fiji. After eating breakfast, we packed up the rest of our things and checked out of our room. From the office we headed to the beach where we were able to enjoy a BEAUTIFUL morning on the island. We had wanted to go snorkeling but unfortunately the tide was too low (the coral was all peaking out from the ocean that's how low it was!) Instead, we relaxed on the beach and in the pool before eating our last meal at the resort and taking a walk down the beach to check out the massive lava rocks at the end of it. The rocks were beautiful and full of tiny seaside creatures from hermit crabs to guppies. There were also these crazy slimy-looking lizard-like animals that jumped back and forth between the wet rocks. They almost looked like tadpoles - would love to find out what they were - it was fascinating watching them! We also saw TONS of crabs (there have been hermit crabs all over the beach here) and hung out at the rocks before heading back to the resort to get ready for our loooooonnnnngg day.
We were able to take showers (which was fantastic - a perk of the shared bathroom situation) before getting ready to catch our boat to Nadi/the mainland. We had been told to get ready by 2:30, so of course we were out there at 2:17. We played cards and hung out on a hammock on the beach while we waited for our boat to arrive. The boat was supposed to get to Octopus at 3 pm...and yet at 4 we were still sitting on the hammock waiting to leave. Finally at 4:06 they herded those of us who were leaving onto a motorboat and took us to meet the Yasawa Flyer, the larger boat we'd be taking the 2 1/2 hours to Nadi.
I had been a bit nervous about getting sick on the boat since recently I've been experiencing sea sickness more than I usually do. Luckily, the boat ride was smooth sailing - hooray! The sun had slipped behind the clouds so it was a bit cool outside, but other than that, the rain held off and it was a really beautiful ride through the Fiji Islands (the Yasawa and Mamanuca Islands) back to the mainland - a fairly perfect way to end our time in Fiji.
We arrived at the mainland around 6 pm and were told there were free shuttles to the airport - awesome! We caught a free shuttle and arrived at the airport around 6:30 - perfect timing for our 9:40 pm flight. After WAAYYY too much difficulty (involving the airline not being able to find our reservation...), we were finally able to check in for our flight to Los Angeles. We hung out at the airport for a while, ate dinner, bought our final magnet, exchanged our money back to US dollars, and played cards before boarding our plane.
So why is this post called "The Longest Day Ever"? While in actuality it should only take us 18 hours to travel from Nadi to New York, during this trip, we crossed over the international date line. Meaning that when we took off at 9:40 pm, we had already spent 21 hours and 40 minutes in March 22. But by crossing over the international dateline, we actually went BACK in time to the beginning of March 22.
Due to crossing the international date line, flights, layovers, and time changes, we spent a total of 40 hours on March 22, 2016.
SUPER CRAZY!!
So! Our flight to LA was fairly uneventful, although there was quite a bit of turbulence (and I may have been clutching Jon's hand more than a little. Quite bumpy.) We watched the last Hunger Games movie together (since neither of us had seen it) and then I fell asleep for a long time while Jon watched another movie. We arrived in LA around 11:30 am ON MARCH 22, picked up our bags, cleared customs, and were once again on American soil. Pretty weird. Especially considering it was actually our first time in America in 2016, making it country #14 of our travels!
As soon as we arrived in LA we were PUMPED to be able to use our phones and access unrestricted internet again! We hadn't had internet access in about 4 days (since getting to Fiji) so it was nice to check in with family and friends and actually be able to use our phones. We bought sandwiches for lunch and waited for our flight, which was already delayed by about an hour.
Our flight to New York marks our 20th flight in the past three months (including every leg of our journeys, 21 if you include our skydiving flight). Yet when you come to the end of your travels, it seems like nothing moves at the pace you want it to. Our flights were delayed, we weren't given seats when we checked in, the airport was kind of a nightmare with WAY too many people and not enough space, there were 3 flights trying to board basically at the same gate so it was overcrowded and there was pushing, AND when we were finally given our seat assignments, we realized that we were not seated next to each other. Thanks for the super great experience, Virgin America!
So Jon and I boarded the plane separately and barely saw each other during the whole flight. I watched the first few episodes of House of Cards (pretty entertaining - I semi-get the obsession now) and otherwise just tried to stay awake after not sleeping for so long!!
When we arrived in New York I got another surprise - Gabriel Iglesias - the famous comedian - had been on our flight! After getting off the plane I went up to him to tell him that I liked his stand-up and he asked if I wanted to take a picture - always!
How fun! Our next stop was baggage claim before heading outside to find Jon's dad in the FREEZING COLD New York March (and nearly midnight) weather! He drove us to my parent's house where we were greeted with open arms and lots of smiles and hugs (and food!!) We stayed up for about an hour sharing stories from our travels.
All exciting stuff but it is DEFINITELY time for bed after an actually-super-long-for-real day.
Jess' highlight of the day: our final morning in Fiji
Jon's highlight of the day: the boat ride to Nadi
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