Lots of Adventure, not so much travel...

Since my last post, I started and finished the ibook on my phone that I mentioned "A Bit Mental" by Jimi Hunt. I wanted to read it because he Lilo-ed the length of the Waikato river, I want to kayak from Cambridge to Port Waikato, so figured it would have some good pointers. It did, in terms of distance/manageable daily chunks, but I also got a lot out of it from a mental health perspective. Medically I wouldn't be classed as someone who has been depressed, but there have been times where I have been really frustrated, and half expected the white coats to come and get me. It's a fantastic book and I totally recommend it.

Any, as promised, this is a far more interesting post as it involves international travel... Eventually...

Retired: Passport #2 - July 2004-September 2013

On Tuesday I headed to the airport with dad. He was tying it in with a visit to our paper supplier. I got there nice and early, however once they finally opened I was told my passport wasn't in a fit condition to be used for travel, due to the water damage it had received 3 years  ago in Paris. I had however been to Egypt, and returned to New Zealand via the Usa in that time, so was a little surprised they were fussy about it. Of course, it ended up looking worse because they played with it. Anyway, in the end you win some & you lose some,& getting a new passport and tickets etc didn't end up being too difficult or expensive (at least I could still go). I got dad to run me into town while I sorted it out, & I ended up staying with my old school mate James for a couple of nights, which worked perfectly as the first day he was working in town, allowing me to catch a ride into town, look around, and collect my passport. The day of my flights he was working at the airport (as he works for Air NZ) so conveniently he dropped me off too. I have to give NZ internal affairs a big ups, as they had my passport ready for me in 24hours. Made me proud to be a kiwi.

Enter Passport #3, Pretty Flash aye.

So, at the airport I had to wait till the check-in opened, so I had the obligatory McD's breakfast. Once I checked in I went through and did some duty free shopping.

Flight FJ410 - Fiji Airways Says Relax, You're on holiday bro.

On the plane they fed us a chicken burger and some shortbread biscuits.

Once i got to Fiji I went through customs etc. I saw SIM cards were free, and u could buy packages, so I got the cheapest one with data.

My resort for the first night was nice - whole room and double bed to myself. Had a little walk, one of the staff was walking the dogs so we walked together. Afterwards had dinner, sampled the local beers, and had a nice swim before bed.