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| Tom was standing in front of the tiniest airport we’ve seen to date, except for the dirt landing strip with no airport in the Maasai Mara. |
Peering out the scratched window of the plane to Fiji’s exquisite terrain below to make our world seem infinitesimal and insignificant. The 19 seat passenger plane with only 14 seats occupied, along with two pilots in the cockpit, reminded me of only a few weeks ago when we were packed into the semi-submarine in the Great Barrier Reef. Tight quarters.
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| It was windy during our flight as shown in this photo of me at the Savusavu Airport. In less than three months we’ll return to fly back to Nadi to live on the larger island of Viti Levu for one more month. We’ll certainly gain a good perspective of life in the Fijian Islands. |
At this point, I believe I could fly in an aircraft of any size having accepted this mode of transportation as necessary in our desire to experience life in somewhat remote areas of the world.
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| That was the plane we flew on from Nadi Airport to Savusavu Airport. |
Who are we but a dot in the horizon for anyone on the ground as our lives are suddenly predicated by two pilots, sometimes one, navigating an aluminum tube with two props, our lives in their hands?
Unlike our first such flight in an even lesser sized plane on October 5, 2013 while on our way to a photo safari in the Maasai Mara in Kenya, I’m no longer afraid.
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| The captain made a safety speech before we took off. |
Once we were above the clouds unable to take ground photos, I felt compelled to write, in a similar manner I’d written while flying two years ago. Was it a diversionary tactic on my part to avoid thinking about our current mode of travel? Or, was it my voluminous expectation that the situation prompted my more creative self?
I’ll opt for the latter while my heart fluttered with excitement as we embark on yet another remote adventure, those that make me feel most alive.
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| Tom and I sat below the wing. |
With childlike wonder, Tom continually diverted my attention to look below at yet another pulse-pounding scene. With the camera in his hands he snapped away with a burst of creative thunder to take more of those magical shots he’s become known for in my eyes and at times, in the eyes of others.
He too, was in the clouds with me, literally and figuratively. This is the dream we acquired that grew within us in a short span of time, none of which we possessed a mere five years ago.
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| As we left the Nadi Airport from the largest of the Fijian Islands, Viti Levu to head to the second largest island Vanua Levu. |
Back then, if someone had asked, “How would you like to give up the life you’ve always lived for a life of travel?” I would have chuckled, saying, “That’s never going to happen!”
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| The views from the plane were impressive. |
And yet, almost three years into it, we’re figuring its a mind-boggling head-scratcher. Who knew that these two relativity main stream overly responsible individuals would merge into a somewhat adventurous traveling machine, hell-bent on seeing the world before our inevitable end?
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| With the small seat and unable to move around, the scratched window, and the location of our seats, we could only take photos that included the underside of the plane’s wing. Nonetheless, the views made it worthwhile. |
Sitting here now, copying the above words I’d written on my phone on the plane on Tuesday, the sun is blissfully bursting through the screened window with a lofty breeze cooling our skin, roosters crowing around us, and a vast array of birds chirping in harmony.
It’s ironic how at our ripe ages of 67 and 62, respectively, we’d thrive on gaining personal strength and integrity in experiencing less than convenient scenarios in the hopes of handling them with dignity and grace.
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| Fiji has an interesting terrain with scattered hills and mountain ranges, lush green valleys and endless waterways. |
No delusions here. It’s not always easy. But, we chose this life, this life that allows our eyes to scan the vast ocean before us, the dense rainforest of Mother Nature’s finest vegetation, and the endless sounds of wildlife encircling us.
In a sense it’s “heaven on earth” and God willing, when our time comes and we arrive at the Pearly Gates, we can say, “Oh, we’ve already been here.”
Photo from one year ago today, September 10, 2014:
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| In October of 1986, President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met for the Summit Meeting in this building in Reykjavik, Iceland which was formerly the French Consulate. The meetings broke down to be carried on at a later date. See this link for details of that meeting. Please see our link for that day’s tour, please click here. |