A few hours before we left the house for the airport, I noticed a creature walking past the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living. Alerting Tom, he too saw it.
But, by the time we got the camera which was already packed in one of our carry-on bags, it was too late. It resembled the monitor lizards that made an occasional appearance in our yard in Marloth Park. Most likely it was a monitor lizard, about three feet, one meter long.
Of course, when visiting Mexico or Costa Rico, lizards and iguanas are spotted regularly. When I mentioned the arrival of the lizard to Andy, he said it lives behind the kitchen, and once it awhile takes a walk along the patio.
With Tom busy inside getting ready to go, the lizard saw he/she had a safe path unencumbered with a human presence. Most days, Tom sat outside on the veranda working on his laptop in order to get a better signal on the Internet which was almost nonexistent when indoors.
Off we went to the airport, heavy bags in tow, wondering how much we’d have to pay for extra weight. I wasn’t worried. Tom was. I could tell by his frenzied demeanor, typical on travel day. He wasn’t so much grumpy as he was a little tense, which is a vast improvement from “overly grumpy.”
He dropped me and the baggage at the airport while he dropped off the rental car. Oddly, the rental car facilities didn’t have any shuttles and he had to walk back to the domestic terminal. Thank goodness I stayed at the airport as opposed to going with him as I’d suggested. I found a comfy chair and played with my phone while I waited.
Once he arrived, within minutes we were at the Qantas counter ready to pay for our bags. Much to our surprise, it was only AUD $90, USD $62 for the extra weight generated by the third bag. We were thrilled. But, we still had two flights on Fiji Airways ahead of us and had no idea how much extra we’d have to pay once we check in early tomorrow morning. We’ll see how that goes.
Now, as we wait, I’m glad we had our prepaid hot spot, allowing both of us to stay amused while we waited. I must admit, I don’t like flying, not the airport, not the plane, not the baggage drop off and pick up, none of it. Tom agrees.
If we had our choice we’d sail everywhere we wanted to visit and in essence, it’s what we’ve been able to do in many cases. Although, to retain such strict criteria would be extremely limited when we think of all the places we’d never have been able to experience. The inconvenience proves worth it in the long run.
I suppose I could use Twitter or some other such app for short blurbs. As all of our readers know, I’m not much in the way of “short” comments when writing has such an appeal, and sharing photos has even more.
Any moment, our flight will be called and we’ll do, as usual, wait in chairs until the very end when everyone else has boarded. That’s a Tom thing. I’d get on early and get situated. This life is an ongoing compromise. We do some of what each other prefers and we do a lot of what appeals to both of us.
Going to Fiji was on the “what appeals to both of us” list. Hopefully, we’ll be pleasantly surprised and pleased with our new home. If not, well, we’ll live there anyway, a smile on our faces and determination in our hearts.
Happy day to all.
