17th April

I am getting slow - no longer the young confident traveler I use to pretend to be.

 We arrive at the airport - we first tackle the Virgin check-in scanners - they refuse to recognize my passport - eventually a kind Virgin assistant helps out - she smiles - "it is easy your know" says she - "just stand on your right leg - lean forward 15 degrees - bend your left leg 12.5 degrees - a little more - that right - now place your right hand on top of the passport - press it down on to the scanner - that's it" - her smile is infectious -  a terrible job instructing old foggies but done with kindness and a sense of humor thinks I.

Next we head towards those considerate and customer focused members of the Australian Border Force - the female members just a little more customer focused than their male counterparts but none of them have attended the same customer service school as the Virgin check-in attendant. 

I insert my passport at the automatic gate - it is refused - the machine flashes  red - such were the amplitude of the flashes that I looked around expecting that I would be thrown to the ground, handcuffed and taken away to life imprisonment - but nothing happens - I look across - I  see a border Force Officer with a disgusted look on his face - he does not come to me - he summons me - there is a queue behind me that is tightly confined to a narrow roped aisle leading to the machine - I fight my back through the queue with all the followers forced to squeeze aside and manoeuver their bags to give me safe passage - I reach the officer with the disgusted look - forget it says he  - go through there says he - eventually I reach another young officer behind a safety screen - I wonder if that is to protect me or to protect him thinks I -  I give him my passport - "I need your boarding pass!"  says he - why would you need that thinks I - if I could come  through those automatic passport controlled gates why in the hell do I need with a human control gate - Bernie has the boarding pass - where is she - eventually she is found - I ask the young fellow why the gate did not accept my passport - "you did not put it in right" - I recoil at the tone and the facial expression - he might as well have actually uttered the words he thought he was holding back - "you did but put it in the right way you stupid old prick".

Who in the hell designed your gate systems - thinks I - it must have been Arthur Anderson or Deloittes - how could someone design a system that allowed a passport to be put into the scanner incorrectly in the first place and then not even suggest why the placement may not be acceptable!

I am finally out of the clutches of border force - Bernie's impairment is recognized and we are shuffled into a fast boarding lane. 

We approach the plane door - another women is waiting - Bernie engages her - you look in pain says Bernie - she responds with almost a snarl - I was tripped up by a women at my bowls club - she had her stick sticking out to far! She looks askance at Bernie's walking stick her face making it obvious that she had mentally placed Bernie into that category of careless conveyors of walking sticks. I smiled - she had clearly never questioned whether the fault for her accident may have lain in her carelessness around an infirmed member of her own species.

The flight? - calm - smooth - clear skies -  blue ocean below - my head rests against the window - the sun shines in - the air noises  render the passenger noise insignificant - I drift off.

I wake - we are about to descend - put your seat backup says the attendant - the seat had never been reclined by me - clearly this attendant is more diligent that her previous flight counterpart - still the old traveller is disappointed in himself - he can't even remember to get his seat into the right position. 

Nandi we are nearby.

We arrive - we stay seated while the young and energetic disembark - we decide that we will wait until the more able leave the plane - we expect that we will join the poor women so cruelty tripped up by her bowling opponent and the man being wheeled to the plane by his wife - the plane has only disgorged less than half it contents when the bowler exits at full speed with no sign of any impairment - she is closely followed by the man whose wife had wheeled him to the plane - it has been a miraculous flight for he too has been completely healed and no longer needs assistance! 

We leave with the last of the passengers - a customer service officer sees Bernie struggling along with her stick - she immediately summons a wheel chair - the operator takes us through priority debarkation - we are through immigration while our newly healed fellow passengers stand in the queue. 

Where are the rows of bright yellow taxis that are supposed to be waiting outside  the terminal - none in sight - just white transfer vehicles - we are approached by an official looking lady complete with an id badge - where do you want to go? - go with him - suddenly we are in one of white cars with driver Simi - there is no meter - I resolve I am not going to pay any more than fifty - we arrive at Port Denarau - how much say I - fifty says Simi.

The terrace apartments? - Quest style at Quest Australian prices 

We wander over to the port itself - there is plenty of activity and people - couples, young families, mid aged couples, mature couples embarking and disembarking tours or having a drink in the port's cafes.

We join kit in Lulu's - more Sav Blanc - consume dinner - where are you going tomorrow says Kit - Tokorikki - ah the honeymoon Island! - everyone smiles - how many years says she - 57 years - she talks me on the shoulder and says you have been a good boy!