We are Team Wicks: Bula from Fiji

Bula from Fiji! The fact that I am updating our blog from a small internet cafe in the top of an old office building in Lautoka is testament to the fact that technology is everywhere!

We started our travels with a bang. When we arrived at the Kona airport to check in for our flight to Honolulu, we discovered that the airline had botched the reservations for our whole group and there were no seats on the flight for us. This was disconcerting as we needed to catch a flight from Honolulu to Fiji several hours later. Not to mention that we had our kids and others who were restless and didn't enjoy just hanging out at a small airport while we tried to figure out what to do. The airline (to remain nameless) said they would bring in a plane especially for us. However, the time it would take to do that would make things extremely tight to make our connecting flight. Bobby Norment, our leader, kicked in to gear. He was able to get that airline and another airline both working to arrange for a flight for our team. In the end, we swapped airlines and made it to Honolulu in plenty of time for our connecting flight.

The overnight flight went well and the kids slept almost the whole time (I wish I could say the same). The flight was approximately 6.5 hours and we arrived in Nadi, Fiji at 5:30 am Fiji time. We made it through customs and immigration smoothly and then loaded up an old bus that was waiting for us to drive us to Lautoka. Once in Lautoka we went to the home of some local people Bobby and Jean know who fed us breakfast and gave us a very warm welcome. After that, we took taxis to downtown Lautoka to the hotel we are staying in. The hotel is Cathay Hotel and, for a budget hotel, is great for our needs. Our room has a double bed for Angie and me, a single bed for Katie and a rolloway for Sam. And it also has...wait for it...an air conditioner!!! Hallelujah!!!

After checking in yesterday almost everyone took naps for the afternoon. Katie and I woke up a little earlier than Sam and Angie, so the two of us took a walk and explored downtown a little bit. It really has the feel of a foreign developing country, so it exciting to explore completely new surroundings. Later in the evening, the whole team met upstairs in the hotel cafe for dinner. We have arranged for them to prepare dinner for us each evening and then we will be on our own for breakfast and lunch.

We all slept pretty well last night. This morning I walked with my friends Nick and Greg to a local market and picked up some milk and cereal for the family. We have a free day today, so we will probably explore the town a little bit more and get some rest before we dig into the work that we came here for.

The internet cafe is just a couple blocks from our hotel and only costs $1 Fijian per hour. So, I should have no problem updating our blog and checking email on a regular basis.

Thank you for all your prayers for our travels. God bless!