I finally made if back from Fiji. My plane was delayed 17 hours in Nadi due to mechanical problems. Better to be delayed in Nadi than at LAX and better for the reason to be mechanical problems. Air Pacific put everyone up in a hotel for the night and gave breakfast and lunch vouchers. I'm glad I didn't have to foot the bill for 440 people needing a hotel room at midnight. I am surprised they found hotel rooms one day before New Years Eve.

On the flight I received five glasses of poured wine with dinner (fish) and sparkeling wine with the hot breakfast. Air Pacific is owned partly by Qantas and it shows. Cold moist towels before meals, Fasten seatbelt sign removed five minutes after take-off and if turned back on, flight attendants sat down, and a very friendly staff.

Many people on the flight were flying to Auckland or Sydney because the price was cheaper than Air New Zealand or Qantas. The seating pitch was 32 inches instead of 31 inches with Qantas, which I appreciated.

The flight was supposed to get into LAX at 2:00 p.m., but arrived the next morning at 6:00 a.m. My flight from LAX to PBI (VIA Dallas) was at 11:00 a.m. so I was ok, but a lot of people needed flight changes, which most airlines were accepting.

When I arrived in Fiji, (the flight was 20 minutes late) I caught the bus and was taken to the port in Fiji for a cruise of the Fiji Islands. In many ways it reminded me of the Greek Islands, but it was more tropical and the water was 89 degrees. The people were extremely nice but the food wasn't as good as the Greek Islands.

Flying home from Los Angeles to Dallas, the Fasten Seatbelt sign was off for a total of eight minutes only, but it didn't stop the flight crew from pouring hot coffee and tea. Flying from Los Angeles to PBI on Super 80's makes for a long flight. I'm glad I had my iPod with me.

The outer islands in Fiji are still quite remote. Electricity in most villages was only available from 7:00 p.m. to midnight which ment cold showers. In short, the 13-day trip costs me about $2,300, and that includes the flights.

If you are interested in Fiji on a budget, check out the website, www.awesomeadventures.com. I met very few Americans on the trip and was told, "their on the cruises for the newly-wed, overly-fed and nearly dead." Most of the people I met were from Australia, New Zealand and England. One island in Fiji boasts a 120 bed hostel, which two girls from Brazil switched to after they found out they were staying at a 5-star hotel. Another woman was upset when she was told the dorm was full and she would be getting a private room at no extra price.