The Wandering Warners: Seniors Seeing the World: Diary of a Fiji Quarantine: Days Zero to 2

Let’s start with the basics.

First, Brian is in a mandatory 7-day quarantine at the Doubletree Resort, Sonaisali Islanf, Fiji, after getting a positive RAT the day before our scheduled return to the US.

Thursday, June 2, the date of the test, is Day Zero. Brian can supposedly fly out the night of Thursday, June 9, armed either with a negative test result or a Fiji government “Fit to Fly” letter.

Second, we canceled Brian’s air miles ticket home and kept Kathy’s. She is currently at LAX waiting to board her flight to Seattle. Had she remained and tested positive at any point, the quarantine timer would have been reset.

Third, since we’re separated by a few thousand miles for the first time since starting our blog, the next few posts will veer into the first person as Brian documents his / my enforced stay.

Days zero and 1 were as busy as could be imagined. Kathy did a lot with great support from Bill and Sue. Last night, Damon, a new Australian frequent flyer friend, called me to let us know if my medical condition worsened, he would be here on the next available flight to provide whatever support I might need. Hopefully unnecessary but deeply appreciated.

Now we’re on Day 2 already. My how time flies!

I slept well (much better than Kathy did with crying and sick babies on her flight), and ordered breakfast early the meals are already becoming a highlight of the day, simply because they break up the day.

The hotel general manager is a good guy, according to Kathy and Bill. He extended Kathy’s Diamond privilege free breakfast through my solo stay and offered us a decent room rate. I’ll also try to claim on our mandatory Fiji Covid travel insurance - more on that later.

I ordered Shakshuka, a spicy dish I’ve enjoyed on Alaska Airlines flights. This version came in a mild tomato sauce filled with lumps of carrots and boiled potatoes. There is quite a substantial Indian population here, so I’ll keep exploring the menu to spice up my life.

No complaints about the quantities though…

This photo doesn’t even include the box of surprisingly tasty green salad that formed the favorite part of my breakfast.

Kathy stocked me up with Fijian beer, Australian wine, nuts, chips, cookies, Asian spicy soups, and some sweetened Nescafé instant coffee that beats the weak hotel coffee hands down.