First Day- On Our Way

 1/3/2023

Today is the beginning of our trip to Moso Island, Vanuatu to continue our research into post-nesting hawksbill turtles' migratory behavior.  We fly from KOA to HNL and then catch a Fiji Airways flight to Nadi, Fiji where we have to spend the night.  We will Catch a flight to Port Vila in the afternoon of the 5th and then make our way out to Moso Island.  The weather forecast says that it will be raining every day we are there... Hope Not!  


Everyone arrived at the KOA airport on time and we passed through TSA without incident.

The Vanuatu STRP 4 team at the Kona Airport.

The trip to Port Vila is roughly 3,600 miles and takes something like 6 hours. 

We are now in Nadi, Fiji and all of our flights went very well.. on time and they didn't complain to much about our heavy luggage!!!  We arrived in Nadi around 1630 h and, after immigrations and customs, we meet our ride outside of the luggage area.  Docean, the Air B and B manager, offered to drop us off at the market to buy some food for dinner and the team decided that it would be spaghetti and salad.  Then we were taken to our apartment which is a second floor three bedroom apt that is very clean and roomy.  

We will settle in for the night as there isn't much around the apartment to visit and everyone is probably kind of tired.  Tomorrow we will leave the apartment around 1100 h and go back to the airport for a 1430 flight to Port Vila.


We will arrive at Bauer Field International Airport around 1600 h and take a taxi out to Havana Harbor and then a boat over to Tranquility Resort.  We will be shown to our rooms, settle in a bit and then go for dinner.  The next day will be Friday and we will have the day to rest, snorkel and look around until around 1600-1700 when the village boat will pick us up and make the 45 minute trip over to the nesting beaches.  Once there, we will set up camp and prepare dinner (hopefully before it gets to dark.  We will begin to walk the beaches looking for nesting turtles around 2100 h.  



Boarding our Hawaiian flight to Oahu... the adventure begins!



In the Fiji Airways line in HNL waiting to check in.

Laura Jim took this picture out the window of our plane as we were approaching Nadi.


Our airplane... Boeing 735 MAX 8-  I guess they have solved the problem that version had.????


In the van on the way to the apartment.

Cooking dinner at the apartment





Dinner prepared by the team (Pasta, green salad and baguette).




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