Nauru | Jason Around the World

Nauru to Tarawa, Kiribati (via Majuro, Marshall Islands) on Air Nauru

Airports, Flights, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, South Pacific Tour 2014 No Responses »

Nov 102014

Hotel van, once again with the side door completely open (I found out the night before this was for “air conditioning reasons” and not because it was actually broken) dropped me at the airport, and there was nobody in sight. I prayed the flight was still operating. Got to the check-in counter, and there was nobody in site. This wasn’t a good sign:

No need to worry, however, the flight was on-time, and was en route from Brisbane already. I was, however, the first person to check in 90 minutes before the flight time. The agent confirmed that only six passengers were getting on in Nauru. Um, how is this profitable?

After getting my boarding pass and checking my bags (exit row again, score!) it was upstairs to immigration. Note how dead the airport looks:

Got to immigration, and there was only one small problem, as you can see in this picture:

That’s right, the immigration person hadn’t showed up to work yet! Less than 90 minutes before flight time. Security was there, but they wouldn’t; let me through until I cleared immigration. They suggested I have a seat at the immigration officer’s desk while I wait. Hahah!

Immigration showed up about 1:15 before the flight, and clearing immigration and security took all of about two minutes. Then, it was to the incredibly crowded holding room:

Overnight in Nauru

Airports, hotels, Nauru, Restaurants, South Pacific Tour 2014 6 Responses »

Nov 092014

After clearing immigration I went outside and looked for hotel transport, which was nowhere to be found. I’d emailed them my flight details and they said the hotel transport would be there, but 30 minutes later nothing…and most people from the flight were gone by this point. After 45 minutes, I gave up. There were no taxis at all (supposedly Nauru has a taxi or two in the country, but nobody seemed to know how/where to locate them) so I started asking baggage handlers/etc around the airport if there was a way to call the hotel. One of the flight attendants from my flight had her cell phone, and rang the hotel. They said they’d send their van shortly.

The van arrived around 15 minutes later, about an hour after we landed, and soon we were off to the Menen hotel. It was an old minivan, and the side door of the van didn’t close. Oh life in the tropics!

Got to the hotel, and they seemed completely uninterested in checking me in. The guy at reception was busy watching the small tv in the lobby with his friends, and clearly the Chicago Bulls took priority over helping me. Finally checked in, got my key, and up to my room…where the AC barely worked. As anyone who knows me knows, aircon is a requirement, so I went down to the front desk to check into getting another room. “No” was the simple answer. No you don’t have any other rooms, no you refuse to give me one, or no you can’t be bothered to look?

I was persistent, and eventually he sighed and gave me the key to another room. The AC in this room worked rather a bit better, and it looked like it would work for the night. View from the room:

Spartan, but functional room:

Ocean view from just outside the hotel:

I had considered walking around the island since it was approximately a 20 km walk around the entire country, but it was hot. Really hot. It was almost nearly 4pm by this point so it would be dark way before I’d get around the island. Remember what I said about taxis? Uninterested front desk guy was pretty sure I couldn’t find a taxi to hire for a couple hours to drive me around the island. I kept pressing him. Surely something was possible. I came all this way to see Nauru, and it would be a real shame not to be able to see anything. Finally, he told me “the hotel driver will take you in the van. You can work out details with him.” I decided not to ask, and soon we were off.

Driving out of the hotel on the one road around the island:

Brisbane to Nauru on Air Nauru

Airports, Australia, Flights, Nauru, South Pacific Tour 2014 2 Responses »

Nov 062014

This flight was early. Way too early. Combine that with the fact I’d heard Nauru Airlines wasn’t overly reliable and I wanted to get there early, and it was the recipe for a very tired morning. When I got to the check-in desk nearly three hours before the 7am flight (yes, 4am…just imagine when I had to get up) there was already a line of about 20 people waiting to check-in. Oh, and about 100 bags. I’m not exaggerating…it looked like they were trying to ship the entire contents of a WalMart with them back to Nauru. One guy even had 14 27 inch televisions on two different luggage carts waiting to check-in.

Fortunately, many of them were “a group” and offered to let me check-in in front of them. Well that’s thoughtful. The lovely agent? Well she was a little confused. “Wait, you’re going to Nauru…as a tourist? Is that right? Tourist? Just to holiday? Right?” Apparently, this is not a normal thing. She was very lovely though, and even reserved the exit row aisle for me when I asked. Given the rather healthy appetites of many of my fellow passengers, I figured the extra room in the exit row would come in very handy.

Through security, where horror of horrors, the coffeeshop didn’t open until 5:30. There was also a Virgin flight to Auckland about to board, and the natives were getting very restless at this hour without proper caffeine. Eventually it did open, I got caffeine, and all was right with the world.

Wandered down to the gate, where our 737-300 was waiting for us:

About two months ago, Our Airline rebranded themselves back to Nauru Airlines. Several years ago they had gone bankrupt and had their one 737 impounded and seized in Australia, forcing them to change their name from Air Nauru to Our Airline when they opened back up for business. Now, they were going back to Nauru Airlines. Confused yet? Yeah, that’s just how Nauru works apparently.

Nauru Airlines aka Our Airline Flight 2
Brisbane, Australia (BNS) to Honiara, Solomon Islands (HIR)
Depart 7:00, Arrive 11:00, Flight Time 3:00
Boeing 737-300, Registration VH-PNI, Manufactured 1997, Seat 11D

Flight was about 2/3 full today, but I had the entire exit row of six seats to myself. Score! “Today’s flight time to Honiara will be three hours. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight.” Honiara, WHAT? This was supposed to be a direct flight to Nauru. Uh, ok, got it. After about 30 minutes, the crew came by with breakfast, and I asked if we were really going to Honiara, and if so why. Yes, apparently we are, just “for a technical stop.” Uhhh, ok.

Breakfast was decent, considering it was economy and all:

On approach to Honiara:

Ah, so 2/3 of the seats were taken, but the last 6 rows were “empty” because they were filled with peoples’ bags! Including many of the aforementioned televisions, all strapped in. Apparently this is a common occurrence on Nauru Airlines, as they had it down to a science:

We stopped in Honiara for about 50 minutes to take on fuel, which I eventually learned from the crew was because we had so much cargo today and were extra heavy, so couldn’t make it all the way otherwise, lol. This despite 1/3 of the seats being empty. It was pouring rain in Honiara, and I felt quite bad for the fueling guys who were having to load up the plane. Soon, we were taking off again for the continuation of our flight to Nauru.

Nauru Airlines aka Our Airline Flight 2
Honiara, Solomon Islands (HIR) to Nauru Island, Nauru (INU)
Depart 11:55, Arrive 14:55, Flight Time 2:00
Boeing 737-300, Registration VH-PNI, Manufactured 1997, Seat 11D

A “snack” was offered on this segment, and it really was a snack. Well, “Le Snak” to be precise, lol. Apparently America doesn’t have a monopoly on processed cheese spread:

Another shot of my, “fellow passengers” taking up the last six rows:

Just about an hour late due to the fuel stop, and soon we were landing on Nauru where it was bright and sunny out. Taxiing to the terminal:

Disembarking for the walk to the terminal:

Waiting for immigration, a local mural. Note the Our Airline plane in the pic:

Immigration was one officer at a desk for the entire plane:

I’d been told there was a $100 visa on arrival for tourists, confirmed by Nauru Airlines when I booked. However, the immigration officer was very helpful, and said since I was there less than 48 hours she would consider it a transit, so there would be no visa fee! Score…always happy to save some money! Shortly I was reunited with my bags, and was off to see Nauru!