The woman gives up -- says the ATM is broken. Now we have to get in line at the bank branch. I need 7 Fijian bucks. I'll be DAMNED if I'm paying a cash advance fee for that. I look in my wallet and see a NZ $20. I ask if I can just change $10 of that. (Bank of NZ and all that.) Sure, she says. She types on her computer and says she can do it. She opens her drawer and says she doesn't have a NZ $10 to give me change. She says she only has twenties.
"Do you have two twenties?" I ask, "'Cause I got a fifty." "No," she lies. I'm telling you she is lying -- I SAW two twenties in there when she said she only had twenties. But she says she only has one, and no tens, and nobody else in the entire branch of the freakin' BANK OF NEW ZEALAND has another $20 or a $10 bill in New Zealand money. "Fine," I say, not wanting to miss my flight, "Change the whole damn thing." Now I have about $40 Fijian dollars to my name.
I go to the departure side of the airport and check in. The nice man at Air Pacific tells me (are you ready?) that my ticket already included the departure tax, so I don't have to pay it.
Oh, but look at all the Duty Free shopping I can do with my Fijian money before I go.
Ended up spending $35 Fijian on a new watch. It has no alarm and is only "splash resistant" but I figure I'll need to tell time during my tight connection.
(The story of which will have to wait, because this internet cafe is closing down at 9:00 p.m.)
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