Aloha Hawaii

The boarding passes showed a 7:15 pm departure but our actual departure was 8:20 pm because, they said, the airplane was late being delivered from maintenance. Now who, I ask, could complain about the airline wanting you to have a safe airplane? We were certainly not rushed at the airport. We arrived in the afternoon and discovered that Sydney Airport is essentially a large shopping mall with air service around three edges, road and rail services on the other side.

We did no buying other than food but I did manage to add a little excitement to the afternoon by walking away from a small case containing my laptop and Gail’s iPad. We were half way across the mall when the light went on as I glanced up to see a woman sitting at a table typing on her laptop.

We hurried back, hopefully, but when we looked at the last known location it was gone. There was a group of young men sitting in the area. We asked if they had noticed what happened to the case. They all said they had seen an airport employee pick it up and go that way (indicating by hand gesture). The first employee we saw wore a Qantas badge and we hit pay dirt. He escorted us across the mall to the security desk where he had earlier delivered the case with contents which were returned after I identified its contents to the satisfaction of the security staff. Time to restart heart.

The flight was uneventful, even the food wasn’t bad. We always have hopes of sleeping on a night flight which are only rarely realized. Perhaps one of the nine hours was actually sleep, most of the other eight were spent unsuccessfully trying to sleep. It was somewhat fortunate that the entertainment system offered a decent collection but it failed to create sleep like it does at home.

Our arrival in Honolulu was rather unusual. The airplane’s contents, nearly 300 people, were escorted to waiting busses and transported in groups of 40 per bus, to the customs hall where they joined other arriving international passengers. Our NEXUS/GLOBAL ENTRY status allow us to avoid the masses and arrived where our luggage had yet to be delivered. The carousel was far too small for the the load so there was staff offloading the carousel and placing it in rows beside. We were lucky enough to have our bags and get through inspection well before the majority of our flight. SpeediShuttle was waiting and a few minutes later we were at the Hawaiian Village. Although it was only noon the check-in desk at the Ali’l was able to find us a room. There was the bed and it was very tempting to just crash but we pressed on. 

The air conditioning was not working in the room so that was quickly reported and we started our first lap around the resort. There are at least five hotel towers surrounding the resort. There are half a dozen pools nestled among the luscious tropical gardens with streams and pools populated with large koi and other species of smaller fish. There are lots of birds plus the usual doves, pigeons and gulls. Outdoor bars and restaurants abound along with clusters of shops and bistros offering a wide variety of food choices from asian to Italian to $150 steaks. After grabbing a couple of sandwiches that were far too big for either of us to eat, we returned to our room, poured a couple of glasses of wine then sat on the balcony. From there we got to watch the Aloha Friday Night Hawaiian music and hula performance around the Super Pool followed by a short but spectacular fireworks display from the beach. How we stayed awake this long we have no idea but we faded fast after the fireworks.

We awoke! It was light outside! It must be Saturday! It was!!!

Yesterday’s humid, hot, bright sun was replaced by less humid, warm, overcast with a forecast of flash flooding. Needing supplies for the next few days meant a walk to Walmart which took us through Ala Moana Mall. As we passed the food court I caught the aroma of a Cinnabon shop but we continued walking. With the Walmart stop complete and completely successful, we walked back through the Ala Moana centre again. It was near lunch time and Gail found some agreeable lunch time fare so once again I heard the Cinnabon call me. I swear I was only going to have a small one but then I saw the macadamia nuts and the caramel and it was too much. It was a total contrast. Gail with her healthy broccoli soup and orange salad; me with the macadamia, caramel Cinnabon and coffee. 

We are officially spoiled. This afternoon we found ourselves walking in the beautiful lagoon, around the busy, glistening pools, along the beach sand, wading in the ocean and complaining. Well, not really complaining, just comparing. Here we find ourselves with thousands of people on a few hectares of beach compared with the Gold Coast with hundreds of people on thousands of hectares of beach; gritty, gravelly sand compared with silky fine sand; tiny, gentle waves bringing the tide up the beach compared with absolutely continuous one to two metre waves crashing onto the shore. We think it must be time to go home.

We first visited Hawaii in 1973. We have visited four of the islands on cruise ship visits numerous times and Honolulu about four times as a stopover point when flying between North America and Australia or New Zealand. On every visit we have passed the iconic Diamond Head, or Lē’ahi, but only today did we climb to the top. The trail is about 1.3 kilometres one way climbing 171 metres. From the top there is an expansive view of the shoreline from Honolulu to Kuamookane. That, I think pretty much puts an exclamation point on the trip and the journal posts.

The Climb

 View toward Honolulu

View toward Kuamookane

We arrive home on April 12 and once the jet lag has subsided I will get the photos online. The final post of this tour will be to announce the final photos are on line.

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