13^th October – Hawaii – Chill Time

Today we are heading to Hawaii, and we are so excited and sad. We love Hawaii but it also indicates that our holiday is coming to an end.

The uber has been ordered, obviously there will need to be some organisational expertise and that, is my superpower. However, the uber driver seems to think he knows better. After 5 minutes of messing about, I take over, I stack, I pack, we are good to go.

Men should just know they are not good at this, and step away.

The drive to the airport is super easy. Hard to believe that we are in LA. I am thankful that the crowds are not up early.

Everything goes extremely well, check in for luggage – no issues, through security – no problems, we reach the lounge. We are eligible to access the Alaska Airlines lounge, we have First Class and are flying to Hawaii, but they have a waitlist, so we just need to give them a phone number, and there in lies the problem.

We talk about a few options, and ultimately, we are just too much trouble. The lovely woman lets us in. Sometimes it’s a good thing to be unmanageable.

Weird thing, they bring the time of our flight forward. We were completely unaware, no notification was posted, Jason noticed this on the big screen, and the receptionist confirmed that we were now leaving early, so we picked up everything and go to the gate.

The thing is there is no plane at the gate, the incoming plane is late, the information on the board was wrong. In fact, we are not early, we are late, late, late.

Luckily, we don’t have anywhere to be, in fact we are just cruising. No point in stressing, though others have connecting flights and they are not happy.

Again, we are in “First Class” it is a six-hour flight and we really appreciate the comfortable seats, and the extra leg room. The flight goes by very quickly, before we know it we land in Honolulu and the weather is AMAZING!

All bags arrive, whoop, whoop. Its less than 30 minutes to our accommodation. Check in was super easy and the condo is lovely. Compact, but tidy and has everything we need, including a magnificent view.

We unpack, locate the laundry room and do some, much needed, life admin. On our list is going to the supermarket and getting staples. Even though we are on holiday we want a little bit of normality, so plan to make our own breakfast, and Jason is going to have instant coffee… most of the time.

We head over to Whole Foods, did you know that if you have Amazon Prime you get a discount on your groceries. That was pretty cool, and even though my prime membership is from Australia I still got the discount. How cool is that!

After our life admin was all taken care of, we were shattered and, taking the advice of our tour guide Shanthi, we opted to have poke bowls from the restaurant downstairs. The food was delicious, the accommodation very comfortable. Welcome to Hawaii, life is good.

There is a 3 hours’ time difference from LA, so we do our best to stay up and get into synch. Around 900pm we admit defeat. Goodnight.

14^th October – Exploring Honolulu

A lovely sleep. Jason does not think much of the bed, it is very soft. Personally, I love it, its like sleeping on a bed that hugs you!

We are awake nice and early, the time difference probably has something to do with that. The day out the window is stunning, when I open the doors to the balcony, the weather matches the view. Stunning.

A homemade breakfast, quite the novelty, off to the gym, a great and normal way to start the day.

Time to hit the streets and see what we can remember of Honolulu, its been 7 years since we were last here on our world trip/honeymoon.

Jason suggests we try and find the handbag store where I got a beautiful handbag from. As I am always wanting to make my man happy, I agree. It had nothing to do with my hope of buying another handbag.

Neither of us could remember the name of the store, I could vaguely remember what the shopping centre looked like. A quick Google search had a list of the shopping malls with an atrium and a tree in the middle, sure enough one of the names rang true.

We find the mall and, there is was, in the same place. It’s a miracle when I see small boutique shops have survived covid, I was super chuffed. Unfortunately for me, they no longer make handbags. So it was a lovely nostalgic adventure, but resulted in no new handbags!

Jason, god bless his cotton socks, suggested I go to a few other handbag shops. As lovely as that was, I really wasn’t interested in mass market handbags. So we continued on our walk. Down the main street, there were some young men handing out freebies from their jewellery store, probably a pearl or something.

Jason, who was walking just behind me, puts up his hand and says (in his best police officer voice) “no thanks mate”.

The young man takes a step back “you her body guard?”.

Jason was a little perplexed, why would he say that. I just laughed. Some people really don’t have a lot of self-awareness. From now on I think I shall keep my bodyguard. Doesn’t hurt he’s handsome either – eat your heart out.

Its only 11am, but it feels much later. We stop off at OMG, Ohau Mexican Grill, for some guacamole and a margarita. Possibly one of the best morning teas I have had in a long time.  

We walk along the beach back to our accommodation, time for a swim in the sea. The water is lovely and warm. Its like walking into a bath. I also find the water to be quite buoyant, really easy to just float around. Holidays!

Onto the hotel pool, which is surrounded by various versions of Magda from “Theres Something About Mary”. It’s a little scary and an excellent reminder as to why we wear sunscreen. The pool is warm too. The weather starts to change and a big cloud rolls in, clearly an indicator that we should do something else.

We jump in an uber and head to the outlet mall. I am beginning to realise we should have rented a car.

We walk in and out of various stores really finding nothing that we are interested in. The outlet mall is a big disappointment, a failed mission. We did manage to have lunch at a food truck, then we uber back.

Sitting on the balcony, sipping our afternoon drinks the rain comes in and according to our somewhat nutty Uber driver, is here to wash away our sins. In typical tropical operating mode, the rain does not last long and watch the sun come out again.

We watch the sun set before heading out for dinner. We have decided to try out one of the best rated fish restaurants in Waikiki, Paia. It is very close by. When we get there the queue is huge, down the steps, and down the street. Nope, that’s a nope for me. We keep walking and find something else to eat.

Being the amazing wife that I am, I find a brewery AND it turns out they serve food AND they have tables available. Well lock that shit in. The walk up three flights of stairs is absolutely worthwhile, the service was really great, the food was tasty and plentiful and, according to my inhouse expert, the beer is good.

So good, next time we were at the supermarket he swapped out his beloved Longboard for a 6 pack of Maui Blonde. So, its true, gentlemen prefer blondes.

Full bellies, great refreshments, in an amazing location, we wander back to the hotel. I spot… it can’t be can it… a wigglebutt. And yes, it is. A STAFFY. We compliment the woman on her choice of dogs and go home happy.

Goodnight.

15^th October – Today we find Dinosaurs!

Before I talk about our day I wanted to call out a union strike that is happening at a hotel near us. When we were staying at the Hilton in Anaheim, one of the workers asked where we were staying in Hawaii, hoping that we were not staying at the Hilton Village in Honolulu as they are on strike.

The break down is the unionised workers at Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort — the largest Hilton in the world — began an open-ended strike. They are calling for conditions including higher wages, more manageable workloads and a reversal of cuts implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic such as limited daily room cleaning.

The details I have read and the information I have found on the internet make their demands seem pretty bloody reasonable, with profits increasing for these hotels but this is not reflected for their workers.

Boy oh boy do they know how to protest, they are not rude, they are not violent, but they are loud. And they sing, have drums, and little stations at each entry to the hotel where they are handing out complaint forms and request for refund forms for those staying at the Hilton. How clever is that!

We were not staying there, and simply mentioned that when approached. I wish them well. Living in Hawaii is not cheap. Working in the hospitality industry is not easy. They deserve a fair wage, and I hope they get it. As they said “one job should be enough”.

Today we wake up early and I try and get the man inspired to go the gym, but he has really embraced the holiday lifestyle and lazes around in bed, where I serve him breakfast. Did I mention he has the worst life in the world? Just checking.

Today we are going to Kualoa Ranch to do the Jurassic Park tour. A LOT of movies are filmed in this part of Hawaii and some of the different props remain. We will be visiting these on a guided tour.

First we have to find the fucking tour bus. I have a confirmation email that has a GPS link to the bus location. This takes us to the Hilton Village reception, which just does not feel like the right place, Jason asks the tour desk manager and he mentions they usually pick up from the Village bus centre. A few minutes down the road.

We start walking and yes, it does seem a lot more likely that this is where we will meet them, except its terribly signposted and we go in circles a few times. Luckily, we started out early and by the time we finally find the bus, we are not the last on it! Barely.

Seriously if you are going to send out GPS coordinates for your tour guests, making sure they take them to the correct location seems a non brainer. GRUMP!

Since we are delayed on arriving, please remember that Jason’s motto is “on time is late” we get a seat at the very back. Its not that bad and only an hour drive, through Honolulu peak traffic, to the ranch. Honolulu peak traffic! I am still traumatized from our LA experience. This is nothing!!

The ranch is a 4,000 acre Private Nature Reserve as well as a working cattle ranch with cattle, horses and sheep. Located on the eastern shores of O’ahu, it varies from dense Hawaiian rainforest to broad open valleys.

I cannot, for the life of me, recall our guides name. It was long with a lot of vowels. And he was funny! I do love it when tour guides find their own jokes so funny that they have to take a minute to regroup. His jokes were pretty good though. And the fact that he must rattle them off every day and still gets a kick of it, is cool.

We are all grouped up and put into an F450 truck. I am informed of this fact by Jason, as he explains in more detail and my eyes glaze over.

Its an open air truck, but we really are not in any danger. The only wild animals they have here in Hawaii are mongoose, chickens, and pigs. Nothing too scary. But it also means there are no bears or bobcats. Damn it.

They do have a couple of types of lizards but they are not natives.

Off we go to see all the different movie sets. They have to absolutely know the parts of the movies off by heart. As they explain this is where Chris Pratt did this. And the dinosaur did that. I do not know the movie well enough to get the finer details, but the view and the props are great.

“Coming up on our left, there is a cave. Now you all remember the move Castaway with Tom Hanks, and he was living in a cave?”.

We all nod knowingly.

“Well this, is not that cave”.

Funny bastard.

I am sure he saved the best of his repertoire for this particular tour.

We stop at one stage to get a photo with Debbie the Dinosaur. A hand held kids toy that he manages to put into the photos with us.

There is a massive stump where we are standing. He goes on to explain that at the end of the first movie, when Sam Neil had run down the valley and escaped danger, he stands by a massive stump, and looks back at all the dinosaurs roaming in the field?

This is not that stump, that stump is now used elsewhere. This is, in fact, a stump double. Oh, it gets worse.

Films such as Jumanji, Kong Skull Island, Jurassic World, Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor, Godzilla, and 50 First Dates have all been filmed at Kualoa.

Lots of movies with Duane Johnson, last joke, I promise.

“I got the chance to meet Duane Johnson when he was filming here. I accidentally tapped his butt, I knew then, I had hit Rock bottom”.

And yes, that was the rock bottom of his jokes.

There are also a lot of WWII remnants around the ranch that are still standing.

Three hours later we are back at the information centre and we decide to get some lunch here from the café. The queue was huge but they worked their way through it pretty quickly. We had some average food and were sat next to a really terribly behaved child and even worse behaved parent.

Our tour bus was going to be leaving at 345pm, which is 4 hours from now. There is nothing more we really want to do here, so decide to grab an Uber and head back to town.

We were a little sceptical that there would be an uber out this way, but BING, 3 minutes wait. Here came Deborah. A lovely woman with a hearing impairment which meant we yelled our conversation all the way back to town. As peak hour had now cleared, it was only 30 minutes.

Deborah did give us some interesting insight into the local life. Meth is the leading killer for 44-59 year olds, however the younger generation are being killed by opioids and fentanyl. Much the same as you see elsewhere.

Also, on a lighter note, she pointed out a great supermarket where we can get really great priced, and super fresh sashimi and sushi! We will be back there later.

Back at our accommodation its time for Jason to have a nap. It has been a very busy day! I think he is going to struggle with reality when we get back. Fair to say we both will.

Once he has recouped, we head down to the beach for a swim. The water is just divine. Shame there is so many people. After that we head to the pool for more swimming and lazing in the sun. It is warm but the sun is no where near as strong as that is NZ and AU. I can easily snooze in the sun and not get crispy.

There is a TJ Maxx shop I would like to go to, and it is the same direction as the supermarket that Deborah pointed out to us. Shopping at TJ Maxx is far more successful than the outlet market. Jason finds himself some new shorts. I have threatened to dispose of his current ones which are barely holding themselves together. I find a couple of skirts and a pair of pants. Even with the terrible exchange rate, they were a good deal.

As we line up to pay there is quite the odd display of people. The woman in front of us, must be having a bad day, year, life? She has a face like a bulldog chewing on a wasp. Not sure she has ever smiled in her life, as she approaches the cashier its quite clear she is not going to start now.

There is a beautiful young woman lined up with her friend. She is stunning, absolutely gorgeous body and pretty face. And possibly the worst dress sense I have witnessed on anyone over 7. The tightest and tiniest of lime green bike pants with little pockets at the back. A white crop singlet. A pair of bright red cowboy boots. This is the kind of thing you spend hours trying to convince your 5 year old she cannot wear to school. Yikes.

Shopping done, its off to the supermarket. This place is awesome, great selection of cheese, yes please, wine, beer, sashimi and ready made meals. This supermarket has a BAR in the middle of it. SO, you can drop off your significant other, do the groceries without interruption, and then pick them up on the way out. Or, if you find grocery shopping very taxing, you can stop for a quick wine on your way around the store.

We get supplies, including sushi for tonight, and make our way back to the accommodation.

Planned perfectly so we can watch the sunset, I will not get sick of this view! We laze around.

I love being on holiday. I cannot believe its nearly over.

16^th October – Pearl Harbour

When we decided we were coming back to Hawaii, Pearl Harbour was on my must do list. Jason had seen it before when he was here in the 90s but I had never been.

Having visited Japan, Hiroshima it would be really interesting to see this memorial.

Jason’s job was to organise it and he did a pretty thorough job. You can sign up and do a tour, which will cost you around $150 USD per person. The thing is, a lot of the stuff you do in Pearl Harbour, is actually free (Don’t Book any Pearl Harbor Tours Until You Read This! (destinationwwii.com)).

So you are being ripped off. There are even shuttles that will take you from Waikiki to Pearl Harbour.

We opted to go early and try and beat the crowds. There were no shuttles that would get us there for the 700am slot we had booked, so we uber it. Again I think I should have booked a rental car. I feel very comfortable driving on this side of the road. Could have, should have, didn’t.

The Uber gets us there and we pick up our audio tour. They have outdone themselves with the technology. You are handed an iPhone and earphones (wired, lets not get carried away). Rather than an endless narration you can walk to certain areas, key in the number, and listen to the information.

The narration is done by Jamie Lee Curtis – now that was a pleasant surprise. Her father, Tony Curtis, served in WWII so was keen to be involved. She did an amazing job too. Thanks Jamie, you are one of my favs, as was your dad.

It was interesting to see all the information regarding the lead up to Pearl Harbour and the fact that it was nearly 4 years between the bombing and the atomic bomb being dropped. So often movies portray these two things happening in quick succession.

The incoming planes were picked up and reported, but the person who it was reported to had assumed these were American B52s returning from activity and told the radar engineer to ignore it. Oops.

Only three ships hit that day were not able to be repaired and sent back into service. The USS Arizona, the USS Oklahoma, and the USS Utah. Of the two still residing in Pearl Harbour, I assume the Arizona was selected as the monument as the majority of the casualties that day were on the Arizona and remain there now. With 900 of the 1177 men interned in the body of the ship. What I found interesting and extremely moving is that 45 men have since opted to be interred with their ship and their crew mates after their death. Their names are also listed on the memorial.

We have booked to go out to the USS Arizona Memorial. It is a short boat ride from the national park. The boats are captained by the Navy, whilst the park is run by the US Park Service. Very different uniforms.

We get on our scheduled boat and head out to the memorial. The total time, including return transport, is around 45 minutes. As you head out to the memorial the crew as that you treat it with respect and consider the many that died that day. Its pretty hard not to be subdued when you see the remainder of the USS Arizona peaking out of the water, the oil from the ship still bubbling to the surface and reading the names of those who died that day.

This memorial has been very well done, it straddles the shipwreck and allows for beautiful views of the surroundings without intruding.

As you look out from the memorial you can see a navy ship that is still in operation. Can you imagine working on that ship and looking out over the shipwrecks and the memorial every day. That would be very sobering.

We head back from the memorial and decide to go to the Bowfin Submarine Museum. We get to climb on and go inside a retired submarine, the USS Bowfin, its so cool. We found out that submariners are volunteers, you are not deployed to a submarine (thank fuck), and there is a height restriction of 6 feet 7 inches, which, as I stood in the submarine, seemed WAY too tall.

The spaces are tiny and its like the IKEA of marine vessels, every tiny little space has at least one purpose and many have three or four. For example, the officers dining quarters also doubled as a surgery if necessary. Where the missiles are stored, as they are fired there are bunk beds that can be lowered for use. The goal was to utilise all your missiles before heading back, ensuring everyone had their own bed. Normally it was 3 to a bed, as they all worked shifts, no one would need the bed at the same time. GROSS. Just GROSS.

Jason is not a fan of small spaces (massive understatement there) so he opted out and met me at the end of the submarine rather than climbing through the small doors and narrow corridors. I felt there was a lot more space than I had thought. But if you add the crew this would definitely be taken up.

On to the other exhibits. There was a Kaiten, this was horrifying. It’s a piloted missile. I will let that sink in for a bit. Someone climbs inside the missile and pilots it to the target. How do they get out, I hear you ask, well… they don’t. It is, essentially, a kamikaze mission. An honour to guide the missile to its target. They took this shit seriously! A Kaiten held approximately 1.5 tons of explosives, I consider that a non-survivable assignment, those that did it, considered it a privilege.

On the American side, they believed that the Japanese had a particular smell. So had a program to train dogs to bit those that smelt Japanese. How would they know, I hear you ask, well they trained these dogs on Japanese American soldiers. Clearly this program did not succeed and after a couple of years (yes, years) and many bites to these poor bastards, the program was scrapped.

We finish our tour, the experience was very different to the memorial at Hiroshima. I think the scale and the number of civilians impacted really made the difference. To a certain extent the majority of those killed here were in the military, those in Hiroshima were civilians, women, children, babies, and the graphic nature of the images were shocking.

Both are worth visiting. Both are valuable lessons in how cruel and stupid humans can be. There is no doubt you leave with a heavy feeling and a lot of introspection.

An uber is summoned and within seconds arrives. Turns out our good man had just dropped some people off when we placed our order.

Our driver is Taelegaopetesa, just call me Taele, and he is Samoan. He picks us as Kiwis straight away. His father is from American Samoa and his mother from Western Samoa, he visits there a lot. This guy is a laugh.

We have decided to get dropped off at Paia, the restaurant that had the massive queue outside, and explained where we are going and why. I say “I don’t like waiting for food”, Taele is fairly certain I am part Samoan. I agree!

It is our lucky day, there is only a slight queue at Paia and we are seated easily. The menu is pretty basic, they have their standard offerings, you select your fish, how you want it cooked, and the sides.

I ordered mine with Cajun seasoning which, in hindsight, was a mistake. It overpowered the fish. It was nicely cooked though. Jason got his grilled and that seemed to be a much better option. Not that I would know, because he did not share it with me! How rude.

We pick up a gelato as we head back to the hotel for another swim at the beach and at the pool. The rest of the afternoon is spent swimming, sunning, and reading.

Making the most of our downtime we sit on the balcony and watch the sunset, with snacks and sushi.

As we chill out there are a bunch of sirens that start up, not just one or two, but LOTS. We look out across the marina and see ambulances, fire engines, and the costal rescue boat, and helicopters all being deployed. There are people at the end of the pier shining their lights into the water. Something was going on and it was big. Two hours later when we were heading to bed, the lights were still flashing. Whoever is out there, we hope they are ok.

Tomorrow is our last day in Hawaii.

Jason has planned a hike up Diamond Head Point. I have been reading about it online and I am worried. My lungs are still gluggy, and I am still coughing. The description on the site uses words like steep, challenging, and I think, I am screwed.

17^th October – Diamond Head and Relaxation

To do the Diamond Head trail you have to book and pay. It is a very popular hike and people flood to it. We have booked our timeframe between 700am and 800am. Probably a good idea to get it done before it gets too hot.

I get up and look out the balcony doors to see the rescue boat just returning. It is 600am. That is a very long night for those people.

I find the local news channel and it is good news. Really good news. The kayaker who went missing last night whilst out with a group, has been found at 500am this morning. Bloody hell, that would have been a long night for him and his family.

He is a young teenager, it seems as though he lost his paddle and started to drift. No one could hear him yell out. When the others got back to the marina they realised they were one person down and that’s when the EMS were sent out.

A helicopter saw him floating this morning and sent off a flare, a local fishing boat saw it, rush over and plucked him out of the water. Bloody hell.

I make breakfast, Jason has his in bed, btw how can he still get avocado on the sheets when he has the duvet pulled up. I am amazed.

We get prepped, lots of water, sun screen, hats, glasses, all good to go. Order our Uber (yes I should have rented a car…) and off we go.

Diamond Head is actually a crater. To get there you have to drive or walk through a tunnel that goes through the wall of the crater. The walk itself is up the side of the crater to the top of the wall.

Diamond Head was formed about 300,000 years ago during a single, explosive eruption that sent ash and fine particles into the air, which settled and cemented together into a rock called tuff, creating the crater. The crater is 350 acres in size and 760 feet (232 meters) high at its highest point. In Hawaiian, it’s called Lēʻahi, which means “brow of the tuna” due to its shape resembling a tuna’s dorsal fin.

Its only 730am and it is hot already, the sun is out and its beautiful. People are already coming down as we start the ascent. Despite my worst fears it is not as bad as I thought, and we make it to the top in just under 30 minutes, where the views are spectacular. You can see in every direction.

We regroup, guzzle down some water, and start our walk back down. Despite my concerns and freaking out I am so glad we did it.

As we get to the bottom we decide to walk back to town, its not that far and we can walk along the waterfront, probably pick up a gelato on the way, you know, we earned it.

The wind is not as evident today and this makes everything feel warmer, when we go for a swim at the beach it actually feels colder. Are we acclimatising. Yikes!

After another walk to Foodland for lunch supplies. No matter how well we try and plan things we seem to end up having lunch late. Thank goodness we are on holiday!

Its time for Jason’s nap and I need to get some stamps to send the last of the postcards. Walking around town, I am going to miss this place. No shopping, our bags, including our new one, is full!

We spend the afternoon on the balcony with a few drinks and snacks, discussing how amazing our trip has been. We are very lucky humans.

Hawaii is mourning our impending departure, this is evident by the cloudy sky and lack of visible sunset tonight, I get it, we will miss you too.

Tonight’s dinner is at another brewery Waikiki Brewing. We saw it when we were out for one of our many walks. It is nice and close to the accommodation and expectations are high. Turns out the food is average the beer is no better and we are quite disappointed. Maui Brewing is the place you want to go to. Learn from our mistake.

No point in dwelling on it, we wander back to our accommodation. Tomorrow we fly out. Our bags are packed, we are ready to go, the uber is ordered (yes I should have rented a car…).

The last night’s sleep in the very squishy and cozy bed. Our last night in the lovely accommodation with the spectacular view.

Good night!

18^th October/ 19^th October – Mahalo Hawaii, Kia Ora Auckland

We are up nice early, bags sorted, shower sorted, room sorted. We leave.

Head down to the Uber who is early. Wow, that does not happen often.

This means we are now early to the airport. Sweet, we drop off our bags, all of which are under the weight allowance – well done us. Through security, last time Jason will have to struggle and take his shoes off, and into the airport.

It is then I realise that I had two postcards I had forgotten to post. Most I had done the night before and sent straight away but these two I needed to send this morning. There is no post box in the airport.

And it turns out, there is no one willing to “take responsibility” or “take liability” for the posting of these cards. I try to explain that if they could post them at some stage that would be amazing, if they got lost, so be it. But no, no help, nothing.

Just to be clear they had stamps, addresses, everything. The only thing they didn’t have was a box to be posted into.

The cards were never sent, sorry Aira and Vincent.

We have breakfast in the United Lounge, never, ever, ever again. We only went in there because they are partners with Air NZ, eww. The food is unrecognisable and felt stale. We get fed on the plane, so we can wait.

Our flight is slightly delayed due to a medical emergency. Seems that someone getting off the plane had an issue, we see the paramedics taking him away. He is conscious so hopefully nothing serious.

I love the type of announcements you hear at an airport. Today’s winner was “please check your carry-on luggage for any firearms”.

We board and are greeted by the lovely Air New Zealand staff. It is so nice to be back on Air NZ and I tell them as much. They take such good care of you, genuinely engage in conversation and seem happy to be there. I think it helps that they have had 3 days in Honolulu before this flight.

Our flight time has been reduced to just over 8 hours, meaning with the delays we will arrive on time.

We settle back, watch movies, I write to you guys, and we land without issue in Auckland.

There is a 16 hour wait until our flight to Brisbane, rather than spend that time pacing the airport we have booked a night at the Pullman.

We land, get through customers, get our bags, get through biosecurity, and are checked into our room in 50 minutes. I love it when shit just works.

The time difference between Hawaii and Auckland is really manageable. 1 hour. Hawaii is actually 1 hour ahead a day behind. But our body clock cares little about days, only about hours and we feel pretty settled. It does mess with things though having left on a Friday morning and 9 hours later land on a Saturday afternoon.

We have dinner at the Pullman, Jason has the worlds smallest paua fritter. I had the raw fish which was lovely. Then our mains, the beef cheek for Jason (it was amazing, and almost worth the $50 price tag) and I order a cheese platter because I can’t think of anything else I really want to eat.

I cannot finish it and ask for a box to take it with me. I would happily eat a cheese plate for breakfast. But no, no takeaway boxes. I can take the whole plate apparently. I wish I had now. Fuckers, I would have put a shower cap over it and taken it in my carry-on bag.

I was just so gob smacked at the time I left it behind.

The Pullman is a great place to stay, mostly because of the location, it’s a 2-minute walk from the international terminal. The rooms are nice and very new. It could do with more experienced/polished staff, for a 5-star hotel, it felt like it was a training venue for those in hospitality. Very pleasant but a little clueless.

The bed was very comfortable, and they have amazing blackout curtains. We sleep well.

Tomorrow, we have our last flight home.

Its exciting to be going home and Jason cannot wait to see Harri, who he has demanded photos of almost daily.  Thank you to Sian and Amanda for humouring him.

It means reality and getting back to work. The thought fills me with dread.

20^th October – Homeward Bound

Reluctantly we drag ourselves out of bed, its time to check in for our final flight home. A 3 hour flight from Auckland to Brisbane. All going well we will land in AU at 10am local time.

Bags are, once again, packed and dragged over to the airport. At least the entire trip to the airport takes 2 minutes.

We check in, get through security, and make it to the Air NZ lounge in time for breakfast.

Our flight is on time and boarding went smoothly.

Going home is happening way too quickly, bringing a very abrupt end to this wonderful journey!

Filling out the declaration form, I realised we no longer had to fill out one section, as we are now Australian citizens! We were quite excited about this and did not tick the box.

We landed early, exit the plane quickly, our bags are waiting, the customs queue is super short. This is unreal.

Then, it happened.

NYCO: You have not filled out this section.

JKW: No, we are citizens.

NYCO: You have done the ceremony?

JKW: Yes we have the paperwork and the new chip installed.

NYCO: Ok, please take this to that area over there.

OH SHIT, should I not have joked about the chip installation, at least I didn’t joke that we had the obligatory lobotomy.

ANYCO: You are citizens?

JKW: Yes, but we only have NZ passports as they are still valid for a few more years.

ANYCO: Take a seat.

I mention to Jason, next time we check the fucking box.

10 minutes goes past, no one says anything to us.

 Then we are told we can go. I am not sure what they looked up, or what we should have done. Needless to say, we will be ticking boxes in future.

The uber home was fast and finally, we are here. At home, with the dogs going nuts.

Our home has been beautifully looked after, there is nothing that we need to do other than unpack and do our washing.

We cannot thank Sian and Amanda enough for taking such amazing care of our home and our girls. We owe you so very much.

THE END

We have had such a wonderful time, seen amazing things, and spent time with some dear friends. We have had wonderful experiences and made memories that we will cherish forever.

I hope you have enjoyed being on this journey with us.

For now, mahalo and goodnight.