The two month long journey begins.
No matter how much time you leave for packing and how big your bags, you always seem to run out of room and time. Still we made it to the airport on time thanks to a departure gate drop off from Sharon's father, Don.
We enjoyed an event free although, as always, lengthy check-in and customs clearance - including a 'random' selection to be electronically scanned and padded down for explosives.
After surviving the gauntlet of duty free perfume, alcohol, chocolates, jewelery and pocket electronics we grabbed some Japanese food for dinner and then made our way onto the gate for boarding.
The flight was generally trouble free with some turbulence throughout especially closer to Hawaii. This turbulence may or may not have been caused by the human chainsaw snoring away impressively in the seat behind us. At least he got some sleep.
No vegan food for us sadly, so we ate our own supplies of nuts, seeds and apricot delight, although we did get some sliced apple for breakfast and succumbed to the muffin.
Not much food for us, but an excessive offering of beverages for all. We were offered 3 or 4 drink refills within a 15 minute window at every beverage service. Seeing as we were also locked into our seats with serving carts at either end blocking access to the toilets, I was tempted to ask for bed pans with each refill.
As usual I was unable to get even a seconds sleep, so I spent the flight listening to music and watching a DVD on my iPad. That passed the time generally and left about 2 hours at the end where I was ready for it to be over.
We eventually made it to Hawaii and just as we were coming in to land we were lucky to see a huge US Navy submarine heading out to sea. It was only about 500 metres off the coast and had not yet submerged. It was quite impressive to see, even if I do loathe the thought of what it's capable of undertaking.
We cleared US customs fairly painlessly and found a Taxi immediately and were delivered to the apartment we will call home for the next week.
The apartment block itself is a little run down, but the apartment itself is clean and decent enough for our time here. It's not far at all from Waikiki beach and has a great view back towards the mountains.
We've just showered and freshened up and we head out soon to head down to Waikiki beach for a look around and then pick up some grocery supplies.
No matter how much time you leave for packing and how big your bags, you always seem to run out of room and time. Still we made it to the airport on time thanks to a departure gate drop off from Sharon's father, Don.
We enjoyed an event free although, as always, lengthy check-in and customs clearance - including a 'random' selection to be electronically scanned and padded down for explosives.
After surviving the gauntlet of duty free perfume, alcohol, chocolates, jewelery and pocket electronics we grabbed some Japanese food for dinner and then made our way onto the gate for boarding.
The flight was generally trouble free with some turbulence throughout especially closer to Hawaii. This turbulence may or may not have been caused by the human chainsaw snoring away impressively in the seat behind us. At least he got some sleep.
No vegan food for us sadly, so we ate our own supplies of nuts, seeds and apricot delight, although we did get some sliced apple for breakfast and succumbed to the muffin.
Not much food for us, but an excessive offering of beverages for all. We were offered 3 or 4 drink refills within a 15 minute window at every beverage service. Seeing as we were also locked into our seats with serving carts at either end blocking access to the toilets, I was tempted to ask for bed pans with each refill.
As usual I was unable to get even a seconds sleep, so I spent the flight listening to music and watching a DVD on my iPad. That passed the time generally and left about 2 hours at the end where I was ready for it to be over.
We eventually made it to Hawaii and just as we were coming in to land we were lucky to see a huge US Navy submarine heading out to sea. It was only about 500 metres off the coast and had not yet submerged. It was quite impressive to see, even if I do loathe the thought of what it's capable of undertaking.
We cleared US customs fairly painlessly and found a Taxi immediately and were delivered to the apartment we will call home for the next week.
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| Sunrise from our apartment balcony |
We've just showered and freshened up and we head out soon to head down to Waikiki beach for a look around and then pick up some grocery supplies.
