We left Auckland in Sunday the 19th April, having spent the Saturday visiting with the mother and youngest child units, and cooking our dear friends C and L a salmon dinner. The child joined us and left for his city abode by bus at 8pm. We are so proud of the maturity he has gained in the 2 yrs since we saw him last, and have no doubts he will be just fine for another one or two. We will see him at Christmas on Maui...yes, we have already booked our flights for the new grandson's first Christmas on Maui.
We have a couple of Fix-it jobs to complete for the new parents while there and will enjoy time with them and the other child unit from NZ over the festive season.
After some cold and somewhat iffy weather prior to our departure, the Sunday morning dawned cool but clear. Woohoo! I had rather been expecting a bumpy ride out of the city, but we were in luck.
Auckland airport is fantastic...easy to negotiate and the food is great! Once we had filled out our declaration cards and checked in on the kiosks, our bags were on the conveyor belt and we were free to get a much needed coffee and breakfast food. Our final Flat White (kiwi milk!!!) and bran/walnut muffin with a banana to finish, went down well. We would be getting food on the plane, so we didn't fill up too much.
Our flight was on time, and we took off at just on 11am. Blue skies, and no wind to speak of.
AirNZ is always a pleasure to fly with, and this was no exception. A daytime flight out with yummy food...including the new flavor of Summer Nectarine Ice-Cream..Kapiti brand, of course...was most welcome. Our night time flight was yet to come.
We landed in Honolulu at 9.15pm-ish, and were picked up by the shuttle to the Honolulu Airport Hotel. Nice enough, and the staff were very efficient. We were a little hungry, but had eaten dinner on the plane. It was a small 'snack' of a ham and cheese Panini. No food available at the hotel so we just had showers and went to bed. The aircon was exceptionally noisy, but it helped to drown out the sound of planes taking off...cant have it all ways, I guess:)
We rose in time to get breakfast in the hotel dining room. Something we wouldn't normally do, but we were tired and didn't know where the nearest McDonalds was. Turned out, it was just a block up the road! Don't hate me for eating McD's...it is often the least expensive way to eat, when on a fixed budget. By comparison, a bowl of fruit salad and plate of eggs with corned beef hash and hash browns (I ate about half the meal, it was so huge) for two was almost $50!!!! yikes!
We caught a #19 bus into the Ala Moana Center for a day of looking around and enjoying the local food. By local, I mean the Japanese Department store, Shirokiya. They used to have a store on Maui, and I had always enjoyed the 'local' food there. This Shirokiya has mostly Japanese food, which I was very happy to eat, thank you. We bought a variety of food for Waz to try...Takoyaki (Fried squid) , Garlic Chicken, a Sushi plate and Inari as well.
It was warm in Honolulu, but thank goodness for the trade wind. It wasn't unpleasant warm, fortunately.
We stood on the third floor balcony at the Ala Moana Center and took these photos looking towards the city of Honolulu.
We had arranged for my Sister-in-law to pick us up near the Center around 3.30pm. She drove us out to their home in Maunawili, through the Pali tunnel and out the other side. It is cooler up there...NICE!
Dinner and lots of catch-up before she drove us back to the Hotel. We had made a decision on our next day's foray into the city, so we slept like logs.
We walked the one block towards McDonalds (we had seen it on the trip into town on the bus), and were delighted to find, across the road, a Melaleuca Store. WOW! I had been wondering how I was going to get some more triple anti-biotic of this brand. I love that product! We bought six tubes. Future proofing!!
Our breakfast was standard...Sausage/egg McMuffin with a Hash Brown each. Water to drink.
Fortified, we caught the #19 bus into Waikiki, this time. We knew there would be a good walk, so we had sensible shoes on. I found that the sole of my right shoe was coming adrift...bah! More fixit coming up!
Walking the streets to find where we could access the beach was a bit of a trial. We decided to go through one of the Hotels along the waterfront, and this proved wise....a coffee shop was right there waiting to take our morning coffee order:) Waz opted for a mango smoothie, wisely.
Plenty of people out enjoying the sun/surf and sea on Waikiki Beach.
Having walked as far as we felt able, we decided to make our way back to the Ala Moana Center for more Japanese food. It was a walk of several miles, and we were glad to be on the shade side of many of the buildings, which meant we also got lots of cooling breeze.
On the way we passed the Honolulu Convention Center, which was closed. The interior was photo-worthy, don't you think?
Back to Shirokiya Food Hall.
We had a different variety of goodies, this time, and went downstairs to one of the bakeries for a sweet treat and something to take away for a snack. We were glad we did the latter.
We needed to be back at the Hotel for our night flight out to LA. Arriving there around 5pm was well timed. We had caught the bus back and then walked a block. We were grateful for the opportunity to sit and gather ourselves and rest our sore feet in the Hotel salon. We struck up conversation with a couple from Missouri, and enjoyed their company for an hour or so before catching the shuttle to the airport.
Our flight to LA was jam packed. Not only was it full, but we had a 17 month old baby sitting in our row of three seats. We always feel sorry for the children and parents when flying...baby had to sit on mother's knee and sleep was a long time coming on this 5 hr flight. baby couldn't stretch out in her normal sleeping pose and her poor mother couldn't relax either. We tried our best to catch come winks, but they were not restful. There are no frills offered on internal USA planes. No screens...you are supposed to have your own, these days, and food for sale only. We got water/juice or coffee for free, but nothing else.
We just had time to get a coffee and muffin (bran, again) before boarding the next flight to Houston, TX. Fortunately this is a relatively short flight from LA....about 3 hrs. We were grateful for the sustenance!
I read for most of the flight...Waz had retrieved a book someone had left on a seat in HNL, and I was very engrossed in this Lee Child Novel...I like his Jack Reacher novels.
We had two hours on the ground in Houston before the flight to Tampa. We decided on a meal at Real Food on our concourse, and were happy with our choices there. Fruit salad and sushi. Waz bought fruit salad only.
I have to say, at this point, that we were really happy to be back in The South. There is such a different feeling to being in the south...We love the food, the manners and people are friendly and welcoming.
Our arrival in Tampa after the short 2 hr flight, was with great relief. Not just the lack of sleep, but the three flights had taken their toll on us. We were so happy to find our car in the Hotel parking lot where we had left it for the duration. It was VERY dirty, but that didn't matter...a car wash was on the cards for the next day.
Driving on the OTHER side of the road again took all of two seconds adjustment. One feels a bit of a chameleon, at times.
We drove to a local Taco Bell, in Tampa and ate dinner before setting out on the 2 hr drive south to Port Charlotte. Arriving late evening, we tried to open the boat up to allow airflow, but it was hot outside and air wasn't going to happen. We put two fans in the bedroom on full blast, and pulled the bed clothes back to allow us to sleep on top without cover. We slept that way all night, waking in a bit of a lather.
With a bit of jet lag to take into consideration, we rose about 10am and ate our first meal..scrambled eggs with tomato..yum! before putting the first load of four into the washing machine.
Sorting out the baggage, which we were climbing over, at this stage, and putting the contents back where they came from, we managed to empty them all and stow before going next door to visit with Stef and Mia.
Mia glommed onto Waz first up, then demanded to be held by me. She has begun walking since we left, and alternates between that and crawling to get where she needs to be. She has grown and put on some weight, which I noticed when I was tipping her upside down and flying through the air, while playing. She is just as perky and fun as ever:)
Lovely to have a south wind to help dry clothes and give us some much needed airflow through the boat. It is warm..in the 80's (early 30C) and humid. A little rain overnight helped to cool things down a bit, but not much.
We did a large number of chores yesterday (Wednesday) in preparation for the final visit from the carpet cleaners at 9am this morning. The carpets look fantastic now! Cream is not an ideal color for boat carpets, though it looks nice and bright. The salon carpet is now covered by a King sized sheet, to keep the carpet clean, underneath.
Time is not our friend...We had stopped at the supermarket on the way home, on Tuesday night, just as the store was closing, and bought essentials. I am grateful that we did, because it would have been a major issue to go shopping yesterday. Neither the will nor the way, frankly. It was 7pm before we felt remotely like eating, least night, and were grateful for the cold cuts and cole slaw we had purchased the night before.
It is overcast today, for which we are grateful. We have done more chores, and are anxious to see the aircon fella who will re-gas two units for us, as we cannot get any cold air right now. Perhaps tonight we will be able to sleep with the aircon on??
Our plans for the next couple of weeks are a bit up in the air. Waz has reapplied for an extended Green Card...the first he received was just for 2 yrs, and this one will give him 10 years, we hope. We don't know if an interview is required, so we have to stay in the area until we know one way or the other. With our boat insurance requiring us to vacate Florida by June 1st, we may have to re-enter the state by plane, if the interview is later than that date.
Our preferred summer destination is still North Carolina, where we can only stay 3 months, so we will either return to Georgia for a month or more, or go north into Chesapeake Bay. Lots of possibilities there.
We may also have some Kiwi visitors, this year. Friends travelling to Europe are returning via the USA, and we hope to catch them on that return trip:)
I need to go and put the last load of laundry in, so will carry this on in a day or five.
Looks like cooler weather until the weekend! thank you!!!!:) Ciao for now.
p.s. My new two burner Induction cooktop was waiting for us when we returned. I just cooked lunch on it with two pans..YAYAY! it works great!!!
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