Hawaii 2-0 Part 8 Farewell Honolulu, G’Day Australia

Our remaining time in Honolulu was spent walking up and down the streets of Waikiki, exploring the local shops and markets and buying last minute souvenirs for friends and family. We also visited places of interest such as the Eternal Flame, built-in memory of all Hawaiians who have served in the armed forces, the War Memorial, Government House and the Town Hall.

We also spent half a day at Waikele Premium Outlets. With only 50 stores it was nowhere near as big as our Harbor Town, but they had an impressive list of stores including: Armani, Adidas, Banana Republic, Calvin Klein, Coach, Gap, Guess, Polo Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. We spent about half an hour at Levi’s alone just trying to figure out US sizing for the kids to buy them some jeans for winter (which we’ve since found out we got totally wrong and none of them fit).  We also got Chris some new shirts, pants and ties for work from Calvin Klein.

We couldn’t leave Hawaii without experiencing a luau so one evening we booked into the  Waikiki Starlight Luau, which is held under the stars on the roof top of the Convention Centre. Included in the tickets were two drinks (Mai Tai’s of course) a banquet feast, live music and a wonderful show of dances from across the pacific region including the Hakka from New Zealand and a Tongan fire dance. The costumes were amazing and we had a really great night.

All good things must come to an end, and by 8.30 Tuesday morning we were all packed and waiting for our hotel pickup to take us to the airport. After a 1/2 hour ride to Honolulu Airport, a relatively easy check-in (which included getting exit row seats for the flight home – YES!) and more Starbucks (I love their iced white chocolate mocha almost as much as the free wi-fi) we were boarded and on the way home.

While the flight back was longer than the flight over (not quite sure why) the extra space in the exit row, plus the fact we were travelling during the day, made for a relatively painless flight and hardly any jet lag. I finally got to read my new Matthew Reilly book ‘Scarecrow’ which I had bought and he autographed for me late last year, and Chris and I watched Fast Five (the fifth edition of the Fast and the Furious – meh!) and Battle Los Angeles (highly recommend).  Due to the curfew at Adelaide Airport it wasn’t possible to travel all the way home in go so we had an overnight stop in Sydney where we stayed at the Radisson Suites and Apartments and had a good nights sleep in a king size bed. Then it was back to the airport in the morning and onto Adelaide. There was a lovely surprise waiting for us at the airport, two happy smiling children who were very glad to see their mum and dad home again, and couldn’t wait to see what presents we had bought back for them.

After travelling close to 20,000 km by plane, boat and car/bus it is nice to be home, although I am sitting here looking at a massive pile of laundry that just won’t go away. Thank you for joining me on my adventures. I’m not sure when I’ll be posting again, but after how much we enjoyed this trip, it won’t be long before we start planning again.

Mahalo!