Day 39
We left Hawaii, or paradise as we call it, with style - in a white limousine (same price as a taxi), and on the way the driver explained why the Honolulu traffic was so bad. Back when they built the freeway, they never imagined there would be so many people living on the Island, so they only made it three lanes in each direction. Now, there is no room to expand; they can't go under, because the ground is unstable, and to go up, would spoil the city skyline.
Complicating the matter is most of the population lives in this one city; there's less people up on the North Shore, so there must be hardly anybody living on the other Islands, and these are probably the areas to stay after your all done with Waikiki.
The tricks we have discovered to flying: arrive two hours and fifteen minutes prior to the flight, because, right on the two hour mark everybody seems to turn up all at once. Security? Simple, wear thongs (flip flops), no belt, and carry hardly anything in your pockets. Seating? The last four rows of a 747 are two seats on the window side, with a gap to put items or stretch out. The last lesson, the most important, avoid flying domestic if at all possible; catch the train or drive.
The flight from Los Angeles to Sydney is ten hours, and it felt more like twenty, because there were no monitors in the seats. I watched a DVD on my laptop, until after about ninety minutes the battery ran out.
Normally when we catch a plane, we are looking forward to a new city, a new hotel, but now all we can look forward to the next trip, which we have decided will be a six week driving tour of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
We arrived safe and sound at Sydney Airport at 5.30pm 4th September, as we of course, lose a day when we cross the Date Line. Stepping outside the terminal, we were struck by how cold it is here – 14 degrees! This is going to take some getting used to.
At home, the apartment looks smaller, different, and Australian television strange – no constant US election coverage or the missing child, Caylee Anthony, in Florida, and I can’t remember any reference to Australia in the US media for six weeks. We feel disorientated; Louise is wandering around, suddenly realizing the bathroom is a 1960’s throwback, which I guess has become apparent after staying at luxurious hotels for the last six weeks.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed our United States blog, and we certainly had a fun time over there. We will continue to update this blog from time to time as we make some short trips around Australia during the next twelve months, prior to our next overseas trip to the United Kingdom and Ireland, which you will again be able to follow on this blog.
