April 6

Awoke to bright sunshine and moderate temps.  Breakfast at the hotel, we are one of the lucky ones with a 9:30AM departure.  10 of us piled into a large van, and our baggage  nearly didn’t  fit.  We are on board with the group going to the optional trip to Fiji.  We weren’t tempted given the recent cyclones that have hit the area.  We get to the airport and they go to the Fiji Airlines and the flight is cancelled due to cyclone.  Don’t know what they will do but our tour guide is still with them for now and it will get worked out. Jim the Guide has another tour starting in Cairns on Sunday (where we started).  Figi: the tourists stay on an island that is a group of 5 star hotels with every amenity.  The developers pulled out all the mangrove trees so there are no decent beaches and they must use the pools only.  There are optional tours offered, pay extra to go to an actual beach and to see the ‘real’ Figi.  We saw the devastation that happened from the last cyclone and know we are in cyclone season.  We think we dodged a bullet with our choice to R and R in Hawaii.  Even the cruise through the South Pacific islands one of the couples is doing may be disrupted by the cyclones churning out there.  We have access to the Qantas Club with our Business Class tics; they have hot soups, salads, sandwiches, sweets and NZ ice cream that is so rich and unbelievably good, mostly have fresh fruit blended in it.  And the drinks are free, so NZ wine and champagne to celebrate our time in NZ.  Now we have another time change when we arrive in Sydney.  The flight is about 3 hours in transit and moved our watches to 2 hours later, business class makes it all so easy.  We have an eight hour layover and our bags have been checked to Honolulu so we take the commuter train back to the city and visit the botanical gardens.  We are in one of the old commuter cars and it is incredibly hot inside and they don’t have the screen that tells you what stations we are passing. We are very comfortable with the city by now, we figure we have been in Sydney four times counting tonight since first arrival.    The weather is in the 90’s and sunny as we get off at Circular Quay and walk around the Opera House one last time, nice wind blowing.  The botanic gardens are bordered by the harbor, the trees, the fernery house and the palms are incredible.  The cockatoos are gathering and very loud screeching.  We return to the Opera House and close views of the bridge where we stop along the way at a tiny restaurant with a table right on the water.  The Quay is home to all the harbor ferries and there seems to be chaos with them all passing and berthing frequently.  All in front of a giant Princess cruise line ship.  Too large to sail under the bridge it must moor in this crazy little harbor with mounds of boat traffic and dwarfs everything , equal in scale to the Opera House.  We watch the sunset and the last of the bridge climbers finishing for the day.  We walk over to the Rocks side of the Quay and just enjoy people watching and boat activity.  The city and harbor lights are coming on.  We follow the cruise ship as it has to back out of the Quay and into the main channel of the harbor.  There are at least 3000 people on the cruise ship.  Train back to International airport this time with air conditioning and helpful signage and a last hour in the lounge.  Unlimited cashews and Aus licorice allsorts, there is a heaven!  Onto plane for the next 9 ½ hours.  Pilot says the south Pacific especially Fiji is in cyclone mode but we are flying away to the north, no problem.  Thinking of tour friends who are stuck in Auckland unable to finish their trip.  Skip the dinner and lower our seats into flat beds, pills, pillows, duvets, jammies, earplugs and eye mask, off to sleep.  Can’t even hear the fussy baby right behind us.  Now that we will be grandparents we are much kinder to the young parents’ plight but ear plugs help!

April  6, it’s déjà vu all over again.  Wake about 6 hours later and have ordered a big breakfast, lots of coffee and mimosa.  Caught up on Portlandia, they are still nuts.  We have passed the International Dateline so it’s now yesterday and we’re north of the equator, returned to the northern hemisphere.  Landed Honolulu without any hassle from customs etc.  Good to be American returning home.  Sunny, warm, lots of trade winds blowing.  Picked up rental car, Camaro and Mustang are some choices, we went suburban with big sedan that can handle our expanding luggage; those darn boomerangs take up so much room!   Drive to the hotel and have to wait an hour for room to be ready.  We have returned to the hotel we stayed in on our way to Aus.  It’s an open air lobby with beautiful large wood art work, wild birds flying in and out and fresh colorful flowers.  We have a higher floor this time and further out over the ocean.  We are looking right down on Waikiki Beach and can see down the full southern length of the beach out to the headland.  Diamond Head is right behind us, we are once again on the slower, quieter end of the beach.  We can also see up into the interior of the island, lots of mountain peaks and valleys.  The Beach is busy with many kinds of water craft and swimming in white sand.  We take time to shower and do some laundry and unpack so we can be ready for adventure tomorrow.  No buses or trains to catch for 5 days, it seems weird.  We can go where we want and when we want, such a contrast. Yet, wouldn’t have traded a moment of our tour. We watch the sun set from our balcony eating a whole bag of Hawaiian macadamia nuts between us. (Aus macadamias are Hawaiian macs on steroids)  It is very warm but the constant winds keep it very pleasant. Thinking of taking a walk later we’ll see.  It’s been a big 24 hours of planes, trains and automobiles , time travel and longitudinal and latitudinal changes.  We are so grateful for all the strangers who performed their jobs well and the kindness of strangers who lent a hand, delivering us safely over these many miles.