Friday on my mind

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Today was huge in fact it was 30 hours of huge. Getting up at 5am Australian time Friday 7th, driving the 1 hour to Proserpine airport from Mackay, waiting for our delayed Jetstar flight to Brisbane and then the hanging around until 6pm to depart Australia direct to Honolulu. Gotta love airport food and drink, almost $100- spent today just hanging out and eating and drinking.
Pick the terrorist today, 2 gunpowder swaps in Proserpine, and a full body scan in Brisbane.
So after a 9 hour flight we arrived 7-30am Friday the 7th USA time. ( this was 3am Saturday Australia) which is no problem when you can sleep on a plane, and a huge problem for Martin who only sleeps luxuriously tucked up in a real bed.And guess who got pulled aside for a complete interrogation and baggage search. 7kgs of carry on only luggage attracted all sorts of attention.So the #19 & #20 bus for the grand total of $2-50 takes you to downtown Waikiki, past the slums, the shantys and many homeless people sleeping rough in parks. It goes straight through China town, past all important monuments and downtown Honolulu. Our hostel is all about location location location, 1/2 block from Waikiki and right near the zoo. Quite a swish place when it was built in the 1960's for sure, however it remains as it was a faded monument to past glory.But for $40 a night and a semi private room it's going to be OK. Walking through the 6 person dorm and sharing a bathroom is the price we pay for such a bargain.So Waikiki is all about beach, bikinis (not matching bottoms and tops) surfing, and families. The local parks and walks are busy from sundown when a cool breeze blows.Sunset was around 7-30pm with crowds out and about. ABC shops are like fleas on a dog, they sell whatever you need from sunscreen to sandwiches.So tonight we are dining alfresco at the local beach just up from Waikiki, with a few drinks, wine and cheese platter, the local homeless serenading us with some great Eagles songs and guitar and the local families out for an evening together.Feeling very safe here, just blending into the shadows like all the others. The people look very Melanesian, lots of Japanese tourists and a million places to eat out and enjoy a few drinks.Everything is an easy walk from our hostel, loads of sprukers telling us of their incredible bargains, such a lot of choice.

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