Blogs from Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii, United States, North America - page 3

You’d think I’d be used to queuing up through Immigration by now. But there’s queues, and then there’s QUEUES and Hawaii wins the medal for having the longest. I guess being on a plane that was several hours late arriving and coinciding with the arrival of three other planes stuffed to the gills with passengers seeking entry to a small island archipelago didn’t help. Add to that arriving in the middle of a government shut-down with many security staff effectively working unpaid and you had a perfect recipe for chaos. Which is what we got ... The Immigration Hall could barely contain the volume of passengers. The barriers snaked up and down and left to right, filtering us through to a central area with automated fingerprint scanners and cameras. Slowly, slowly we crept along and, just ... read more

Lazy Morning this morning a relaxing breakfast overlooking Waikiki Beach - hard to handle but someone has to do it. Wandered around and did some window shopping before heading to the Hard Rock Café to see the kids perform again. The just keep getting better. Restaurant not packed but those that were there really enjoyed the performance. Then it was off to the Ala Moana Shopping Centre for their final performance. This was the longest they played and probably the best they played. They generally start with the two anthems and this time we had someone near us singing our anthem. The crowd were quite interactive this time which was good. Then we wandered around the shopping centre - well part of it. It was huge and a strange setup. Some of the shops faced inside ... read more

Undoubtably, she will ask me today, “So, how does it feel to have a 19 yr old daughter?” My response will be - “Beautiful, it feels beautiful”. She came into this world 19 yrs ago today with so much fire and spice, it seemed to set the tone for her path. I often look at Rio and have said on countless occasions, “how did I ever give birth to you!” It’s become a joke at times but the truth of the matter is - Rio has always been the person I wished I could have been growing up. Our relationship has been shaped by life circumstances and I have always been conscious of Rio’s presence. It’s hard to miss it, she’s got this forceful nature that barges right into your heart ❤️ As I think back ... read more

Sunny and warm 77°F It's 7am as we dock in Honolulu. We're here until 11pm so we have plenty of time. Our alarm is set for 7:30 and , while Karen gets up, I allow her to get ready before me and stay in bed another 20 minutes. Then it's up for our usual breakfast. It's almost 9am and the ship appears empty. Few people are in the buffet and we relax out by the pool. That is, until Mom decides to call Queenie. "It's just a quick call", she says. I know there is no such thing and fear we're going to be stuck here for some time. I set my phone timer for 5 minutes as she dials but as I predicted, the timer just rings and rings while Karen continues to talk and ... read more

Day 16 Our last day in Hawai'i ? and I wasn't feeling the best. I was still swaying from the boat or the rum, couldnt really tell to be honest ? I was struggling so I packed the suitcases and had a shower. Kym was keen to go back to the Hilton and find their other pools, I wasn't keen on getting there but agreed, the pool would be nice. The hotel next door had a sign saying Dole Whip which is a pineapple gelato (probably the best description for them) They were yummo and I felt a bit better. It also had a sign saying poolside bar 3rd floor... well that's just an open invitation to use their pool isn't it? ? So we swam and I did feel better. Kym wanted to surf so ... read more