Day 17

Well we are back and it wouldn't be complete without a drama on the last day.  More of that later.

The flight was on time, we arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, having our body clocks still on New York time made it easy as we went to bed at 9:30 Hawaii time, which was around 3:30am according to our body clocks.  Waking at 4:30 was like a 10:30 sleep in.  Out the door at 5:30 for out pick up at 5:45.  They were late, but at least they came this time.  We had 7 Check in suite cases compared to the 4 we left with and 5 carry on suitcases (one of mine was my medical gear).  First time ever a Hawaiian staff member argued with me about my carry on, I was not having a bar of it, if they do not know their own policies, that is their problem not mine.  However in future we (Lorraine and I) are going to revisit how we do it to make it less of a problem.

On board the staff were good except there were lots of young children.  As a family we were split across the aisle and both groups of us were not spared screaming toddlers and selfish people behind us.  Whether it was kicking of the seat. screaming or just plain selfishness it was a fairly forgettable flight.  Was bothered me most was the family behind me had two rows and put the kicking screaming kid in a position where it impacted on someone else, instead of having the child kicking their own seats, they felt it okay to impact another persons flight.  A few choice loud conversational words had that sorted, unfortunately a long way into the flight though.

Australian Customs was a breeze, having ePassports with facial recognition helps.  The only issue being our black nut Lei's which we declared, a simple sniffer dog perusal had us out an back in Brisbane.

So the drama we had was at Honolulu airport.  We had  breakfast, Burger King unfortunately, there's not a lot of choice.  Just about to head to the gate (75 minutes to boarding, 2 hours to flight time) when I have this sinking feeling I have forgotten something.  Open my medical case and yes, my needles are not there.  They are in the hotel room refrigerator in their cold bag.  A quick call to the hotel has them saying they can get the bag, but I will have to collect.  I ask why they cannot send a taxi driver with it?  No drivers won't do that in case they don't get paid.  Realising that they will probably screw it up anyway, I say I will come and collect.  I know this is going to hurt as last cab fare was $50 with tip, so this is staring down the barrel of a $100 45 minute ride.  So back out through security, in a cab and off we go with Miss Daisy behind the wheel.  Get to the hotel and its $49, go to reception, grab the bag and yes they didn't get everything, they did screw it up, there's no freezer packs (which I told them about), so grab a room key, race upstairs, grab the freezer packs, back to the cab.  We agree on a $100 fare.  But she doesn't start the meter, I could care less, she's welcome to the unmetered amount. 

Now herein lies the real problem.  Being the pedant I am I had run all of our USD cash down to enough so that I was only carrying tip money for the Transfer driver and some $1 bills for spending at the airport.  My cash card had no funds left for this sort of fare (still waiting for a Citibank hold to be released), all I had was Lorraine's credit cards which I grabbed before leaving the airport (knowing I had nothing), along with her driver's license.  Really hoping the driver would just swipe the card without looking or caring.  She did.  So $100 later and about 50 minutes later I'm back.  Luckily I had a sympathetic TSA guard who let me dodge the long queue of people at security after I told them my story.  I went back through the same screening area as the guards knew me (having a pacemaker means very personal attention at screening points if you get my drift).  So that was expedited, now it was just the walk to the boarding gate.  Naturally we were on a flight boarding at the gate furthest away from check in meaning a nice long hobble walk for me, almost tripping over my own feet a number of times.  A quick pit stop for the toilets, then another to purge my final $6USD on bottles of water to arrive at the boarding gate at 9:10am for a 9:15am boarding.  WOW, what an adventurous morning.  I'll never forget this trip, that's for sure.

Anyway the obligatory photos.

Sean & Lorraine

Day 17
Day 16
Day 15 and videos
http://youtu.be/mB9_Lr1-ULQ
http://youtu.be/Jp82R30hPwQ
http://youtu.be/gpoa6l4-Q6M
Day 14
Day 13
Day 12
Day 11
Rest of Chief's Luau videos
http://youtu.be/XURpdBxRtnU
http://youtu.be/XmxYN8Mqiv8
http://youtu.be/F6S8MCjMl2Y
http://youtu.be/onfa_PjLYiY
http://youtu.be/rt5UH7EIexs
Day 9
Day 8 plus Video of the Wedding
Day 7
Day 5/6
Day 4 Photos and videos
http://youtu.be/Fhm-bt4ZIgs
http://youtu.be/burf7_6_uU4
http://youtu.be/CfDxYYOZm8o
http://youtu.be/DVkzfa9jcjc
http://youtu.be/dQYTj6lxUBw
Day 3 Pearl Harbour + more
Day 2 Holidays
Day 1 USA

Day 16

Almost over, one more flight to go to get home.  Today was fairly uneventful, early start from the hotel had us at the airport early enough for a sit down breakfast.  Plane left on time and landed early, Hawaii Airlines staff are sensational.  Transfer was uneventful, bit of indecision over what to have for dinner, some last minute shopping and now we are retiring for the night.  Another really early start which will have us at the airport with lots of time to kill before another "30 hour" day with the 6hr back in time change.

Cannot wait to get home, though I hope our neighbor who is looking after the house manages to evict the migrant family that has taken up residence.

Sean & Lorraine

Day 16
Day 15 and videos
http://youtu.be/mB9_Lr1-ULQ
http://youtu.be/Jp82R30hPwQ
http://youtu.be/gpoa6l4-Q6M
Day 14
Day 13
Day 12
Day 11
Rest of Chief's Luau videos
http://youtu.be/XURpdBxRtnU
http://youtu.be/XmxYN8Mqiv8
http://youtu.be/F6S8MCjMl2Y
http://youtu.be/onfa_PjLYiY
http://youtu.be/rt5UH7EIexs
Day 9
Day 8 plus Video of the Wedding
Day 7
Day 5/6
Day 4 Photos and videos
http://youtu.be/Fhm-bt4ZIgs
http://youtu.be/burf7_6_uU4
http://youtu.be/CfDxYYOZm8o
http://youtu.be/DVkzfa9jcjc
http://youtu.be/dQYTj6lxUBw
Day 3 Pearl Harbour + more
Day 2 Holidays
Day 1 USA

Day 15

Well its our last day of holidays, the next couple being mostly transit with tomorrow a 10 hour flight to Hawaii where we overnight, then another 10 hour flight the following day where we time travel back over the date line losing the day we gained at the start.

Today was a free day where The females went shopping and I went out alone.  To tell the truth though I have probably bought the most on this trip easily filling both my suitcases to bursting point, today was no different with my final spending spree being in bike shops buying stuff that was too cheap to ignore.

So the ladies went shopping which was fairly boring in my opinion.  As for me I went out on the Citibike again to see what I could find and I had a blast of a day.

Got back to the financial district vis NOHO, SOHO, Union Square and Greenwich Village, did a little impromptu video interview of myself while riding (first video youtube link), saw the city hall fountain (another video) and the third video is of a fire engine racing through the streets.  In the financial district I witnessed a "#dontstealpossible" rally outside the courthouses, around 21,000 in attendance.  Then I went into the courthouses and saw two doctors in civil death cases on the witness stands and in the criminal courts I saw a drug dealer get 3.5 years for possession.  And yes its just like on TV, DA's doing deals on sentences with defense attorneys, people everywhere from all walks of life, it was sensational.

I also helped a pregnant lady find her way to hospital which was funny as I had no idea where I was, she just had an address so Google Maps to the rescue.  Just around the corner as it turns out, lucky for both of us.

Then I rode back up through Hells Kitchen to go bike shop looking and bought some stuff.

All up another great day in NYC.  Can't wait to get back home though, we have all reached our limits and just want to unpack in a familiar place.

Sean & Lorraine

Day 15 and videos
http://youtu.be/mB9_Lr1-ULQ
http://youtu.be/Jp82R30hPwQ
http://youtu.be/gpoa6l4-Q6M
Day 14
Day 13
Day 12
Day 11
Rest of Chief's Luau videos
http://youtu.be/XURpdBxRtnU
http://youtu.be/XmxYN8Mqiv8
http://youtu.be/F6S8MCjMl2Y
http://youtu.be/onfa_PjLYiY
http://youtu.be/rt5UH7EIexs
Day 9
Day 8 plus Video of the Wedding
Day 7
Day 5/6
Day 4 Photos and videos
http://youtu.be/Fhm-bt4ZIgs
http://youtu.be/burf7_6_uU4
http://youtu.be/CfDxYYOZm8o
http://youtu.be/DVkzfa9jcjc
http://youtu.be/dQYTj6lxUBw
Day 3 Pearl Harbour + more
Day 2 Holidays
Day 1 USA

Day 14

Rainy day in NYC today, so very few photos taken and not much really done.  Ebony and I went Citibike riding last night and got completely frustrated with it as the bikes would not release from the docking station, Ebony missed her breakfast meet up so ended up ditching the bikes for the subway to get back to the hotel.

After lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, Ebony went to meet the friends she had missed and the three of us went to Madison Square Garden for a look see by subway.  We ticked another box by coming home in a NY Taxi, only have NY pizza left on the list of things we set out with at the beginning of the trip.

Eating wise I knew I would have to abandon my dietary requirements and I knew what to expect.  So my plan was to not eat the same meal twice, same restaurant is okay, just not the same meal.  I have achieved that so far, the only exception being if I made breakfast, the Special K of late has been a nice foundation for the day.

Pics below.

Sean & Lorraine

Day 14
Day 13
Day 12
Day 11
Rest of Chief's Luau videos
http://youtu.be/XURpdBxRtnU
http://youtu.be/XmxYN8Mqiv8
http://youtu.be/F6S8MCjMl2Y
http://youtu.be/onfa_PjLYiY
http://youtu.be/rt5UH7EIexs
Day 9
Day 8 plus Video of the Wedding
Day 7
Day 5/6
Day 4 Photos and videos
http://youtu.be/Fhm-bt4ZIgs
http://youtu.be/burf7_6_uU4
http://youtu.be/CfDxYYOZm8o
http://youtu.be/DVkzfa9jcjc
http://youtu.be/dQYTj6lxUBw
Day 3 Pearl Harbour + more
Day 2 Holidays
Day 1 USA

Day 13

Another big day in the big apple.  Though a menial start with laundry day beckoning.

Following that it was the American Museum of Natural History.  Bad start as we got onto the wrong platform and because we had swiped the metro cards already, we couldn't go to the unmanned platform.  So we had to ride downtown one stop on the subway to change platforms to go uptown.  Bit of a pain but another adventure.  AMNH was great and you could spend days there, but when you have tired feet and want to do other things, you tend to expedite your visit.  A lunch in the museum food court followed by a walk through Central Park, got lost then found ourselves and generally had fun looking at everything, even saw a squirrel  foraging for nuts and is just like it looks in the cartoons.

Then it was a bus ride up 5th Ave to Saks and I went to H&M.  Surprisingly I just had fun buying loads of stuff.  Clothes, hats, caps and other gear for less than $75.  Oh and I got an Indiana Jones hat at AMNH.  Bloody nice hat too.  Bought so many hats/caps this trip I'll need to double my hat racks at home.

Tomorrow I'm going riding, and the ladies shopping.

Photos from today below.

Sean & Lorraine

Day 13
Day 12
Day 11
Rest of Chief's Luau videos
http://youtu.be/XURpdBxRtnU
http://youtu.be/XmxYN8Mqiv8
http://youtu.be/F6S8MCjMl2Y
http://youtu.be/onfa_PjLYiY
http://youtu.be/rt5UH7EIexs
Day 9
Day 8 plus Video of the Wedding
Day 7
Day 5/6
Day 4 Photos and videos
http://youtu.be/Fhm-bt4ZIgs
http://youtu.be/burf7_6_uU4
http://youtu.be/CfDxYYOZm8o
http://youtu.be/DVkzfa9jcjc
http://youtu.be/dQYTj6lxUBw
Day 3 Pearl Harbour + more
Day 2 Holidays
Day 1 USA

Day 12

What a big day out.  Late start but we made the river ferry ride in time usig the subway system, no need to worry if you're not sure what to do there is always someone waiting to help, off coourse wanting a gratuity for their assistance, its just a way of life here.  We went along the Hudson and East Rivers, saw the bridges and off course the Statue of Liberty.  Following this we went to the 9/11 memorial site and saw the Twin Tower base memorials with waterfalls, plus the new "freedom Tower" that replaced one of the WTC buildings.  Tallest building in USA at 1776 feet ie 1776 being their year of independence.  Also went to Wall St and NYSE which frankly was underwhelming.  Saw the NYSE Bull which is actually on Broadway, not Wall St.  More walking to the Native American Museum, then another subway ride to Grand Central.  There we were prevented from exiting onto 42nd St at Park Ave due to a "jumper", see the pics, whole street blocked off and plenty of spectators.  From there more shopping at H&M, then a walk back to the hotel.  Had dinner at the restaurant as everyone was tired.  However I decided to go for a Citibike ride.  Great fun riding through NY at night.  For $25 I get one weeks use unlimited with the only restriction being 30 minutes rides to avoid penalty hire rates.  So I checked one out, rode down 9th Ave from 50th Street to 14th Street, checked the bike in, checked out another and rode back up 8th Ave.  Felt a bit funny riding sans helmet and being the only rider obeying traffic lights.  Just cannot bring myself to run red lights, though a couple pf times I bypassed them in a perfectly legal manner.  Out and back was 20 minutes each way,well inside the 30 minute limit.  What a hoot.

Tomorrow its more subway rides to the museums and possibly more shopping.

Sean & Lorraine

Day 12
Day 11
Rest of Chief's Luau videos
http://youtu.be/XURpdBxRtnU
http://youtu.be/XmxYN8Mqiv8
http://youtu.be/F6S8MCjMl2Y
http://youtu.be/onfa_PjLYiY
http://youtu.be/rt5UH7EIexs
Day 9
Day 8 plus Video of the Wedding
Day 7
Day 5/6
Day 4 Photos and videos
http://youtu.be/Fhm-bt4ZIgs
http://youtu.be/burf7_6_uU4
http://youtu.be/CfDxYYOZm8o
http://youtu.be/DVkzfa9jcjc
http://youtu.be/dQYTj6lxUBw
Day 3 Pearl Harbour + more
Day 2 Holidays
Day 1 USA