Friday - Hawaii to Seattle

Warning: this is a lengthy post!

This morning we woke up around 6:30am and got out and finished our cereals and milk. We then stripped the beds and packed up all our gear. Jaclyn and I took all the towels and bed linen back to the Koko Resorts admin. This involves going from the 31st floor of our tower (Tower 2) down to floor level and walking across the reception to the bank of lifts for Tower 1. Then you need to ride up to the fifth floor where the reception is. We nearly always returned our towels/teatowels daily and got a new set, rather than have towels lying around everywhere. We didn’t have the space to dry them so it was a good alternative. In addition to the linen, we could borrow surfboards, buckets and spades as well as laundry soap for the washing machine. Each floor has 14 apartments and each floor has a washing machine and dryer. One load of washing cost 6 quarters ($1.50) and the dryer was the same and went for one hour. So I would wash two loads of washing and put both in the dryer. They came out warm and dry! Opposite the laundry was the trash. You would open the trash door and throw in the rubbish. And then you can hear it go 31 floors to the bottom. Stefan reckon that would be his first exit route in an emergency!! (His job was get rid of the trash!).

Just a few suitcases ready to take down the lifts!

Back to packing. We finished by 9am and just relaxed till it was time to take all our luggage down the lifts to our shuttle bus who would take us back to the airport. Steve secured a trolley and after two trips plus us taking all our carry-on, we got it all down to floor level. Our lift was waiting, so we loaded it all up and left Waikiki!

The baggage check-in was a little complicated. Because we were on an international leg, the self service desks didn’t like the weight of our baggage. On an international flight, we were allowed 32kg (70lb) and we knew that, so of course the self service desk thought all our luggage was overweight. (We had the same in Perth leaving for Sydney, where we had to pay a bit for a couple of heavy items but knew we would be okay once we left Sydney). So instead we opted for the human help desk, where it was all okay. One suitcase was 72lb with the limit being 70lb so we just rearranged a few books and all was okay. We then put them all through the agriculture check/scan and hopefully they went on the plane. (I’m typing this part on the plane).

From there we had to go through the check ourselves and take off our shoes, put all laptops etc on trays. We had to throw out a few bottles of water as we couldn’t let a single bit of water through. It was quite a hassle with all the carry-on we had, but eventually we got it all back. We then found our gate and got some lunch as by this time is was 11:45am. At 12:30 they opened the gate for boarding, so once again we had have all our carry-on scanned and then we waited to board the plane.

At around 12:45pm we boarded the plane. It was a Boeing 767 and quite an old plane I think. We didn’t have individual screens but we had a seat (two rows of three in the centre, quite close to the back). The service is comparable to Jetstar or Virgin. You can buy extra snacks or alchohol and even headphones are $3. A pillow and blanket set is $10.

We finally took off at 1:30pm (25min after scheduled) and took to the skies. We had a beautiful final view of Hawaii and Waikiki. The take-off was text book and we had a great flight. Almost immediately the pilot tells you to forward the time so from 1:30 it became 4:30pm! And then around 6:30pm dinner was served. We got rice, peas and carrots with chicken, a salad and 2 macadamia nuts covered in chocolate. And we got complimentary wine or beer!

Everyone was well on this leg! No fevers, puking or cramping. Just watching a movie on ipads or doing crossword puzzles. The little girls loved watching the Wiggles and Banana in Pyjamas on Steve’s ipad! They were mostly well-behaved - occasionally Taleesha wanted to see what Shantel was doing and would peer her head over the seat!

Taleesha went for about a 2 hour snooze and I even managed about half and hour! Yah! For the rest the flight went very well. At about 9pm (Seattle time) the sun started to set. Just an hour of flying left and that’s the end of our air travel.

Looking back, it’s been a whirlwind of a holiday. First was the 5-6 months of packing and getting everything organised for the move. Then the Sydney stop over and then the 8 nights in Hawaii. And with sick kids and hospital visits on top, made for a very interesting holiday. Thankfully, however, they all got over it and we could enjoy the rest of our holiday in Hawaii. It was the holiday before the hard work starts!

The house that is to be our temporary accommodation is about 12 minutes from church and school. It is on a dairy farm. The house belongs to them and one of their sons, which they basically guttered and refurbished. The son, John, is a cabinet maker and has been working in the kitchen and bathroom cupboards ready for our arrival. And there is a bed plus a mattress for all of us. Stefan is looking forward to helping on the farm and they have promised him he can help whenever he is needed. They have buddy seats on each tractor and so he can learn to drive the tractor that way!

We have been in contact with Wridgways, our removalist company and they estimate 5-6 week arrival for the container and then a week for custom scanning and checking. They are willing to put the container in storage, should we find a house and wish to coincide the moving in along with the unpacking of our stuff.

Some of the first things we need to do is buy a car, visit a bank and lodge ourselves with their social security. And then of course, Steve needs to start preparing himself for teaching and all that is involved in that. The school kids will most likely need so items to prepare for ‘back to school’. School begins on the the 28th of August, so that leaves 3 and a half weeks once we get there.

We arrived in Seattle safe and sound, and after collecting all our luggage (they made a few dollars on us with two trolleys at every airport), we headed down to where the courtesy buses pick up and take you to your hotel. We waited for approx 10-15 minutes and were picked up and taken to Hampton Inn, our accommodation for the night.

We got to our room to find two double beds and that was it. No cot or bed for another two people. After complaining at the front desk, all they could provide us was some blankets and sheets and set up a make-up bed for the two little girls. So we are now trying to get the little girls to sleep: Taleesha slept in the plane so isn't really tired and Shantel has leg pains (growing or whatever it is). So a dose of panadol and hopefully they will soon crash.