Day 84
Last early morning start to get to the shuttle from Monterey to SFO. The sun was up though, and it was a nice walk to the shuttle pick-up.. seeing all the wildlife feeding and being careful not to stand on seals.
2hrs got me to San Fran airport, and 5ish hours on a plane got me to Honolulu. Such a great place.. kinda reminds me a bit of Rarotonga, except the skyscrapers and the big city plonked on the island.
After checking into the hotel at 5, I took a walk along Waikiki beach. The beach is a block from the hotel, and the zoo is across the road.
Had a full-on list of things to do in Hawaii, but chucked it in the bin and decided to just relax. One thing I scrapped was Pearl Harbour, as I saw it from the plane and I'm not related to the incident in any way. Justified.
Day 85
Walked around, spent money. Beachyness.
Day 86
Was raining, so went to the aquarium. Small, but some of the tanks were better than Monterey's, and it was cool to see more Nautilus (I'm obsessed) and some cool set ups that I'd like to copy at home someday.
Later, more window shopping, people-watching and relaxation in my room.
Day 87
Beachyness, then visited Honolulu Zoo. A small zoo combined with bontanic displays. Has an African area, primate corner, bird aviaries and reptile house.
Their primate and african animal collection is similar to ours, so was cool to see it done differently.. but it wasn't long before I had seen the whole zoo. The African area is built well, but needs a bit of work for it to reach it's full potential, but it totally can be done - especially with the great keepers and volunteers that I had met there.
Day 88
Killed time at the beach again, and then the outlet mall (lame) before going to hte airport.
Sat by the check-in desk for a good 2 hours, wondering if I really did want to go home, or fly to somewhere else new and exciting.. but the bank balance decided that for me.. and flying home doesn't stop me from booking the next trip, right? Flight at 10pm, would land in NZ the next morning.
Day 89
Today only lasted a couple hours before crossing the date line. I'm really good at time travelling.
Day 90
Cruisy flight, some mega turbulance, but was nice to hear some kiwi accents again, and 'get back to reality' as many people kindly mentioned to me.
Killed a couple hours at AKL airport, and then a 45min flight to Welly. Got picked up by the whanau (bless).. and then just tried to readjust back into my old life.
Maybe in a week or so I'll post some reflections.. but thanks to you all for sharing this journey with me. The support has been great, you are all great people.
