On our way home

We're in Hawaii on our way home. We have six nights here and no particular plans. Two flights and two buses from New York took nineteen hours which left us a bit strung out. United Airlines did a good job getting us here though. Slightly annoying, we needed to check our bags as they ran out of overhead cabin space. They have a bag tracker on their app so some comfort at least.

The bus from Honolulu Airport to Waikiki costs three dollars but of the hundreds of people that seemed to arrive at the same time as us only one other group of travellers boarded at the airport. The usual slice of life was on offer; an elderly woman with the look of one of Hawaii's homeless population boards the bus. A few stops later a young man boards with no cash or ticket, on a ticket or cash only service. The elderly woman produses five dollars for his fare with instructions to "pray to Mother Theresa". A few stops later a couple exit the bus and give the elderly woman five dollars. The homeless population in Hawaii has ballooned, as has the cost of living. Hawaii currently has the highest rent by state in the US, and they need to import most of their food. They do have lots of well known people living here, like the Obama's, and a good number of golf courses 

The bus service was not particularly first time user friendly, we have subsequently purchased a card, a bit like Snapper, as it's a good way to get around.

We're looking forward to getting home now to be with friends and family. Paraparaumu Beach doesn't seem like a bad place to live between holidays.

We booked a bus tour pitched as a nature tour, it never ventured too far from food or toilets though. This is one of the beaches in the north. You can see the locals jumping from the rock. In case you didn't know, Hawaii is quite beautiful.

Vicki ringing a sacred bell. You're supposed to hum the tone to rid yourself of stress but we don't think she followed through with this.

We walked one of the trails in a national park behind Honolulu. It was quite challenging in places and we got saturated but the bush and the views were ample reward. Who cares about getting wet in twenty-something degrees?