Month: July 2009

Had an idea that i’d write notes as I go through the day whenever we stop for a meal, chill out watching the surf or whatever. Sorry if they’re boring, but they’re interesting to us, well me anyway!

– first organized sport we saw in Waikiki was rugby union – quite a big crowd too
– at Denny’s, we watched 2 managers have their lunch which required the waitress to bring out a fold-up table to serve from. The 4 plates were so big she couldn’t carry them. Incredible amount of food for 2 people
– you don’t need to wear helmets here for anything, including bicycles and even motorbikes. Saw a 1100cc chopper being ridden by a tiny woman with no helmet. Kind if freaked me out a bit. It feels wrong just starting up my motorbike-wannabe 125cc without my gloves on! Will likely hire a motorbike while I’m here though, looks like great fun
– saw sunscreen that was SPF4. Umm, what’s the point? Bought spf85 for our pasty white skin. Bronzed Aussies we are not… yet
– you can spend ages just checking out the different foods here and marvelling at what they’ll combine together. Wasabi macadamias, m&m almonds, 750ml cans of red bull-like drinks
– tipping still sux. Don’t like the concept. It’s especially hard to not reward bad service by tipping less whilst being a foreigner. You just end up feeling cheap
– you can hire all sorts of motorbikes. I grabbed a pamphlet, a Kawasaki Ninja 600 for $149/day, a 1200cc Fatboy for $199. Scooters for $30 seems good value

Didn’t do a whole heap today – mostly just checking out the shops around our area, looked at some new hotels they we’ll be switching to and just enjoying beautiful Hawaii.

What dramas we had on our flight last night and today. What should have been a 10hr flight, which is bad enough in my opinion, turned into a 15hr monstrosity.

After about 4 or so hours, we were woken by the captain announcing that they were having to divert to Fiji. Our collective jaws dropped thinking the worst – engine trouble.

However, the captain continues on to say that there’s an “unruly passenger” on board and has been restrained and that they need to get him off the plane.

So we turn back and head for Fiji. Whispers around the cabin about who it was, what they did and all sorts of things. After landing in Fiji, we wait for around 5-10mins before 4 Fijian police come on board. 2 of them looked like they lined up for Fiji in the last rugby union world cup – very big boys.

We were at the front of the plane, the knobhead was at the very rear. A few mins later, we hear struggling and a few calls out and start to see the Fijians carrying the guy feet-first up our aisle.

I may or may not have tested out the video camera on the iPhone and may or may not put it up tomorrow after a bit of editing.

The guy was australian, highly drunk, allegedly been taking pills of some sort and even had a female friend with him. She stayed on the flight albeit rather upset. We all felt very bad for her – it was the only thing being talked about on the plane. I had a few chats with airline staff and in 40 years of hawaiian airlines being in operation – this was a first for them. We found out later that it took a big Australian passenger, who looked like a farmer, had to restrain the guy.

The staff said they think it’ll be on the local news, so we’re keeping an eye out.

After waiting for the Fijians to refuel the plane, which took 2hrs for some reason, we finally left again. We lost almost 5 hrs and we were totally sick of it all by then.

Finally we arrived into Honolulu. Got through customs without issue and caught a shuttle bus to our hotel. Very useful trip as we got chatting with seasoned Hawaii visitors so we’ve got a good idea of what to do now. After 35+ hours of travelling – it’s nice to finally be in a bed!