Friday 28th July
Time on our Hawaiian clock is running down, the minutes silently ticking away. One more beachside breakfast, drinking in the view, a stage set for a never ending stream of players, that will arrive to take their turn in our place once we depart.
As we enjoy the last of our island breakfasts, in the warm Waikiki air, two young Japanese girls, fresh off the plane dressed in matching long creamy white lacy outfits sit within our view.They have just had their breakfast served, one the full eggs Benedict and the other a stack of pancakes. The meals look great, but they never want to forget this moment, first out come the phones, they proceed to take pictures of their own, then each other’s breakfast. Next outcomes the camera and more photos are taken, with special care taken to tilt the meals outwards so that with them posing behind them and the camera turned inwards towards them at arms length they capture the perfect pic. A server comes along and he is roped into the action, taking more photos of the two and their meals from every angle. Just when I thought they where done outcomes the selfie stick and the process starts again, with the girls posing and pouting at the camera. By this time the meals must be lukewarm at best, but eventually they put their devices away and hoe into their breakfasts. Behind them the white foamy surf continues to roll in on the milky blue sea, a little bigger today.
Back in our room good news comes through on the family intranet just as we are making our last room check, Tania has finally given birth to a baby boy, Kingston Ehukai (Hawaiian for the mist that comes off the surf) Woessner is a bouncing 7lbs, 19.5 ” mother and child doing well! And as far as we know so is father Kaua, but who cares about men at this time. Grandma Sandi is over the moon. First pictures come through and he is all pink and gorgeous, dark hair and very healthy looking. We send off some congratulatory emails, welcoming a new generation into the family.
Back to the task at hand we make our last preparations for leaving, suitcases packed, hand luggage packed, travel clothes on, goodbye shorts, goodbye flip flops, hope to see you again in San Diego, time to fly!
Express checkout is a breeze no more waiting in a queue, just send a text to reception advising you have checked out, call the bell hop, who drops our just underweight luggage under the Porte-Cochere and await Jimmy the Vietnamese cabbie for our ride to the airport.
Jimmy is not far away, we are soon loaded and on our way, Jimmy a likeable guy, chats away in his stilted English, telling us about his family back in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam, they are bakers making 20000 loaves a day he proudly informs us. We certainly enjoyed our Vietnam visit we tell him, he thinks we have probably seen more of his homeland than he has. The clouds cry as we leave, dropping their sad departure tears along the way. Somewhere on the road in, the sun is welcoming newcomers to the islands.
Time again slips through our hands like sand in an hourglass, arriving at the air Alaska terminal in double quick time. Whether coming or going Honolulu airport is always efficient making entry to the US a pleasure. Consequently we are soon checked in and walking to our gate.
The aeroplane, a 737-800 is a few minutes delayed but not enough to disrupt our schedule. As we take to the skies Diamond Head and Waikiki are clearly visible below us, before we finally rise to cruising altitude where the only islands below us are puffy white clouds.
The Alaska airline flight is a smooth one, we settle in, eat an ordinary meal (or is it just that we have recently experienced a much higher standard), watch a movie, thought I might have time for a nap, but before we know it we are approaching San Diego. Our arrival time is 11.30pm, the airport is quiet, our car is there to whisk us to the Hotel US Grant in downtown San Diego, where we are staying for the next two nights. All being good with the world our weary heads are soon on our pillows, another night another city.