Bagging A Bargain
We set our alarm for 6am and bleary eyed, made our way to the airport to meet Sam when he arrived from his overnight flight. The anticipation was great and even though it had only really been a couple of days since we’d seen him, the tyranny of distance made us miss him so much and we couldn’t wait to lay eyes on him when he walked through that gate. After what seemed like an eternity, he waltzed on through and I must admit, I teared up! It was fantastic to see him and such a relief to know that he’d made it here safely! He had a few funny tales to tell of his solo adventures, including two customs officials asking him what he was studying at Uni. They thought he was 20 and he was quite chuffed at that!
We gave Sam a whirlwind tour of the North Shore before arriving back at Camp Homelani (partially for sightseeing and partially because we were a bit lost) where he received a rock star welcome from his siblings! Everyone was glad he’d made it safely.
The sunburn situation hadn’t really abated today so we thought it was wise to have a day out of the direct sunlight. We made the trip back to the Waikele Shopping Outlet Mall and picked up loads of bargains. The shopping there wasn’t quite as cheap as we’d remembered America had been a couple of years ago but there were some killer sales on so we did manage to scoop up some great deals. Toby bought himself some fluoro orange Vans that are so bright you need eye protection just to look at them, Ross got some trendy new ties and business shirts, not to mention some new running shoes and jeans, Molly got herself some new Converse shoes and Sam got a great new shirt. Keryn and Adam also managed to find some great deals and almost needed a trailer to get all their gear home! By the time we’d finished shopping we were exhausted and some famous Hawaiian “Shave Ice” was just what we needed to wake us up!
We are all a bit unsure about how much our phone bills are going to be when we get home. We’ve turned off global roaming but when we call each other we are still getting the international beeps! Hmmm. We may be in for a bit of a shock when we get the bills! Keryn and Adam are with Virgin Australia and frustratingly, after many falsely reassuring phone calls before we came away, they found out today that Virgin USA isn’t compatible with the Australian arm of the company. They have absolutely no reception at all, can’t receive texts or make calls. A very nice man in Radio Shack today helped them to buy a cheap, pre-paid mobile which they can use just while they’re here. The only problem is, it doesn’t work! Quite a problem really. Poor Keryn was trying to text me for hours today and I didn’t get a single peep on my phone. Hopefully we’ll get some good advice tomorrow.
We made plans to go to a great Bar and Restaurant in Haleiwa tonight for dinner, called Breakers. The plan was that Adam was going to follow Dodge (that’s us) from the shops all the way to Haleiwa as we were the ones armed with the GPS system (Gloria). We’re not sure what possessed Adam but he took off before us and disappeared into the Hawaiian freeway system before we could see where he went! We did pull over on the side of the road for a while in the hope he might come back around but alas, he was headed on a mammoth round trip of the island that would take him a l-o-n-g way from where he was supposed to be! We arrived at the restaurant a good 45 minutes before them and were wondering where on earth they’d got to. With no way of communicating, due to the dodgy phones, we just had to pray they’d make it and make it they did…eventually! We had just been on the verge of ordering so it was great timing!
Breakers was a very cool spot and the staff were extra friendly. It was actually warmer outside than in because the airconditioning was cranked up so high so we sat outside at a big long table and had a delicious meal. College football is huge in Hawaii and there was a game being televised in the bar. The crowd was cheering so loudly whenever someone scored a touchdown and it was a fantastic atmosphere! The waiter gave us some secret spots to go snorkelling so we’re keen to try them out later in the week. Apparently there are plenty of WWII relics under there as well as heaps of fish, turtles (as big as the table he said!) and some amazing coral. We knew this spot was truly classified information because his voice dropped to a whisper when he was telling us and he was looking over his shoulder in case anyone could hear him giving up the island’s deepest secrets. Can’t wait to check it out! He also said he’d try to get the NRL grand final on in his bar for us so that would be great!
Now for a little cultural note. I know I have mentioned this in a previous blog but the American toilets; seriously? What is the deal with the bowl being so full? Not only do you have a much higher splash ratio but do you really need to see everything floating about in all its glory? There is a lot to be said for our toilets and the subtleties of the S-Bend. On a slightly higher note now, did you know American cars don’t have orange blinkers? The red brake lights just flash on and off when you turn your blinker on. It’s a little confusing really. Also, pedestrian crossings are skinny, diagonal lines, not fat, straight ones and their light assisted pedestrian crossings look just like our zebra crossings. When you see the fat lines, it’s hard to hold back from just casually strolling across the road, that is until the 6 lanes of traffic come screeching past at a great pace! You don’t really think of Hawaii as having massive multi-laned highways but it’s up there with the best of them! While admittedly it’s not LA, there are some serious highways and freeways to negotiate and once you miss an exit, it’s a long way round until the next one! The freeways have really complicated letter/number combinations for their names and it’s funny hearing Gloria (the GPS) trying to spit the names out in time for the exits! She has a good degree of difficulty with Hawaiian pronunciations too and we all crack up whenever she says Kamehehehe (need to check the spelling!) Highway!
