Saturday, February 23, 2013

WOWWEE! WE ARE GOING TO HAWAII

Tuesday November 20th 

John noticed advertising for reasonably priced flights to Hawaii an package deals which included 5 nights accommodation in Honolulu. We talked about it for a bit then I booked on-line but I declined something in my excitement. Shortly after I received an email from our closest representative, Emma, at the Flight Centre in Cambridge. A flurry of emails ensued including one to friends in Hawaii who had stayed in our house January 2012.

Wednesday 21st. 

We had an appointment at the Thames Hospital. I had been looking at suitable cabinets to hold the china and other collectibles coming in from Mum's House. The furniture I was interested in was in Morrinsville merely an hours drive from Thames so we were able to view and eventually purchase a pretty light oak china cabinet. From Morrinsville to Cambridge is less than 30 minutes so it made sense to go to the Flight Centre and do our bookings in person.

We arrived in Cambridge about 2 pm and had a great time working out our itinerary with Emma. While she confirmed bookings we went across the road for coffee and a snack. It was so exciting.

At 5 pm we checked back and found Emma had an even better deal for us. Slightly cheaper air fares and an extra night at the Maile Sky Court in Honolulu. Hawaiian Airlines were about to start a direct flight between Auckland and Honolulu in competition to Air New Zealand. We have discovered we are on their first flight of this new service. I wonder what it will be like. Our booking includes flights to Kona on Big Island, our rental car while there. We have booked our accommodation in Honolulu for the last few days we are away and included a tour to Pearl Harbour which is a very long day with an early start.

We arrived home so excited and with all our plans in place.

Since then we have confirmed our accommodation with Pam and Craig. Their cottage is 6 minutes from Pahoa and 20 minutes from Hilo,  the largest town on Big Island. We plan to explore and I hope to have a night time visit to the lava flow which seems to be almost continuous. We are staying in a quiet area and expect to go out most days for a trip somewhere. It looks as though the Island is no bigger than the Coromandel Peninsula if you include Waihi. Their cottage was only available for 2 weeks so we did some searching. First we booked into the Sugar Shack on a coffee plantation near Kona. Unfortunately a couple of weeks ago we had an urgent email telling us our booking had been messed up by their booking agency and over-ridden. It took us a bit of searching but we have come up with what looks like an even better option in the Guest Quarters of Pau Hana Plantation. 

I'll write up a little more background to this trip on another day


1 comment:

  1. Congrats to you both for 50 years of wedded bliss and what a grand celebration you have planned. Enjoy it all...

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