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Halloween, Hawaii and holiday celebrations - the Hawaii section part 2 THIS SECTION COMPLETED 2/3
As the previous thread is now getting quite long, and I don’t want to end up with the problem I had on the WDW section of the trip report, with problems adding posts and continued double posting, I’m starting a new thread for a new day.
Full details of our time in Hawaii so far can be found in part 1 of the Hawaii section, which covers our flight to Hawaii, Aulani, our first meal at Makahiki and our visit to Pearl Harbor.
Wednesday 6 November – part one: did you say “French toast”?
The alarm went at 4:30am, but we were half awake by then anyway. We got going quickly and we were out of the door before 6:00am. We weren’t the only ones up this early, as we followed a couple over to the parking lot.
The traffic wasn’t too bad, although it did slow down at one point, so we took the car pool lane, which was much quicker, although getting off it for the airport exit was a bit hair raising, as you have to cross four lanes of traffic pretty quickly, so you have to have your wits about you.
We found our way easily enough to the airport and parked up, finding a parking spot with no issues. Then we took the elevator down to the second floor for ticketing an gates and literally this was what we found.
We walked straight in and checked in for both flights and then went through security getting TSA pre-check approved on our boarding passes. We assumed that had something to do with the fact that we would’ve been vetted when we entered the country.
Once we were through the other side of security, I got some photos of the airport. I loved their restroom signs!
We then got some breakfast. Mark suggested Burger King, and I turned my nose up at first, as the thought of anything from there at this hour of the morning didn’t do anything for me. However, then Mark said the magic words “French toast” and that was it, I was sold!
Mark got a bacon and egg muffin. I know… poor Piglet!
Armed with our food, we headed for the gate and had quite a walk. It was a bit surreal, as some of the seating for some of the gates was actually outside as we walked down. I don’t know where else you’d see that.
We found our gate, ate our breakfast and settled down to wait. It was a totally full flight and they were asking for volunteers to swap to the later flight at 7:30am and they did find two people in the end. I guess it just goes to show how busy this route is.
We boarded and the first thing we noticed was how small the seats were and how little leg room they had.
Thank goodness I checked that before I booked our flights over here, as originally I was going to fly Hawaiian from the US mainland, but when I saw the totals of the seat pitch, I scrubbed them off the list totally.
It took us a while to get in the air, as we had to wait for five fighter jets to take off first. you did just read that right. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a photo, as we were on the wrong side of the airport. We saw a Hercules aircraft carrier waiting to go and we had to wait for him as well. The rora of the noise from the jets was quite something. My goodness, I have never heard anything like it.
Finally, we were in the air and I have to say it was one of the most beautiful flights I’ve had in a long time.
First we went over Molokai….
… then we went over Maui, which we would be visiting later this trip
… and finally Big Island was coming into view and I could immediately see why it got given its name, as my goodness, compared to the other two islands we’d just seen, this one was massive.
During the flight, they also served up this stuff, which I would become addicted to on all our flights with them…
As we came into land, we were both worried by the sight of lots of low lying cloud. Would that affect our helicopter flight?
I noticed something else as we came into land. There was black volcanic rock at the edge of the shore and then it quickly gave way to lush green foliage. I knew that after a certain amount of time, volcanic rock becomes very fertile growing land and that was very evident here.
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Oh my...I'm so jealous right now...I have been lucky enough to have been to Hawaii a few times...but you are certainly making me want to go back with this trip report!!
I'm sorry about the disappointing restaurant...it seems un Disney like
Can't wait to hear about your time on the big island!!
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Exciting to be headed out to a new island. I love when they have out-door waiting areas at airports. They do this in South Africa as well. Makes sense when there's so much sunny weather. You can wait inside if you want, but I didn't see anyone doing that. We sat right to the side of the runway with our luggage, and they loaded us and the bags in from there. Makes the whole process seem safer, for some reason. I don't like the look of those seats, though! You'd need a chiropractor if you took a long flight sitting like that.
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As always, you two are making the most of your time. I admit, it would have been hard for me to get on another flight so soon - hope the weather improves, but the title of your next update is worrisome.
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However, then Mark said the magic words “French toast” and that was it, I was sold! 
as we walked down. I don’t know where else you’d see that. 
,
Can't wait to hear about the Big Island! 
Deb
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