The flight out of Maui is fairly straightforward, but as we are due to fly from Seattle on Wednesday then it is the beginning of the end for our time in the USA.
Alex has already left for her nonstop trip to India, which adds to the impression that our time away is virtually over.
The week in Hawaii has seemed like a real holiday. We have had good weather where we could sun bathe and walk around in shorts morning and night. We have indulged ourselves and spent a small fortune doing nothing in particular.
Greg drove to the airport. For such a small island there seem to be so many cars. All the way along the coast it is slow progress just due to the weight of traffic. When we arrived at the airport I again received a very intimate search around my groin area. It must be these jeans with a metal zip and stud.
The flight is delayed for 1 hour so we go to a restaurant for an expensive and rubbish meal. Maggi goes to the gate and immediately informs us that they are boarding. No delay after all. I sit next to Sadie and Maggi. We don’t arrive back in the house until just before midnight.
Thoughts on Maui
Whatever the Maui culture was it ain’t no more. The place is completely submerged in mainstream American culture from the food, architecture, TV and behaviour of the people we met.
In fact there were very few people who looked as if they had Polynesian descent. The waiting staff often told us that they were born and bred locals but they looked like your typical American.
The only sign of Maui culture we came across was the Luau evening entertainment and that was extremely stylised. The only reason to visit I could see was the great weather all the year round and the whale watching which was fantastic. However we were not with a group who wanted to go off piste. All they wanted to do was lay around the pool and sea and read. I’m sure if we had visited with Adam our trip would have been more adventurous.
Flight bak to London
After a day and half in Seattle we take an Uber to the airport. I bought some chocolate sweets on this last full day. Fortunately I made it through security without having an intimate body search around my groin. This time I slipped through without having to pose with my arms up in the scanning machine.
The aircraft had been refitted with the new Club Class seats. These seats give you much more privacy and the screen is far superior so I even watched a movie. I don’t think I slept throughout the flight although I lay down horizontally as soon as the food and drink disappeared. Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether one is asleep or not one these flights as whatever sleep you get is so very disturbed.
When we landed at Heathrow our plane didn’t connect to one of the jetties but was shipped out to a parking area. We received a notification across the public address saying that paramedics would be climbing on board to deal with a passenger in trouble. We arrived back into the terminal and waited for our baggage. In total we waited just under 1 hour. An announcement declared that only one crew existed to take off the bags and their priority had to be passengers who had flights to other destinations.
Whilst waiting for our bags I noticed that customs officers stood in the Nothing to Declare with sniffer dogs. I didn’t mention anything to Maggi but it worried me that this dogs would react to my sweets. However by the time our bags arrived they had disappeared. Thank goodness. We arrived back at home at around 2 pm and emptied our luggage and then it was off to the shops for a little something to eat for the evening. Both of us felt knackered and I turned the lights off at 8 pm. Unfortunately I awoke at 2 pm and couldn’t get back to sleep for ages.