We land in LA at about 6:30am. Since we have a 2 hour layover, we decide to go to Starbucks for some breakfast. Then all we have to do is wait until our next flight, which takes us to San Antonio. I’m finally back in Texas after 4 months! Joe picks us up from the airport, and we have lunch before heading to their house. In a couple of days I’ll drive back to Dallas and finally be home.
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Today is the day that we leave Hawaii. However, our flight isn’t until 10pm tonight so we have time to squeeze in one more tour. After packing up our things, we leave our suitcases at the front desk and then go out to be picked up. The tour today is a Movie Tour. We will be going around to different spots were they have filmed movies.
After the tour, they dropped us back at our hotel. We still had several hours until we had to be at the airport, so Mom and I hung out at the hotel and used their wifi. Mom worked on videos of the trip while I worked on my blog until it was time to go to the airport for our flight to Los Angeles
After breakfast we went to Lydgate Farms for our first tour of the day. I think I’m going to like this one since it is a chocolate tour. It had been raining all morning, but luckily it slowed down to a drizzle by the time the tour was set to start.
We then went to a shaded area for the chocolate tasting. She told us a little bit about the growth of the chocolate industry. Chocolate used to only be for the wealthy and it was seen as a luxury item until Hershey developed a bar to sell to common people for 10 cents. It was known as the 10 cent bar. Over time, as prices inflated the cost to make the bar kept increasing buy Hershey was attached to their 10 cent bar and didn’t want to raise the price. So they kept making smaller and smaller bars until eventually you have the Hershey Kiss. She also told us that Hershey Kisses used to have to be individually wrapped before machines made the process automated. But foil sticks together and it was difficult to separate the individual pieces. The problem came that the workers were paid based on how many pieces they wrapped. One smart woman realized that if you licked the bottom of the Kiss, it would stick to the foil and you could move a lot fast and wrap more chocolates. She started making a lot of money, and the other women realized that they could move faster and get paid more by licking the bottom the Kiss, so they started doing the same thing. Once upper management realized what was happening, they put a stop to it but for months anyone that bought a chocolate ate someone else’s spit. After the funny stories, she moved on to the chocolate tasting portion. She passed around scraps of paper describing each chocolate and the passed around chips of different chocolate manufactured by big names like Hershey and Godiva, and then ones produced by smaller manufacturers, like Lydgate. We had to decide which one was which. It was hard! Mom and I didn’t do that well. Afterwards we went back up to the gift shop and we had the opportunity to buy the chocolate, but we decided not to. It was all dark chocolate, and I prefer milk chocolate. We then got in the car to drive to Wailua River for a kayak tour. The entire time it was raining so I was worried that the tour would end being cancelled, but we got lucky and it stopped raining right as we were getting started. And we had the river to ourselves because they other kayak tours had already cancelled due to the rain.
By the time we pulled over on an inlet of land for a break and snacks, we were starting to get the hang of it. Still, we were slow at it so we left the group first to head back so we would have a huge lead. Still, by the time we got back to the starting point of the tour they had all almost caught up with us. On the way back to the hotel we decided to pick up a pizza to share so we wouldn’t have to go out to eat. We wanted something quick and easy so we could relax in the hotel room.
Our first tour was at noon, so we decided to go on a small coffee tasting tour. When we were passing through town we saw a sign for coffee tasting, so we decided to stop in. Mom is looking for coffee where she doesn’t have to add a lot of creamer. She is hoping to find a brand she likes without it, and this is a good place to try them.
We then continued to go Mountain Tubing. Since I booked late, I couldn’t get us on a tour at the same time so I put Mom on the tour at 12 and me on the tour at 12:30. Since it is floating down the river I thought she could hang back and I would make sure I was at the front of my time. When we got there we realized that you stay with your tour group and they are spread out. Luckily they were able to squeeze me in though so it worked out.
I tried to keep up with Mom but we got separated and couldn’t join back up until the end of the tour. I was sad when it ended because it was very relaxing to float down the river. After the tour was over we all got to eat sandwiches and chips for lunch. Then it was back to our starting point.
After the train tour, we walked over to the place where we would have the luau. They had a little market going on, so we walked around looking at the items before it was time to eat. The food was served buffet style, and it was good.
When they started winding down, Mom and I snuck out and watched the ending from the doorway. Once it finished, we hurried back to the car so we could make a quick getaway before everyone else left all at once. We were pulling out right as they started to get to their cars, so it was a success. We were supposed to return the car to the rental place and then take ubers for the rest of the trip since everything is close together, but we decided while we were waiting our turn for the food to extend the rental, and return the car at the end of the trip. It will be a little more expensive, but much more convenient.
Today we have an easy day. Our first tour isn’t until 3pm, so we have plenty of time to get there. Since we have the morning free, after breakfast we went to Waimea Canyon.
After we finished at the canyon, we still had plenty of time before our next tour so we stopped at a small restaurant in town so Mom could go to the bathroom and so we can get some more substantial food to eat. After we finished we drove to the zipline place. First we had to sign in at a building and then we could drive down the road to get suited up. It didn’t take that long. We had a quick safety demonstration when the rest of the group showed up and then it was time to fly. Mom was not enthusiastic about flying. I think she was nervous the line would break. Still, it was a lot of fun going down the 8 lines. The harnesses are designed so you can go down in different positions. I’m used to the sitting one, but you can also do a superman or go upside down. Upside down is too much for me, but I was willing to try the superman position. I didn’t like it that much. Mostly because the harness restricted your breathing so it was hard to look around while in that position. Once was enough for me on that.
We were sweaty by the humidity so we returned to the hotel to take a shower and relax for the rest of the day.
Mom was up early due to the time change, but I slept in until my alarm woke me up. Then we quickly packed a bag with water and sunscreen before we went down to breakfast. Since I’m a gold member, breakfast is free. I thought just the buffet was free, but we could also order off the menu and it was still free. After breakfast we drove down to the meeting place for the tour and checked in. They had a little gift shop so we looked around before they called us. They gave each of us a dry bag for our bags so they wouldn’t get wet, and snorkel gear. Then we walked out to the zodiac. Mom was really nervous about this excursion, but luckily there was someone there that was older than her. Otherwise it was all young people. The zodiac is a small flat boat. They gave us the safety lesson, which was literally to not fall out. The front of the boat is the side that is more rocky, so Mom chose to sit at the back of boat so she could hold onto the bar by the steering wheel. I was going to sit beside her but I somehow ended up at the front of the boat when we were getting on. You literally lean up against the side of the boat with your foot under a rope on the floor which acts as a seatbelt. That way if you get jolted up, you stay in the boat. Otherwise the only thing to hang onto is a rope that runs along the side.
During our stops we found out more about the coast. Our captain told us all of the different movies that the coastline is in. As we sailed along she pointed out different sandy areas that are impossible to get to other than by boat. One of them was protected so boats weren’t allowed to land on the shores. This section was also in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and the entire cast had to swim to shore. Except Johnny Depp, he apparently refused to do so, and they had to get special permission to land a helicopter there in order to shoot the scene.
As we went up and down the coast, our guides also told us about the history of the mountains. The mountains along the coast are almost impassible. However, there are paths that you can take while walking. When Hawaii had royalty and chieftains, they were buried on the mountain. It was a great honor for your family to be chosen to hide the body of the chief. Men competed fiercely for it. After the chieftain died they chose a man to hide the body and lowered him on ropes down the cliff side. After he hid the body, he called up and they cut the rope, leaving the hider to fall to his death. And so the body was hidden forever.
After lunch it was time to head back to our starting point. While we were gone the seas got rougher or I was more tired from clinging to the rope. The path back was definitely rougher than the way to the coast. At one point one of the girls across from me bounced off her perch. Luckily she bounced into the boat instead of out of it. While we took a break, they asked if anyone wanted to move around. I volunteer to do so because I felt like my hand was in a permanently cramped position and I didn’t know how much longer I could hang on. One of the girls at the back of the boat took my spot. She was excited to do so and looked like she was having fun. I felt bad for some of the girls. Apparently they had booked a helicopter tour right after this one, not realizing that the tour could run over or that they needed to include in drive time. Needless to say, they missed their scheduled depart time. Hopefully they can rebook for another day. Once we got back, we drove to the hotel to fresh up a little and change out of our bathing suits. Our next adventure is horse back riding, so we also had to change into jeans. We were riding at Silver Falls Ranch. It was at the other end of the island so it took a little while to get there. When we got there, it had just started sprinkling, but luckily that is all it did and it had mostly stopped by the time we were ready to go riding.
When we got back to the starting point they helped us off our horses. The horse was a little taller than I’m used to and I almost fell to the ground because I was not expecting it.
I had packed the day before, so I was ready to leave in the morning after packing a couple of last minute items. And then it was time to go. I caught an uber to the airport. Good thing I was early, because I had issues checking in my luggage. I think the girl that was doing my bag was new. Still, I had plenty of time before my flight left. After that, I had a series of flights. My first one left at 9:15 to fly to Brisbane. I then had a couple of hours layover in Brisbane before I could check in for my flight to Honolulu. Since I was switching airlines, the kiosks didn’t work for me so I had to stand in a long line so I could get my tickets. Still, I had plenty of time since my flight didn’t leave until 9:45pm.
Apparently that was a bad idea. When it was finally my turn, I did the interview with the agent and he approved my application, but he never asked if I was bringing in food or other products I shouldn’t be. So I asked who I was supposed to discuss that with. Apparently I was supposed to check in before I had the interview. I shouldn’t have gotten out of line. Good thing I said something, because apparently it is a felony since I would be entering the country illegally, even though I’m a citizen. Luckily the guy was able to check me in. After passing through Customs, I checked in my bag again for my flight to Lihue and grabbed some food while I waited for my last flight to the island of Kauai. That flight didn’t have any problems and I was finally done flying for the day. I met up with Mom at the Baggage Claim area. Her flight landed about 45 minutes before mine, so she had to wait for a little while. I probably shouldn’t have left her alone that long, apparently she found plenty of pamphlets about drowning, and watched a story on the news about how a strong swimmer got caught in a riptide and drowned. So now she is convinced that we are going to drown when snorkeling or kayaking.
No one else was gambling, so after we walked around a little we called it a night. I’m really going to miss everyone! Once I got back to my apartment I finished packing and went to bed so I could get up early for my long journey tomorrow.
This is my last weekend in Perth, since next weekend I fly back to the U.S. I haven’t had the chance to go to Penguin Island yet. I’m supposed to do a kayak tour out there tomorrow, but just in case there are not enough people I decided to book a boat tour today. If I need to, I can always go twice. Since I knew how to get there, it was an easy metro ride. Once I got to the metro station I decided to take an uber since I was running short on time. When I got there, I went to the gift shop to get my ticket and then went to the pier to get on the boat. The boat ride was quick, and I was on Penguin Island.
After looking around a little, I saw all that I could of the island so I went back to the boat for the mainland. I had time, so I waited at the bus stop for a bus to come and then took the metro back to Perth.
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June 2022
AuthorThese are details from my adventures around the world. |