This trip was, by far, the best vacation I have ever had! We were all a bit anxious about how the trip would go; 10 days on an island with the family, it could have been a disaster. But we're all old enough and independent enough that we didn't need to be in each other's hair. If someone didn't feel like coming along to an activity, they didn't have to. The condo was big enough that if any of us needed some space, we could get it. But by the end of the trip, us four kids were all cuddled up in the parents bed together just happy to be spending time together.
The end of the trip came too soon - none of us were sick of each other yet. Because my flight back to Australia left early in the morning from Honolulu, I had to fly out of Kona the night before everyone else. It was really sad to have to say goodbye to everyone, not knowing when we'll see each other again. I haven't been particularly motivated to come back to Canada, but given how much I enjoyed spending time with my family (or this one branch of my family), I don't want to leave too big of a gap before spending time with them again. I've got the most incredible siblings ever, and seeing everyone growing up and becoming their own unique person is just the greatest thing.
I'll post some more detailed updates about all the different things we did - and holy crap did we ever do a lot! - but for now, let me start at the beginning.
I left Melbourne Boxing Day morning and flew to Sydney, where I had enough time to head into the city and see Sydney Harbour. So now I can say that I've kind of been to Sydney. I didn't really have enough time to do a lot, so after climbing up to the Opera House I wandered off in the opposite direction of where I meant to go, eventually turned myself around, and had lunch at the Contemporary Art Museum.
Then it was back to the airport, back on the plane, and 10 hours to Honolulu. When I arrived in Honolulu early Boxing Day morning, it was pouring down rain and my heart sank. I had a few hours until my next flight, which I used to nap. When I woke up, the sun had come out, though it still didn't look very promising. I grabbed a coffee and some pineapple slices at Starbucks (it being the only coffee vendor available) and headed on to Kona.
I was seated at the very back of the plane, with no hope of looking out a window, so I had no idea what I was flying in to. So it was a pretty big surprise when I got off the plane and it was hot and sunny and clear! Turns out the storms that were hitting the other islands weren't reaching the Big Island. I got in to Kona 8 minutes after leaving Melbourne, and several hours before the rest of the gang arrived. (Melbourne is 21 hours ahead of Hawaii, or, in more practical terms, Hawaii is 3 hours ahead but a day behind.) I took a taxi from the airport to the Waikaloa Colony Villas, got myself checked in and semi-settled, and headed to the pool, convinently located directly behind our condo. After a nice big swim and a warm shower, I curled up on the couch to have a nap. And as soon as I dozed off, the rest of the crew arrived.
There was much hugging and luggage and logistical coordination. Maya and I opted to share a bed so the boys could each have their own. The only down side to this was that she had a cold...and after 9 nights of being coughed on, I have a cold. In all fairness, the boys both had colds too, and Maya smells a lot better than they do so I'm happy to take the cold. After everyone got settled they headed out to the pool, while I scrounged for food, having only eatten pretzels and pineapples all day. In the evening we headed over to a nearby shopping centre for pizza.
As I missed Christmas, that evening I had presents to open. By far the best of the presents was from my Dad, who, being an avid reader of my blog and a fan of practical jokes, gave me mismatched socks. One had hearts, one had bees. He swears this pattern combination was not an intentional extra dig at my phobia of bees. Pat brought out this rather amusing game I bought 10 years ago called Zobmondo, which involves choosing between bizarre scenarios. For the rest of the trip pretty much any down time we spent in the lounge room was spent playing Zobmondo.
Everyone was pretty exhausted from a long day of travelling, and that first night I slept like a log! The next day we planned to take it easy: do some exploring in Kona, then relax on the beach nearest our condo. Little did we know how XTREME 2 DA MAX our trip was about to become! More on that later.
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