Goodbye LA, hello Maui

Saturday morning we had brunch with Helene’s old school friend Rochelle Israel who came up from San Diego. They had a ball reminiscing while I tried to feign my interest without having a clue who they were talking about. At least the food at La Pain on Little Santa Monica was delicious. I had a 3 berry oatmeal...yummm

We walked back to the hotel together and the girls said their long goodbye. We then got in the car and headed for The Grove / Farmers Market which was one (or is it two?) of the last destination/s we wanted to do in LA. We were very pleasantly surprised as it is very different to any other shopping centre we’d been to. The market is very rustic with all sorts of different cuisines including Brazilian and Mexican. We even bought some golden raspberries which was something new. I prefer the red ones over here which are the best I’ve ever had.

The Grove, which is right alongside the market, is beautifully designed and has the feel of Disneyworld, complete with old style bus on rails which ferries the passengers up the middle. It is all outdoors, shops mixed with restaurants, and has a wonderful relaxed feel to it. The ultra glorious weather helped make it a great place to be. We spent some time in an amazingly fitted out Anthropologie store (Jules you would love it, very similar merchandise to Shack, with great little inspiring books, but about 10 times the size…the huge chandelier is a great feature). Our time was limited however as Helene was anxious to get back to the Hackners for the kids to be together for the last few hours.

As we had an early start Sunday we went for a very early dinner with the Hackners at Il Fornaio, a great little Italian restaurant one block from the Luxe, on Beverly. The food and service was superb. It’s really been great getting to know Dani’s family…the boys are really nice kids, Ben is very talented musically and John is a really cute good kid, and Dani's girlfriend Betty who is lovely (looks serious…she also gets on great with his boys). We went for a quick ice cream and then said our goodbyes.

reflecting on our time on the mainland, one of the highlights of the trip has been the time we’ve been able to spend with family and friends. We’ve been blessed..The Hackners in LA, The Rubensteins and Eve in Atlanta, Ari Greenberg and his family in Atlanta, the Videlefskys in Atlanta, Rochelle Israel in LA and then we also spoke on the phone to the Lees in New Jersey, the Dublins in Florida and Peter Berman in Texas…and of course we had our Aussie mates the Drutmans on the other end of our T-mobile for much of the way to share experiences and give and get advice on places to go, sights to see and food to eat. Hope I haven't left anyone out.

Sunday turned out to be the one day you dread on a trip. We’ve had a great run so can’t complain. It was always likely as it was the one day we had to take more than one flight...

The alarm rang at 4:30am! We said a bleary eyed goodbye to the Luxe which had been a great ‘home’ away from home to us and headed in our taxi van to LAX. The staff at the Luxe were sensational which makes such a difference when you’re traveling. Check in with American was really smooth and all looked really good until we hit the gate lounge at the appointed time of 8:10. We were advised that they had picked up a hydraulic fault and were investigating. Fortunately when checking in and printing boarding passes the night before (still love being able to do that), I had subscribed on line to free voice updates to my cell regarding our flight, so we could return to the Qantas/American lounge and wait for the new time to be announced.

Eventually they decided to get a different plane from the hangar and at 10:30, 2 hours late we took off. We realised we were going to be pushing it to make our connection flight to Maui, however we knew they were very laid back in the Islands so didn’t worry too much.

It was a very smooth flight and as expected we arrived too late to make the flight however I had checked the night before just in case and knew there was a flight an hour later. There was no one there to direct us and we literally had to hussle and ask questions till we eventually arrived at this very plain looking gate lounge at the end of a maze of corridors in the Inner Island Terminal (this after first waiting 20 anxious minutes for the Wiki Wike bus to transport us there from the main terminal)…

It was scary. There was no one there from Island Air. Another guy waiting remarked to me that it felt like a pretend operation. I made a few phone calls and eventually located someone who said he’d send someone over. It had to be seen to be believed. It was like being at a bus stop. We were told that they only send an attendant when a plane is due to leave but would send one now.

So here we were having missed our connection, not spoken to anyone to see if we'd beenreassigned, not being able to find anyone, not knowing whether there were seats for us on the next flight, our luggage having been checked thru to Maui to go with us but unlikely to make it. To make it worse Gabz had stomach pains and was not looking happy at all. I think the ‘excitement’ of the hussle and worry coupled with the early start had got to her.

Eventually about 20 minutes before scheduled departure of the next and last flight for the day, a young lass strolls in, wondering what all the fuss is about and directs us out to the tarmac and over to another terminal which was hidden beyond the one we were in, and which you enter from the tarmac if you don't mind. While walking there we can see this tiny Dash 8 twin prop plane being loaded with luggage and warming up.

We were ushered into their combined gate lounge and eventually ticketed. There was no security check at all but perhaps the fact we were in transit had something to do with that although we had been out in the open a lot and caught a bus….it really didn’t feel secure at all by today’s or any modern standards..then again this is Hawaii.

I then enquired about our baggage and was told it usually takes an hour and a half to get the baggage across to another plane. I was thinking that American wouldn’t even know we were on this flight and there was zero chance we’d see our baggage again that day. That would have been awful. The laid back Hawaiin lass said she’d try anyway and buzzed someone in baggage to see if they could help.

With us all tightly holding thumbs and pretty anxious, tired and generally frsutrated, a baggage container arrived at the plane minutes before takeoff. The lass motioned to us that she thought it might be our bags. We could see it arriving on the tarmac thru the window from the lounge and all let out a big cheer when we spotted Natty’s distinctively coloured suitcase being unloaded and taken to the plane. It was hard to believe but it had all come together, somehow, miraculously.

The only remaining anxiety centred around the plane we had to now board. What’s more it had to stop en route to Maui at Molokai, so two flights not just one. Seating was open i.e. grab any seat you like. It was only half full. At Molokai we just sat on board while a few passengers got off and a few others got on. Both flights were a little bumpy and noisy next to the props however on the bright side we got to see a new island and touched down safely at Kahului airport at around 4:50pm. I said a quick prayer of thanks to the big guy upstairs and we managed to hail a cab and head for the Grand Wailea, or ‘Grandma Leah’ as we’ve renamed it.

I’ve forgotten just how good this place is. We were warmly greeted with neck leis (flowers for the girls, grass for the boys) and shown to our beautiful room in the Napua Tower. This really is a home away from home for us. We were even in time for pupus (complimentary evening hors d'oeuvres..snacks and drinks). Helene and I didn’t need dinner after that. We’d been going for 16 hours. It was the first time I wondered to myself whether or not we’d pushed it just a little too far on this crazy itinerary of ours.

It’s now Monday around noon and I’m typing this at the pool. Yet another absolutely glorious day. You must be tired of hearing that. We are lapping up the sun and not having any sites to see although I am wrestling with whether to go and play a round at Kapalua later in the week (at the top of the island, course should be in great nick as the season opening PGA event, the Mercedes was held there a week ago), or go up Haleakala, the dorment crater at this end of the islands. We will see, at this point this is just what the doctor ordered. Some beautiful R&R in a great setting. Now I know why we keep coming back here. It’s a little piece of paradise.

Everyone in the US is all abuzz with tomorrow's inauguration. Seems like half the country will be in Washington. Amazing bit of history being made. Gives me goosbumps just writing this. Will have to see if they can hook up a tv by the pool at this place. Don't want to miss this event.

Happy Birthday to my big sister Jen!!! Sorry we can't be there to share it with you. Will speak later.