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Waikiki, Hawaii, United States
My phone alarm blasts out at a minute or two before 4am. It’s time to leave the USA. I proceed downstairs and sit outside waiting for a pre-booked airport shuttle. It’s quiet outside and there is just a sprinkling of people about. I’m awake but somewhat dazed. Just before half four I see an airport shuttle bus weave in and out of a hotel down the road. It doesn’t appear to be the one I booked and so I sit back down.
A few minutes later the same shuttle pulls up next to me. I decide I best check it out and wave my ticket at the driver, he nods and it appears that this is my shuttle. They obviously sell tickets to other shuttle company’s rides, to enable each shuttle company to provide a full 24 hour service, clever but possibly could do with being a bit easier for the public to understand. I doubt I’m the only one who thought he’d booked with a different company.
These hotel shuttles can be frustrating. I’m quoted a 4:30am pickup time, no mention of what time it will get me to the airport. Naturally I mentally give it about 45 minutes and expect to be at the airport by about 5:15am. Of course in reality things turn out slightly different. We proceed to visit pretty much every single hotel in Waikiki! This means at gone 5am we’re still only a couple of blocks away from where I was picked up half and hour earlier. So in a way these shuttles are even slower than buses. I could tell a few of the other passengers were frustrated by our lack of progress towards the airport.
At the airport I look for the Air Pacific check-in desk. I spot it next to the Qantas check-in desk and see a paper note marking out where I should line up (see pic!). Gradually the line gets shorter until it seems like time is running out, then all of a sudden a few more check-in desks open and the whole process speeds up.
Before long I’m racing up the runway and saying goodbye to America. It’s been very nearly three months. Moments later the plane lifts up and I’m on the way to Fiji. Air Pacific seem a bit better than American Airlines. I’m given a decent meal and sit back and attempt to catch up with some of the sleep that I didn’t get earlier in the morning.
A couple of hours into the flight we cross the International Date Line, meaning I’m transported forward in time instantly ‘Back to the Future’ style. 10am Friday becomes 9am Saturday, a jump of 23 hours! I can report that I have survived the time travel experience, without any obvious side affects!
from: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/olinorwell/1/1265645511/tpod.html
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