Note - I will be following this up with a more lighthearted travelblog on room311
It started badly. We got to Tees Valley only to be informed that fog at Heathrow had delayed the flight, so that it was likely that we would miss our London - LA connection. Due to the way our tickets were issued, it turned out that I could be bumped onto a later flight, instead going to San Fransisco. Ian would have to take his chances with making the LA connection. We agreed to split up and try to rendezvous the next day at breakfast in the hotel in Honolulu. Turns out this was all for nothing, because we did manage to get to Heathrow in time for the LA connection. Trouble was, I was committed to taking the San Fransisco route. Nevermind, I got some great views of the city as we came into land.
The SF to Honolulu section was no problem - in fact I slept pretty much all the flight. Got the the hotel in Honolulu about midnight, where I could get a few more hours sleep before seeing if Ian had also made it at 8am the next day. He did, and we had a quick breakfast before going to get the inter-island flight to the Big Island. By this time I was not feeling on top form... I'm putting this down to lack of sleep, messing up of body clock and dehydration. I forgot to mention that I was harranged by a religious type on the inter-island flight... telling me about Judgement Day (something I really didn't want to hear on the choppy flight). What amazed me was that, after telling her I was from the U.K., she said "I'm not sure how well you understand English, but...". Gobsmacked at this ignorance of the wider world, I replied: "I know enough to get by". When we landed, I quickly grabbed my bag and legged it.
We spent a few hours in Hilo, picking up some essentials for the long nights ahead (pretzels, M&Ms, chips+dip, etc.). We upset some of the locals ("Get the F*** off our island!"). We had a bite to eat on the water front, before making our way up the mountain. I wasn't feeling great, and headed straight to bed... where I remained until now. After drinking some more liquids, and having something to eat, I'm feeling much better, so I hope it's just a case of re-charging my batteries. We have our first run tonight; the weather doesn't look too bad for now, but I've heard it might be changing for the worse again. We'll see.
It started badly. We got to Tees Valley only to be informed that fog at Heathrow had delayed the flight, so that it was likely that we would miss our London - LA connection. Due to the way our tickets were issued, it turned out that I could be bumped onto a later flight, instead going to San Fransisco. Ian would have to take his chances with making the LA connection. We agreed to split up and try to rendezvous the next day at breakfast in the hotel in Honolulu. Turns out this was all for nothing, because we did manage to get to Heathrow in time for the LA connection. Trouble was, I was committed to taking the San Fransisco route. Nevermind, I got some great views of the city as we came into land.
The SF to Honolulu section was no problem - in fact I slept pretty much all the flight. Got the the hotel in Honolulu about midnight, where I could get a few more hours sleep before seeing if Ian had also made it at 8am the next day. He did, and we had a quick breakfast before going to get the inter-island flight to the Big Island. By this time I was not feeling on top form... I'm putting this down to lack of sleep, messing up of body clock and dehydration. I forgot to mention that I was harranged by a religious type on the inter-island flight... telling me about Judgement Day (something I really didn't want to hear on the choppy flight). What amazed me was that, after telling her I was from the U.K., she said "I'm not sure how well you understand English, but...". Gobsmacked at this ignorance of the wider world, I replied: "I know enough to get by". When we landed, I quickly grabbed my bag and legged it.
We spent a few hours in Hilo, picking up some essentials for the long nights ahead (pretzels, M&Ms, chips+dip, etc.). We upset some of the locals ("Get the F*** off our island!"). We had a bite to eat on the water front, before making our way up the mountain. I wasn't feeling great, and headed straight to bed... where I remained until now. After drinking some more liquids, and having something to eat, I'm feeling much better, so I hope it's just a case of re-charging my batteries. We have our first run tonight; the weather doesn't look too bad for now, but I've heard it might be changing for the worse again. We'll see.
