Getting here, getting connected

I arrived on Tuesday morning and sailed through Immigration. My fingerprints were no trouble at all. Collected my bag, found my way to the rental car courtesy bus, was shown to our car. There was the usual palaver about insurance. I showed my gold Amex card, I told them, I had travel insurance, and that seemed to be enough. Got into our slaty blue Ford Fusion and drove it back to the airport Carpark, memorizing the number plate and the carpark position. I found my way to the correct terminal and baggage carousel and sat down to wait an hour or so for Michael to arrive. My phone beeped - landed! He appeared, and eventually so did his bags. We made it back to the car and drove straight to the Waikiki Shore. We are in 804 this time, two down and one closer to the ocean from 1005 where we usually stay. The only thing that seems to have changed is that Mark no longer works here. It was time, he was very jaded and hated dealing with the public. He may have gotten one too many negative reviews on TripAdvisor. Isaac is still here though. Parcels were waiting for us at the desk, not for Michael to see.

It is now Friday, and we are well settled. Of major importance was connectivity. I suggested that as we are on holiday perhaps we didn't need to be connected, and that was greeted with the disdain it deserved. We went straight to the Apple store at Ala Moana mall, carrying our two iPads and iPhones. We bought an Airport Express, plugged it into the hotel connection and voila! Lanai Link is up and running with all four devices running perfectly. What a change from days of yore wrestling with connections and dialup modems.

We have crosswords, sudoku, knitting, ample books including Kindle and paper, drawing paper and pencils, so the entertainment system is fully operational. We have been to Safeways and stocked up on Illy blue coffee, bacon, eggs, icecream, fruit, vegetables, soda, and other essentials.

I have been swimming twice (missed out the day of arrival, too whacked). Swim 1 showed me a large turtle very close, and a very large blue iridescent fish - pale dappled blue, not a groper deep blue. Swim 2 had TWO turtles, one large and looked like the same one from yesterday, and one a bit smaller. They seem totally unconcerned by my presence, and I am awestruck and delighted.