We left Papeete, Tahiti at 12:05 am on Saturday morning arrived in Honolulu around 5:30 or so. We had a seven+ hour layover in the airport, which actually wasn't too bad. We found a nook in the food court and were able to sprawl out a little and the time passed reasonably quickly. It had taken about 45 minutes to get our baggage and get through immigration at the Honolulu airport, a whole lot better than it was in Tahiti. Papeete had three flights leaving at about the same time, between 11:30 and midnight. One to Los Angeles, one to Tokyo, and ours to Honolulu. So, there were about 800 people trying to get checked in at the ticket desks (no kiosks), get through immigration, and get through security to their planes at the same time. Funny thing was...there were no other flights out until late the following afternoon. Anyway, getting on the plane in Papeete was tiresome. Both flights were about the same length, about 6 hours or so, which was tolerable. We flew Hawaiian Air both legs and we only had a little turbulance a couple times. Other than that, the flights were smooth and as comfortable as you could expect.
We arrived in Phoenix around 10:30 and were at the hotel by midnight, where Patrick was waiting for us. Quick note...we've flown out of Honolulu five times over the past 33 years, and this was the first time we ever got out of there within 12 hours of the planned departure time. Hurray!!! Patrick looks good and we're all looking forward to our time together and his graduation. We leave Friday for home and while this has been a GREAT trip...it's time to get home.
Here are a couple pics that Pat took at the Manava Resort on Saturday night before we headed out for the airport:
