Bob Marley's Three Little Birds will never have more meaning to me! The large TV in the communal area, if not on a specific channel, would often be playing Bob Marley YouTube videos, so apt for a totally chilled place.

My British tourist visa for Australia requires that I only stay there for a maximum of three months per visit. I can exit Australian borders, then return for another three months. Due to having another trip booked, outside Australia at the end of March requiring I leave from Australia, it kind of clashed with getting out after three months, so I exited Australia after two months to enable me to return for a comfortable period before my next adventure, which is going to need additional planning and shopping!

My first choice for a visa break was Bali, because my best mate Ruth is going to be there in March, and it is a relatively short flight, but the dates didn’t fit with my plans. The next best was New Zealand. I’d only been to Rotorua before, so there was much more of the North Island to see, and also the south Island, and I'd love to return to see Celia and John.

But a Qantas ad for cheap flights to Hawaii caught my eye! $400 each way and only a 10 hour flight. The baggage allowance was good also, two bags 23kgs, which meant I could take Stumpy (my bike) with me as one piece of luggage, in his bike bag he weight 23kgs.

I did some research, the choice was to go to the Big Island's Hilo airport or O’ahu island’s Honolulu airport. Being on a bucket list binge, going to the Big Island was attractive as I could see an active volcano and tick that off, but something was drawing me toward O’ahu, in particular Waikiki.

It took me a couple of weeks to firm up my plans;