I don’t want to leave Hawaii….we are just having too much fun and Chloe loves it too much – the beach, sand, warm weather, the dog-friends…all combined with the thought that -20 degrees and snow is just too strange.
Over the last week and a half we have been pretty busy and have got along just fine without Michelle (yes, yes – I know we keep harping on about her but she makes our lives so much easier). We have pretty much folded into Chloes routine…Clarissa and I take it in turns to get up early (6am – 7am) to look after Chloe while the other sleeps in (8am), I go for a quick 20 minute run while pushing Chloe in her pram and we then go on a family outing. Either to a far off beach, the sea life park, the zoo, Chloe’s baby gym, watch the big wave surfers, see the pineapple plantations (as boring as it sounds) etc. We then feed Chloe and ourselves similar food between 11am and midday, nap / read from 12am – 2pm and then head to the beach or the park until 5pm, home for Chloe’s and our dinner, a quick bath and then bed. Very healthy and relaxing for all.
Louise and Matt left on Saturday with a bit of stress. Somehow, the car keys made their way into the boot and the boot door was closed…2.5
hours before their flight departed. We frantically called around trying to figure out our best options; getting a taxi, finding a locksmith, getting spare keys sent to us, swapping flight or breaking the window (my preferred option). One of these calls was to the car rental company to see if they had any advice – and they certainly did. They asked me to hold while they transfer me to StarOne (like AA or RAC)…the operator then asked me to confirm my location and number plate and to step away from the car…because she was going to open it remotely…which she did! I have no idea how the system works but somehow the car doors just sprung open and we could get the keys….needless to say we were all totally amazed and felt a bit under the influence of George Orwills ‘Big Brother’. Anyway, we made it to the airport just in time and Louise kindly took back our diving kit – which won’t be of much use in Canada.
We waited near the airport for Mathilde to fly in and she is staying with us as Clarissa and her are doing a paddling course; it runs from 9am to 3pm so I am on Chloe duty for those hours…and having a ball. Chloe and I have our morning run, visit Starbucks where I have a tea and she has a cup of frothed milk, wonder down to the beach (I read / she digs) and then go home for lunch and nap…then head to the beach again with Clarissa and Mathilde. One such beach was amazing – just walking out into water 2 foot deep and we say about 10 – 15 turtles – and big ones too! They come into the shallows away from the sharks and to feed and we just walked amongst them floating along! On that beach was my dream house – double story villa’s with the front lawn leading straight onto the beach – no fence or other barrier. Perhaps after a few more years (read decades) of working.
So all in all you can see we are having a great time – we are all very relaxed, totally un-phased about time / queues or being late for anything…with Chloe’s mobile meals we can stop at any beach we like or do whatever we want whenever we want. And we have been meeting some very interesting people….through the paddling club Clarissa has some friends that have quit work to come live in Hawaii and it is very interesting to hear their take on life and new priorities. In Hong Kong, it is very easy to get stuck into the money trap – working, saving, working, saving – always needing more money, bigger houses, fancier holidays and faster cars…while these people have actively given up on that lifestyle to pursue the softer things in life…healthy eating, family development, sport….not worried at all about money - very tempting!
Over the last week and a half we have been pretty busy and have got along just fine without Michelle (yes, yes – I know we keep harping on about her but she makes our lives so much easier). We have pretty much folded into Chloes routine…Clarissa and I take it in turns to get up early (6am – 7am) to look after Chloe while the other sleeps in (8am), I go for a quick 20 minute run while pushing Chloe in her pram and we then go on a family outing. Either to a far off beach, the sea life park, the zoo, Chloe’s baby gym, watch the big wave surfers, see the pineapple plantations (as boring as it sounds) etc. We then feed Chloe and ourselves similar food between 11am and midday, nap / read from 12am – 2pm and then head to the beach or the park until 5pm, home for Chloe’s and our dinner, a quick bath and then bed. Very healthy and relaxing for all.
Louise and Matt left on Saturday with a bit of stress. Somehow, the car keys made their way into the boot and the boot door was closed…2.5
hours before their flight departed. We frantically called around trying to figure out our best options; getting a taxi, finding a locksmith, getting spare keys sent to us, swapping flight or breaking the window (my preferred option). One of these calls was to the car rental company to see if they had any advice – and they certainly did. They asked me to hold while they transfer me to StarOne (like AA or RAC)…the operator then asked me to confirm my location and number plate and to step away from the car…because she was going to open it remotely…which she did! I have no idea how the system works but somehow the car doors just sprung open and we could get the keys….needless to say we were all totally amazed and felt a bit under the influence of George Orwills ‘Big Brother’. Anyway, we made it to the airport just in time and Louise kindly took back our diving kit – which won’t be of much use in Canada.We waited near the airport for Mathilde to fly in and she is staying with us as Clarissa and her are doing a paddling course; it runs from 9am to 3pm so I am on Chloe duty for those hours…and having a ball. Chloe and I have our morning run, visit Starbucks where I have a tea and she has a cup of frothed milk, wonder down to the beach (I read / she digs) and then go home for lunch and nap…then head to the beach again with Clarissa and Mathilde. One such beach was amazing – just walking out into water 2 foot deep and we say about 10 – 15 turtles – and big ones too! They come into the shallows away from the sharks and to feed and we just walked amongst them floating along! On that beach was my dream house – double story villa’s with the front lawn leading straight onto the beach – no fence or other barrier. Perhaps after a few more years (read decades) of working.
So all in all you can see we are having a great time – we are all very relaxed, totally un-phased about time / queues or being late for anything…with Chloe’s mobile meals we can stop at any beach we like or do whatever we want whenever we want. And we have been meeting some very interesting people….through the paddling club Clarissa has some friends that have quit work to come live in Hawaii and it is very interesting to hear their take on life and new priorities. In Hong Kong, it is very easy to get stuck into the money trap – working, saving, working, saving – always needing more money, bigger houses, fancier holidays and faster cars…while these people have actively given up on that lifestyle to pursue the softer things in life…healthy eating, family development, sport….not worried at all about money - very tempting! username: allaccess
password: letmein
No comments:
Post a Comment