The Booys Down Under: Hawaii 40 Part 2!

Aloha Friday - Darren's 40th birthday!!!

Day by the pool!

Banners and Balloons!!!

Champagne!!

Fireworks!

Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory!

Cake!

The day after Darren's birthday we went for dinner and were lucky enough to get a seat outside on the balony! Little did we know that there was building work going on, so this was our view!

We hadn't finished eating, but the waiter asked if he could present us with the bill. I'd only just got a glass of bubbly so I thought it was a bit rude! Anyway he explained that they had to close the restaurant because the Tsunami was due! Tsunami? That was the first we'd heard of it!!!!! We had thought that the streets had gone quiet, but thought that it was due to the shower of rain that we'd had - not realising they were evacuating the whole town! The waiter asked if we could get to high ground, which we couldn't, but he assured us that the Sheraton was a Tsunami safe zone. We got back to the foyer and guards were evacuating everyone to their rooms above the fourth floor, and warnings were displayed on the TV screens:

Messages were then broadcast through the intercoms in the rooms and everyone had to stay in their rooms with the countdown to the tsunami hitting on the telly. Sirens were blaring outside as the last of the residents were evacuated.

Anyway, it all came to nothing in Waikiki and at about 1.30am the warning was dropped to 'advisory' and by the morning it was as if nothing had happened! But it gave everyone a story to tell about how they 'survived' the tsunami. Thank goodness it was ok or this could be a very different story I'm telling.

It was Halloween while we were out there, and it's a really big thing in the US. Barriers were put up on the edges of the pavements to stop the thousands of people who turned out in every sort of costume you can think of pouring onto the roads. We were lucky enough to get a balcony seat of the Hard Rock Cafe so that we could look out on the madness!