Dreamtime

After visiting the mainland for a while, I met up with my daughter in Waikiki for one night, so we could fly back to Queensland together. By the time I arrived at Honolulu airport I was thoroughly exhausted, and starving, as usual. From the airport we stopped in at the Cheesecake Factory, (which is my new favourite place on earth, besides Walmart), and had yet another incredible meal, and then headed back to the Airbnb room we’d booked. I know I talk about how tired I am constantly, but long haul flights are exhausting. Travelling through changing time zones, climates, layovers in different airports, and sitting next to tanned young Californian women wearing white jeans, who drink beer all night instead of sleeping, leaves you thoroughly fatigued. By the time I got back to the Airbnb room, I thought I’d die.

This was no luxury room, as they are out of our price range in tourist central, Waikiki. Instead, it was a tiny little studio apartment with a bed, a kitchenette, and a bathroom. It wasn’t particularly clean, or pretty, but it was in a great spot, and affordable. I dropped my suitcase and flung myself onto the bed. I planned to just lie there for a minute, but it was like dropping onto a cloud of feathers. I was out like a light. I remember voices in the room as my daughter loudly discussed the non-working wi-fi with the apartment manager, and the banging of doors, but I didn’t care. I slept as though I was in a coma I refused to come out of. I slept so well that I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. It was that one sleep that you compare every other sleep to, forever. And it was the mattress that made it all possible! There was no light in the bedroom/kitchenette so you had to rely on the dim glow from the bathroom. There was only one powerpoint. The bathroom door didn’t close properly. The verandah was narrow and dangerous, dangling over a busy street, and if you wanted wifi, you had to go down to the fifth floor and hang over the pool. But the bed! That bed was so spectacular, that even now, the Airbnb symbol triggers feelings of euphoria.