Days 6 &7 04/06 & 05/06

Day 6 - Today was a sad day in some respects because it marked our departure from Istanbul which we had thoroughly enjoyed but we are giving serious though to spending a few more days there on our way back to Malaysia in August. Depends on whether we can persuade Turkish Airlines to change our dates with no or little penalty.
However, on the other hand today marks the day when we arrive in Miami to be with Jean's family so that definitely outweighs any regrets at leaving Istanbul.
We were picked up early from the hotel for the usual reason that we wanted to organise good seats and had a quick trip to the airport. This time managed to get bulkhead seats which gave us more legroom but the aircraft was almost full which surprised us. Of course this meant that we could not commandeer a row of seats so had to remain sitting more or less upright for almost 12 hours.
The flight was an hour late leaving so that was going to delay our arrival time. It was scheduled for 1710 but in the event we didn't arrive at Miami until almost 1900.
We had imagined that we would fly along the Mediterranean more or less but of course we took the Great Circle route which is actually shorter. So we flew over Bulgaria and Romania and eventually exited the French coast about the latitude of Paris. Then flew over southern England before heading out over the Atlantic. We turned SW near the Canadian coast just south of Gander in Newfoundland and encountered severe headwinds as our ground speed dropped to well below 400 mph. All of this contributed to our eventual late arrival.
We were probably still jetlagged after the KL - Istanbul flight and of course we had been on the go since arriving there 4 days ago. So, the flight dragged more than the 1st. leg and it wasn't helped by our relatively slow progress. The food wasn't so good either so our earlier praise of Turkish Airlines must be somewhat muted. They certainly win hands down though for service, helpfulness and straight out friendliness though.
Soon enough we arrived at Miami. Then we had to negotiate the US border protection. Before leaving Malaysia we had had to obtain an ESTA which is a visa waiver programme so, although NZ passport holders do not require a visa, the ESTA is meant to be a substitute screening process. How effective it is, who knows? Anyway, it was all a piece of cake in the end and we were soon through US Immigration.
As an aside, in the local Miami Herald there was a report that Muslims in the US are starting to be fearful for their own safety. There is no doubt that there is widespread paranoia and the politics of fear are taking hold. Trump is playing this card for all he is worth and for this reason alone he should never be president. Adolph Hitler did the same thing in Germany in the early 1930's and we all know what happened after that.
Perry met us at the airport and pretty soon we had arrived at their house at South Shore Drive, Normanby Is. Great to see everyone, and of course Jean was pleased to see Carter and Nash. They are both bundles of energy and keep everyone very busy! Alan and Lorraine (Tracie's Mum) were both there too and in fact everyone had just that morning arrived back from a cruise that incorporated Belize, Honduras and Costa Rica. So we were all very tired and Thai takeaways were in order.
Day 7 - Woke early due to the fact that we were still on Istanbul time - 6 hours earlier. But felt pretty good overall and we were ready for anything - at least for a while. After breakfast which was a bit on the skinny side as there was not much food in the house, we all decided to descend on Wholefoods which is an upmarket supermarket quite close. We went in two cars as there were 6 of us plus the 2 children. Bought up large as we hadn't been let loose in a supermarket quite like that in a long time. It's expensive for us too as the Kiwi dollar is only buying 68-69 US cents and also all prices of things which were sold by weight were in pounds. So to convert to something which made sense for us firstly you needed to do the currency conversion and then multiply by 2.2 to get the equivalent price per kilo.
America is crazy in that respect - they have of course had dollars and cents for well over 100 (possibly 200) years and yet still use an antiquated system for weights and measures (pounds and ounces) and also linear measurement (feet and inches). In addition fuel is sold by the American gallon (different to the old Imperial gallons we were used to back in NZ) so to compare the fuel price to Kiwiland one has to go through a similar convoluted exercise. And of course America drives on the right so we don't think we will be driving! No need anyway with Perry and Tracie to drive us around.
They are having to vacate their leased house about mid August which is a pity as it is very comfortable with 4 bedrooms and is on one of the local canals with a pontoon and 2 jetskis moored out front.
Later Perry drove us around the local area and we saw the next house they are leasing and also saw a portion of the famous Intracoastal Waterway which is a navigable (mostly) inland waterway which stretches all the way from Pensacola in Florida to the Chesapeake. We would love to do this trip on Tiare but somehow time has caught up with us and it's doubtful whether that will ever happen.
One doesn't realise just how Spanish Miami is with immigrants (legal and illegal) from Mexico, Cuba and many Latin American countries.
BBQ tonight and watched a major basketball game on TV. Then bed again to finally get rid of the jetlag.
Lotsaluv again
Jim and Jean

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