Our last day in Hawaii didn’t mean we slowed the pace today. We did have a little bit of a sleep in before the day was off and racing and we were on our way to Wet ‘n’ Wild Hawaii – Oahu’s top 10 most visited family attractions on the island. The park features more than 25 attractions nestled on 29 acres of lush tropical landscaping and our troop of intrepid adventurers tried as many as they could (until they decided it was time for a rest).

We started with the obligatory team ride on the Volcano Express, which involved us racing down the watery track against each other – didn’t that bring out the competitive spirt! From there some raced back up to do it again and others raced to be the first to try one of the other attractions such as the Shaka, Tornado, Wave Pool, Waianae Coaster and Big Kahuna. The weather was verging on windy and a bit warmish, so after a couple of hours of water play the adventurers had lunch and decided to chill for the rest of the afternoon. That’s when the adults of the tour came to life and relived their childhood as they catapulted down the steep, steep rides – chiropractic appointments may now be required.

When the park closed at 3.30pm, we were changed and ready, looking resplendent in our worst Hawaiian shirts all set for Germaine’s Hawaiian Luau. We had a little bit of time up our sleeve so we detoured to the Ross Department Store – this shop is a treasure hunt where you can find unbelievable bargains on brand name items, you just have to scour, and scour we did. In 45 minutes we found some bargains that we had to have, waited in line for 15 minutes to purchase and then ran to the bus. We seem to run to a lot of places?

As soon as we arrived at Germaine’s Luau we were treated to true Hawaiian charm. We enjoyed a fantastic buffet meal and watched an authentic show complete with cultural dancing and singing. Speaking of dancing, special mention to the girls who hopped up on stage and learnt the hula, and Jaidyn and Toby who were the only two of our lads to hit the stage and learn the moves. Who knew they all had such great co-ordination?

We then headed back to the motel where there were a few tears as Bucks did his farewell speeches for those students who have completed their time at Tenison Woods College. We’ve become quite the little family unit while we’ve been away, and we’re going to miss each and every one of you. Remember Aunty Tan loves you all (well, most of the time, except when you do that slow walk or spread out and congest the whole area so no one else can get through 😊)

The Flag!

As we come to the end of the tour, it gives us a chance to sit back and reflect on our flag winners over the tour.  We’ve had many worthy recipients, all special (very special) in their own ways. Tonight, however was an important night and we had to vote, it was time to decide the most memorable flag moment as well as the official overall flag winner for 2019.

For the most memorable flag we narrowed the contenders down to five. Drum roll please. 1. Michelle de Wit and the 911 phone call. 2. Matt Black getting kicked off Guardians of the Galaxy ride. 3. Joel Dent, our high kicking Romeo. 4. Emma standing in her own toilet water. 5. Allan Withers getting misplaced on Day 1 at the LAX airport. It was a close vote, but congratulations to Michelle de Wit, whose brush with the law (however accidental it may be) still gives us many a good belly laugh, even now three weeks after the initial event. Congratulations Michelle, truly well deserved.

For the crowning of the 2019 Overall Flag Winner, the voting became more secretive.  Everyone had the chance to vote on who they thought deserved the honour of being the Grand Poohbah of the flag, all anonymous of course. There was excitement at the awards ceremony, and a fair bit of nerves from some of the more obvious contenders. In the end, there were three run-away vote getters, so starting from third place congratulations to our bronze winner on 5 votes, Michelle de Wit. Coming in second on 7 points was Toby de Wit, and the run-away winners on 12 points are Toby and Michelle de Wit – or as we like to call them the ‘Daily de Wit Double’. Well done, I know your family are incredibly proud (wait a minute, is that the word they used?). For those of you playing at home, you’ll notice that the de Wit’s scored the top three positions – possibly a first for flag history. Anyway, congratulations, you’re both very deserving winners.

And that brings us to the end of the 2019 USA Tour Blog, I hope you’ve enjoyed updates on our daily activities. It’s been busy, but we’ve loved it. We’ll see you all soon.