A learning experience at Honolulu airport

We did do a bit of shopping in Honolulu - not much, just a couple of pairs of shoes and a few t-shirts, oh and a couple of sarongs ... well anyway we managed to get everything stashed in the bags and proceeded off to the airport, fairly sure we were still within our 60kg weight limit. HOWEVER, at Honolulu they were not interested in the total weight or number of our bags, just whether any one bag weighed more than 50lb. If so, they were going to charge us $US50!! Fine, we weighed my bag, it was 1lb over, no problem - I just transfered the camera charger to Em's bag. Al's bag was nearly 10lb over weight however and we couldn't figure out how to redistribute. We had just about resigned ourselves to the $50 charge when we remembered the school backpack we had bought for Em (purple hibiscus pattern - gorgeous!). Out it came and the rest of the chargers, adapter plugs and a pair of men's shoes went in. Bingo - problem solved.

The other thing I learned is that you have to take your laptop out of your hand luggage and put it through the security x-ray machine separately if you don't want to be searched. I did hear Al burbling something to me as I blithely lobbed my backpack onto the conveyor belt but I was confident I was okay - heck I even took my shoes off without being asked. So of course I was pulled over by a very nice young man who went through my bag, checked the laptop and then x-rayed it all again. Embarrassing but not fatal. Still, I know now, you take your laptop out .... and sometimes it does pay to listen to your husband ...