From Notes from a Spinning Planet—
Papua New Guinea
Available February 2007
Some of the passengers on this flight are getting all stoked because their final destination is Honolulu, Hawaii. The rest of us will remain on board this “direct flight” to Sydney, Australia. We’re only stopping so that the plane can be refueled for the second leg of our journey. I already told Sid that I’d love to get out just so I could brag to my friends that I’d stepped foot in Honolulu, but she said that would probably be impossible due to security. Still, I think I can say I was in Honolulu, even if it was brief and my feet never actually touched the ground. At least I’ve got a window seat on the left side of the plane, which, according to the flight attendant, should help me get a quick peek at Pearl Harbor right before we land and maybe even Diamond Head after we take off. After that, we’ll fly all night and reach Sydney the morning of August 10. And August 9, my twentieth birthday, will be permanently erased from my calendar. Weird.
After a while my Margaret Mead book puts me to sleep. And when I wake up, I can hear the pilot announcing that we’re only fifteen minutes from landing. I push up the vinyl window shade and look out in time to see some islands appearing. “It’s so beautiful down there,” I say to Sid.
“Uh-huh.” Her nose is still in her computer.
“You should see how blue the water is,” I tell her. “It’s so clear I think I can see the bottom of the ocean.”
“Uh-huh,” she mutters again. Whatever she’s reading must be really interesting.
I want to ask a flight attendant to point out Pearl Harbor, but it seems they’re already getting into their seats, preparing for the landing. And so I just look and try to figure things out for myself. Too bad I didn’t think ahead to get a travel brochure or something. Well, if nothing else, I can say that what little I saw of Hawaii was really beautiful.
It’s 1:48 p.m. when we touch down in Honolulu. Hawaii time, that is, which I understand is three hours earlier than Pacific Standard Time. Still, I don’t readjust my watch yet. Why bother? I observe some of the other passengers standing up and cramming themselves into the narrow aisles as they pry pieces of luggage out of the overhead bins. It’s actually kind of funny. Like, what’s the hurry since the doors aren’t even open yet? But they eagerly stand there with their bags and purses and briefcases and things, just waiting. It reminds me of our cows back home when it’s close to feeding time. They’ll just line up and wait and wait. Sometimes they’ll wait a couple of hours. Finally the passengers begin slowly moving toward the exit. They still remind me of cows as they amble along. It’s all I can do to keep myself from mooing as they go past. Or maybe it’s just Hawaii envy. I really should grow up.
“You ready?” asks Sid suddenly. Then she closes her laptop and slips it into her briefcase.
“Ready for what?”
“To get off the plane.”
“Really?” I say hopefully. “We can get off?”
“Yes,” she says. “Didn’t you hear the flight attendant say that we can get off here if we want?”
“No.” I look around and notice that a lot of passengers are remaining in their seats. But maybe they’ve stepped foot in Honolulu before.
“I guess you were asleep,” she says as we stand up. “I think the plane is going to be here a while. Maybe they need to check something mechanical.”
I frown. “Hopefully there’s not a problem.”
She nods. “Boy, I sure hope not. Oh, yeah, and if we get off, we’re supposed to remove our carry-on items too. It’s a security thing.”
So we both get our carry-on pieces and exit the plane. And I have to admit that it feels so great to stretch my legs, and at least now I can honestly say I’ve really been in Honolulu, even if it’s only the airport. I know Katie will be impressed.
“Hey, do you think I have time to find some postcards?” I ask. “Or do we have to stick around here, close to the plane?”
“I think you have time,” she says. “Let’s walk this way.”
So we walk for what seems quite a ways through the terminal, going past lots of gates, and the next thing I know we’ve gone right past the security check too. “Aunt Sid,” I say suddenly. “We’ve gone too far! Now we’ll have to go through security again.”
She laughs. “I don’t think so.”
“Huh?”
“Happy birthday, Maddie!” She unzips her carry-on and pulls out a slightly rumpled white lei, then puts it around my neck and gives me a big hug. “Aloha, sweetie, and welcome to Honolulu!”
“What?”
“We’re staying in Honolulu, Maddie.”
“What about Papua New Guinea?” I ask with concern. And, okay, this seems pretty weird, but I’m suddenly worried that this is it—that were not going any farther than Honolulu! And as much as I want to see Hawaii, I don’t want to miss going to New Guinea either.
“Oh, don’t worry,” she tells me. “This is just a little layover. A birthday surprise for you. I didn’t really want you to miss your birthday as we flew over the International Date Line.”
“Really?”
She nods. “Yes. We have three days to do whatever we please in Honolulu. And then it’s back on the plane and off to the other side of the planet.” She smiles at me. “So you really do want to go to Papua New Guinea?”
“Of course.”
We collect our checked bags and get into a hotel limousine, which takes us to a very cool hotel right along Waikiki.
“Swanky,” I say as we go into a very luxurious room that overlooks the beach.
“Swankier than the inn in Clifden, Ireland?” she teases.
I consider this. “You know, they’re both swanky in their own way.”
She nods. “I’m glad you can appreciate a variety of cultures.”
“I’m learning.”
She tosses her bags onto one of the queen-size beds and stretches her arms. “Ah, this is just the kind of break I need right now.”
“Man, am I glad you told me to pack a swimsuit for this trip,” I tell her as I look out the window to see tall palm trees and white sandy beach and miles and miles of varying shades of bright aqua blue water.
“Ready to hit the beach?” she says.
“Woo-hoo!”
We change and gather our beach stuff, then make a quick exodus down to the ocean, where I splash around in the energetic waves, which are surprisingly warm and nothing like the chilly Pacific in Washington State. I even let a couple of friendly guys give me some tips on body surfing, which is way harder than it looks. And finally, feeling totally relaxed and happy, I flop down onto a beach towel next to my aunt and soak up the last rays of afternoon sun.
I could so get used to this!
About the Author
MELODY CARLSON is the award-winning author of more than one hundred books for adults, teens, and children. She is the mother of two grown sons and lives near the Cascade Mountains in central Oregon with her husband and a chocolate Lab retriever. She is a full-time writer and an avid gardener, biker, skier, and hiker.
Coming spring 2007
Join Maddie Chase on her next international adventure as she explores the beautiful country of Papua New Guinea—and discovers the power of hope.
NOTES FROM A SPINNING PLANET—IRELAND
PUBLISHED BY WATERBROOK PRESS
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Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921
A division of Random House Inc.
The characters and events in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons or events is coincidental.
Copyright © 2006 by Melody Carlson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
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arks of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Carlson, Melody.
Notes from a spinning planet—Ireland / Melody Carlson.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Traveling in Ireland with her journalist aunt and the charming Ryan, her aunt’s godson, nineteen-year-old Maddie unearths the secret behind an Irish Republican Army bombing decades earlier and the impact it has had on Ryan’s and Aunt Sid’s lives.
eISBN: 978-0-307-49957-8
1. Northern Ireland—Juvenile fiction. [1. Northern Ireland—Fiction. 2. Irish Republican Army—Fiction. 3. Aunts—Fiction. 4. Christian life—Fiction. 5. Voyages and travels—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.C2l6637Not 2006
[Fic]—dc22
2006025753
v3.0
Notes from a Spinning Planet—Ireland Page 19