MELBOURNE woman Molly Hill had planned a romantic Hawaiian holiday with her boyfriend, but ended up in jail because of what she wrote in her diary.

The 26-year-old had met her American boyfriend on a previous trip to Hawaii to attend a friend’s wedding. They had planned to spend an extended period of time together.

She had a tourist visa for 88 days and her return flight home was booked and paid.

She even quit her job so she could spend a relaxing three months with her American boyfriend.

But on Monday when she arrived in Honolulu, her dream trip turned into a nightmare as she stepped off the plane.

“(I) expected to pass through customs without too much hassle as I was going on a tourist visa for 88 days, the max is 90, with my return ticket paid for,” Ms Hill wrote on Facebook.

“I was taken into an interview room and had every inch of my luggage searched.

“They understood that I have an American boyfriend and I spent about six hours in and out of the interrogation rooms.

“In the end they were convinced I wanted to immigrate illegally because my diary had notes like ‘going away drinks’ and ‘last day at work’, things I got in order before expecting to be away for three months.”

Ms Hill was not sent back to Australia immediately because there were no more flights and was forced to spend the night in a detention centre.

“A few more hours later, myself and a Japanese woman were handcuffed and transported to the detention centre, which was a federal prison,” Ms Hill said.

“It was such a shock. It was something — it was like something out of a movie. Yeah. The handcuffs were taken off.

“I was frisked, made to undress in front of an officer and show that there was nothing in my hair or mouth, and asked to ‘squat and cough’ which was absolutely mortifying.

“Then I was provided a prison uniform and to add insult the officer gave me a size S bra and size L everything else.”

Ms Hill had to give authorities a list of her tattoos and was asked if any of them were gang related. Officers then handed her a blanket and a brown paper bag with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich inside, and hustled her into the women’s prison.

To add insult to injury, Ms Hill had plans to celebrate her birthday the next day.

Her boyfriend Ross was left waiting at baggage claim.

“I never made it there,” she said. “The customs officer told me with a smirk that he had been waiting there all day for me. And then I ... Yeah, I had no way to contact him.”

She said she believed it was her mother who contacted him after someone from the Australian consulate called her.

“They were passing on the message that I had been detained, but there were no — they didn’t pass on any details about what the facility was like, or where it was.”

Officers in the prison read Ms Hill’s file and told her she was unlucky and “you shoulda fell in love with a Canadian”.

“The next morning it was my birthday. I was woken up by a flashlight and an officer who yelled ‘Hill! You’re getting released today’.

“I got changed (strip, squat routine) and was handcuffed again. I remained in handcuffs and was escorted throughout the airport. Then I was finally allowed to call home, and had to pay $620 for a flight to Sydney.

“I stared at the walls for another four hours, then my possessions were finally returned and I was escorted by customs security into the aeroplane for my next 11-hour flight.”

Ms Hill said the ordeal was surreal and took “a big chunk of money, heartache and tears”.

The US Customs and Border Protection told news.com.au officials found the real purpose of her trip was to get married and she did not have the K1 Fiance Visa.

““U.S. Customs and Border Protection acted with respect, integrity, professionalism and according to current federal law when Molly Joan Hill, an Australian citizen presented herself for CBP inspection at Honolulu International Airport May 15,” a spokesperson said.

“Hill applied for admission as a visitor for pleasure (which means that she is only eligible to stay in the United States for a brief period of time) under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). However, upon inspection, CBP officers found that Hill presented conflicting information and was determined to be inadmissable under the VWP.

“She was advised that she is no longer eligible for admission under the VWP and must obtain a valid, unexpired visa prior to subsequent entries to the U.S. When a foreign national is found inadmissable, the traveller must remain in custody until the next flight back is available, in this case the following day.

“CBP operations at Honolulu are not 24 hours, so it can’t hold travellers overnight. For that reason, Ms. Hill was transferred to an ICE facility for an overnight stay until the next available flight back to Australia.”

Before the trip, Ms Hill resigned from her marketing job because she was away for such a long period. Her former boss Mini Sarkissian told the Herald Sun that was common practice.

“I do that for all my staff who want to take holidays for an extended time. If you take more than six or seven weeks you need to resign. I don’t think that’s unreasonable for companies,” she said.

Ms Sarkissian said she was shattered when she saw the Facebook post detailing the horror ordeal, and had plans to hire Ms Hill again when she returned if there was an opening in the company.

Her former employer told the Herald Sun she was concerned authorities were drawn to Ms Hill because she had recently quit her job, but said it was not uncommon for young people to travel for long periods.