Hawaii

This post is backfill for historical purposes, a straight copy of the newsletter that was sent out to our mailing list, hence no pictures.

Thanks to everyone who has replied to us or been in contact by other
means. It's always good to hear from you, whether it be from home or
further afield, so please keep em coming. Here is our next installment
from Hawaii - it's a long read but we hope you'll enjoy it.

Our last morning in San Francisco started with probably the least
palatable motel continental breakfast that we've ever had, followed by
the discovery of a punctured rear tyre on our rental car. Finding a 12
volt compressor in place of an old fashioned spare wheel, we quickly
put enough air in it to get the car to the airport drop off. The five
hour flight to Honolulu was uneventful, and the heat and humidity that
welcomed us was such a contrast to the cold, cloudy and damp
conditions that we had left behind in San Fran.

An airport shuttle was the cheapest way to get to Waikiki and though
it is a far longer journey than a taxi ride we got to see much more of
the city, as well as having a fun driver who gave us a local insight
into what to see and do. Waikiki is not generally a budget destination
but we stayed in the Royal Grove hotel, now the only family owned and
run hotel in Waikiki, and where Craig and friends had stayed many
years earlier. It is perfectly located just two blocks from the famous
statue of the legendary Duke Kahanamoku on Waikiki beach, and a few
steps from a bus stop. In comparison to the high rise and big name
chain hotels here, it does feel a little dated but it has a lot of
character and is really great value. We had a ground floor room with a
kitchenette, which was basic but clean and had everything we needed. A
lot of the guests are returning regulars, and we quickly made friends
with many of them, including a sprightly 84 year old who has been
staying there for 40 years. One of the things that make this hotel
special is the Monday night music session, where the owner and his
friends play and sing real traditional Hawaiian music, complete with
authentic hula dancers. No tacky grass skirts and coconut bra shells
here, this is the real deal and you wont find anywhere else in
Honolulu like this place.

The Waikiki beachfront is stunning in the daytime sun, with long,
bright, golden sands back-dropped by the Diamond Head crater, and
endless lazy summer waves breaking over coral reefs, ridden by paddle
boarders and surfers alike. The locals call the main street "The
Strip", and in the tropical evening heat, bright lights and traffic,
it does feel a bit like Las Vegas. We walked this road plenty of
times, getting collared by the countless excursion vendors every time.
There are many shops too, from ABC stores on nearly every corner, to
high end and top name designer label shops, where the prices are not
displayed and if you have to ask, you probably cannot afford it. What
did surprise us was the huge number of homeless people all around
Honolulu. No doubt there were some genuine cases, but seeing so many
of them chatting on their mobile phones it was clear that for many it
was a lifestyle choice.

With so many tourists around there are also many eateries, and though
we made good use of our kitchenette and a nearby Safeway supermarket,
we did treat ourselves to a world famous "Cheeseburger in Paradise"
five napkin special, as well as some local Hawaiian street food from
the evening Farmers Market.

Pretty as Waikiki is, its not true Hawaii - for that, you have to go
outside of Honolulu. The island of Oahu has the one of the best bus
systems in the USA, so we decided not to hire a car - especially as
parking in central Waikiki costs as much, or more, than the car hire
itself. You can ride TheBus to pretty much anywhere on the island, for
a one way journey including up to two transfers, for just two and a
half dollars each (about £1.50). The journey up to the world famous
North Shore is about two and a half hours on the bus one way, so
although it makes for a long day it is a bargain. On the first trip we
jumped off at the well known Sunset beach, watched the surfers at the
famous Pipeline surf break, and then walked on up to Waimea Bay and
into the sacred Waimea Valley, through the fabulous botanical gardens
and onto the waterfall for a swim. On another day we rode TheBus even
further to the old plantation town of Haliewa, stopping for lunch at
one of the many shrimp vans en route for lunch, and spotting turtles
on the beach.

The bus is a great way to see the island but even better is one of the
many firms offering helicopter excursions. As Craig had never been in
a helicopter before it seemed a good opportunity and we did a
breathtaking 45 minute flight over the island, flying low past Waikiki
and over the top of Diamond Head crater, across to the toilet bowl
shaped Hanauma Bay where we later went snorkeling, and over the house
used in the Magnum P.I. series, which our pilot told us is currently
up for sale at a mere 15 million dollars - red Ferrari not included.
We had a great view up the coast to Chinaman's Hat, spotting countless
turtles swimming over the coral reefs, and then going over amazing
lush tropical valleys used in scenes from many films including
Jurassic Park. Hovering over the surfers on the Northshore, we saw a
pod of dolphins having fun just outside the surfline, before turning
back south and flying over the central military bases and onto Pearl
Harbour, with great views of the sunken USS Arizona and the Memorial
dedicated to those who lost their lives aboard it, and also the
battleship Missouri, who's decks saw the signing of the Japanese
surrender in 1945 which ended the hostilities of WWII.

Back on the ground, we spent a day in the sun on the beach at Magic
Island, visited the Ala Moana centre which is America's biggest open
air shopping mall, trekked to a big Saturday farmers market where we
had an ice cold, fresh young coconut, and took TheBus to the barren
west coast were we watched the locals set up camp next to the beach,
and play in the shore-break. We trekked part way around the base of
the Diamond Head crater to a local surf break, visited an evening food
festival, and body surfed off the pier at Kuhio beach park. The pace
hasn't slowed down for us, even in Hawaii.

Like our own Channels Islands, the Hawaiian islands are different
shapes, sizes, and characters, and we moved onto our next island which
was Maui. It is immediately more laid back than Oahu, less densely
populated and much more natural. We rented a flat here for the week as
the hotels are mainly large, luxury, all-inclusive resorts tucked out
of the way, which is a shame because we think the guests that use
these resorts would miss out on so much of the island. Hiring a car is
pretty much essential here as there is only a limited bus service, but
parking is much easier.

Staying on the west coast near Kihei, we drove up to the old whaling
town of Lahaina, which despite being a tourist magnet is still very
pretty with lots of history, and there is plenty to see and learn
about here. A full day was needed to drive the Hana Highway, stopping
to explore the many waterfalls and scenic vista points that make this
52 mile drive one of the most popular tourist attractions. The road is
very narrow and twisty, with 630 curves through lush tropical rain
forest, as well as 59 bridges, of which 49 are only one lane wide, and
we had an early start that day to fit it all in.

However, it wasn't as early as the 3 a.m. start that was needed to get
to summit of Haleakala, the massive shield volcano that forms over 75%
of Maui, to see the sunrise. At over 10,000 feet above sea level it is
surprisingly cold up there, but we came prepared, dressed in shoes and
socks, jeans, jumper and coats - unlike a few of the other tourists
who were shivering in shorts and flip flops. The early start was well
worth it though, to see the sunrise breaking over the clouds and
welcoming a new day, though it did mean an early night too !

Maui has some excellent snorkeling and we found a great spot that we
returned to several times, full of vibrantly coloured corals boasting
an array of tropical fish and turtles, and we were even lucky enough
to spot an octopus on the reef too. Our final activity on Maui was
doing some volunteering with the Maui Humane Society, who take in an
average of 22 animals per day. We got to walk some of the dogs and
give them a wash too, which was quite different and also very
rewarding, as well as handle some of the stray cats who had been
brought in, and feed Freddie the tortoise his favourite yellow
flowers.

That week went by very quickly and we were soon island hopping again,
to the Island of Hawaii, otherwise known as Big Island. Boasting an
area of over 4000 square miles, we can certainly vouch for its size,
having clocked up over 1200 miles on our rental car in the ten days
that we were there. The island is built from five volcanoes, though
there are now only two peaks, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, the later
remaining very much active, though there is no lava flowing at the
moment. It's the biggest island and the newest, and immediately we
landed the sparse and barren volcanic lava flows were a big contrast
to the previous islands. It's not all like that though, and we
discovered that Big Island has a hugely diverse landscape, from these
dark volcanic lava flows, to lush green fields of the cattle ranches,
rocky volcanic cliffs to broad golden sand beaches, tropical rain
forest on the Hilo side, to dry almost desert like conditions on parts
of the Kona coast.

It is no longer possible to drive right the way around the southern
tip of the island due to a lava flow in 2003 blocking the road, so
crossing the centre takes you up to over 6000 feet above sea level,
with a corresponding drop in temperature. We visited the capital Hilo,
and learnt about the devastating tsunamis that have hit the coastline.
There's also been plenty of history to take in, not only the
Polynesian culture and the three kings named Kamehameha - which is
much easier to say than it looks - but also the discovery of the
islands by Captain Cook, and his untimely death here too. The
plentiful selection of fresh fruit - papaya, mango, coconut, pineapple
and lychees, to name a few, is quite astonishing, as are the fields of
taro, coffee and sugar cane. These really are diverse and amazing
islands.

In fact we've learnt, seen, and done so much in these islands that we
could easily write a book just on our time in Hawaii, and we haven't
even got to the last island, Kauai, which is where we are now. We'll
save that for the next issue, by which time we will be back on the
mainland, dog, cat and house sitting in the El Dorado hills near
Sacremento. Maybe we'll slow down a bit there !

Thanks, or "Mahalo" for reading this far, and we'll write again soon,

Craig and Sel.