Hawaii is in the middle of nowhere and thats a fact. We left Vegas and spent about 45 minutes flying over mainland USA, comprising mainly of barren land and snow capped mountain ranges, then we hit (not literally) the sea, for the next 5 hours that was all you saw from the plane ! Upon landing I was slightly confused, I was here, but where were the girls in hula skirts waiting to adorn me with flower garlands (leis) ? I had seen it on all the movies, maybe they got the flights confused ? Oh well, better put my watch forward another 3 hours, get the luggage and catch a shuttle to the hotel.
We were a couple of blocks from Waikiki Beach with a view of Diamondhead (extinct volcano crater), so it could have been worse. We wandered to the beach. Waikiki Beach is very much like the beaches at Bournemouth: packed, but without all the fat people and white sun starved legs. Instead there are hundreds of healthy looking people falling on and off surfboards. We walked past 'Dukes' restaurant (famous surfer person) to the 'Royal Hawaiian'(Pink Palace), chilled, window shopped, drank a jug of Margaritas and then slept.
The following day we took a bus to Diamondhead, and walked the 45 minutes up to the top, which provides the most breathtaking views of Honolulu, the mountains of Oahu and the coastline. The remains of the army fortifications are still here, with gun batteries, passageways and bunkers. The irony is that 60 + years since the 2nd World War, the Japanese have finally invaded Hawaii ! I would estimate over 50% of tourists are Japanese, with everything being displayed in dual languages and a large variety of restaurants/bars etc catering for them, oh well, shows if you wait long enough you can usually get what you want ! The rest of the day was spent relaxing, shopping and laying by the pool.
The following day, whilst Jo went shopping, I set off to see Pearl Harbour. The first stop was the Arizona Memorial. The Battleship Arizona still lies in Pearl Harbour, partly submerged, partly exposed, a tomb to over 1000 men still entombed within her. A memorial platform spans the Battleship and after a 15 minute documentary which includes actual footage of the Arizona being hit and sinking, you are taken out on a boat to the memorial. You walk onto the platform and look down on the wreck, watching oil still slowly escaping over 65 years on. There is also a huge monument bearing the names of all those lost, it includes brothers and a father and son, both lost that day - imagine that families grief. I then headed to the Battleship Missouri Memorial for a guided tour, you can take it or leave it really, historically it is interesting as it was on this ship that the treaty to end the war was signed by the Japanese, the Americans and allies, there is a plaque where the signing took place. Also the bow of the Missouri faces the bow of the Arizona, symbolically the battleship that brought America into the war (well its sinking) and the battleship that ended the war for America, rest together. The Missouri is of course also famous for the song 'if i could turn back time', where Cher straddles the 16" guns, surrounded by sailors - how the mighty have fallen (I obviously meand the Missouri). To complete an action packed day, in the afternoon I took my first ever surfing lessons (well Waikiki beach is one of the most famous surfing beaches). After 5 minutes of being told how to get on a board and stand up, off we went ! I managed not to disgrace myself too much, did not get hit by anyone or hit anyone, which was a result. It was great fun, I rode a few waves that felt metres high and full of power, but which were probably 2mm high - but hey you have to start somewhere. If nothing else it was a good workout as I was knackered and at least you look cool sitting on the board waiting for a wave, even if it ends as soon as you find the wave !
Suddenly, we were back on a plane and heading to the Big Island, we flew over many of the other islands on the way and landed about 50 mins later, the day was spent chilling and booking diving for the following day with Jacks Diving Locker. We booked 4 dives in a day (the 'Animal' package), 2 day dives, a dusk dive and a Manta night dive (yes I know a night dive !). The diving we did was pretty shallow, a stark contrast to TCI, very rocky (like Gozo) with all hard corals and no soft corals, water was cooler but visibility was excellent. It was a nice change, lots of marine life we have never seen before and a mecca for macro stuff (nudibranches everywhere), however, I would not have wanted a week of it. The Manta dive was touristy but well worth it. They set up lights to attract the plankton (and so Mantas), you dive in with torches to add further light, sit in a circle and wait - low and behold Mantas appear ! There is a 80% success rate and one of the best places in the world for sightings with over 130 recorded manta in the area. They are quite amazing (and huge), performing 360 degrees loops and swooping over you, so close that they actually brush over you, it was an amazing 45 minutes of constant Manta action (we had 3, but there can be upto 20 if you are lucky), the rest of the group then did a dive, whilst we exited out the water !!
The next day we headed to Ka Lea (most southerly point in USA) to check the views and then to Punaluu Beach Park. This is a black sand beach, which is quite bizaar to see, as a 'Brucie bonus', there was a green turtle making her way up the beach to sunbathe (well maybe), anyway it was a sight I have never seen and a real privelege.
Next was a visit to the Volcano National Park, unfortunetly there was no active lava within viewing distance/access, however, we did not let that deter us. The area is vast and has such extreme 'zones', one minute you are travelling through tropical rainforest, the next you are in a desert, its difficult to keep up with whats going on and where you are ! We saw plenty of active steam vents (like a sauna), sulphur pits (smelly) and lava flows dating from the 70's through to just a few years ago (including the last one that swept over the road), as well as huge rifts, craters, lava tubes and 'lava trees', which are lava moulds left behind from when lava flowed through and over trees. Although there was no active lava, there were plenty of volcanic fumes, which apart from the smell, got into your lungs and made breathing painful in certain instances. It was a hot day anyway (92 degrees), but walking over black lava flow made the day even harder work, so we cut the day short and headed to Hilo. Our last day on the Big Island, was spent in a more relaxed manner (mainly due to heavy rain), we walked through rainforest, saw some waterfalls and shopped at Walmart !
We flew back to Oahu and spent the final day driving round the island, took in the North Shore to see proper surfing, before spending a final evening in Waikiki.
Hawaii is a beautiful set of islands, very diverse, it has mountains that rise to over 13,000 ft, beautiful clear waters, great diving, clean beaches (of varying colours), tropical rainforests and barren deserts, not to mention 2 of the most active volcanoes in the world. This diversity leads to an amazing array of vegetation and a huge variety of produce, we saw banana, pineapple and coffee plantations, as well as mangos, sugar cane and citrus fruits. To top it all, its closest neighbour is over 2,000 miles away.
Next stop: Vegas (again)
