Neither of us was particularly impressed by Hawaii, due to the time restrictions we stayed in a hostel near Waikiki beach. The hostel was good, homely and clean, although all the staff were a little 'quirky'!! We had a great night out dancing with some people we met there - an Alaskan firefighter, an American lifeguard/mortgage lender, a guy from peru and a girl from Sweden. That's the great thing about hostels, you meet people from all over the world with all sorts of reasons for choosing budget accommodation. The streets of Waikiki are actually washed and polished every night, the beaches are all combed and most people spend the day on the beach and the evenings shopping at Gucci/Prada etc etc. It's very much like an upmarket costa del sol! Obviously it is a beautiful place and the constant breeze was very welcome to take the edge of the heat for Jo and I. Image is everything in Waikiki though, which got a bit draining (having only about 2 outfits to wear and being frankly too pale to be there!!) and we weren't too sad to leave. Mostly because we were flying straight to Fiji! Although had we known we'd land at Christmas Island for refuelling we'd have arranged a stopover...cest la vie. I'm in an internet cafe in Nadi waiting for a travel agent to finish sorting out our trip around the islands. We plan to spend a week relaxing on the islands and then a week exploring the main island, including going into the highlands to see the villages and possibly white water rafting - budget permitting!
I guess I should confess to the most stupid thing I've done so far this trip - I padlocked myself out of my backpack last night and had to get a guy from the hotel to saw the padlock off for me this morning! That's what's going through so many time zones does to your brain!! Luckily I could get my hand in my bag enough to find my pyjamas (staying in a 32 bed dorm it was pretty important!!). Anyway, only a temporary drama, although it'll be a while before Jo stops laughing at me!
