Aloha! Yes I made it to Hawaii :) After a fairly long uneventful flight and a bit of time wasting at LAX, I was fortunate to be met by my friend Julie who picked me up and gave me a quick tour of Kona in the dark, for what its worth, hehe. I was also fortunate to get a hotel booking for the night which I made in Antigua before I left. But it was a culture shock to realise how much the cost of living is in the Western world, having being spoilt in Mexico and Guatemala. So as money is tight I had to do some quick negotiations to find a place for the rest of my days here. Living on bananas and munchy bars is ok for a short time haha.
The next day I walked the main 'strip' of Kona along with the thousands of American tourists, found a good place for breakfast and spent the rest of the day lazing by the pool. This is the Big Island which is quite different from Oahu as its just a giant lump of volcanic rock with little if any sandy beaches. The volcanic smoke/steam blows over the island every afternoon but the sun keeps things warm enough for the sun tan :). I managed to secure a room at King Kamehameha's Hotel which has its own litle beach so I get the best of pool and sea :). Now if only I could afford to go parasailing, snorkelling, diving, volcano climbing, ATVing and all the rest of activities on offer! lol.
Later in the evening a crowd of people were gathered at the beach so I went to investigate and found some free drinks on offer - tropical rum punch, yes please I'll have some of that! Then some traditionally dressed islanders dug up their version of a 'hungi' which had cooked a whole pig.
That's gotta be better than munchy bars! But then a traditional ceremony started, and when everyone was invited to take their seats for the song and dance show, it dawned on me, that I had gate-crashed a lu'au! haha ... exit stage left.
But most of my time has been spent not doing much - walking around, lying around - and trying to figure out how to rationalise my last pennys to get home. I made the decision to pull the pin on this place a few days early - no big loss, my heart is still in the Guatemalan jungle and the Mexican desert. From what I've seen, Hawaii, or Kailua-Kona at least, is one big tourist trap for the yanks. Any tradional culture has been synthesised into a show and tell for tourists and I haven't heard anyone speak the indigenous language (except for the obligatory aloha's which has lost its cultural 'punch'). But I really haven't seen a lot so I may be wrong - I hope so.
I bought a ticket from Kona to Honolulu so will be heading back to Aus this week. Its been a hell of a ride, and I've had a fantastic time :). I'd love to keep going, but I think the time has come to ditch the backpack and enjoy some homestays for a while. I've already flagged a couple of places for another visit in the future, including Mexico - anyone wanna learn salsa dancing? lol.
I really hoped you've all enjoyed travelling along with me, and I know I got slack with the photos in the last couple of weeks, but I'll put them up when I get home. Thanks to all those who left comments for me, I've loved reading them and they really make the world a smaller place :). So for my offical last post on this World Domination Tour I'd like to say farewell, dasvidanya, auf wiedersehn, adios, ciao, and seeya all in the lucky country!! woohooooo :)
Matteo
