Heaven is a place called Hawaii

The Hawaii decision proved to be a good one. After an interminable journey through the more remote areas of BC, a long wait in Seattle and an even longer flight (thank goodness for Shogun, last minute purchase in terminal book store) we landed in a warm, pleasingly humid Honolulu evening. Our hostel was in the middle of Waikiki, minutes from the beach, and contained some friendly travelers with which we had a few drinks and went out to explore the local night life.

Despite being weary travelers subjecting ourselves to an unneeded late night, we woke up early - well before 8am. Downed breakfast and headed to Waikiki beach. As did the rest of America. The sea was a beautiful, beautiful sight - all clear turquoise water that was a welcome respite from the heat. We found our square foot of sand space and got down to the very important job of swimming, boarding and then reading. Unfortunately sun cream SPF30 application only made its way onto the list a couple of hours later - too late! SPF 15 may as well be SPF -15. Later that day, we climbed up Diamond Head, the volcanic crater just east of Honolulu for spectacular views over the east and south sides of the island.

Our second day in Honolulu, we escaped Waikiki and headed over to Hanauma Bay, a protected wildlife beach with a huge coral reef, which makes for excellent snorkelling. I saw so many fish, although it was mighty hard to not touch the reef, as we'd been instructed as at some points it came up to only a foot underneath the surface. I had a few cuts and scrapes trying dutifully to avoid it. Q also did a little snorkelling, confronting what appears to be his only fear - that of unknown deeps and spaces and creatures underwater. I managed to get him so far out, only just about keeping the circulation in my hand (never has it been held so tight!) before a swirl of sand clouded the way in front of us and that was it, a splash of limbs and I was left to my own devices to explore. Which I did so for quite some time, before the mask's tightness became too unbearable and I remembered that my back could do with more suncream or being covered up, and preferably both.

As lively as Waikiki was, I was keen to get away from the hordes of Americans on holiday, so we headed up to the north shore. Hurray for Oahu buses that let you travel the island on one $2 ticket! Our hostel on the other side was truly idyllic. A series of small cabins in lush greenery - mango/papaya trees, flowering bushes - set across a small road from the most beautiful beaches. We swam, read, hired bikes and cycled up and down the coast. I was eager to see some more of the green side of the island, as well as the beach, so we snuck into Waimea Falls park to see some lovely botanical gardens - huges trees everywhere, more Lei flower bushes and the waterfalls at the end. The slightly dodgy route in was more than made up for by the gorgeous swim pool of the falls and the falls themselves which were much more impressive than their reports. After more beach time and chilling out in the cabin with other travelers, books and the sound of crickets chirping away we dragged ourselves back to Waikiki, and more importantly the waves.

Because if you don't surf when you're there, what else are you going to do? Now, I've surfed once before down in South Africa but not since then. Q attempted giving me a lesson but that was so categorically unsuccessful that we gave in for the afternoon and I sought out an actual lesson the next day. Which was the polar opposite. If you were stranded at sea, you could survive for days floating on the monster of a board I was given. It was truly Titanic. And, bien sur, my first wave, I was up and riding it all the way to the beach. And again. And again! Suddenly I was liking this, rather than getting bored of all the waiting for failed waves. I got adventurous. I tried turning(I can snowboard, how different can it be). BIG mistake. These boards are not designed for manouvering. In fact, it was about as effective as the Titanic at changing course. Instantly I was off the board. But straight back up again for the next one :-)

Waikiki grew on me, the more time I stayed there. It's aesthetically pleasing, and lively at night, with torches and lights all over the place. We splashed out on our last night and had dinner at the revolving restaurant at the top of one of the taller buildings, and then walked on the beach. My one cocktail had its predicted effect and I found a very comfortable boat to snooze in before a beach guard moved me on. At this point, Q decided it was bed time for me, with an early start the next day to fly back to Seattle, so home to my dorm it was. And a good thing too, because it would be a very long time before we were back home in Vancouver. A long flight, a long wait for a Greyhound and a long journey back meant we finally collapsed on the sofa at about 2am, a mere 9 hours to get all sprightly ready to meet my parents....