Hawaii

Yesterday - I fell in love. I first met her 30 years ago and liked her then, but perhaps I didn't see as much of her then as I did yesterday or perhaps I didn't fully appreciate her beauty. Of course, I am talking about the island of O'ahu in the Hawaiian Islands. The Weather and Travel gods were again very kind to us and the day could not have been more perfect - mid-winter temperature of 25C, clear blue skies. We took a shore tour called "Coastal Explorer". It was supposed to be of  4 hours duration - but took 5 hours (which was good). We covered quite a
bit of the southern area of the island outside of Honolulu, including the beautiful coast and also crossed the very rugged central mountain range. Afterwards, we took a shuttle bus to the huge Ala Moana shopping
centre - and also walked to Chinatown (only to discover that the one day we were in town coincided with Chinese New Year's celebrations - how fortunate was that? !!!!) So all things considered - we got a good idea of what both Honolulu and O'ahu are all about - and we were IMPRESSED!. After traveling 3/4 of the way around the World, we finally found a place that we will DEFINITELY come back to. A plan is formulating slowly in our minds already. As we came into Honolulu Harbour, we were preceded by the "Spirit of America" - which we have been told does 7 day cruises through the Hawaiian Islands. This, combined with a stay in Honolulu would be an excellent start to a future adventure. Actually, I have to do it - because I had planned to have a beer in the Royal Hawaiian hotel on Waikiki Beach, but didn't have time (this time).