Hawaii, Hot Sand,Clear Sea+cold beer=Heaven

The long awaited (+ much talked about)trip to Hawaii. Part 1.

I have to say the plane flight of 8 hrs from Tokyo was a surprise - you forget how far away from everywhere these islands are ! But the descent over Oahu was awesome, big volcanoes and beautiful coast with sandy beaches and clear water - what else can I say !
The trip through airport security was 'tight' and obviously a British guy with 2 young kids - an obvious and huge terrorist threat (Yuki was fine with her Japanese passport - how unfair), so we were subjected to a lengthy second security check, which included shoes (again) and a complete bag check and tamp down - I was worried, would they find the anti-american propoganda on my laptop (a copy of 'Team America- world police')- but luckily no, phew!

Anyway we arrived safely, with a full day to start out - so once we changed into the appropriate attire, shorts + ghostly pale legs and a complete smearing of factor 99 sun cream - watch out waikiki ! I decided against taking the preinflated rubber ring on the grounds that we may look like tourists !
I have got to say that walking aroung Waikiki (which is like a little island in its own right) feels much like Disney Hawaii, but it's real ,honest!
The whole atmosphere is relaxing, you cannot help yourself get absorbed into the Hawaiian laid back approach, every 'Aloha' you hear keeps you smiling.
The beach at Waikiki is not huge and is man made, but is still the main close by place for a walk and a dip into the sea. It has big 'breakers' across some of the beach which makes it very safe for the kids to swim in as no big waves get in, it is full of various people sun bathing and playing in the water - all in all great fun, though not very 'natural' - remember this is the home of awesome natural beauty and scenery (there is only so much plastic and dayglo that should be allowed - and I never knew that swimsuits could be such an amazing piece of engineering, the strength to weight ratio must be amazing, so.. some large ladies in some not large enough swimsuits).

Trolley buses - these are great, open sided buses that provide a hop on/hop off service with a bit of local knowledge provided by the driver. We used most of the routes but the best was along the coast out past Diamond head and out to the east tip of the island (about an hour or so each way) the scenery can be spectacular even along this small area of Hawaii.
Diamond head is a long extinct volcano once used by the military - Fort Ruger (I half expected to see Jurassic park inside- it is huge, over 3,500 ft in diameter) and is accessed by a 580 ft tunnel through one of the crater sides, we did not do the hike up the the highest edge but it is supposed to give great views over to Waikiki + Honolulu.

Hanauma bay, this is an old volcano crater that has had its outer most wall fall into the sea to allow the sea to pour in and create a fantastic inland reef, this is protected by law so only a limited amount of people are allowed on any day. It is absoloutely one of the best things we did, there were so many fish in the reef, just like 'Finding Nemo'! and very safe for the kids, just be careful around the reef itself as it can be sharp. Note: walking in shallow water in size 11 flippers is tricky, if not done with expertise (of which I have minimal) you can end up looking like Mr Bean in an episode of Monty Pythons funny walks - not cool ! And not at all like the scene of Mr Bond rising out of the surf as per Casino Royale - as I'd hoped for ! Also we took a disposable underwater camera for photos, this was tricky to use with snorkel gear and the photos were ok at best - I will go for a waterproof case around a digital camera next time.

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