Blogs from Hawaii, United States, North America - page 221

Just checking e-mail and getting last minute things in order. In 12 hours I will be on a flight to Bangkok. I have had a great little stopover here in Hawaii. I spent most of the week in Kihei, Maui hanging out with Barry and Rach and family. We got them all moved into their new condo, and pretty much did a whole lot of nothing all week. It was great. The night before last I went and had my last steak dinner at Ruth's Chris and ate so much I couldn't move! I figured it would be my last time to eat a real meal...but I didn't count on Mihwa's cooking! I flew into Honolulu last night and Mihwa and her girlfriend picked me up from the airport and we came out to Kaneohe where ... read more

This update is dedicated to Hannah Gatland. Hanzy, thanks for showing me how cool a blog can really be (errr you suck!!). I'm worried for newspaper columnists of the future. Worried, when, if they ever have to comment on the reason for Australia's remarkably close relationship with the US they will get the answer wrong. Some will say that it's because of the 'Free/Fair Trade Agreement' that came into force last year. Others may argue that it's due to a long legacy of military cooperation deriving from the ANZUS Alliance. The third (and slightly more accurate) columnist may comment that it's due to both nations' love for reality television programs involving morbidly obese folk being tortured until they lose weight. Alas, they'd all be wrong. I can now proclaim that years into the future the real ... read more

Slept in, had a swim, shopped at Ala Moana shopping centre. Went to a bar for a quiet drink, then to a club to party it up before sitting down on Waikiki beach with hundreds of other people for some fireworks. Great fun - awesome new years eve. Is currently 3:30am on the 1st Jan, and the Shuttle will be here to pick us up in 1 hour (no sleep for me tonight), we are jetting off to LA soon and we are planning on going to Crystal Cathedral tonight. Busy busy! ... read more

Today we went on a bus tour around the entire island of Oahu. We started by travelling north straight up through the centre of the island and making a stop by the Dole Plantation - where all the Dole pineapples and other such things come from. We then motered up to the North Shore beaches of Oahu where all the big surf is. The beaches looked fantastic, golden sand - nice clean waves.. We then went to the "Polynesian Culture Centre" where we went on a canoe ride and saw the culture of all the various polynesian cultures, including Aotearoa which for some reason they call "Aotearoa-Maori". My favourite part of the bus tour however was the east side of the island which is on the "rainforrest" side of the mountains. Absolutely amazing scenery - quite ... read more

Hey everyone! Well, here I am in Maui with 20 members of my family! The life here moves pretty slow here on 'island time' but we're sure enjoying it. We've spent a ton of time on the beach, and finally yesterday we ventured up above the clouds to the magestic Haleakala. Fully enjoyed the 'moonscape' of the crater and Andrew and I took turns biking down the volcano on a rented bike. The highlight of my day was finding some nice hiking trails quite far off the beaten tourist track and having a really beautiful (though short) hike in the eucalyptus tree - forest. It's that strange zone between Christmas and New Year, and as soon as 2006 hits we're gone from Hawaii and Mike and I are off to Peru. Where the real adventures begin! ... read more