Hawaii: Oahu, Big Island, Kauai, Vancouver
I had been working too hard for some time, and I decided I had to go away. But where? Some of my friends had done world tours, but I never did this - thoughts of doing something along these lines were in my head. Then I spoke to a friend TD in Hawaii. He had asked me to see him before in mainland US, but I never got there. Why not go out to Hawaii, he said, and I agreed - why not. I had ideas of doing a mini Pacific tour: Hawaii, New Zealand and Japan, but he convinced me there was plenty going on in Hawaii for 3.5 weeks, and we could take a side trip to Vancouver.
At last, I was on the plane, away from a stressful office, threats of not being able to go by employers behind me. TD had asked me to take two things: a crate of Guinness and a jar of Branston pickle. He was missing those things out in the Pacific. I was sat next to two Geordie lads, and my idea of cracking open the Guinness went down well. The airplane staff were ok about it, and I was sure TD wouldn't mind it if three cans were missing.
I had no preconceptions about Hawaii, I had never been to the US before, and knew little of the mainland or the islands, so when I was greeted with a necklace of flowers at the airport, I thought TD had gone strange ... but no he said, this was the custom. The flight had been long via LA, but it was my first very long international flight and I was excited - talking to fellow passengers, all very interesting. It had however taken over 24 hours, and when I arrived in Hawaii TD said the best thing to do to beat jetlag was to stay up till the end of the night. He had arrived with some friends at Honolulu airport, and we cruised into the city in the early evening in their car. The air was balmy, the windows down - and this felt real different to dingy Sheffield.
The night was an experience of cool Honolulu bars, the rules of tipping explained to me, the beautiful waitresses that whisked your beers away half finished, then looked for big tips just for a smile. But a slightly alien atmosphere, and half way through the night, I remember going to the pinball machine, for a little familiarity. Waikiki Wave was the best nightclub in town I was told, and there we went. The girls wont talk to you, but cocktails inspired me onto the dance floor and soon a nice girl did ... the night was already becoming a classic in my mind. The club closed at 4am, so what should we do now. I wanted to see the ocean I said. So TD and I headed down to the Waikiki waterfront. Don't go near the edge TD said, I ignored him, and soon a monster wave came in, I was out in the ocean fully clothed with passport and camera in my pocket. Treading water, I realised that I wasn't getting closer to the beach, as I swam towards it. Swim parallel to the shore and you will get out of the rip, a pissing himself TD shouted. Like a wet rat I got to the shore, and headed up to his friends place for the small part of the night left.
The next day, we got 'the bus' round to the North Shore were TD lived in Hau'ula. The first days were settling in, becoming acquainted with the cats, with stories about one of them playing with the cockroaches; walks to the Sacred Falls with the amazing fluted cliffs behind. The vegetation of the island was incredibly lush with beautiful flowers and rich scents. We swam by the reef where TD was still the better swimmer despite me working as a life guard previously. I was introduced to American fast food, and the difficulties for a vegetarian in this arena. Taco Bells the only real cheap choice - Mexican food a new one for me. TD's wreck of an automobile parked up outside the house, was fascinating for its incredible bad state of repair and lack of brakes, he told me cars lasted forever in that climate, and the laws for them were lax.
We walked along the North Shore, checking out the famous surfing beaches, I was told stories of the Polynesian tourist centre for vacationing Americans to be shown the 'history' of the islands; also about Laie the Mormon town on the North Shore. The waves were beautiful, and I was happy just to photograph the breakers coming in over rocks, the surfers not being a necessary accessory for me. I was told how the Hawaiian people had been displaced in the latest Tsunami, and were still living in poverty on the campsites around the islands. These places had become dangerous for tourists, as the Hawaiian people were understandably angry with their position with little having been done for them.
We visited TD's friends on the North Shore and I remember them complaining about how small Hawaii was, and how they wanted to go back the mainland. They sat in their dark room drinking beer and watching American sports I couldn't connect with. Out on the beach the Hawaiian kids were ripping up the surf on Boogie boards - I watched in amazement, wondering if I would get out there. But I was told though they were young they knew the waters so well that they were safe and were brilliant swimmers - I wouldn't have a chance in the same waters as I was a hauli. We hitched a lift along the shore, and I remember TD's nervousness though we had hitched together before elsewhere; he had a poor opinion of unknown Americans, and he thought it was more dangerous out there. We got a lift in a combi van, and two surf kids jumped in with us, the driver was surprised that we were hitching also - he said people didn't hitch in America any more and it was a pleasant surprise to pick someone up.
We took a flight to the Big Island on Aloha Airlines. They were indeed very friendly, and it all seemed very relaxed hopping on a short haul flight after the grilling I'd got going through American customs on the way out. As we flew into the island, we could see the peak, above the clouds, of the Mauna Loa volcano. We stayed in a log cabin that first night having driven up there in my first automatic car. The road rules were strange, and I made TD a little nervous as I approached them with my UK driving head on still. We did the rounds of the National Volcanoes park.
Though touristy in parts, but this couldn't detract from my first experience of live volcanoes. The luna landscape was awe inspiring, the smell of sulphur, cinder cones, lava tubes, stories of lava running under the ground that you could fall through into, and the huge clouds of steam reaching into the sky where the glowing lava hit the sea. TD was a geographer and I got a good introduction to the geology - the types of lava - a'a and pahoehoe, 'ah ah' and 'pahoyhoy', with his interest making the experience more memorable. We walked across the lava fields to where the Laeapuki lava flowed into the sea, and the stories of molten lava running under my feet had finally got to me - I didn't want to go any closer. From where we were we could hear the explosions as the hot lava hit the cold ocean water and see the burning redness of it in the otherwise dark night.
A second island trip was to the island of Kauai. This island if anything was more incredible. The Na Pali cliffs that we planned to walk and Waimea canyon both beautiful impressive places. We stood at the top of the canyon and looked out over the marshes of one of the wettest places on earth, my motordrive irritating TD, but photos had to be taken, he just wanted to sit and look at the scene in peace. It was a little disappointing not to go into the canyon or the marshes, but we did get to walk for a day along the Na Pali cliffs which were beautiful and still quite remote and inaccessible. The walk into them could be done over several days, and its reputation of being difficult kept the numbers down. It was hot, and at times slippery, with big drops down into the ocean, but the vegetation and huge cliffs made it a unique experience.
TD had suggested a side trip to Vancouver as he had heard it was a good place, so we got a flight there from Oahu. We were on the same plane out there, but had to get different planes back. The first flight was to Seattle, then a tiny plane up to Vancouver, scary being buffeted in the storm we went through. Vancouver was an interesting city with good areas being very close to areas we were warned against going into.
We got a rent-a-wreck car and drove up to Whistler for a couple of days through the sounds. It was the beginning of the skiing season, and the resort was opening up - the staff had arrived to get the place prepared, but no skiers had got there yet. We found all the lifts were closed, so it wasn't possible to get up the mountain to walk, so we drove to the end of the road at another sound set in the Rockies. Our most memorable night there, we started the night in the best bar in town we could find which wasn't all that busy. But there we found out that most people were going to a rave that night. They told us what road it was on, and we set off to walk. But after quite a while, there was no sign of the place, so we tried to hitch. Along came a van, the driver clearly high, but it was a lift. Turned out he was the DJ for the rave, so we got there just as the party started. It was a little odd, there was no booze at all in the venue - we could only assume there were some other intoxicants floating around, or maybe Canadians are a very straight nation. The rave wasn't too hot though for us and we didn't stay long. Back the next day to Vancouver, we stayed in the Youth Hostel for our last night. TD's plane back to Hawaii was very earlier in the morning so he left before I woke. The next thing I knew was I was being waken, with someone calling me.
TD had been stopped in the airport with a visa problem. He had been out of the States to Ecuador shortly before this, and the US customs were fine about him coming back in, but the Canadian authorities were insistent they weren't letting him back into the States this time. After living in the States for several years, he was being told he couldn't go back to his life, home, belongings, or cats. It was a big shock, and all we could do, was for me to go back and try and wind up his things before I left back to the UK. He had friends so a lot of things would be taken care of, but we arranged that I would get most of his stuff into storage with a close friend of his.
So the last three days the friend and I cleared his house using a rented car, and arranged new homes for his cats ... a final night in Honolulu, and then back to the UK to the drizzle. A sad end to a great trip, the end of some things, but some new beginnings. The wreck of a TD's car we gingerly drove to a space where he said the Hawaiian authorities would pick it up and scrap it.
Some photos from the trip and a map.
