Half way!!!!!

Crossing the International Date Line en route from Honolulu to Sydney means we are just half way on our round-the-world adventure, with four months of travels in Australia and Asia to look forward to.

Jumping 20 hours ahead was a new experience for Roger, whilst Hilary crossed the Date Line in the opposite direction 30 years ago.

On our oneworld economy round-the-world tickets, it was good to swap American Airlines for Quantas. Even on the six hour flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii, the American carrier offered no free food. In comparison, on this flight, we enjoyed two cooked meals, healthy fruit, ice cream and a free bar.

On our way to catch the bus to the airport, just time to find a postbox. We are sending regular postcards to our children, Natasha and Lyndon

Checking-in for the 10 1/2 hour Quantas flight to Sydney. We are travelling light again

Diamond Head

We wanted a restful afternoon, but then Hilary suggested walking from our hostel out to Diamond Head. Someone on TripAdvisor had stated it was “only a twenty minute walk from Waikiki Beach”, so we set off at 2pm in the heat of the day. An hour later we were asking people the way, and we finally staggered, awash with sweat, into the crater (through a road tunnel) at 4.15pm.

“Now you’ve got the steep climb to the summit” said the cheery Park Warden, as we paid for our entrance tickets. “That’ll be the easy part!” Hilary replied, with some feeling. The trail to the summit was built in 1908 as part of the US Army’s defence system. It includes wrought-iron spiral staircases, narrow tunnels, and observation bunkers. Great fun. It was a long way up but the views down to the many surfers and across the whole of Honolulu were worth it.

Readers will be glad to know that we managed to get a bus back.

USS Arizona Memorial

Situated on the northern point of O’ahu, the radar operators detected a strong signal, but were reassured, it was just returning American bombers. Moments later the first wave of 183 planes swarmed from the sky attacking the pride of the US Navy moored in Destroyer Row.

The “day of infamy” was Sunday December 7th 1941.

A Japanese shell explodes at the bow of the USS Arizona. Today, rusty and submerged just below the waters of Pearl Harbour, it’s a grave for nearly 1000 and a symbol of the only attack on American homeland by an enemy state.

Visiting the USS Arizona Memorial, Roger learnt so much about the attack, and found looking down at the wreck extremely moving. When leaders put territorial ambition ahead of humanity, you quickly lead to 50 million lives destroyed.

If you plan to do this As long as you turn up early, you’ll be able to get one of the free tour tickets released on the day. Leaving soon after 6am, Roger got there on the number 42 bus from Waikiki. He recommends paying $7.50 for the audio tour.

Flight to O’ahu

A short 30min up and down flight took us from sleepy Maui to bustling O’ahu.

It felt good to be backpackers again, catching the Honolulu bus, and mixing with the locals. We were heading to a hostel, a couple of blocks from Waikiki beach, that probably cost a quarter of the rate of the next door international hotel.

We could have been in Cannes or Dubai, if it wasn’t for the beautifully bronzed carrying their surfboards under their arm to the beach. And for the Japanese and Chinese tourists this is where you shop, take mini-bus tours and eat out in stylish restaurants.

In comparison, we used the time to throw away our worn-out clothes, update this blog, and plan the next stage of the gap year. But this didn’t stop us going out for swims on Waikiki Beach and eating from an authentic Chinese street cafe.

On the beaches

Across Maui we swam in three very contrasting beaches. One hippy and rocky (Olowalu). One commercial and picture-perfect (Kapalua, pictured above). And the third isolated and unspoilt (Hāmoa).

Now we understood why even Californians would take their vacations here; the water was a marvellous temperature, so much warmer than in the Golden State. However the heavy swell and surf make swimming difficult. So it was particularly great we were able to do some snorkelling.

On Kapalua beach with Sparky, Pam, Lori and Hanush. Sparky and Pam very kindly lent us their snorkels

Hilary with San Francisco based Laura and Halina. They were staying at our campsite and recommended we go to Hamoa beach. We were able to pass on our tent to them, since we’re not taking it to Oz

Five of the world’s seven species of sea turtles reside in Hawaiian waters, but only the endangered Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle is a common sight. It’s better off than most of the other Green Sea Turtle populations because it nests on uninhabited islands, well away from egg collectors and predators

The “Road to Hana”

Originally part of a 16th century trail that encircled the island, the Hana Highway is the ubiquitous tourist route out to the far east of Maui. It’s long and windy with more than 600 curves and 56 one-lane bridges. It reminded us of the Amalfi Coast drive.

On the way, you can discover waterfalls, beaches and special secret stops. But, given the crowds, we didn’t do any of that, preferring to get to Hana where we stayed two nights camping at Waianapanapa State Park.

For us, Hana was delightful. It’s largely underdeveloped, completely lived-in by native Hawaians, and reminded us very much of laid-back Costa Rica, although a bit richer.

One of the many tight, single lane bridges

A typical view from the Road to Hana

At Hana Bay we enjoyed watching the canoe club practising, both adults and juniors. Reminded Roger of the start of Hawaii Five0

The Hawaii State Flag

We were intrigued to see the Hawaii flag had the Union Jack in the top right corner (the canton). Especially as we didn’t think Britain had much connection with Hawaii.

We were wrong.

Apparently, in 1793 Captain George Vancouver from Great Britain presented the Union Jack to the conquering King Kamehameha I, who was then uniting the islands into a single state.

It was only in 1816 that Western advisers to the king recommended the addition of red, white, and blue stripes to the Union Jack, thus creating a distinctive national flag for the country. After a brief British occupation of Hawaii in 1843, King Kamehameha III set the number of stripes on the national flag at eight, corresponding to the major islands.

And now today, even after the proclamation of Hawaii as a republic in 1894, the creation of the US territory in 1898, and then the 1959 admittance to the Union as the 50th US state, it’s that same flag you see flying here on all state building and many houses.

Up Haleakala

The Hosmer Grove campsite at the entrance to Haleakala State Park gave us a great base to see the sunset from the highest point of Maui. At just over 10,000 feet, we were well above the clouds, and the wind was strong and very cold.

Then the next morning we returned to do just a bit of the long, hot trek into the massive cavernous depths of the crater. Hilary was keen to reach one of the mini craters within the larger crater – but the path kept turning the other way, so she gave up.

If you plan to do this Note the regulations changed earlier this year. Whilst you don’t need a permit to drive up to see the sunset from Haleakala, you will need one to head up for the sunrise.

 

Aloha Hawaii

We’ve just spent five nights on Maui – its nickname is The Valley Isle, and many people say it’s the most beautiful of the Hawaii islands. Truth is we only went there because we are now en route to Australia and there’s a direct flight from Los Angeles.

We travelled 2000 miles west reading books and watching films. How different from the Polynesian voyagers who reached Hawaii about 400 AD, or earlier, using only fixed stars as their navigation.

First impressions of Maui were not good. The roads were busy. The landscape far from picturesque and the sky full of menacing clouds!

Also the island authorities seem determined to make campers unwelcome. Some told us this was a new policy to prevent the homeless arriving from California. However after two nights in a private campsite we sorted out our state permit, and were able to escape to the more isolated and beautiful parts of the island.

Our first campsite metres from the Pacific Ocean at Olowalu. We stayed here two nights

Sun rises over our tent at the Waianapanapa State Park near Hana. We were pleased we had brought our tent on the plane from California