Most wives wouldn’t accept their husband going on an indefinite motorcycle trip to the other side of the world.  Lucky that I married Kirsten.  To part on a good note we shared a fortnight in Hawaii.

On the upside, our flight was fun together.  We saw familiar Australian places from above, such as the little country town of Bright where we’d just enjoyed a weekend with fellow car nuts & our designed capital of Canberra.  The downside was a screaming kid & passengers who wouldn’t shut up.

No sleep.

After landing at 5:30am we bussed into Waikīkī, the Gold Coast of the USA: sun, surf, high rise hotels, a million tourists showing off & watching each other.  Baggage dumped with our helpful hotel host, we set off for breakfast + a leg stretch.

We had no plan, just followed our noses.  They led us along the beachfront, past the fancy houses & up to Diamond Head, a volcanic crater.  Walking, walking, walking … up a steep switchback path within the crater … then suddenly! we were at the peak with all of Waikīkī and Honolulu on show.  Brilliant!
 

The 30 hour day caught up with us, especially after ~20km walking.  We slept for 14 hours.

Highlights of our first week in Oʻahu:

• Pearl Harbour, especially the battleship USS Missouri.
  • This was the boat upon which the Japanese surrender was signed; it sits next to the USS Arizona, sunk in the initial attack in ’41.  The Missouri served from 1942 to 1998 (WW II + Korean + Gulf wars).
  • Remember Cher with a 16” inch weapon between her legs? Yep, that’s the one
  • Kirsten enjoyed the “captain’s tour” with tales of Hollywood starlets being hosted on board
  • I enjoyed the “engineer’s tour” down in the bowels with the engines - the real stuff
• Eating out from street vendors on a balmy evening - reminded us of Darwin
• Funky gibbons at the zoo
• Punchbowl war cemetery - a sobering yet pretty place so close to all that city noise, yet wonderfully peaceful
• Beaches!

Random observations:

• No helmet laws
  • Young bucks on loud scooters pulled huge wheelies down the strip at night.  No lights.  Straight past the cops.  Only a pair of boardies + backwards cap to protect.  Impressive.
• Chickens everywhere! Being poultry keepers, we loved seeing roosters, mummy hens + chicks, even amongst the hotels.
• Big utes (“pickups”) are more common than 4WDs, usually dual cab & with outrageous lift.  What are they driving over?!?
• Homeless folk are prominent & appear to have semi-permanent tarp structures along roadsides.  Maybe they’re not moved on as in Australia?

We're looking forward to the "big island" (Hawaiʻi) next week.