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• Tales Part 1 - my impressions of US culture
• Tales Part 2 - Waikiki
• Tales Part 3 - Day Tour of Oahu
• Tales Part 4 - Kona and Volcanoes
• Tales Part 5 - Sightseeing on the Big Island
• PHOTOS!!!
  
  
• Tales Part 1

Just got back from 2 weeks in Hawaii. I freely admit to learning more about US culture from my years on the Internet that I had learned prior till that but as I discovered it is the little things that make the most difference. 

Apologies to those that know this already, but I was so surprised at some of these cultural differences that I thought I would share them with you, either for amusement or educational value :-)

1. The amazing politeness of everyone, even complete strangers. If I caught the eye of a person I was walking past they always gave me a greeting of some sort. Even the road signs were polite.

2. Tipping was a new experience for me, and I was mostly just confused as to who was and wasn't to be tipped. Most shops had baskets for tips to go into and beloved worked out the required restaurant tips. Have a neat Credit card system where they take it away, run up the bill for the dinner bring it back for you to add the tip amount and sign and its all very quick and painless. Note that the service provided in all places we ate was tremendously better than that provided in NZ, very fast, efficient and did I mention polite!

3. Meals were an experience that had to be seen to be believed - HUGE servings no matter what you ordered. I never got to sample dessert and very rarely had anything more than one course. I watched with awe and not a little horror as Merican customers waded their way thru a full 3 courses! It took us a while to figure out that Mains were listed as Entrees, and Entrees were listed as Appetizers.

It was nearly impossible to get a single type of food by itself. Soup+Salad, Entree+Soup, Entree+Salad etc

4. TV was great, I got to see advance programs of many of my favourite series (incl what appeared to be the final two episodes of BallyK *sob*) which means they may come here. What really annoyed me was at the beginning of the program you get to see the intro scenes and then straight into about 10 min of ads. But halfway thru the ads they show the Program Promo and I thought "good about time" but nooooooo it was just a cunning ploy to attract your attention. More ads followed. Done to a lesser extent here but not half as annoying!

Very weird quirk - a TV in our hotel room that had a clock that only worked when the TV was turned on and when it was turned off it reset to 12:00 everytime.

5. Dairy products - cream the colour of ice white paint, white or nearly so butter that seemed to have a lesser fat content, 2% fat milk was the highest percentage we could buy *yuk* and yummy ice white sour cream.

6. Toilets - also referred to as bathrooms or rest rooms. Universally clean and well maintained except for the ladies at a surf beach where the cubicles were doorless! The gross thing was that the toilet bowls were filled nearly to the top with water! I can assure you that throwing up into these is best done from a standing position *groan*

7. Supermarkets - we went shopping one day for fun in a Safeways and it was fascinating. What (and more importantly Why) is Clam Juice? There was never anything less than 3 choices of something and the sizings in biscuits (cookies) and other food things was pkts of 8, 12,16 or 20. Hardly anything was available in 1, 2 or 4. Huge packets of chips too.

8. Drugstores/Bookstores - wanted to get some envelopes so went to a bookstore. No envelopes (but I did spend lots on the latest SF books!!!) we had to go to a Drugstore, where you can buy *everything*. Huge choice in drugs etc compared to what we can buy off the shelf.

9. Cars- driving lefthanded and on the other side of the road. Beloved did most of the driving and I was only trusted to drive around a carpark :-) No central locking on our convertible tho. Catseyes on the road were different colours and much closer together on the road than here.

10. Language - lots of times I was taken for an Australian (not helped by wearing my Melbourne Australia tshirt) but also taken for English a couple of times too. Most people just generally asked where we were from (Nooooo Zeeeeeland). I had trouble being understood till I realised I was speaking too fast. Slowed down by 3 times as much and that seemed to work fine. I could understand most Americans but had some real difficulty with the Hawaiian accents occasionally. Americans talk REALLY loudly but appear totally unselfconscious of it. Was woken up on the plane around 3am by two guys having a chat and one was loud enuf to be heard at the end of the plane and woke lots of people and appeared not to realise why. I was 2 feet away from him and I think he got the point from the evil hate glares I was sending him!

11. Movies - we saw Payback and Shakespeare in Love (both are great BTW) and hardly any other movie promos were shown beforehand. Instead lots of movie trivia and quiz questions, was interesting tho. Got some popcorn which was quite bland and blah at Payback so at SIL I got the buttered type. Beloved was disgusted at all the hot liquid butter on it but I thought it was yummy. The cold congealed stuff at the bottom was a bit gross tho. Neither movie was seated ie you sat anywhere and there were seats in the front that were about 3 feet away from the screen! Very comfy padded seats with headrest padding too.

In general I had a great time and mostly these new experiences added to my growth as a person. I would like to experience the real US rather than the sanitised and oh so clean Hawaii version tho.

We spent 5 days at Waikiki and 8 days on the Big Island. If anyone is interested I can post a general holiday report?

Glad to be home and the cats have started to forgive us :-)

• Tales Part 2

First of all, a week before the trip, my stupid horse stood on my foot and crushed 2 toes and broke some bones. Other than bandaging for support and resting there was little else to do and I managed to hobble around OK. Beloved wasn't impressed as he had great hiking and nature walks planned *oh joy*

Sydney was our first stop as we flew Qantas and had to connect there. We had an afternoon there which we spent visiting the Opera House and the Rocks with dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Food not as nice as the Melbourne one but they had my favourite Midori cocktail so I indulged in that. Bought a pilsner glass to match our Melbourne one and tshirts (gotta have'em). By now I was absolutely knackered and J had to nearly carry me back to the hotel room. Up at dawn to catch the plane the next day. Just a note that the humidity was awful and the city was disgustingly dirty even accounting for the fact we were in Kings Cross.

LONG flight to Hawaii, 10 hours and the longest flight I have done so far. Had to get up and stretch a few times to keep the circulation going and many others did the same. Meals were nice and we got the choices we wanted. Saw Pleasantville which was quite funny and quirky and not a little subversive, and What Dreams May Come which was a load of unadulterated crap! Arrived at midnight and had a short wait to go thru Customs etc. Had to wait for ages for a taxi cos we only had hundred dollar bills (it was *someone's* bright idea) and not all of them could break them. Fast trip to the hotel and then we got stuck in the lift 4 floors up. By now it was 1.30am and this was the last thing we expected. Got us out OK but the lifts were a constant source of concern as nearly one was out of order every day we were there!

Was woken up at 6.30 am the next day and dragged out of bed for a walk on the beach feeling very tired and grumpy. Justifiably so as beloved had quoted the itinerary for the day was walk was after lunch! Also I thought the walk was thru town to breakfast but no he wanted to walk on the beach (completely forgetting that walking on a changeable surface like sand was difficult for me and my foot *sigh*) 

I got progressively snottier until we had some breakfast and then more so while we wandered around looking for a shopping centre that *was around here somewhere I remember* from a visit of 10 years ago and a guy that gets lost in our backyard! At that point beloved decided that I was right and we gave it up. I went back to the hotel room and had a sleep while he had a wander around.

Had a dip in the spa pool which was very hot, while J had a very quick dip in a very cold swimming pool. Off to TGIF for a yummy dinner (Chicken Quesidillas) and watched TV. Saw new episodes of Xfiles and ST:NG.

Day 2: SHOPPING!!

Aloha Tower, China Town and Ala Moana was the plan. Saw a Borders on the way there and resolved to return there before Ala Moana. Aloha Tower was nice, got a new blue velvet bikini top and chocolates as gifts. J had been wandering and found a bar called Hooters that I had to see. Man! legs and tits all over the place - tshirts that said "Tacky but Unrepentant" on the waitresses. Stopped at Bad Ass Coffee Co (cool name) for souvenir cups.

China Town was an interesting comparison to Waikiki, with many 2 storey buildings. Grossed out walking past a store that reeked with the smell of rotten meat. Got THE BUS (thats what the bus service is called - costs a dollar to go anywhere and quite efficient) to Borders and happily immersed myself in the SF/Fantasy section. Bought about 10 books for US$80 most of which were as yet unavailable in NZ (even splurged on a couple of hardbacks - they were still cheaper even with the exchange rate!) and lost my hat in the process. I asked at the Info desk if it had been handed in and before I knew it there were 3 staff members searching everywhere for it. It was an oilskin stockmans hat which had them mightily confused but eventually they found it after asking over the intercom if anyone could see it. And there it was over by the magazines! Man was I embarrassed but they were soooooo helpful.

On to Ala Moana on foot and by now it was stinking hot and humid and I had a few bags to carry. Our purpose here was rather mundane, cheap cotton knickers and bras for me and Dockers for beloved. Mission accomplished (with a 25% discount in a sale) and onto a drugstore for plasters (oops bandaids) for my emerging blisters. And there were about 50 different sorts to choose from but no strips of fabric which was what we wanted. Compromised on fabric plasters (a bit narrow) and then a blessed taxi home.

Back to TGIF for dinner and I had Mahi Mahi (fish) which was yummy grilled but a bit dry as it cooled down. Off for a wander to the shops (open really late) for a yellow nike hat for a friend. 5 different yellow hats to choose from! Along to the market for cheap tshirts and sweatshirts (5 tshirts for $20). Saw the most gorgeous paintings in an art gallery but nothing we could afford :-( J got a cool Casio watch quite cheap too.

The weather was very warm and humid, even at night. Aircon was a must but the one in our room was crappy and noisy and I had to turn it off to sleep. Thankgod I had bought shorts and sandshoes to wear before going as it was lots warmer than I anticipated. Apparently before we arrived they had had several days of really bad weather but it was wonderful for us (was the whole time except the day we went to Hilo)

Next Installment Day 3 - tour of Oahu the island.

• Tales Part 3

The last whole day we had in Oahu was set aside as a tour day. Some discussion had gone on as to which tour to take as there were lots to choose from. J had got fixated on the idea that I had wanted to go to Pearl Harbour but as he had already been wasn't so keen. I would have like to have gone but it wasn't imperative. So we took Polynesian Tours no 1 all the way around the right side of the island and back down the middle over a whole day.

Pick up at 8 am and we were all sat on the right side of the bus, because as our voluble and amusing guide pointed out "all the interesting stuff was on that side" Bus sat about 25 and there was only 10 of us so had lots of room. There was an Australian couple behind us and the rest were Americans. My foot was very sore and swollen from the day before so I had it bandaged which got lots of sympathy :)

First stop Diamond Head which is a volcano crater. Wasn't really so impressive from the inside (entry thru a tunnel) but when we flew over it on the way to Big Island I got another view, and the two viewpoints gave you a good idea of its true size. Drive up the coast to see the Blowhole, an underground sea hole that shoots water 100 feet in the air (on a good day, we only got about 30feet) and further on. Next stop was a toilet stop at a ladies with no doors on the cubicles!

Long drive to Kaholo Ranch, a historically important part of the area. Was used by the military in WWII for gun emplacements and much of the building is still there and we got to tour thru it. Goes up 7 stories to the top of the mountain! Most interesting bit for me was all the photos from all the movies/TV programs that have been filmed on the ranch (Jurassic Park, Godzilla, Buddy to name a few). Then on for a drive around the farm to some of the filming sites and a bit of a nature talk along the way. Got to see the hill where Sam Neill and the kids run away from the flocking dinosaurs over the crest of a hill and have our photo taken next to the Jurassic Park sign. Also saw the Godzilla footprints but they weren't too impressive as they had been filled in in case the cattle had fallen in. Apparently they had been 6 feet deep!

Back to the ranch center and onto our bus for the lunch stop. After that we were off to Secret Island for some R&R! Lunch was a smorgasbord of cold meats, bread and salad and very very very fresh pineapple. I had seconds :) Down to the barge and across the fishing pond. In the background is the house (facade) that is in the new Fantasy Island (for those who watch it, the beach and the airplane landing pier are actually miles away from the house, not right in front as they have it appear LOL wonders of television) On the way we also saw Chinamans Hat which appears in lots of things.

Here at Secret Island we could swim, snorkel, sunbathe in a hammock, play ping pong, sumo wrestle, sea kayak or canoe all for over an hour with full facilities including 3 different cold drinks to choose from. With us we had Nappy (our bus driver and tour guide), Joanna (Kaholo Ranch guide) and Barbara (Secret Island guide) to keep us happy and occupied. I opted for swimming in the sea. I hadn't done it at Waikiki cos it was really really crowded but here we had the lagoon to ourselves. The water was warmish and after I got a sponge lilo thingy I had fun trying to stay afloat in it. J got some amusing photos. He opted to go double hull canoeing with the others but I went back into the shade for a rest and a drink.

Had a really interesting talk with Nappy and Joanna. They were fascinated by the tan marks on my feet from my jandals seeing as the rest of me was so very white, I guess they didn't think I could tan. Of course these lucky people had natural tans and so I guess have never suffered from painful sunburn the way I do :)

Back in for another swim and then dried off and back across the barge and back on the bus. We had nearly 2 hours and after this and a good lunch I was feeling really tired so I had a sleep on J's shoulder for half an hour or so. Woke up in time to see the worlds best Surfing beach the Bansai Pipeline (I think its called that) and on to a village with a neat surfing museum with a video of some of the big waves, and boy they were BIG!

By now were were into the real Hawaii, the agricultural part as well. The soil is a very bright red colour and there are no fences, but there are hardly any livestock in comparison to here so they aren't necessary. Lots and lots of coffee, macadamia nut and pineapples! Man once we got into the pineapple area it was amazing, Pineapples as far as the eye could see and we were in the middle of a very large and flat valley floor. So that makes an *awful* lot of pineapples. Apparently they are a real pain to harvest cos the plant spines are very sharp and they are sprayed with all sorts of crap so the harvesters have to wear leather clothing all over for protection and face masks! in that climate it would be pure torture!

First sign of civilisation was a concrete road which is apparently built for the military. Concrete is needed for their heavy and tracked vehicles, they just dig up or ruin anything else. As we headed back to Honolulu the traffic got quite heavy and we got to see lots of tourists with him driving and her holding a map :) Imagine being in a traffic jam in Hawaii! Weird American bueracracy (sp?) at work, the main highway round Oahu is called an Interstate so it gets federal funding!

Back, tired but happy to the hotel for a shower and discussion on where to go for dinner. J voted for Planet Hollywood as there was a Photo development place in the shopping center next door (turns out it was at the other end about 2 blocks away!) so I get a table and a drink (chocolate milkshake thingy) and peruse the menu. Not as good as TGIF but it had pasta that looked yummy. We got pita bread as a starter which was nice and I got this huge bowl of pasta which I managed to eat about half of. Wasn't the greatest but was OK.

FWIW in the end we decided that for providing the best variety and most value for money TGIF won hands down out of *all* the places we went. Restaurants to us were expensive esp when you had to include tips.

Back to the hotel to repack the bags. Filled the 3rd one with souvenirs and left it at the hotel (were coming back in a week) and got all prepared to head out to the airport.

Next stop Kona and the Volcanoes!

• Tales Part 4

Flight from Oahu to Big Island (referred to as BI) was really interesting as we could see lots of the other islands and it was really marked the difference between them all. Kona was a lot hotter and more humid than Honolulu and more than I expected. We had a very hot red Pontiac Sunbird Convertible with our name on it and *vroooom* off into the township to find out hotel. On the way I learned not all maps are created equal.

Our hotel used to be the Kona Hilton and was reasonably old but still lots flasher than the Quality Inn types we normally aspire to LOL Our building was really cool as it was built around the fishpond in the middle and had whopping great coconut palms growing in the middle. They cut the coconuts off after one fell on a tourists head and he successfully sued for about 1M I think LOL only in America!

Hotel has a swimmingpool with an excellent view of the sea and a tidal pool built out of lava rocks. I couldn't walk on the rocks with my foot so never used it but J loved it and spent time in it every day. I liked to watch the wild life (fish and crabs etc) the crabs were huge but very fast.

After a drive around the area to check it out we settled in for the night planning to get up early for the long drive to the Volcano Park (2+ hours) and I slept on the way. We got there before the rest of the tourists (thank god:). The Visitors Centre had lots of info but hardly any merchandise which was a disappointment. J explained about federal funding and all was revealed.

Kiluea Crater was HUGE and steaming and very very alien looking. One of the overlooks had steam vents right there and I got in the way of one and it was *really* hot. Watching steam oozing above the vegetation was unusual to say the least. You drive all the way around the crater and there are a variety of lookouts along the way. The best one is when you walk along the base of the crater to the caldera (a smaller more recently active one in the big one) and that was really cool, to be actually walking on an active volcano crater. There were lots of steam vents which go periodically which is interesting if you aren't careful where you walk :)

Lunch was necessary so we headed to Volcano Village and ate at the Steam Vent cafe (recommended highly) and it was very nice. I had Chicken Dumpling soup and the best pineapple juice I had in the entire stay. We found the Lava Rock Cafe which had Internet access but we both had problems doing what we wanted :( Food there is also recommended by locals :)

We wanted to see lava (tho I was half excited half terrified) and so drove down the Chain of Craters Road. Lots of older craters and lava flows to see on the way and it really hits home the devastation a volcano can produce. The landscape was really strange, as one minute it was lava and dead trees and the next it was tropical forest. Unfortunately the lava was several miles away and only accessible on foot and not advised cos of toxic fumes etc but the steam plume it made when it pours into the sea was *awesome* and we got a good photo. The road just ends as it is covered by a 10 foot hi lava flow!

Back up the hill you get a good view of the landscape. The clinker lava was brown and chunky like really crappy coal but the ropy stuff was really cool. Many people take some as souvenirs but there is a legend if you do you will be cursed by Pele who is the goddess resident in the volcanoes. According to one guide book they reckon the legend is true cos the volcano park gets thousands of little parcels containing lava returned every year :)

Long drive back and another sleep for me. The road is ok until you get south of Kona and then it is *really* twisty and winding and up and down and *narrow*. I was under the impression American roads were very wide and beloved said that in his experience they were. We decided that the Waimea route to Hilo might be better and was a little shorter according to the map.

We decided seeing as we had 8 days and a car (freedom!) that we should have a rest day between sight seeing :) I did lots of sleeping!

Next installment - Sightseeing on Big Island

• Tales Part 5
  
  

There are hardly any beaches on BI and the few that are there are fairly heavily populated by all accounts, so we never bothered.  We had the tidal pool and the swimming pool at the hotel and we were happy.  Picture a hot sunny day, sitting by the edge of the pool overlooking the sea, sipping a yummy peach daiquiri and cooling off in the pool when hot enuf!  That was me one day :-)

We went to Waimea/Kohala in a one day trip.  Waimea is very like a similarly named town here in NZ called Waimate.  Small rural town in green rolling downs.  Waimea had some nice shops and of course the Parker ranch (didnt go).  It even had a McDonalds!  North to Kohala, again very like parts of NZ (north of Auckland with cactus) over windy and twisty roads to a very seaside looking town.  Had a few cafes etc but it was more interesting for its photogenic value.  You pass thru on the way to an overlook, that when we got there was full.  Had a tiny carpark with no turning room that everyone else had got to first, so we never made it to that one.  Apparently its quite impressive.

Back to Kona down the sea road (the road from Waimea to Kohala is the inland one) where the country side is quite different from the green and grassy inland route.  Lots of scrubby trees and long grass.  Still home to ranching country tho.

The route to Hilo went across the 'other' inland route to Waimea, and we went the night after the storm and got to see fresh snow on the mountains, and if you turned and looked behind you, you could see the sea!  Only in Hawaii :)  As you get closer to Hilo the countryside gets much greener and lush.  That side of the island gets all the rain, and as we found out, it *really rains* really really!  We did get to see one lookout that was very nice and got good photos of.  The coast around that side is quite spectacular, lots of sheer cliffs and waterfalls.

Hilo was quite interesting, its very old and had suffered a couple of tsunamis (I later saw a tv program about them after we got home) which is why the flat bits by the sea often have roads that go nowhere.  We went to Hilo to go shopping for a variety of things.  Rose tape was the main thing so we headed to Walmart.  Tho it was full of many fascinating things I had never seen before, no rose tape.  J did buy a couple of cool electronic games for his nephews for only $12 each.

We got lost a couple of times cos the map we had was incomplete, but in our lost travels we found an internet cafe YAY!! So we called in and checked if it was open when I wanted to chat later on in the day and it was.  Just around the corner was a 2ndhand bookstore where I got 5 excellent fantasy books (spent the rest of the holiday reading them LOL) and we wandered around a bit looking at the old architecture.

Back in the car to see some sights.  By now it had started to rain and the heavens just opened the taps on FULL.  Luckily we were prewarned and had bought extra dry clothes and wet weather gear.  My oilskin hat had already put in sterling duty as a sun hat but now it and my oilskin jacket which had travelled all this way got to be put to real use.......keeping me DRY! and a good job they did.

The japanese gardens were a bit drab in the rain but still worth a look, we decided to keep on the water theme and check out the waterfalls.  By now it was teeming down and there were no other tourists around at all.  Got some great photos but very very wet by now, so we decided to find somewhere dry to have a snack and found a nice cafe in the main shopping bit in old Hilo.  I had a very nice hot creamy Broccoli soup and J had pizza pita breads.  A coffee and a hot chocolate later and we were ready to hit the Internet.  It had been toooooo looooooong for both of us.

It was prolly my only chance to chat with my American friends while I was in their county so was a bit special to me, corny eh!  J got to check his email and overall we had a good time.  It was a long drive home and gets dark quickly so I snoozed a bit on the way home and then woke up to see some stars in an odd alignment.  3 in a straight line on the northern horizon, we later found out it was some celestial happening we hadnt known about :) Cool.

I eventually did find my rose tape, tho only 1 roll was to be had at a lovely garden centre up the hill from Kona.  Turns out the lady who ran it was married to a Kiwi guy and they had lived in Wellington 10 years ago and were planning to go back in a year.  Its a small world!  While I was wandering around the place drooling at all the lovely tropical plants that are sooooooo good in floral art thant I cant grow I saw this lizard, about 4 inches long and a silvery green colour.  He zipped along a wall, up into the pipe fence until he got to a black irrigation tube that went up past it and then from there into a tall plant growing alongside.  Apparently he was a chameleon and not seen very often.  He knew his way around fer sure!

I would love to visit the rest of the US based on what we have experienced but I realise that Hawaii is the sanitised version and its not all that nice on the mainland in the cities.  Even so, it would be an experience LOL

Stacey