Recently Louise and I went on vacation to Hawaii, to the island of Kawaii, the "garden isle", and the oldest of the islands. It took us 3 flights and 21 hours to get there (less to get back), but it was worth it. Unfortunately, it rained solidly the first 3 days due to a passing tropical storm. But after that we did lots of outdoor things, kayaking the Wailua river, hiking down (way down!) into Waimea Canyon with a naturalist, snorkeling, going to 4 gardens (some of Jurassic Park was filmed in one- the huge tree photo above is where the velociraptor egg nest was discovered) , taking a boat ride along the Na Pali sea cliffs (I felt seasick, not much fun), and attending the required luau (lots of fun and food- you haven't lived till you have tasted the ancient Hawaiian purple "poi"!)
Three interesting things about Hawaii-
1. More people drown there every year than anywhere else in the US. Those beautiful beaches you see in photos are full of rip tides, undertows, sharp lava, rough waves, and all sorts of things which make them mostly unswimmable. Coming from NJ, where you can swim at almost every beach, this is a shock.
2. The ethnic mix is amazing- lots of different Asian and other groups. Most of you know I love exploring different cultures. They have funky Japanese and Asian foods at 7-11- all sorts of noodle things (saiman is great!), bread-like manipua, and even a dessert named "chi chi dongo". I love this food.
3. Christian missionaries played a huge role in the culture, arriving in the 1820's. They were the first major western contact. Today there are still a ton of strong churches (many more per capita than in my part of NJ), but also a huge Buddhist and new age presence.
I am full of travel advice, if you ever want to go to Kawaii!
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