Waikiki, Hi (the last few days)

So, we've managed to get Morag's passport stamped with her residency visa, but it only has 3 days to get to us. We've already bought the ticket, so a bit of nail-biting time, but we decided to stay over the weekend, just in case. Time to relax! Down the beach for a spot of surfing and gun shooting (as you do).

The beach was looking particularly good today, so off to rent a surfboard!

Okay, I admit it - I retouched an earlier photo of me to make me appear slimmer. If you check back to the VLA visit - I think I was almost blocking out the sum (and the radio telescopes)! I leave will this photo untouched, as a testament to the UK and American palm-oil friendly shores.

Somewhere in that vast expanse of surf is a black sea-lion shaped object, heading onto the reef - where unknown dangers await. Not once did I manage to catch a wave - the only one my surfboard caught was when I got off it going to shore! It's incredibly exhausting, as well. I tried for a good hour, then crawled to shore. Perhaps it was my lack of training, perhaps my lack of skill - but I don't think I'll be doing that again...

On the way to the firing range, we saw this man chipping away at his carving. It was really nice to see an ancient traditional art going on in the open-air 'international' shopping centre (which had giant trees forming a canopy over the atrium).

I had to ask to move the target back - it was too easy. I got every rifle shot almost dead centre!

Revolvers were a different story, however - because your aim is unsupported, it goes up and down with the recoil of the weapon. After I was told to 'squeeze the trigger' to prevent this, I became a lot more accurate.

"You talkin' to me? I don't see anyone else here!" Truthfully, we were alone - but we did hear Morag and the receptionist's conversation...

I tried to 'think gangsta' as he took this photo. Does it show?

The hotel shuttle bus, going to and from the beach or main shopping centre. There is a 'free' one called 'Hilo Hattie' - Morag rode in it once and got a necklace you use as a ticket! Don't try getting off before the destination, however - one couple did so and were yelled at by the driver! Crazy town...

How surfboards get to the beach (on a moped). I've also seen these side carriers on a bike!

The hotel pool - nice and cool. I read from 'Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts' by Clive James in the pool with my arms on a towel, and my entire body in bliss.

Our last drink was going to be a memorable one. We walked to near the end of the beach (where the private hotel areas are), and sat down at the The Moana Surfrider for a drink or two.

Morag suggests a toast to the completion of our honeymoon voyage.

The last Hawaiian sunset - at Waikiki, on the island of O'ahu. Hard not to shed a tear.

Waikiki, Hi

It was our friend Terry's last night in Hawaii - we got him to take this lovely photo of us on the beach. You can just see the nightly cruise ship in the backround, which always reminds me of The Love Boat. He was a bit upset to be leaving (he's already counting the days until he comes back next year), so I let him know that it's not the days you have on holiday, it's the people that you meet...

We had seen these gas fires flaming each night, and wondered how they were lit - we figured it had to be some sort of Victorian lamp-lighting pixie. Tonight we saw him - in all his resplendent garb!

The torch lighting was announced with a traditional conch shell. It's not really a tradition, more of a ritual...

This is a statue of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku - but most Hawaiians just call him 'Duke'. He was an Olympic swimming champion winning three gold, two silver, and one bronze medals in four Olympics between 1912 and 1922. He is known as the Father of International Surfing - people pay homage by placing lei around his neck and arms.

Waikiki, Hi

Just one crazy photo today. I count eight dogs (Shih Tzu?) in a children's pram. How many do you count? Every time she removed a dog that was becoming troublesome (by putting it in the back), one in the front would start up (or jump out). Quite hilarious.

Waikiki, Hi

Today we went for a walk (some of us called it a hike) up to Diamond Head - a dormant volcano, where you can climb up to the rim of the crater. This is the view from the south rim, looking back north towards the tunnel we walked through, to get to the trailhead in the bottom of the crater.

This is the rather dramatic view looking west - here you can see most of the Waikiki Hotels on the beachfront. The amphitheatre you can see at the bottom of the picture is the Waikiki Shell. I think our hotel is nestled snugly in the middle - if you go directly up from the amphitheatre, it's the little one just above the green area at the top of the first hotel.

This was our hiking (ahem, I mean walking) team - (from left to right) myself, Morag, our friend Terry who had invited us, and his friend Lewis.

The sun goes down, as our aching legs start to stiffen!

Another wonderful sunset. You know you've had a great holiday, when you start to run out of superlatives...

Waikiki, Hi

I hope you're not getting bored by the sunsets, but it's the only photos I seem to take!

Glorious. And they seem to change every couple of minutes! More than once I've turned up thinking I've missed it, then I get a great surprise...

I liked the way the person on the beach sort of emulated the sail on the boat...

Stepped over a giant crab to get to where a bunch of professional photographers usually gather (well, I'm not sure, but I could see that their tripods were bigger than mine). Took this shot with my tiny tripod, proving perhaps it's not size that counts...

Waikiki, Hi

The chess players are at it every day, rain or shine. I plan to work out how to get in on a game, it can't be too hard - can it?

Most days at the beach, it's fairly packed out. This weekend, they are having a stand up paddle canoe championship, so it's a little busier than normal...

This guy was a bit of a mystery to me at first - I encountered him as I went out for a swim on the beach. I figured he was recording sound, but what of, I wondered? The beach was quite noisy, and I didn't see why he needed to be in the water... then we figured it out today - he's a beachcomber. There's two of them (the other is a woman, and she stays on land), and they are using metal detectors to locate lost jewellery. Must be a nice little earner, as they are out there every day!

Another sunset, I know - but this one had some great cloud patterns, like a giant brush had swept across the sky...

Waikiki, Hi

Wrote some more blogs, saw another sunset...

Maybe these sunsets are getting a bit repetitive?

So at 8pm or so, we bundled ourselves off to the best sports bar in town (or Waikiki, at least) - Giovanni Pastrami - to watch the 2011 Rugby World Cup Final. All Blacks win, 8-7! The French put up a good fight, though - especially during the haka and coming back in the second half. Strangely, no mention of the Rainbow Warrior...

Waikiki, Hi

Surfboard frenzy! This is one of the local surf shops - the boards above the shop belong to the apartments. I've seen surfboards carried by bicycles, scooters, cars and people...

I took this shot from the local Tiki Bar (happy hour is from 2-5pm), which we highly recommend. Every night they have a special offer - my favourite was Tuesday - $2 tacos, the first 150 people get a free Longboard Beer, and Longboard is $3 all night!

The sun dropped lower in the sky, and my camera was hanging off the the handrail on the little GorillaPod we bought for the honeymoon (a very handy little urchase!). If it wasn't for the old guy down the end banging away on the handrail like it was a set of drums, the HD video I took would have been a lot smoother... but hey, at least he was having fun...

I think this is one of my favourite sunset shot so far - just about perfect.