Waikiki, Hi

Still looking for that perfect sunset...

Can you see the dog on the surfboard?

Wow, it was really orange for a while this evening!

I took a few photos of this couple before they held hands - speaking volumes for everyone else on the beach.

Sometimes, all the angles line up Kubrick-style - palm trees, hotels, clouds and sunset...

Waikiki, Hi

This is our lovely hotel - the Royal Grove Hotel. We've met people who have been coming here for 20 years - usually getting the same room each time. We really feel honoured and lucky to have found this Waikiki jewel. Don't tell anyone - it will get booked out for us next time!

Waikiki, Hi

It's the 5-0! The Hawaii 5-0!

I keep trying to take the perfect sunset photo - how am I doing?

Waikiki, Hi

October 16th is the Hawaiian Festival for the tragic Princess Ka'iulani. We happened to be passing this ceremony, and walked in to see the end. We thought she was a real princess, until we asked the bartender - he told us she died about 100 years ago. Turns out she was half-Scottish (her father was from Edinbugh, and the last Royal Governor of Oʻahu). She has become an "inspiration for young people today to stand up and speak for their beliefs, and to find their own truths by fully embracing their own heritage".

Another day in paradise...

...and another awesome sunset.

Waikiki, Hi

This is the view from our new balcony, at the Royal Grove Hotel - a great family-run place only one block from the beach, at the same price as some of the seedier hotels we've stayed at in the US mainland! I suppose we had about the same view of the Thames from our place in Staines...

This is the poolside table, where I've been writing these blogs from - beats most of the other offices I've worked in! Check out the clock made into a picture frame - now that's island time!

Honolulu, Hi to Waikiki, Hi

Woke up this morning - this was the view from our hotel window.

No time to dwell on hotel balconies, though - the beach of Waikiki beckons us!

Waikiki Beach, looking east towards Diamond Head (a dormant volcano).

More chess players! Some of these guys really know how to play. I told Morag that I hardly felt entitled to watch. I saw one endgame (with chess clock), where about 8 pieces were exchanged in 5 seconds or so! I think they could have probably played the entire game in their heads...

This sombre shot is looking west along Waikiki Beach, towards the USS Arizona Memorial, and the city of Honolulu.

Get ready for some great scenic shots of the beach over the next couple of weeks - it seems hard to take a bad photo in Waikiki...

Taken at night with a long exposure (15 seconds). The people didn't seem to move much, but the airplane taking off left a lovely trail of light in the sky!

Looking backwards towards the hotels, the night really comes alive in this photo. The wall in the foreground is to protect bathers from the waves of the ocean - like a little harbour, but for people.

San Bruno, Ca to Honolulu, Hi

Got up early today, for our 10:48am flight to Hawaii - took one last snap of South San Francisco. We'll miss you, San Francisco!

First stop, Vancouver - I'm not quite sure where this photo was taken - somewhere in northern Washington - Seattle, perhaps?

O Canada - what wonderful aircraft you have. One of my best trips ever - TV, movies and games on demand... With a few (ahem) Gin and Tonics under my belt, I did not want to leave this plane!

Perhaps we were just lucky, but our flight had no problems at all. The secret is to have low expectations, I think... and what a view!

The first we saw of Hawaii - how exciting!

As we descended through the cloud layer on final approach, I quickly took this photo of the beautiful sun on the waves. Not quite sure what the little boat was doing, but it appeared to be going around in circles...

Arrived (all too soon!) - along with the sunset - at Honolulu. I was the last one off the plane, I think! Our taxi driver took us via the 35mph Highway 92, instead of the 65mph H1 Freeway (I was following him on Google Maps - well, you never know). When confronted with the escalated fare of $40, his response was "I been doing it for over 10 year". Sometimes it's not worth the aggravation of a hassle, even when you know you are being fleeced - oh well, you can't win them all! The discounted last minute hotel I had picked (usually we pick them together) turned out to be lovely - with a well-stocked koi pond going around the entire hotel! Tomorrow we'll pick a new (more reasonable) hotel, for the next couple of weeks while we wait for Morag's Residency Visa application to go through.