I'm three days back in Perth and still in afterglow from my best vacation ever! Hawaii has been special ever since our family lived there when my father was stationed at Schofield Barracks. I always hoped to return one day. Our "vacation from our vacation" began as soon as we got to the airport in Houston. Three movies, two episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" and a glass of wine later, the memories of last-minute Christmas shopping and our hectic Houston schedule had all but disappeared.
Within a half hour of our arrival in Honolulu we were in beach chairs reading books, sipping cold beverages and enjoying the warm ocean breezes of Waikiki. We did the typical touristy things since Vince was new to Hawaii and there were many places I had never visited. (You never see the sights in your own back yard...) At the top of the list was the USS Arizona memorial - our military roots run deep. We followed it up with a visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center. The PCC is actually owned and run by the Mormon Church and staffed mostly by students from Brigham Young University Hawaii. I never knew this, but it may explain why all the hula costumes were so modest - no cleavage or belly buttons in sight - and our luau hosts were guys in their 60s wearing dark suits and white shirts (really!). The center does a great job of depicting the culture of not only Hawaii but Tahiti, Samoa, Tonga, New Zealand (which I did not previously consider Polynesian), Fiji and Easter Island. There's dancing, singing, traditional crafts and music and of course a traditional luau. It occasionally suffers from what I'd call the Disney influence, but it's still a great way to get an understanding of the Polynesian psyche and way of life. I finally tried poi and it wasn't as yukky as I'd feared. It looks like purple glue and tastes kind of like mashed potatoes.
Tourism is the island's chief source of income, which translates into excellent customer service and extremely friendly and pleasant people. Add in the laid back attitude of Hawaiians in general plus the warm climate and beautiful surroundings and... you want to stay even longer. The only down side is the cost. Honolulu is about as expensive as Perth. The median price for a 1,500 square foot home (not new) is around US $650,000, mostly because the land is so expensive. It's easy to understand why. One of our tour guides mentioned that the average family must earn in the neighborhood of $80,000 per year to afford a modest living. There aren't that many professions or jobs which pay that well, and as a result many Hawaiians have relocated to the mainland. Where do most of them settle? Las Vegas! It kind of makes sense. Hot, dry climate, plentiful land, lakes and mountains in driving distance, and lots of job opportunities in the tourist industry.
We had hoped to continue our tradition of going ballroom dancing on New Year's Eve but every venue we tried was fully booked. So we danced rock-n-roll instead. The Sheraton Waikiki hosted a huge party with a DJ, dancing and fireworks, all overlooking the ocean. We were definitely in the highest age percentile, but we had as much fun as the younger crowd. With age comes wisdom, so we enjoyed the festivities in moderation. No sense starting the New Year off with a hangover.
I am hooked on Hawaii. There is a lot more to see and do and each island offers a unique experience. Waimea Canyon, which Mark Twain called "the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, " National Parks on the Big Island and Maui, Rainforest Zoo, Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, a helicopter ride around Kauai, and of course swimming and hanging out on the beach. I hope to be blogging about another tropical vacation in the future.
Aah, it was wonderful and all too short. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Aloha :-)
USS ARIZONA MEMORIAL AND USS MISSOURI BATTLESHIP
POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTER
DIAMOND HEAD, WAIKIKI AND OTHER HAWAIIAN SCENES
