Waikiki and Honolulu

I have been meaning to write more often on here, but of course I'm on holidays (or vacation as the yanks say) and I let it the intention lapse. 

It's Saturday here, Sunday in Australia which means that we only have a couple of more days until we fly back home. I am sitting in our hotel at the moment waiting for 9.25am to roll around so we can walk down and get picked up for a tour. Well, not really a tour. We're going into a shark cage and diving with Hawaii's version of great white sharks before spending three hours at a very expensive spa getting massages.

You can probably guess we've spent a tremendous amount of money while being here, and I can officially say that I will be completely broke once I get back. 

It has been a mini adventure, I can say that much. Mixed with a surreal feeling of being in an American TV show. We've been as excited at seeing Walmart and Taco Bell as we were swimming with Sea Turtles and watching dolphins play in the bay at breakfast. It's very laid back here, most people are running on island time (the locals are at least, I couldn't say the same for some tourists) and everyone is pretty friendly. Kind of a "if-you-ask-me-something-I'll-help-you-out-friendly" compared to Thailand's "I'll-offer-my-daughter's-hand-in-marriage-if-you-so-much-as-smile-at-me" friendly. 

What I will end up doing, is uploading my photos and recall the trip that way. Of course it won't be as authentic as to the minute recounts of my day but then again, you won't see the tired rambling either.

One thing I wanted to point out is that we did get a little kick from driving on the opposite side of the road, and realising we were competent enough to get ourselves all around the three islands. Given, they're not that big and getting lost isn't that easy but it was still a nice feeling that we weren't at the mercy of public transport and local guides. 

On Maui and Hawai'i there were no other Australians, it was very unusual to hear someone from the homeland. Waikiki on the other hand is full of them. Was told yesterday by a Brazillian man (who was listening in on a conversation Temissa and I were having about our so called accents, that she indeed had an accent, but me not so much. I think Temissa has been told twice now, that they love hearing her talk. Maybe she sounds a little more "Aussie" than me. 

The tipping isn't too bad either, because most of the service is excellent. They refill for free and make sure you're really happy with everything. Anyone we harass with ignorant questions about the lifestyle in Hawaii, we always tip a little bit extra. A nicer way of saying "tip me" is also, "we appreciate gratuities". Nice way to fancy it up.

Any