Aloha and Mahalo

Hi Guys!
Apologies first for not being in touch for a while but the hotei in Hawaii charged a small fortune for using the internet so always seemed to run out of time to write a blog once I checked emails, bank balance, hotel searching etc! OMG I miss Heike and her notepad!!
Anyway I'm now in Oz but thought I would post a short note of my time in Hawaii. The weather was hot, hot hot and the surfers buff!
I arrived on the Friday am but could check into my hotel until late afternoon so that gave me an excuse to hit the beach. Luckily I was based at the start of Waikiki away from the hussle and bustle and the quieter beaches. I was also opposite the Hilton Hawaiian Village which meant I could use all their shops etc without paying their hotel rates! Also got to see pop stars too!
Finally on the second day I wondered into Waikiki itself - its pretty touristy and they have every shop known to man. Some of the hotels are pretty impressive too (Staying at the Westin Moana Surfer if I ever return!) But the locals do know how to 'hang loose' and are friendly so amongst all the commerciality (as it is the US's 50th state) I still liked it. Also got to see a hula that evening too - best bit was the little ones dancing about how great grannies are!
I did a couple of tours too - first around the whole island of Oahu which took in the North Shore - abolutely NO SURF that day let alone the BIG SURF, boogie-boarding at Sandy Beach and also the Nature Reserve at Hanuma Bay which is stunning. I also decided to visit one of the other islands - the Big Island of Hawaii - which meant getting up at 4.30am to get on a plane. The island is pretty amazing as one side is volcanic and then the windward part of the isle is lush with vegatation but of course gets rain! Visited the active volcano (took some video - smoke but no lava sorry) and got to see the Sea Turtles have a bit of a snooze on one of the beaches. A 250 mile trip around the island and 17 hours later I eventually got back to my hotel - I was somewhat wiped out the next day!
I must admit I didn't expect that Hawaii would have so much to do - didn't get to do and see half the things I wanted to, but hey that means that I will have to make a return trip!