I left Sydney first thing in the morning on the 16th, after flying about four hours we crossed through the date line and it became the 15th. Then we flew another six hours and at some point it became the 16th again, because when we touched down in Hawaii it was 11pm last night. All this goes to show that you can cross the dateline without the date changing, but it makes for a terribly long day.
Wakiki beach has to be the noisiest place I have stayed to date. The hotel I was checked into was hopeless as it had louvred windows which let noise and wind through all night long. So I found a new hotel a couple of blocks away and moved there this morning. Though it's still quite noisy here, it's certainly a lot better. So far my main thought about Wakiki is overdeveloped. I'm hopefully going to get out and stroll around later, either that or just hang out on my balcony.
So I did take a stroll along Kalakaua Avenue, which is the main drag here. As I said it's a major tourist trap. There is no doubt that without the development, the beach must have seemed close to paradise. The water here, especially is a spectacular blue, certainly bluer than Bondi, possibly bluer than Copacabana. I'm sure I'll take pictures, but they probably won't do it justice.
The temperature here is that perfect mid-80's (actually it was 84F today) sort of weather, moderated by quite a strong breeze, even here among the buildings. One strange thing is that the sky, especially looking inland towards the mountains has been constantly covered in huge fluffy white clouds stretching from the mountain tops themselves way up into the sky. So I guess the wind is mainly at sea level.
This is the first time since Rio that I actually got just my swimming trunks on and am sitting out on my balcony enjoying the sun, with a jar of peanuts and a can of coke. I also have a couple of pigeons to keep me company and just now a funny looking robin. The birds here are totally habituated to tourists and have no fear. I'm sure they would be in the bedroom if I let them ;-)
Back on the mountain that cloud is changing to dark, ugly and potentially rain bearing. The cab driver last night was saying that rain can be very localised here. We drove through a two minute patch on the way to the hotel. I also got chatting to an islander in a quilt shop today, she said there are about seven islands with a significant population and the other six are a lot less developed than Oahu where I am now. A couple of them positively discourage tourism, which must be quite nice for the locals. I also met a guy working in a gallery, he grew up here and moved away ten years ago. Moving back six months ago, he says that Wakiki has changed so much he has trouble finding hiw way around now. I'm sure he's exagerating, but probably not by very much :-(
I was just flicking through the 'This week in Oahu' guide, a freebie on street corners and very handy. They are talking about seafront dining "At high tide you can almost touch the water". They're not kidding at high tide Wakiki beach is only about 30 feet wide! Oahu is 36 miles north to south and 57 miles west to east, the 'big island' which is technically Hawaii must be at least 4-5 times as big.
Went out for a walk ON the beach tonight, right along the tide line. It was beautiful. Waves lapping on the shore and the beach was actually wide enough to get away from the traffic.
Not much of a sunset tonight. Way too cloudy - maybe tomorrow. Anyway back to the title. I've just started watching Jay Leno on the Tonight show. Back east in NYC it's already 5:30am in a couple of hours, people will be heading into work. Time wise HI to NY is the same as NY to ROME! That's a pretty long way, or a very big country.
One week to go - yeap that's it. The Canadian mainland on Sunday and then home via Chicago to White Plains on April 25th. You may recall the original plan was to take the train home from Vancouver, but that would have put me slap bang in the middle of Toronto where SARS seems to be spreading. So the disease that worried me in Asia has finally changed my plans here on the other side of the world, in a first world country. It's strange how things shake out.
Incidentally I've finally solved the riddle of the indgineous people. I believe the whole European superiority thing rests on the written tradition and even more importantly the printing press which over 500 years ago started spreading literacy and knowledge to the masses. The high school I attended was founded in 1497, would schooling have even been possible without the press? One of my friends is always saying "Education is key to a nation" - how true this is.
Had a good day today, took a public bus that went around the island. All the beaches are surprisingly narrow. Sunset beach looks like the best bet, but that was fairly busy. Anyway I jumped off the bus at the Polynesian Cultural Center. This covered seven island nations. It was fun, but definitely at the Disney end of depth. Also on the trip I saw Dole's huge pineapple plantations. Half of Hawaii is government land, 4/5th's of the remainder is owned by around forty families, presumably Dole was one of these. This same group were basically responsible for the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893 and inviting the Americans to make Hawaii a US territory in exchange for trade concessions with the growing American market.
No breathtaking sunset, cloudy and showers again. With weather like this I could warm to the place ;-) Gonna go out tonight, sample the nightlife.
Checked out 'Zanzabar' which resembled clubs when I was in college. Think Tuxedo Junction, photography guy, people dressed up, drinks, lousy lighting (by modern standards). Then I went onto 'The Maze' much more modern, trance, dance kind of place. Much cooler lighting, more 'smoke' than an old English fog, water, dress down. It was actually fun to see both very different styles right next to each other. Amazing how things have changed in just a decade and of course scary to try and project what kids Josh's age will be doing ten years into the future.
That said some trends reimerge over and over. I confidently predict the return of Rubiks cube and legwarmers at some point (well hopefully not those trends :-)) Actually the more modern club had a store selling 'raver toys' including some really cool tees with light up designs on them. It's satisfying to see the extent to which technology, especially computers and electronics, have impacted both lighting, music and sound in such a positive way.
I've noticed Hawaii seems to have extensive links with Las Vegas, from Elvis onwards ;-) Most of this is because they are both holiday destinations. Many of the entertainment acts perform in both places. More interesting is that Hawaii is strongly anti-gambling as a state. Since many of it's fun loving residents are not, Vegas is the ideal vacation spot.
I've also found out why the beaches are so narrow here. Apparently, the nearer the equator you are the smaller the tidal change. This combined with Hawaii's volcanic origin and relatively steep shoreline means perpetually narrow beaches.
[Straight to web...]
I couldn't leave Hawaii without seeing Pearl Harbor. So this afternoon, I went there and visited the USS Arizona memorial, which was one of the 21 battleships sunk by nearly 400 Japanese aircraft, in the attack that started the Pacific war. I was left with the realisation that had the USA entered the war against Japan in 1939 (after all the Japanese invaded China in ISTR 1937) Pearl Harbor would never have happened and in fact the Pacific war would/could have been ended quite quickly.
I believe this offers even more support for the doctrine of "premptive intervention" being persued by George Bush Jr. at the moment. If applied consistently and fairly, this beats appeasement or isolationism, hands down. I was also strikingly reminded of the huge similarities to 9/11. The number of deaths, the US being caught off guard and, yes, to decision to engage now in something which should have been addressed some time back all very similar to the present day. Let's hope that the west can declare victory here in a similar decisive manner.
Better now, than later...
Yes, my latin is a pig, but it still looks cooler than English, anyone know what this should be?
So I was just hanging out tonight on a street corner when I spotted this beautiful young girl all dressed up in her clubbing gear and accompanied by her handsome equally youthful husband still in their teens. It turns out that he is in the army for eight months and she is an army wife.
Her name is Jackie, his name was... well I would like to tell you that I shan't reveal it for security reasons, but the truth is, it didn't really matter ;-) Jackie and, let's call him Steve, told me all the in's and out's of modern American army life, including his specializations and where he and his group might be heading.
You'll notice I'm not detailing any of this because walls do have ears and loose lips sink ships ;-(. However I want to make two points; firstly, it amazes me how easy HUMINT, that's gathering intelligence using human means can be, provided you simply hang out in the right places and don't seem threatening;
Secondly, the idea of sending young people like Steve into danger and death, not to mention making a widow of the delectable Jackie at an unreasonably young age, bothers me only a little, if it is in the greater good.
I'm not sure how uncaring this makes me. Hopefully less than the president, but that's a pretty low standard to start with.
Welcome back to the North American mainland, nearly home now ;-) So the USA has basically made flying hell. We waited in line in Hawaii for an hour to pass through security which at the end of the day still failed to find a couple of sharp objects I had inadvertently left in my carry on.
Of course before this I went through a fight with them about my checked bag and leaving it unlocked. The official options were:
I told the airline that neither were acceptable and after some discussion a TSA person appeared and said they would call me for the combination if they wanted it opened, which interestingly enough they did ;-) then they locked it again, all this took another forty-five minutes.
People having their possessions search with a judicial warrant have more rights! Doesn't the constitution say something about unreasonable search? If I were a lawyer, I would sue to get this ridiculous arrangement of unaccompanied physical search overturned.
The actual flight was pretty good. Sitting a couple of rows forward was a lesbian couple. What is it that makes femme lesbians so attractive to guys?
Answers on an e-mail ;-)...
It didn't improve my demeanour when I reached the Canadian end and they decided to turn my bags upsidedown again, because they weren't happy with the amount of luggage I had for a five day stay. I just hope the trip home is less aggravating.
On the plus side I found a great bar and hung out with my new friend Wade - former trucker and network cabling guy, till around 3am. I was still wide awake, but Vancouver was not, so I hit the sack.
Woke up around 10am and had an excellent, waitress delivered, included breakfast. This is the cheapest hotel on the entire trip, yet the room and bed are pretty good and breakfast the best yet. Sometimes money is not a guareentee of quality
It's kind of hard to write about Vancouver in that I'm not doing anything terribly specific or even interesting to most people, just strolling around the city. Without doubt, a real vacation. Yesterday I did the entire Skytrain system, which is the local elevated 'subway'. It's the first system in the world to have no permanently positioned staff except in the control room and yard. No drivers or conductors on the trains. No ticket offices or information desks or staff at stations.
Even though we have all travelled on the glorified elevators between airport terminals and some have travelled on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in London, where the trains usually drive themselves, but a human conductor is on board to take over if needed, it is somewhat weird to know there is no one on board who can drive the train. The passengers don't seem to mind and other than a few suicides there have been no problems with safety.
Another first for Vancouver is the Fairmont hotel which has a dog on it's staff. To meet and greet new guests and even to go for walks with them. Again only praise has been present for this scheme.
One thing Vancouver still needs is a scheme for it's huge homeless problem. Yes Virginia, they are all white, but the majority seem to be recent immigrants from other parts of Canada. Mainly the poorer east, especially New Brunswick. They are drawn here for the weather, which by Canadian standards is pretty mild, also for the jobs and the wealth, finally for the city's liberal tolerance. British Columbia (the local province) is still enjoying something of a boom.
When I first visited America, San Francisco shared much the same features, but in recent years cleaned up it's act. I'm sure Vancouver will do the same, it's just a matter of time.
There's not much point in trying for an early night tonight. The locals have beaten St. Louis at ice hockey in the Stanley cup playoffs. The city is erupting, the way Rio does when the local team win the soccer.
Today I visited North Vancouver and a very congenial head shop. No I didn't indulge (they had good coffee), but I had a great conversation about the evils of the Americans and George Bush in particular also the joys of Salvia, apparently it's quite some experience.
Then tonight after dinner I hit the lounge next door to the hotel and tried Absinthe shots for the first time. Also illegal in the USA and yes, at 70-80% proof it really kicks ass. In moderation it's delicious.
Editors note: When re-reading this in the original diary - I realised that it didn't make much sense, no doubt as a result of the amount of Absinthe consumed ;-) - so I rearranged a couple of sentences.
Today the weather was pretty miserable. I headed south over the US border to Bellingham, WA. It wasn't a bad day out, though again I wasn't impressed with Canadian immigration, who were frankly rude and obnoxious. The worst of the many governments I have dealt with recently.
This evening I went to see Bowling for Columbine - well it did win an Oscar ;-)
Actually it was a pretty good movie. The central message seemed to be that corporate America, the US Government and the media are deliberately terrorising the American public, because it drives them to be far bigger consumers. It's certainly an interesting theory. Not sure it holds up. Also Michael Moore, fudged the country comparisons a bit, but I guess it was his show.
More boozing tonight. Glad this will stop at the end of the week. Bars are too friendly and drink too cheap to spend too long here.
Another very wet day in Vancouver. In the morning I took the bus down to the Victoria Ferry terminal. It's quite a ride from central Vancouver. There is a rumor that when Vancouver is wet, Victoria is often dry, but checking with a couple of people getting off the ferry revealed that it was soaking wet there as well, so I headed back into town.
One thing is for sure, this part of Canada is never going to run out of fresh water or wood. You may recall that these were exactly the two things so desperately needed in South Africa and more especially the Australian desert to build the railways and mines. The Earth plays cruel tricks on man.
Interesting fact: Vancouver used to produce 1/6th of the world's paper for newsprint. That's a lot of wood!
In the afternoon I got back into the city and said goodbye to Don at the head shop and Belinda and the girls at the Two Parrots bar. Then headed back to the hotel to pack for the final time.
Woke up this morning to brillant sunshine, which Vancouver is now expecting for at least the next five days! Had breakfast, checked out and am now sitting at the airport waiting for the flight to Chicago, White Plains (NY) and then home.
One interesting trick they have done here is installed a US customs point in Canada, so effectively I'm already back in the USA. Interestingly enough, the question of what constitutes a single trip remains open. Both the US customs website and the inspector here today said that a mere return to US soil (even Hawaii) is enough to end a trip. However, the guys in Hawaii and at the US/Canadian land border say that you must return to your home in the USA to end a trip. Until then, everything you have with you is declarable each time you pass through a customs checkpoint, assuming it once came from abroad - confused? I am.
So here we are, fifty six days, or eight weeks after setting off. Exactly as long as the fastest cargo ships circle the earth, via the Panama and Suez canals though of course they see mainly water ;-) Like Phileas Fogg and Michael Palin before me I have had my journey altered slightly by events beyond my control (SARS) maybe this is the measure of a good journey ;-)
Many things have struck me on this trip, but now I am going to talk about just one; commodities: Almost everything except people, paper and perishables still move by sea. Every single city I have visited except Johannesburg has a large, most often huge, port attached. Stacked full of containers, carrying stuff from the interior to other countries. Wealth and power have always been built upon naval mastery. First the British navy and today the American aircraft carriers. This trip has brought this home to me in a way no textbook could.
Anyway, gotta fly now - Queen Isabella is waiting... ;-)
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