Leaving Hawaii on Friday :(

I don’t want to leave Hawaii….we are just having too much fun and Chloe loves it too much – the beach, sand, warm weather, the dog-friends…all combined with the thought that -20 degrees and snow is just too strange.

Over the last week and a half we have been pretty busy and have got along just fine without Michelle (yes, yes – I know we keep harping on about her but she makes our lives so much easier). We have pretty much folded into Chloes routine…Clarissa and I take it in turns to get up early (6am – 7am) to look after Chloe while the other sleeps in (8am), I go for a quick 20 minute run while pushing Chloe in her pram and we then go on a family outing. Either to a far off beach, the sea life park, the zoo, Chloe’s baby gym, watch the big wave surfers, see the pineapple plantations (as boring as it sounds) etc. We then feed Chloe and ourselves similar food between 11am and midday, nap / read from 12am – 2pm and then head to the beach or the park until 5pm, home for Chloe’s and our dinner, a quick bath and then bed. Very healthy and relaxing for all.

Louise and Matt left on Saturday with a bit of stress. Somehow, the car keys made their way into the boot and the boot door was closed…2.5 hours before their flight departed. We frantically called around trying to figure out our best options; getting a taxi, finding a locksmith, getting spare keys sent to us, swapping flight or breaking the window (my preferred option). One of these calls was to the car rental company to see if they had any advice – and they certainly did. They asked me to hold while they transfer me to StarOne (like AA or RAC)…the operator then asked me to confirm my location and number plate and to step away from the car…because she was going to open it remotely…which she did! I have no idea how the system works but somehow the car doors just sprung open and we could get the keys….needless to say we were all totally amazed and felt a bit under the influence of George Orwills ‘Big Brother’. Anyway, we made it to the airport just in time and Louise kindly took back our diving kit – which won’t be of much use in Canada.

We waited near the airport for Mathilde to fly in and she is staying with us as Clarissa and her are doing a paddling course; it runs from 9am to 3pm so I am on Chloe duty for those hours…and having a ball. Chloe and I have our morning run, visit Starbucks where I have a tea and she has a cup of frothed milk, wonder down to the beach (I read / she digs) and then go home for lunch and nap…then head to the beach again with Clarissa and Mathilde. One such beach was amazing – just walking out into water 2 foot deep and we say about 10 – 15 turtles – and big ones too! They come into the shallows away from the sharks and to feed and we just walked amongst them floating along! On that beach was my dream house – double story villa’s with the front lawn leading straight onto the beach – no fence or other barrier. Perhaps after a few more years (read decades) of working.

So all in all you can see we are having a great time – we are all very relaxed, totally un-phased about time / queues or being late for anything…with Chloe’s mobile meals we can stop at any beach we like or do whatever we want whenever we want. And we have been meeting some very interesting people….through the paddling club Clarissa has some friends that have quit work to come live in Hawaii and it is very interesting to hear their take on life and new priorities. In Hong Kong, it is very easy to get stuck into the money trap – working, saving, working, saving – always needing more money, bigger houses, fancier holidays and faster cars…while these people have actively given up on that lifestyle to pursue the softer things in life…healthy eating, family development, sport….not worried at all about money - very tempting!

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Today we went whale watching, both the human kind and the fishy kind.

The human kind of whale watching was while I was sipping my tea in Starbucks; huge people, perfectly orbital, coming in to order Frappuccino’s with whipped cream (600 calories) and ordering sugar biscuits – one woman ordered 12. People really seem to come in two sizes here….huge or fit and in very good condition; nothing in between. I think that the reason for this is that healthy (or even normal) food is hard to come by and so those who make the effort to be healthy almost become fanatical about it…and those who cant really be bothered slowly creep up the Body Mass Index.

I have forgotten what it is like to just sit and watch people for their strangeness, I used to do that when I first got to the UK but now the British strangeness was worn off to a point of then being ‘normal’ (or perhaps weird), however the Americans are still in the novel and strange category for me. I will say one thing for them - they are very friendly...just sit next to someone on a bus or at an adjacent table and a conversation with the total stranger will inevitable start, beginning with "where are you from". Strangely, when someone answers they are from the US (town and state given) that seems to be a conversation starter, but when we say Hong Kong / South Africa / UK it seems to be a conversation killer. Perhaps because of their limited knowledge of geography outside the US.

The fishy type of whale watching was while driving back from lunch with a paddling friend of Clarissa’s who have moved to Hawaii to paddle full time. During lunch they told of a paddler that was about 2 miles out to sea rowing and caught a wave, when a whale suddenly surfaced in front of him and his outrigger canoe surfed down the swell and crashed into the whale, which swatted at him with its tail and smashed his canoe and tossed him through the air – luckily not injuring him. A totally freak event but apparently has happened before.

After the lunch they showed us a point along the coast about 5m above the sea that the locals jump off – a lava flow resulted in a steep drop off and the locals jump from the top of the rocks into the water. The trick is to get back out again by waiting around for a swell to lift to you to a point where you can cling on and clamber out. The risk is calling the swell wrong, which turns into a wave and bashes you into the rock. I considered jumping in with them and clambering out under the guidance of the locals but after seeing one Hawaiian boy getting it wrong and being smashed against the rocks – legs above head and at least 3m up, I decided against it. The other kids pulled their rather dazed friend to safety, and he emerged rather bloodied and cut up.

It was off this point that we saw whales, with babies, breaching the water while swimming on their way.

Next trip to the Pipeline - the huge waves that makes Hawaii one of the most famous surf spots in the world.

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Hawaii - a long overdue post

Hello all,

A long overdue post! the reason - we are now living the life of most normal parents (i.e. no help) and finding it hard, hard work. Chloe is up at 6 and is needing constant attention for some reason - she is very clingy and grouchy and we think the constant change and jetlag is effecting her. She likes her routine, her own bedroom and her own toys...without all of these things I guess she feels insecure and grouchy...and to top it all she is only going to bed at 9pm - 10pm...leaving us no downtime and hence no posts.

That being said, Hawaii is really great...we have a three bedroom, two bathroom house that is directly opposite a park and Kailua beach. Throughout the day there are always people walking dogs, doing exercise and playing ball etc.

The general feel about the island is very relaxed. Everyone drives slowly and are extreamely courteious - people let you in, dont cut lanes, drive at a moderate pace and are very patient with this South African who is pretty confused with the concept of driving on the right hand side of the road.

The beaches are perfect - Asian beaches are good but they generally have flat surf or powder sand, which feels a bit unreal. In Hawaii the sand is like South Africa (slighly rough), the sea is ALIVE with fish, turtles etc, and there is surf....and the water is crystal clear.

So far we have spent our time figuring out how to handle Chloe; she refuses to drive (perhaps signalling the death of our US roadtrip) and is bored at home. So we take it in turns looking after her. Clarissa goes to Bootcamp (gym session in the park) or i go diving.

The dive is very good - an early start (5am) and my last dive was with an interesting bunch of people....marines and Navy sailors stationed at the base on the island. I found it really interesting hearing their stories about service, Iraq, their day to day life in the US military and past deployments. The dive itself was pretty advanced; deep, with currents and to two Second World War ship wrecks - but the water was crystal clear and I saw a fair amount (eels, turtles, rays).

Today we drove out to Pearl Harbour to see the USS Arizona (sunk in PH) and to tour the battleship Missourie, which saw active service during WWII, where the Japanese signed their surrender to the Allies and then finally saw action in the Persian Gulf (first war), beforing being decomissioned only 1o years ago. It was certainly impressive, with 14 huge guns (two guns weigh the same as a 747).

After the battleship tour we headed to a typical American diner for lunch, which was so disguisting that we left after one bite, blaming a cranky baby. I did feel a bit bad because the owner wouldnt take a cent for the meal we didnt eat and even gave us a pie to take away. It wasnt that the food was bad (by American standards), it was just so stodgy and solid. It is obvious to us now why the US has such an obesity problem....it is actually hard to eat in a simple and healthy manner if you are out and about. The only drinks are cokes and root beer in unlimitless quantities (get free refills) and sweets, chocolates and crisps all seem to come in bucket portion sizes. I watched our dive guide buying a sprite after the dive - was in a 1.5l cup - and he drank it all. Must have been 1500 calories (66% of his calorific requirements for the day).

So all in all having a great time - have settled Chloe and are figuring out things to do...Louise will join us next week, then Mathilde the following week. Clarissa and Mathilda will spend most of the last week paddling so I will do all the diving I can next week.

We defintely will be back - a perfect place as far as I am concerned...great diving from boat / walking off beach, paddling for Clarissa, a lifestyle centered around the beach but yet set in a town with first world infrastructure (choice of products in super markets etc).

More posts and pic's to follow.

… so we come to the end of our stay in Fiji. It has been a great week – relaxing (mostly) with something for everyone. Fiji is an amazing series of islands, the people are extremely friendly and laidback, the pace is slow and the island has all the lush beauty that you would image a tropical paradise to have, including mosquitoes which seem to bite Clarissa 15 – 20 times a day and virtually no bites for Chloe and I. The coral reefs are among the best I have ever seen, with the sea bed dropping off sharply into deep crystal blue waters. The undersea topography is varied – some parts flat, some with huge (30m) columns of coral and some with peaks and crevasses rising sharply from 50m to 3m and then down again within a few meters of horizontal swimming; all with one thing in common – every inch of the seabed is covered in coral….not one tiny bit is let go to waste. The fish life is abundant and varied with tiny golden anthiers, shark, dolphin, turtles, tuna, barracuda, parrot fish – the list is endless.

Each day the format was mostly the same….up between 6am – 7am and straight off to breakfast just by the beach for the same order each day; Earl Grey Tea, scrambled egg, toast and porridge shared in an equally messy manner between the three of us.

After breakfast we would do an activity – either a dive or two, swimming with chloe (both pool and sea), building sand castles, playing in the gardens, going for a paddle, boat ride or a Kids Club activity (painting / arts & crafts etc).

Lunch’s were our sanity period as Chloe either slept in the Kids Club nursery or our room and we had some time to read…we always used to look at the other older couples on holiday who used to sit at meal times and read their books or play on their computers and think how sad it is they have nothing to say to each other anymore…well, now we are like that. It isn’t that we don’t have anything to say anymore – it is just that previously we would have spent our mornings sleeping or reading whereas we now spend it on the beach, in the gardens and have done all our chatting then….so come meals times we welcome the chance to read our books and play on our computers between courses. Lunch was always a three course meal and ended in a chocolate desert of some kind or another (for me anyway).

After lunch we do more activities – like today we went out to the local village and saw a natural hot spring boiling out the ground, two days ago we went hiking etc. Chloe has her dinner time at 17:30 and four guitarists come to the kids club to play kids songs, which keeps Chloe greatly amused as she wolfs down her dinner at top speed, clapping and dancing along. I think that Michelle is going to have to learn how to play the guitar.

After dinner we try have quiet time – and the thing that seems to keep chloe the most amused is a bucket of water, no nappy and a few toys / stones / moms handbag to put in and out of the bucket. A quick bath and then in bed, leaving us to have our anti-social dinner and then be in bed early for another day.

Tomorrow (Sunday) we fly out to Honolulu but are a bit worried because we have to rely on a local Fiji plane (10 seater) to get us from this island to the main city, where we catch a proper (747) to Honolulu – but the local plane is notorious for running late…one couple was kept waiting for 6 hours because the pilot didn’t pitch and when he did he kept everyone waiting for a further 45 minutes as he had his sandwich. Fiji time. Great when you can relax, not so great when you need to catch a connecting flight.

Before I sign off, one thing that we found quite amusing was a comment by Vito (the Nanny). Fiji has quite a problem with Indian Myna’s, a type of bird which is one of only three birds listed on the United Nations Top 100 Invasive Species list. They are more aggressive, harder working and smarter than the local population (of birds) and have mostly displaced the local birds. I told Vito that we had the same problem in South Africa, with the Indian Mayna’s being aggressive and pecking the other birds out their territory.

Now the two main ethnic groups in Fiji are the Fijians and the Indians; and you guessed it, the Indians are more aggressive, harder working and smarter than the local population (of people). There is some tension between the two groups and the Fijians own all the land but the Indians make all the money; there was actually a coup that overthrew a government that was deemed too Indian heavy. The tension boils over sometimes when the Fijians who own the land throw the Indians off the land when the Indians have built up proper plantations or property developments, reneging on leasing contracts etc.

Anyway, the mask shop was owned by an Indian family, and as we bought the mask Vito commented to us that it was not good that an Indian shop is selling Fijian curios and the Indians are just like the Indian Myna’s….of course referring to the birds pecking out the locals, but not realizing the true reason they have been able to do so. I saw this first hand as I watched the hotel staff going about their daily chores. Three people to lazily sand one chair by having two watch one half heartedly rubbing the chair with a bit of sandpaper, the phone will ring in the bar and the barman will watch it ring five times before answering and everyone walks in a manner that Clarissa’s 97 year old grandmother could lap….but it did slow us down to a relaxed pace and the service was great, so no complaints.

Hawaii here we come!

Chloe Entry: 5 Feb 2010.

Dear Blog,

Today I finally figured out how the Evil Plan works.

They take me to the Baby Jail (which they try call “The Kids Club”) where they try to leave me with mean Auntie Vito, who stops me from doing fun things like sticking my tongue in the plug, jumping into the deep end of the pool and running with scissors. Paramount to abandonment if you ask me.

But luckily for me I am an advanced baby and I have learnt that if I scream and kick and cry and complain my mom feels bad and comes back, though this doesn’t seem to work so well on dad for some reason. So I carefully plan when to throw a tantrum; it seems to work best when Dad is about to go diving or when Mum is about to go for a massage and they are still within ear shot. If I leave it too late they don’t hear me and I settle down within a minute and play with the great toys...because crying is way too much hard work in this hot weather.

However, the Parents and I have reached a truce – a white flag in the form of a chocolate biscuit. I let them have their play-play time in return for a snack….a great deal from my perspective – I would happily swap the Parents for a chocolate biscuit any day of the week!
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Photo link

Hello all - if you want to see photo's of our trip you can do so at www.cactusblue.com/fiji, logging in with username "allaccess" and password "letmein"

I will email you when we update the blog and/or the photo site.

A Day in the Life of a Fijian Chloe

Another exhausting day! Chloe is waking up at 10pm and running around the bungalow like a Possessed Thing until midnight - not ordinarily too hard to cope with but we are exhausted at the end of each day - too much sun, sea and food makes us want to collapse at 9pm.

The reason that Chloe has so much energy is she is having more fun than her little body can handle (as well as a dose of jetlag). She certainly doesn't want to waste any of her time sleeping because her day is way too much fun!

Take today for example...She woke up and went to breakfast with her friends (we went diving), and then spent the morning at the Kids Club where she painted, went on a boat ride, played with toys / the other children, had lunch then a 2 hour nap...we then came back from our morning dive (this morning we saw manta ray and hammerhead shark!) and took her to the pool, which is purpose built for kids....so has a great waterslide (which Chloe loves, being an adrenalin baby), pool toys and loads of kids jumping around. The resort is fairly quiet but the staff children are allowed to use the facilities and it makes it all very familyfied and festive as the little Fijian kids are as cute as they come.


After swimming, she played around on the grass outside our bungalow, sticking her hand down the crab holes, collecting stones and doing other important baby things...we then pop off for a dip in the sea, threw sea sand at Daddy and then had dinner, during which she was serenaded to by four guitarists playing / singing nursery rhymes. She merrily danced along, threw food around and ate a huge portion - and promptly crashed to do it all again tomorrow.

So with all this constant FUNto be had....why sleep?