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.
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.
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.
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