Aloha From Hawaii

Aloha from the brilliant, warm, sooooothing shores of Hawai'i. Wish you were here.

Uploading onto dA via mobile is not easy and I don't think I'll do it again, 'less I can find a really good hotspot next time. Took forever for the picture to upload.

Anyways, I'm having a blast. The trip over here was incredibly long and exhausting. Eight plus hours trapped on a plane. To top it all off, I forgot my motion sickness pills and was wreched for the entire trip. *groan* I wish I could have slept through it... And then the bus ride to the hotel was just awful after that...

Let's just say I made it to Hawai'i at 4 in the afternoon and promptly went to sleep. Wasted the first evening completely. Woke up at, like, 2AM due to jet lag and crashing early. There's diddly-squat to do at 2AM.

The next day was awesome though. Lazed on Waikiki beach - which is far to crowded to be truly plesant, but the guy that teaches surfing is to die for cute. Six pack, dark tan, hair that falls in his eyes... *dreams* I was perfectly happy lying on the beach. Tried body boarding - failed miserably. I'm lacking the coordination to pull it off. And the ocean is far too salty for my taste. I'm a fresh water girl.

Climbed a mountain. That was long and hot and the view from the top wasn't at all worth it. It was some old military bunker or something, which was kinda neat, but it had a zillion crazy stairs and I almost twisted my ankle a dozen times.

Hm... what else have I done... went to see the USS Arizona, sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor. It's still sunk and you can see it from the memorial, sitting on the bottom of the harbor. Climbed all over the USS Missouri, which was where the Japanese officially surrendered at the end of WWII. Got to sit on the bridge and see the guns and things, which was neat. Got stuck there for too long because I mistakenly travelled with a couple of history buffs who think they know everything... so I spent a lot of time at gift shops and snack bars.

Today I went snorkling at a reef, which was just plain cool. I saw all these fish and corals and anemones and things. At one point I turned around and there was this freaking huge irridescent parrot fish staring at me from, like, a foot away from my head. It was easily longer than my arm. And, if you know parrot fish, they have these huge beaks that they use to chew up coral and I was wondering just how easy it would be for the fish to snap off one of my fingers. It's beak was surely big enough. It swam away though, but I got a picture of it swimming away. You could hear all the parrot fish chewing at the coral - it sounded like people walking on bubble wrap. Also saw a moray eel, some kind of paddlefish, a couple puffer fish, and things like that. It was awesome, although I had to stop early because my swim partner (my father) got sea sick from the waves moving him up and down.

Me? I get motion sick on planes, cars, trains... you name it. Never had an issue with water or boats. Go figure. Maybe it's the side-to-side verses the up-and-down of the waves that gets me.

I haven't gotten to take a surfing lesson yet, but I have crawled all over Waikiki searching through shops and burning through my bonus check. I got this awesome Hawai'ian sleeveless shirt that looks bonkers-good on me, and a pretty Hawai'ian dress from Hilo Hatties that I'm going to go on a date with. I don't know with WHO yet, but I'll find someone. I got the dress, that was the hard part. Got some postcards, which a number of you *would* be receiving in the mail had I remembered to grab my postage stamps, which are sitting on my kitchen table, right where I left them. *sheeping grin* So you'll get them when I get back, probably in an envelope with the suvoniers I've been picking up around the city.

I'm leaving O'ahu tomorrow, gonna go over to Kona (the big island with the volcanos) for a few days, then spend a day or two on Maui before I have to get on the plane to come home. I hear it's forty degrees and miserably where I live (s ) and it's sunny and eighty here. I kinda want to stay...

I've got TONS of pictures to sort through and upload at some point, but not gonna happen during the trip. Internet is spotty and slow at best, and the 'computer' I'm working on isn't actually a computer.

This picture I took today while lying on the beach trying not to drool at the life guard with his broad shoulders and six-pack abs. Oh, you should haveseen his arms...

Not at all edited, as I lack the software. Just the picture as taken from my camera.

you all! I can't wait to show you what else I've seen!! See you all in about a week!

-Cori

Picture (c) Cordria