Having an amazing week in Hawaii. Despite having a bit of a nightmare getting here (flight was rescheduled without telling us meaning we missed our connection, and then missed our rescheduled connection as well! mare!) we eventually arrived in Maui! Picked up a rental car and checked in to a nice hotel in Kihei. Right by a fantastic beach, though we had lots planned so didn't get loads of time to spend on it. Our first morning we got up super early to go whale watching. As it was the end of the season we didn't get to see loads but were lucky to see three. We saw a mum and her calf - amazing - then we saw another whale with his tail in the air flapping it on the water for like 5 minutes. Pretty cool stuff!

Chris then got to practice his newly acquired 'driving on the wrong side' skill as we took on the challenge of the 'Road to Hana'. Absolutely beautiful scenery on this 54 mile drive down the island's east coast. The road was literally littered with waterfalls, rainforest, huge valleys dropping into the ocean and mango trees. Definately worth the drive. We headed back to the hotel for pool and spa as we knew we had a super early start.................

Got out of bed at 2am!!! yuck.....We were taken up to the top of the Haleakala volcano crater to watch the sunrise - it was very cold up there at 10,000 ft but definately worth it. Around 6 we got on some specially designed mountain bikes to travel the 38 miles down to the ocean. Pretty much all the way was downhill so it wasn't too taxing, but took a while to get used to leaning and not steering a bike. Our top speed was apparently 43mph! Some great views on the way down and at the bottom we travelled through gorgeous little villages with colourful plants everywhere. I'm running out of adjectives here but it was all rather special! Got back to the hotel around 11.30 so decided we really could do with a brief powernap. Headed out to the old whaling town of Lahaina in the afternoon for a walk and to find some dinner. Ate in the 'Bubba Gump Shrimp Co' which was good fun.

Next day we caught our flight to Honolulu. This time everything ran smoothly so we arrived in Waikiki Beach with plenty of time. Had a bit of an explore around, this island is much more commercialised so we are pleased we went and checked out Maui. I'm happy though as there are plenty of shops to keep me amused! And Chris is happy because the beach is like Miami Beach = lots of tanned girls. Yesterday we sat on the beach in the morning, absolutely packed! Then when it got really hot in the afternoon I got my way and we had a bit of a shop! In the evening we went to a Hawaiian Luau. Some spear throwing, lots of Mai Tais and loads of hawaiian dancing later we got back to Waikiki. We got our flower leis so now we are proper hawaiian tourists!

Today we went out on a Pearl Harbour tour. First we went to the Arizona Memorial which was pretty moving. After looking around the museum we were taken out on a boat to the Memorial which is actually a special pontoon on top of where the battleship sunk. There was an oily slick on top of the surface where the oil still leaks out of the boat. After the Arizona we got to go on a battleship that was in the end of WW2 and also in Kuwait. We also got to see where the Japanese surrendered at the end of the war. After getting back to Waikiki we headed to the huge shopping center to get our Abercrombie fix :) !!

Off to California on Sunday so will write when we get there.............aloha!