Saturday, March 31, 2012
A bit about today...
Where I got to begin to get to know the Dunbar kids and we went snorkelling at Hanauma Bay, shopped at Costco and watched fireworks on Waikiki beach - and in general had a fab day! The Dunbar minors are fab - which is to be expected given who their parents are - but still need to learn about the importance of sunscreen after a Canadian winter! [There are sunburnt feet -I feel a bad. I should have warned them...] Erika (10yrs) and I spent some time in the ocean at Hanauma Bay swimming about and watching fish and being 'crocadillians'; Timothy (6 yrs) spotted a turtle at the beach (which I missed) and has been watching me intently trying, I think, to work out if I am to be trusted or not and Nick (12 yrs) is being generally cheeky and fun. Joella is obviously feeling better - and this is so cool - she 'signs' to communicate. And I got at least one smile today - which is definitely one up from the suspicious 'what are you doing in our car' look I got this morning! And what is lovely to see is how the older two help look out for the younger ones - and watching them interact as siblings and hassle each other & then listening to Fraser being all parental a hoot too! So cool. So much fun.
The Scottish dancing / festival starts tomorrow. Erika is dancing in about 6 dances across the two days - and Lori has promised me caber tossing, shortbread and sheepdog trials too. And get this - the incredible Lori made Erika's kilt. And I suspect all her other costumes too - like the sailor suit for the hornpipe and the skirt and blouse for the jig and ....
Hanauma Bay is gorgeous and the reef is full of brightly coloured fish and sea urchins and sea cucumbers and snakes and more fish.. I also saw purple and red and yellow coral - but no sea stars.
Tonight there was also fireworks on Waikiki Beach - so we wandered down there to watch and then headed back for pizza - Hawaiian no less. And yes! I wore my Hawaiian shirt - the one with the flamingoes. Oh - and Fraser and I are having a great time confusing people ... where are you from? Australia. Canada. You travelling together? Yes. Are you family? Kinda...
I have confused them all with my accent /. vocab a couple of times. I said something about getting out of my cossie just before we left the beach today - and Fraser & Lori both looked at me so blankly that I had to laugh!
Still can't quite believe that I am here (as opposed to Queensland) and that they are here too...
The Scottish dancing / festival starts tomorrow. Erika is dancing in about 6 dances across the two days - and Lori has promised me caber tossing, shortbread and sheepdog trials too. And get this - the incredible Lori made Erika's kilt. And I suspect all her other costumes too - like the sailor suit for the hornpipe and the skirt and blouse for the jig and ....
Hanauma Bay is gorgeous and the reef is full of brightly coloured fish and sea urchins and sea cucumbers and snakes and more fish.. I also saw purple and red and yellow coral - but no sea stars.
Tonight there was also fireworks on Waikiki Beach - so we wandered down there to watch and then headed back for pizza - Hawaiian no less. And yes! I wore my Hawaiian shirt - the one with the flamingoes. Oh - and Fraser and I are having a great time confusing people ... where are you from? Australia. Canada. You travelling together? Yes. Are you family? Kinda...
I have confused them all with my accent /. vocab a couple of times. I said something about getting out of my cossie just before we left the beach today - and Fraser & Lori both looked at me so blankly that I had to laugh!
Still can't quite believe that I am here (as opposed to Queensland) and that they are here too...
Friday, March 30, 2012
A tour around the island...
But first - yes! the Dunbars have arrived - got in mid afternoon after spending last night at the Vancouver children's hospital - Joella (18 months) having taken ill on the way from Red Deer to Calgary and getting worse on the flight to Vancouver.But all is well now and they are all exhausted and have crashed for the evening. Soooooo good to see them all. Seems like only a few weeks not 14 years since I last saw Fraser & Lori - and I am sure by tomorrow the fact that there are 4 kids will seem totally normal too (although it is a little weird just at the moment!)
So while waiting for them to get here I did an official Island tour and have been all over Oahu! I even saw some turtles on one of the North Shore beaches (but only as we drove past - so sorry no photos of that - but lots of others to share!) And while it did feel like too many gift shops (enter and exit via the ...) & not enough time to really spend in any one place, it did give me a good oveerview of the place.
Although I still feel like I am in Queensland - today there was surfing beaches, pineapple plantations and macadamia farms! But there were also Hollywood locations - like that beach in From Here to Eternity; and the valley where they filmed George of the Jungle, Lost, Jurassic Park; and of course lots of Hawaii 5-0 (book him Danno! Good thing I have Radio Birdman on my ipod!) We also stopped by Kualoa Ranch, the Dole Pineapple Plantation, the Byodo-In Buddhist Temple, drove along the coast road (which is so close in parts that it has been reinforced by boulder to stop in falling into the ocean) past Sunset, Pipeline and Waimea Bay (cue: Wipeout). We also drove past Pearl Harbour - and along the route (over what were once sugarcane fields and is now highway) that the Japanese took when coming in to attack.
Got back in about 6.30pm to discover a message on my phone and the Dunbars installed right across the hall. So 2 hours of non-stop talking later + a swim at the pool, I have left them to crash (it being past 11pm Canadian time) and we are reconvening tomorrow morning and probably heading early to Hanumea Bay for snorkelling. (and to marvel at Fraser exercising his parenting skills!)
So while waiting for them to get here I did an official Island tour and have been all over Oahu! I even saw some turtles on one of the North Shore beaches (but only as we drove past - so sorry no photos of that - but lots of others to share!) And while it did feel like too many gift shops (enter and exit via the ...) & not enough time to really spend in any one place, it did give me a good oveerview of the place.
Although I still feel like I am in Queensland - today there was surfing beaches, pineapple plantations and macadamia farms! But there were also Hollywood locations - like that beach in From Here to Eternity; and the valley where they filmed George of the Jungle, Lost, Jurassic Park; and of course lots of Hawaii 5-0 (book him Danno! Good thing I have Radio Birdman on my ipod!) We also stopped by Kualoa Ranch, the Dole Pineapple Plantation, the Byodo-In Buddhist Temple, drove along the coast road (which is so close in parts that it has been reinforced by boulder to stop in falling into the ocean) past Sunset, Pipeline and Waimea Bay (cue: Wipeout). We also drove past Pearl Harbour - and along the route (over what were once sugarcane fields and is now highway) that the Japanese took when coming in to attack.
Got back in about 6.30pm to discover a message on my phone and the Dunbars installed right across the hall. So 2 hours of non-stop talking later + a swim at the pool, I have left them to crash (it being past 11pm Canadian time) and we are reconvening tomorrow morning and probably heading early to Hanumea Bay for snorkelling. (and to marvel at Fraser exercising his parenting skills!)
Thursday, March 29, 2012
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