We left Atlantic Canada in the midst of its harshest winter in decades.     High snowbanks, frozen into solid ice, people using chain saws to clear the ends of their driveways.      And we arrive in Oahu, Hawaii to high surf warnings – John, with a twinkle in his eye, declares "we just can't get away from bad weather."    Takes a minute to figure that the forecast of 5 to 8 refers to feet of waves.     Yup, welcome to island living.

Ambivalence has been the word when deciding on whether to write a blog this time .    Our route (though neither planned in detail nor booked more than a couple weeks ahead) is a path well-travelled and nicely documented by many.    It is a visit to first-world countries.     What else is there to add?

So, I admit that this one is for a wee circle of friends, fam who may enjoy it…and will serve as our own record of the trip.     I wouldn’t expect any insights unobserved by others…but we want to capture the people we meet and those magical moments that come with travel.     So here goes.

First impressions were warming - right out of the Honolulu baggage carousel doors (you know, when you are gawking every which way to figure out where to go next) a lovely, police-looking woman catches our eye and calls, "Do you need any information?   Anything I can do to help?"       How marvie is that.    
 
After an overnight at a Honolulu airport hotel, we head across to the east coast to Kailua in our rental car where we have a “beach hut” (so named by the owners) for a week .       Kailua was tagged by someone here as the "anti-Honolulu", much more tranquil and relaxed.    We'll trek into the city to experience it, but are happy to be in the zen zone.

Our rental unit, as advertised, is teeny with the basic implements to allow some meal prep – the bathroom counter doubles as the kitchen one, and I’m tempted to put a post-it note on the door declaring which room it is functioning as at any given moment.   Now dubbed the Multi-Purpose Room.   The boon is that we are smack on the most glorious long and little used beach of Kailua Bay.

We discover that the Obamas have spent their Christmas vacations here  for the last number of years.     Found that on line – the locals haven't mentioned it.

The Thursday night Kailua Farmers Market showcased local veg and fruit, along with locally famous food stalls.   The Lady and the Pig wins the 'most popular' prize, offering Vietnamese fare.    The Lady herself joined us to eat her meal – and it was fun to struggle with language again, to communicate any way possible.    If our translations are right, they left Vietnam in the war, their property was confiscated.   When she returned to reclaim it, she had to pay to relocate the 9 families who had been living on it and then had to pay the back taxes.      

Stories already.