Honolulu, HI

Ahh…snorkelling. Who the hell thought that was ever a good idea? It goes like this: you put on funny shoes that prevent you from walking. Then you strap a whole bunch of silliness on to your head – a mask that slowly allows seawater to leak into your nose, and a snorkel that almost but not quite allows you to breathe, and makes cool Darth Vader noises, as you wonder why you’re not quite getting enough oxygen. So you gasp, and you struggle, and you trip over underwater, wondering which piece of coral is going to cut you to ribbons first … Then you look down, and suddenly as if out of nowhere, there’s a giant, beautiful Sea Turtle majestically swimming by less than a metre away… and for a fleeting moment all is forgiven, and it’s just incredible. I also had the good fortune to see many different kinds of colourful fish, and an eel of some sort that lived in a hole in the coral that was no wider than itself. According to google I learned two things – (a) it’s a “Magnificent Snake Eel” and (b) I was a bit lucky to have seen one in such shallow waters. This all took place at Hanauma Bay – a bay formed by a volcano some 30,000 years or so ago, which was then half erodes by the sea, forming a semicircular bay. Traditionally it was the private hunting ground of the King and Queen. Now however it is a protected environment, with no fishing or taking of coral allowed. It is also completely closed to visitors on Tuesdays to give the fish a break. As a result, it is positively teeming with marine wildlife that look upon humans basically as a curiosity, rather than a threat. One thing about snorkelling though – for the elite super-fit sportspersons among us it probably presents no challenge. But for our little party of marine adventurers … We were exhausted! After returning to the hotel around 1PM, Perry and I went out for a quick lunch … Then next thing you know a nanna-nap has taken me over ’til about 6PM! There were vague plans for a big night out, a chance to celebrate our time on this island with our friends, but after dinner we were nearly all “nah, too tired…” and all went back to the hotel to crash, and it wasn’t even 9PM. So that’s us, a bunch of crazy party animals for sure…