I wrote this three days after coming back from the islands. In part, it was an exercise to help me get over PMS (Post Maui Syndrome). It was our third trip to the islands. Anyway, here it is.....

We actually began our trip with a couple of days in New York, staying with friends. It was my first time there and it will probably be my last. It's like London (where I used to live), but with an attitude.

Then we were off to the Big Island for the first time. We arrived at Kailua-Kona in time to drive north at sunset. It was like the most beautiful homecoming we could imagine. We stayed with friends Sophia and Rick (Sophia writes a lot of interesting articles in The Coffee Times) just past Kapa'au. Rick has created a wholly edible garden and knows a lot about the medicinal properties of plants, so our stay there was a learning experience as well as a treat. One of my abiding memories of staying there was going outside in the middle of the night and seeing millions of stars. There was no light pollution to get in the way so it was like seeing the night sky for the first time. Other memorable moments included getting a cup of coffee at the 7-ll in Kawaihae and almost running down to the beach in time to catch the sun setting; the Mo'okini Heiau (a Hawaiian temple); the respect manifested in the offerings left at Kamehameha's birthplace; and walking the Kilauea Iki trail. BTW, I can strongly recommend the Kilauea Volcano Kabins, very close to the National Park, as a place to stay.

We left the island with the feeling that we could happily live somewhere on that Kona coast. Next stop Kaua'i. We went to stay with an internet friend in Hanalei and on the way stopped off to visit Aunty Noreen at her flower farm in Kapa'a. It was lovely to see her again and we came away bowed under with the weight of the gorgeous blooms she gave us - what a delightful lady! If you are looking for an attractive, welcoming B&B on Kaua'i, you can do no better than contacting Noreen Ohai-Daniels at 808-822-1515.

Our stay with Claudia in Hanalei was so nice - I can hardly believe how many kind and generous people we have met on our travels around the islands. Her son took us rafting along the Na Pali coast. The word `awesome' gets overused, but Na Pali leaves me with little other choice - caves, waterfalls, luminous ocean - utterly breathtaking.

If you have ever lived in Scotland, or somewhere else with a year-round cold, wet climate, you will understand why it was that, as beautiful as Kaua'i and Hanalei is, we were looking forward to Kihei and sun and no mosquitoes for a while. We arrived at a time of Kona winds, south swells, sticky nights . . . and we loved every second of it. On our first full day there we headed for Bill's Scuba Shack at their new location next to the ABC at Dolphin Plaza [now in Azeka Place a couple of miles north of Dolphin Plaza - Bill, Charlie and Warren are still there though] and arranged to hire air tanks and weight belts for the four glorious weeks we had in Maui. If you go there, please say "Hi" to Bill, Charlie and the others, from us - a great bunch of guys.

From our first dive at Honokahau to our last at Nahuna Point (aka Five Graves, Makena), the diving was excellent. If I was posting this to rec.scuba I would write about 5 pages here just about the dives, but as it isn't, let me just mention the last dive. We entered at Five Graves and headed south a bit, as though we were going to Makena Landing. At a point near the shark cave, we lifted over a coral head and there, in front of us, was a young Manta Ray, with about a 6-foot wingspan. Instead of the manta shying off, as we settled onto the sandy bottom, we were treated to a 20 minute flying display as it flew (there is no other word for it) backwards and forwards over our heads, sometimes just inches away. Eventually, when crowds of snorkellers arrived, it flew off, but they were magical minutes.

We also met Sharon Westfall and ordered our soc.culture.hawaii T-shirts. Sharon, if you are reading this, URAQT. Having read about it in SCH, we had to visit Sharktooths in the Ka'ahumanu Center. They brew their own beer! For an Englishman used to US American beer that tastes more like lemonade than real beer, the recent trend to microbreweries in the USA is enough to bring tears to my eyes. We tried all their beers and Marijke eventually settled on Hula Girl as her favourite - it reminded her a little of good Dutch or Belgian beer. I went for Big Kahuna, a darker brew with a richer flavour - onoono!

There are so many delightful things I could talk about, but I think I'll quit while I am (hopefully) ahead. I'll just mention a few more highlights...

• Lying on the beach at night, watching the Perseid meteors blazing across the sky.

• Visiting the Hui o wa'a kaulua (Assembly of the double-hulled canoe) at Front Street, Lahaina. Please visit them. Please give them lots of money. This is a truly inspiring project.

• Diving the Lana'i Cathedrals and the back wall of Molokini. Also, the `secret site' with Tim & Gayle - mahalo nui loa, you guys.

• Meeting Charles Ka'upu and talking with him about Hawaiian history and culture.

• Seeing (and hearing) Keali'i Reichel at the benefit for the Punana Leo o Maui at Wailuku Community Center.

• And finally, spending 5 blissful weeks with my ipo, Marijke. I could die today and count myself the luckiest man alive.

Puana `ia ke aloha
Ku'u lei aloha mae `ole
Pili hemo'ole, pili pa'a pono
Ke pono ho'i kaua
E Kawaipunahele

(Tell of the love,
Of my never fading lei.
Never separated, firmly united.
When it's right, we'll go back,
O Kawaipunahele.)

[From `Kawaipunahele' by Keali'i Reichel]