Aloha my friends, I've been to Maui for a few days and it was fantastic. I stayed in the first hotel built in Maui in 1901 built of wood for drunken, women seeking sailors and believe me my room smelt like it! I went horseriding into the amazing mountains but the ultimate was three whale watching trips. By law when the captain spots whales he has to stop 100 feet away from them and cut the engines but if they then come to you thats ok and boy they did. Each time I went out we were surrounded by giant whales. Competition pods (male whales fighting for the attention of one female - kinda like a usual Friday night out in Hertford) fought each other for ages, headbutting, fin slapping and general showing off right by the boats. The best morning though was when a fully grown female humpback tried hiding from a male under our catamaran. I saw her entire length from the glass bottom of the boat - she blew bubbles up at me. excuse the phrase but it was awesome. the male made very loud noises at us, clearly pissed we were helping the female delay him getting what he was after. It was a shame to leave Maui but i'm now back in Waikiki Honolulu. Went to Pearl Harbour which was very moving and surprisingly very tasteful memorial.

So I'm off to New Zealand tonight, i loose an entire day as i cross the date line. 10th Feb 2007 will never exist in my lifetime, bizarre. Looking forward to discovering Kiwi land. No sign of snow here in fact the constant 80 deg f is rather pleasant....missing England so much, not! Love to all, keep in touch. Mahalo Annie the wanderer