The Innocents Abroad

We are back from 2 weeks in Maui and Oahu.

Our stay there was a very good time, undisturbed by the distractions of daily life. My business partner called once to get my input regarding a situation in the office, but then he stopped himself, apologized, saying "Never mind, it's your holidays, it can wait till you get back."

Not that our trip was without its hitches. There were no unreserved rental cars available on the island, so we rented a motorcycle for the duration of our stay on Maui. Since it was Hawaii, I tried riding in shorts and promptly got a nasty burn on my calf which kept me out of the water for the duration of our stay. As a result we spent 10 days bombing around Maui variously riding a Harley Dynaglide, a Buell and finally a Vulcan.


It was a lot of fun and brought me back to an earlier time when I pretty much lived on a bike for several years. We rode helmetless...I just because I could and Diane because no helmet could be found small enough to fit her head properly (and a loose helmet is worse than none at all). Diane learned to be comfortable on the back once she acquired the skills of a motorcycle passenger (don't try to lean, just be the bike).

There is a surprising amount of island to cover on Maui and we didn't get through it all, but we were able to circumnavigate Haleakala. It's a nice run. The road runs more or less straight to Paia and then winds the remaining 30 miles to Hana around 600+ curves, passing through groves of bamboo and under the mist of waterfalls.

Coming around the backside of the volcano, we passed through miles of range land before coming out in the uplands on its western slope. If I ignored the ocean I might almost have thought myself in Alberta.

In between the riding we found the time to bicycle down Haleakala, do the luau thing, go on a sunset cruise and almost buy a timeshare (more on that later).

We hopped around beween accommodations but enjoyed most of all the 3 days during which we shared a tourist bungalow with a 60ish missionary couple on their honeymoon and a doctor. We would all go out separately during the day and then end up hanging around together in the late evening sharing food, wine and stories. Lots of stories - we had almost 3 centuries of combined life experience including travel and cross-cultural involvement.

The doctor is not a believer, but I got a chance to share our faith with him when on our final evening there he leaned across the table and asked "Tell me, what would you say is Christianity's greatest contribution to the world?"

"Love", I said.
"What do you mean?
"Love, not as an ethical system, but as something you receive from God so that it overflows in a natural way to others...."

And so it went for 2 hours. It was a blessing to know that God was using us, that even in the pursuit of pleasure we and the other couple were able to keep a divine appointment for the sake of God's grace in this man's life.

The last 3 days of our holiday we hopped over to Oahu and stayed in Waikiki. I had learned from my experience and reserved a mid-sized car, which the agency upgraded to a Cadillac for no extra charge. We explored the island, did some hiking, sailed on a catamaran off Waikiki beach and sampled the island's cuisine. Not much food though that was identifiably Hawaiian. There were sushi bars and Chinese restaurants everywhere, and even in the small towns it seems Korean fare is offered at every lunch counter.



Oahu has a very different feel from Maui. The Pearl City/Honolulu/Waikiki conurbation dominates the island making it more urban vs. Maui's rural. The city especially is very Asian, or should I say Eurasian; Waikiki is full of Japanese and many of the inhabitants seem an indeterminate mixture of Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian, white and Filipino. The process of racial fusion seems far advanced here - much more than at home, which is still pretty much a mosaic of cultures. I wondered if we were looking at Canada's future.

The holiday was a sweet time for us. I so much enjoyed riding around together, feeling Diane holding on to me behind and speaking together as we rode. The experience took me back and it felt as though Diane were my girlfriend again rather than my wife of 31 years. And through it all like a thread was the pain and care of my wound which drained steadily and later required treatment for infection (it is still not healed). But somehow that only added to the piquancy of the experience in a way I can't explain.

On February 24 we flew out on a red eye flight, arriving in Calgary at noon the next day thoroughly exhausted but content. This holiday was easily the most expensive one we have ever taken, but it it was well worth it.