It’s been a few weeks due to a recent visit to Australia and the following Jetlag. Also busy with a billion new projects since I got back – and finishing off some from before I left. Photos and updates from the trip to oz coming. I promise.

I always knew how vast America was. It’s large, densely populated (of course relative to Australia, everything is). But a daytime flight to Hawaii certainly made me more aware of that fact.

The flight path for NY > HI takes its course coast to coast, and the older, veteran NY’er with whom I struck up a conversation on the plane was nice enough to point out various landmarks. From the tappan zee to the beginning of the rockies, flying over the USA to the pacific really solidified the USA’s true beauty. Its contradictions and its unity.

Hawaii itself was, of course, beautiful. It was the tropical vacation that someone booking a last-minute trip could only dream of. I was lucky enough to stay in a luxury 5-star hotel situated right on Waikiki beach ( a lucky symptom of becoming the last-minute addition to my mother and older sister’s already-planned, few-expenses-spared vacation). Days were spent breakfasting on our balcony overlooking Waikiki beach and Diamond Head volcano. Some moments, particularly my first, stormy day, was spent tagging along on a few of my mother and sister’s shopping trips (their Hawaii vacation is their chance to enjoy all the consumer delights America has to offer). Other than that, my mid-winter vacation was spent on beautiful Waikiki beach, working on that olive skin nature supposedly gave me, and vacationing out to generic chick lit.

When it comes to its position in the USA, however, Hawaii stood out to me as a significant anomaly. Of course it maintains the essence of true ‘America’ when it comes to shopping, economy and currency. When it comes to lifestyle and general outlook, however, there’s definitely what’s referred to as an ‘aloha’ way of life — a laid back, easy feel that lets one live and let live. Behind that exterior, however, lies a painful background marred with a violent royal overthrow and the subsequent annexation of the state by the USA. 17 January, the Saturday of my Hawaiian trip, marked the anniversary of the day Hawaii became a republic, and a large protest march/rally took place down the main street along Waikiki beach — obviously designed to publicise the plight to the state’s visitors.

The rally was cohesive and current, and was taking place adjacent to a popular flea market. I couldn’t help trying to hear as I was looking through stalls of hand-crafted souvenirs, and the distaste with Hawaiian Governor Janet Lingle’s decision to appeal to the supreme court against the decision to grant traditional lands to their original owners was obvious. Hawaiian families, children, parents and single parents were cohesive  – wearing their red shirts proudly in the streets.

It made me wonder about the future of Hawaii. It’s common knowledge that a state as far away (halfway to Oz, for goodness’ sake) and diverse as Hawaii doesn’t technically fit in with the rest of the USA. Furthermore, its proximity to Japan is certainly apparent – at least in Waikiki – by the number of Japanese holidayers and the Japanese influence. While I didn’t visit Pearl Harbour, it’s amazing to think that Hawaii has existed as part of the USA for as long as it did – even through World War II when so many national borders were redrawn, and through the 20th century when so many of them were redrawn again.

It will be interesting to see what the 21st century holds for the wonderful little archipelago – the site of fun, sun, surf and laughter to Americans, Australians and Japanese and those in the Pacific alike.

See my photos on flickr here