Hawaii
If you had told the 16 year old Tony, as he left school, that in 2 years time he would be in the tropics on Hawaii he would have laughed at you. But there I was in 1958, en route to the UK nuclear testing zone 3000 km south and near the equator in the Gilbert and Ellice islands (aka Kiribati). But now I was stepping off a propellor-driven airliner (at a time when a cross-Channel day trip was `exotic`) and having a floral lei of orchids draped round my neck! And this before the island group had even become the fiftieth US state and was still an independent nation (although annexed by the US) and the home of the US Pacific Fleet. A volcanic island chain of 137 islands but with eight main islands and with 2/3 of the population located on the island of O'ahu, home to the state's capital and largest city, Honolulu.
Everyone knows the story of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour which drew the US into WW2. I was headed for part of the military establishment there - the USAF`s Hickham airbase adjacent to Pearl harbour and the international airport. Here I would be billeted for a couple of days waiting for transport onwards on an RAF Viking transport plane.
Although there were similarities between the two nation`s military setups there were also many differences. For example in the UK you would never experience a semi-circle of eight "communal" toilets with no partitions !!! Hmmm. Check out the picture below to see what we had to use. We had to quickly learn new jargon or starve. No NAFFI for us but we managed to cope despite the differences between American English and English English. I managed to buy a pair of flipflops for $1 before anyone in the UK knew what they were. They served me well for 20 years but then the damned things broke. I also bought a classic red Hawaiian shirt like nothing you could even see in the UK.
Hawaii is a fabulous place. The climate is close to perfection with the moderating trade winds limiting temperatures to more or less ideal for outdoor existence. There are good beaches and for the adrenaline junkies there are some serious active volcanoes. Multiple tropical fruits are commercially grown for export - that`s why the islands were pretty much a US Fruit Company colony before they decided to go the whole hog and elected to become a full US state - number 50 of course. Even though the climate is good they do still get rain and we had a shower during both my January and July transits through.
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Browse through the picture galleries below relating to this page and you will get a much better idea than just reading my words! Each page has it`s own set of relevant images - where possible taken by us.