w.atching the w.orld unw.ind

As the days darken steadily, the memories of the glorious British summer and our holidays provide a little light to chase the gloom away…

It had long been an ambition to see the Pearl Harbour museum in Oahu (Honolulu) and the only way to do it involved a literally flying visit en route to Big Island, as Hawaii itself is properly known.

Therefore ten hours after leaving Heathrow and just two hours after landing at San Francisco, we boarded another plane for a seven hour flight to Oahu and so managed to see three sunsets in one day.

So when we and our friends finally landed, we couldn’t afford to waste time.

Via a vaguely military connection (sorry, can’t tell you more or I’d have to kill you) we hooked up with a local couple at a pre-arranged meeting. J and B metamorphosed from strangers to good friends in milliseconds.

They escorted us around the site, took us out to lunch at a golf club with breath-taking scenery and then on to a bar, before delivering us back to our hotel. We couldn’t have packed more into our brief stay if we’d tried. And they wouldn’t take a penny from us.

So during their current tour of the UK and Eire, they paid us a return visit and it was an opportunity for sweet revenge. All they wanted, though, was a tour of a similar museum and then lunch in a typical English pub – and we happily obliged.

Now it’s one-all. Although there was fighting talk of another meeting to settle the competition. We’re looking for neutral territory, here.