In September, 2012, I made an eight day trip to Oahu followed by nine days on Kauai. This will be a report on the first part of that trip. Oahu is like home to me - I lived here with my family for three years in the late 1960's. In many ways, it has changed dramatically, in other ways, very little.

Oahu is called "The Gathering Place" because many of the early polynesian settlers found it an ideal home. Later in native Hawaiian history. Kamehameha the Great defeated the other warring kings in 1795 and established the Kingdom of Hawaii but its original capitol was on Maui. In 1845 the capitol was moved to Oahu where it remained until the monarchy was deposed in 1893. Oahu has remained the capitol while Hawaii was a Territory of the United States and remained so as it became a state. Oahu remains the only American location containing an actual royal palace.

Like most of my other trips, I spend considerable time trying to photograph wildlife. Oahu and Kauai are rich locations since, being among the most biologically isolated places in the world, much of the wildlife in Hawaii is unique to these islands. If photos of birds do not float your boat, feel free to pass them by.

I stayed in Waikiki and, except for a one-day rental, did not get a car. Instead, I used a $25 4-day pass on The Bus, which provides regular transportation around Honolulu and the entire island. In retrospect, since I'm a certified old-guy, it would have probably been slightly cheaper to pay the senior citizen $1 fare per ride.

Except for an occasional afternoon shower, every day passed the quality test we had when I lived there - "Just another crummy day in Paradise!". The trade winds blew most days and the temps were in the mid-80's. It sure beat the 110 degree days I'd been having at home just before I left.

You should be able to get a flavor for my day to day travels around the island from the photos on this blog and the comments associated with them. I hope you enjoy this vicarious trip to the Sandwich Islands.