(Originally written on Thursday June 8th) I'll be able to better tell you about Hawaii after today I think - when I got in last night it was dark, so all I could see were some palm trees blowing in the wind.

Actually, my first stop in Hawaii was in Maui, where I had to wait for 2 hours for my next flight to Kona. There was nowhere to go, so I just stood around on an outside balcony (unfortunately this was also where all the smokers were, but I didn't feel like sitting down after doing so for 5 hours on the flight - my butt hurt!). From the balcony (it was still daylight) I was able to see these two huge, verdant peaks in the distance, not smooth like the mountains we're used to seeing, but furrowed in levels up their sides, as if they had been made in uneven layers. Many houses were nestled right up near the bottom of them. A massive, dark cloud hung between the two peaks and stretched out over them, with the sun hidden behind it and sometimes poking through. It was a beautiful scene.

The birds here are incredible! They woke me up at 6:00 this morning (I went to bed at 10:30, which was actually 1:30 in the morning for me, as Hawaii is 3 hours behind Bellingham time). I keep hearing bird calls I've never heard before - I wish I'd remembered to bring my minidisc recorder. I just saw two small sparrow-like birds hopping about in our kitchen (which is located outside), but the birds had brownish wings, pure white breasts, and startlingly red heads, red-cowled cardinals. Yesterday I saw a bird that reminded me of a starling in size, shape and song, but when it flew off had brilliant white patches on the tops of its wings. I've since found out that it was a Myna.

Paul says that the area we're in is fairly desolate, dominated by rocky lava fields where not a lot of vegetation lives. But the Hawaiian islands possess multiple climate zones, little ecological niches that vary as you move up and down in altitude. You can go from a place that gets over 100 inches of rainfall a year to one that gets 4 inches a year, but they're less than an hour apart. I'll let you know what else I see.

Yesterday was a bit of a grind - it took about 12 hours to get here, including 5 hours of layovers. Upon stepping out of the plane I was struck by the heat and humidity. It was like being in the bathroom after someone has taken a long, hot shower. But this morning is cool, for now. The conference starts today. I'll let you know how that goes too.

Oh yeah, where we're staying turns out to not actually be a condo, but the basement of a house (Tom and Gidgit are the owners). They have several properties and rent them out to travelers. The basement is really like a separate house itself. Paul and I each have our own room and bathroom, and the kitchen is outside on a covered patio.

OK, I'm going to have some tea and get ready for the day.