Post card from Waikiki

It is easy to forget that even in Hawaii’s tropical location in the middle of the Pacific, being north of the equator – and actually not as far south as some would think – it is only just further south, for instance than Miami – so it is only just the most southerly state of the USA, November is officially “winter”… as such most of Oahu has actually been overcast most of the time since I arrived – Waikiki appears to have been fortunate to avoid this fate, and has probably benefited from the slightly cloudy sky to moderate the temperature a little…

One of my primary reasons to travel 1/3 of the way round the world at this particular time of year was to enjoy, what has been, during my previous two visits, the spectacular photographic opportunity of the worlds best surfers taming the mountainous surf on the North Shore… I’ve not been so lucky this year – apparently because of a second year of the El Niño, the surf has so far been too small at the location of Reef Hawaiian Pro for competition to begin – but the forecast is that there will be sufficient swell for a compressed event in the last 3 days of the scheduled 12 day window before the Thanksgiving break… Hopefully the winter waves will be back after Thanksgiving for the second event of the Vans Triple Crown on Sunset beach.

The lack of surfing has meant days of soaking up the sun, and the slightly less sunny conditions have given my London skin a more gentle introduction than it might otherwise have had… I’ve almost adjusted to the 10 hour time difference – but it has given me the chance to listen to the ATP World Tour finals during the day rather than into the late evening, which I’d probably have be watching in live in person if I wasn’t so far away, via the wonders of the internet and an iPhone application that appears to overcome the restrictions on listening to Radio 5 Live Extra outside the UK!