Aloha, dearest fellow travelers! I’m sitting on wicker furniture in an airy open-plan house on the island of Hawaii. The ocean surf was audible earlier, but night has fallen and the chirruping of the coqui frogs has taken over. Heather has fallen asleep and I’m typing up this short post before going to bed myself. We have an early morning tomorrow, heading to the tide pools up the coast before they get too crowded.

Today was our fourth day in Hawaii, and I think I’m just starting to believe that I’m here. I still can’t believe I’ve actually started my trip–I expect landing in Sydney might help with that–but I can believe that my sister and I are really in paradise. I mean, we’ve swum in the Pacific, sunbathed on Waikiki, hiked to a waterfall, and seen dozens of plants and birds we’ve never seen before. Definitely not in Kansas, etc.

More to come as the trip continues! For now, have a slideshow to tide you over.

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