Mighty Mo and Pearl Harbour - 8th July

This was one of those tours I'd booked in simply because everyone was telling me to. I didn't have any background on the topic, nor had I seen any relevant movies either so I had little to no expectations.

Looking around Pearl Harbour was interesting, but none so like the Mighty Mo.

Mighty Mo is the nickname for the USS Missouri and is the boat that the Americans and Japanese signed the declaration of surrender onboard that ended the world war.

To call it a boat is an understatement - it's huge!! I'll attach some pics and would highly recommend if you're heading to Hawaii to ensure you include this on your "to do list".

I also did the American thing and went to Punchbowl to honour the soldiers that have passed.

Aloha and Mahalo

Just a few days in to my holiday and I'm picking up the lingo.
Hawaii.
I don't think there are any appropriate adjectives to describe this piece of heaven on earth. I knew within minutes of being here that I will definitely be planning a return trip.
Now I'm an independent, modern day woman, so travelling on my own is nothing new. The normal process is to stock up on junk and only having to leave the room when necessary.
This time is going to be different.
This evening I've officially been here three days, two nights and I long to find solace with junk in my room.
In the past I've used my weight as my shield, protecting me from social interaction that could lead to embarrassment, or worse, humiliation.
So far I've worked out I'm not comfortable eating in public by myself, so I find myself wandering lustfully past places like Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, or going past all the funky little bars that seem to always be set to happy hour.
The only person who talks to me on a regular basis is a homeless, drunk man in a wheelchair who keeps telling me that my fortune will change if I buy him a beer. At this point it's almost tempting....
I'll cover off each of the tourist events when I'm on the trusty lappy rather than my phone.
I must mention the water. Tv and photos do it no justice. The clarity of the colours as they slap against the golden beaches is magical. The beach is littered by people from all walks of life, all in the one place and for just that moment, without prejudice. Nobody seems to have a care as 8 to 80 year olds prance around in string bikinis and dts, big guts welling over the small pieces of fabric. Yes, also several pieces of eye candy around, although none of them give me a second glance, much less a smile.
Now I'm not a depressed soul and I can normally pick the positives out when it counts, but when I start to feel overwhelmed, I pick at my skin.
This could be removing the keratosis pilaris plugs, to plucking in grown hairs or even squeezing what looks like clogged follicles.
It's not pretty and almost always raises questions. I don't recall exactly when I started but it was a while ago. Today was one of those days. Feeling withdrawn and secluded, I thought I would "tidy my legs" a bit. Hoping the redness will die down overnight.
I'd go for a swim but I can't workout how singles do it... Do we just leave our hotel key, towel and shoes on the sand and hope they're there on our return? Do I have to go barefoot and without a towel? This time, I wish I wasn't doing this on my own. Have someone along to come to dinner, to share thoughts with and to take pics of me instead of ne begging strangers.
Anyway enough of a cent for now. I'll make an effort to get some pics up soon. Love to you all xo

Bula! Greetings from Fiji!

Yeah, these next lot of posts won't be beautifully formatted and look like they belong because I'm on holidays and working from a little laptop. Those who know me will know that I'd much rather type from a full size keyboard.
So the first leg of my journey is over. It's amazing how different it is to fly when you're not carrying excess baggage. Plenty of room to spare, wearing beach pants and a light shirt. I feel amazing already.
I opted for the vegetarian cuisine to reuce the amount of empty calories being consumed whilst basically not moving.
I've made up for it thoug by checking in to the lounge at Fiji - only another hour till I set off on the last 6.5 hour flight that will see me to my destination. I've enjoyed wifi, awesome coffee, cheese and cracker (yep, in moderation) and stirfry for dinner. All this for $FJ75 which is $37.50 AUD - I think that's decent seeing as the airport isn't aircon other than in here and it's a balmy 28 degrees, also there is no free wifi - it's $20FJD per hour and I've had 3 hours to kill. Needless to say I'll be checking in again on my return - I believe I've got 8 hours to kill then - lol.
Anyway, I'll ceck in again when I arrive so for now Bula - soon to be Aloha!!

The 100 Things I Love About Me and My Life

First of all, let's set the confusion straight. The last image was from my new swimmers for my impending trip.

Next up, we have a very interesting task that was set to a whole group of us by a very inspiring person. We need to list 100 things that I love about me and about my life. When I first heard about this, I thought "why bother" - after all I reckon I'd struggle naming 10, much less 100. After a few hours (more like 7) in the car yesterday, alone with my thoughts, I've decided to give it a go.

1. That I'm alive.
2. That I'm healthy (and getting healthier by the minute)
3. My ability to relate to others
4. My determination
5. My ability to follow through
6. My sense of humour
7. Being able to talk to anyone (and everyone)
8. That I'm assertive (to an extent)
9. That I have willpower
10. That I make the decisions that impact my life
11. My home
12. My ability to grow and nurture plants
13. Shrinkers
14. My support network (you know who you are)
15. My ability to express my thoughts and feelings
16. My shrinking body
17. My eyes
18. My smile
19. My feet
20. My legs (they've only just made it on there)
21. My hair
22. My car
23. My memories
24. The fact that I live on small acreage
25. My ability to make friends
26. My ability to make just about anyone laugh
27. My family
28. My hair
29. The fact that I'm a high achiever
30. That I survive quite well when put under pressure
31. My ability to cook
32. My ability to convert ordinary recipes to healthy recipes
33. My courage to be able to travel overseas on my own
34. My ability to set goals, and achieve them
35. My persistence
36. My ability to motivate and inspire
37. Coffee!!
38. My fruit trees
39. My "soon to be" veggie garden
40. My impending holiday
41. My lycra pants (yes, I know, it should be a crime)
42. My pink gym bag
43. My polar - it holds me accountable
44. My Fitness Pal - without it I'd be lost
45. 12wbt
46. My blog (yes, I know, this should have made the list before now)
47. My newfound friends
48. Old friends
49. Adaptable to new surroundings
50. For picking myself up when I fall
51. For my ability to move on
52. For my strengths
53. For my weaknesses
54. For my ability to tell my body when to wake up and it does
55. For my interest in boxing
56. Bootcamp!!
57. Warrior Dash
58. Running
59. Fun Runs
60. Being an Athlete
61. My ability to read
62. My ability to relate
63. Poached eggs on multigrain toast
64. My slow cooker
65. No longer fitting in to my "fat clothes" because THEY'RE too fat
66. Re-establishing old friendships
67. Going to Hawaii
68. Wearing swimmers again
69. Training for a purpose
70. My jobs
71. My ugg boots
72. Flannelette PJ Pants
73. Singlets
74. My Ariat Boots
75. - with my stripy socks
76. Daring to be Different
77. For not giving up
78. Herbal Teas
79. Choc Chilli Mousse
80. Pedicures
81. Leg Waxes
82. Pamper Days
83. My comfortable life
84. Tracksuit pants
85. My jeans
86. Being able to wear a dress again
87. My ambitions and goals
88. My persistance at the gym
89. My ability to run on the treadmill (it's not far - yet)
90. My lips
91. My ears
92. Singing at the top of my lungs in the car alone with the windows up!
93. Having blogger and facebook on my phone *lol*
94. Having people believe in me
95. Getting encouragement when I need it most
96. I don't give up on my friends
97. That I know how to assemble a flatpack kitchen
98. I know what a spindle is
99. I'm confident in the garden
100. That I could find 99 other things in my life that I'm happy about.

That's enough for this post. I'll check in soon.