O'ahu part one
O'ahu's public transportation infrastructure is a fleet of crisscrossing buses all (or most) of the island. For two buck and it must be correct change you can get from Waikiki to the North Shore (four return). That's adults, youths are 1 and so are medicare card holders. Each bus has a rack on the front to carry bikes and all have a voice automated system for each major stop included with the correct dialect. Some even have a visual board as well so you can see the spelling and hear it also. Hawaiian is a phonetic language for the most part and i'm in heaven!!!
The buses run every 20-40min like in Melbourne on all routes and if a transfer to another line is required you get a slip ripped at an angle showing the time it's valid till (usually 4hrs). O'ahu is the only island with PT service for two reasons. One, because 80% of the Hawaiian population lives here and the second is that it takes less than one day to circumnavigate the island via car. And with any PT you always run the risk of getting a 'mad' driver who goes well past the 35mph limit, careening the huge torpedo tank-like bus around curves and down straight aways. Typically, it only takes an hour by car from Kaneohe (where i'm staying with liz) to North Shore.
A bit about the geography of the islands. They all where once much bigger than the Big Island and Oahu had a volcano too! However, there was a huge collapse and half the crater fell into the ocean. The Big Island is the youngest while Kuai the oldest remaining inhabitable island. Eventually they turn into atolls, small tuffs of sand before being consumed once again by the ocean. Liz, said the atolls originate in Alaska and the follow the tectonic plate until it suddenly changes direction at Hawaii. It is theorized the plates moved the same time as the dinosaur killing asteroid slammed into earth and India collided into Europe.
Hope you all had fabulous Solstices with yummy food and warm people or warm food and yummy people.
luv
amenala
The buses run every 20-40min like in Melbourne on all routes and if a transfer to another line is required you get a slip ripped at an angle showing the time it's valid till (usually 4hrs). O'ahu is the only island with PT service for two reasons. One, because 80% of the Hawaiian population lives here and the second is that it takes less than one day to circumnavigate the island via car. And with any PT you always run the risk of getting a 'mad' driver who goes well past the 35mph limit, careening the huge torpedo tank-like bus around curves and down straight aways. Typically, it only takes an hour by car from Kaneohe (where i'm staying with liz) to North Shore.
A bit about the geography of the islands. They all where once much bigger than the Big Island and Oahu had a volcano too! However, there was a huge collapse and half the crater fell into the ocean. The Big Island is the youngest while Kuai the oldest remaining inhabitable island. Eventually they turn into atolls, small tuffs of sand before being consumed once again by the ocean. Liz, said the atolls originate in Alaska and the follow the tectonic plate until it suddenly changes direction at Hawaii. It is theorized the plates moved the same time as the dinosaur killing asteroid slammed into earth and India collided into Europe.
Hope you all had fabulous Solstices with yummy food and warm people or warm food and yummy people.
luv
amenala