No I didn't have a brain aneurism... Its the Hawaii state fish.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reef_triggerfish

I just got back from a vacation in Hawaii so I thought I'd share\gloat...

There's a great condo for rent for $1000 a week.
http://makahasurfcondo.com/

Its cheap... and 225 degrees of ocean front view. (For the same rate in Waikiki you'll have to get your wife to hold your belt while you lean out far enough to see something the color blue.) Makaha is big wave country and in winter absolutely no newbs should go in the water there. There's some great spots to learn to surf or scuba dive a good 10 minutes down the coast. There isn't much to do at this end of the island so if you are thinking about going, its best to consider it down time, so you can save money, for something to do later in the trip... like Aulani.

Its the one with the umbrella on its deck;


Here's a picture from the deck with the sunrise;


I later took the kids to Aulani the new Disney resort on Oahu.
http://resorts.disney.go.com/aulani-hawaii-resort/

This place was great but really expensive. Its designed to extract money from your wallet faster than a vacuum cleaner. It's great if you have preteen kids. (Teens will need to be sun-worshipers...) Its a simple water park 2 slides, a long river to raft down, and 5 hot tubs. Nothing is more than 3 feet deep, and the place is festooned with life guards. There is also a place to drop your kids off to play, called Auntie's Beach House. So you can go to a sun deck, or a bar (or ahem, your room) knowing your kids will be alive later. There are also lots of programmed activities for kids.

The Food is good but a bit pricey. This is high praise.. I'm a foody, and think nothing of dropping $600 at Chef Mavro's for dinner for 2. http://chefmavro.com/

Here's a picture of the place.

Looks fun! At first, I thought you were trying to get off a 'humada humada" thing...then realized not.

Hawaii is on my short list of places to go. I have friends there so I would probably stay with them but the island of Makaha (and, more importantly, the Cheft Marvo link - foodie here too!) looks nice...

DOH made the mistake of looking at this.... Now I have a feeling we are going back to a tropical spot VERY soon.... Time to look at the options again.

I miss Hawaii....

We went to Maui a few years back and experienced the same effect on our wallets. It was a great time, but I much prefer Kauai, which is where we went this past summer. There was none of that feeling and the beaches and hikes are even more spectacular due to the fewer people.

Thanks for sharing though. This makes me want to go back through our vacation pics.

I liked Kauai.. My parents recommended a great dive at the top of Wiamea called Kokee lodge. It was like $50 a night.
http://www.thelodgeatkokee.net/

This enabled us to save enough to stay at the Sheraton Princeville. ($500 a night) The lobby is at the top of the hotel, and the rooms go down the cliff face to the ocean front;
http://www.stregisprinceville.com/

Another good place is Paniolo Hale on Molokai. Condo for $200+ a night or so. Tidal pools, and empty beaches. I did a stupid Lawrence of Arabia thing on my honeymoon, and walked up 3 miles of beach without sunscreen. (All 3 miles were vacant.) I was bed ridden with sunburn for the next day. (My wife says don't bring a harmonica on a honeymoon... Not sure why.)
http://molokaipaniolo.com/



PS... Its f'ing cold now that I'm home. Its -27, it snowed, and my hoodie was frozen to the wall in my house this morning. I had to rip it off the wall to keep warm.

We stayed on the opposite side of the island compared to Wiamea Canyon. I really like the idea of going back to Kuaui next summer (this summer is too soon for another vacation of that cost). Our discussion before leaving was that next time we will stay in a lodge to see more of the Wiamea Canyon sites. Hawaii can be done fairly inexpensively in comparison to a lot of other vacations due to most things we like to do not costing anything. It becomes a better deal the longer you stay. We stayed 16 days the last time and will likely stay for at least that the next time.

sigh.

Did you do much in the way of hiking? The hidden waterfalls and beaches are the best part of going to Hawaii in my opinion.

And here I was expecting pictures of them little fishes.

Bugger. Perhaps later when I get rich.

..."UP to minus 30" ???
Ah the humor in the improper vulgar use of the English Language !

Nah, just a mathematical brain fart on my part. Can't use language as an excuse, since I would probably have made a similiar mistake in Finnish.

But, last February in northern Finland there were temperatures as low as -41.3 C (-42.3 F). Lucky I wasn't there, as it would have been a wee bit too chilly for my tastes.

Now, it's just barely below freezing, but at least there's snow (to my ankles - not as much as last year at this time).

Ok i'm lost beyond any hope....

Do u know what's the first thing that popped in my mind?

it was:

"Cool! that would be a nice setting for a 'Dead island'-like campaign!"