夏威夷羣島 太平洋中的"鑽石"

When I think of Hawaii I immediately conjure up' mental visions of vibrant and profuse flora，sapphire blue waters,white sand beaches that stretch forever and sipping cooling rum punches served in coconut shells fancied up with brightly coloured paper parasols. It is all that, but the Hawaiian Islands are so much more．Many of my friends had visited this paradise before I finally had the opportunity.

想到夏威夷，我腦海中立刻浮現出生機勃勃和種類繁多的植物、天藍色的大海、綿延不絕的白色沙灘、小口啜飲着盛放在椰子殼裏的冰鎮朗姆酒，上面還插着顏色明快的小紙傘。我能想到的就是這些，但是夏威夷羣島遠遠不止這些。在我終於得以有機會去之前，我的許多朋友就已經遊覽過這個人間仙境了。

From Canada，we flew from Victoria on Vancouver Island to Vancouver on B.C.'s mainland．Just five hours we landed in Honolulu，a beautiful and modern city of about three quarters of a million residents，formed four million years ago by massive volcanoes．We enjoyed a van ride from the airport to our beachfront hotel in Waikiki．

我們從加拿大溫哥華島的維多利亞飛往位於不列顛哥倫比亞大陸的溫哥華市。只用了5個小時我們就抵達了檀香山，它是400萬年前由巨型火山噴發而形成的。這個美麗、現代的城市大約有75萬居民。我們從機場乘坐麪包車來到了位於懷基基的海濱旅館，享受了一段美妙的旅程。

There are many things to enjoy here from the famous Waikiki Beach，to a visit to a local pineapple or banana plantation or a native village featuring Hawaiian dancing．A pig roasted in a pit in the ground is tender and delicious to eat while watching the graceful hula dance being performed．The most notable landmark is the 760-foot extinct volcanic crater,known as Diamond Head，located on the southeastern end of the island near Waikiki Beach．

這裏有很多好玩的地方，從著名的懷基基沙灘到當地菠蘿、香蕉種植園，再到具有本土特色的村莊，那裏有夏威夷風情的舞蹈，這些都很有意思。在地裏挖個坑，在坑裏烤全豬．吃起來嫩滑美味，還可以邊吃邊欣賞優雅的草裙舞表演。當地最著名的地標是被譽爲‘．鑽石頭”的760英尺高的死火山口，它位於懷基基海灘附近的海島東南角。

It is interesting to see a narrow opening in the rocks not far from there, where the sea rushes in and spouts the water high into the air. There are many places to rent snorkel gear' and surfboards．If you prefer a fun group activity, sign up for a fast ride．

能在不遠處看到岩石中狹窄的火山口非常有趣，在開口處還可以看到海水衝上來，將水柱頂到天空中。許多地方都可以租潛水裝置和衝浪板。如果你更喜歡充滿樂趣的集體活動，那就趕緊報名參加漂流吧。

Passengers sit one behind the other on a banana-shaped inflatable while they zip across the ocean behind a high-speed boat. One can also visit Pearl Harbour and see, from a memorial platform，the warship Arizona which was sunk by the Japanese on that historic day December 7，1941．

遊客成一列坐在香蕉狀的充氣艇上，由一艘高速汽艇拖曳着在海面上呼嘯而過。遊客還可以遊覽珍珠港，從紀念碑的平臺上可以看到“亞利桑那號”軍艦，該艦在具有歷史意義的1941年12月7日被日軍擊沉。

The best and simplest way to really see Oahu Island is to rent a car and travel its perimeter．We stopped at roadside stands selling fruit, others piled high with conch shells which we tried to blow and an interesting outdoor gallery with a wide variety of Hawaiian themes painted on half ted on the north shore of the island and a Mecca for surfers is the Banzai Pipeline, world renowned for its gigantic seven-metre waves. It requires much skill and daring to ride them to the safe shallow waters without being dashed upon underlying coral reefs.

要想真正地看到瓦胡島，最好也是最簡易的方法就是租一輛小汽車沿着島的周邊行駛。我們在路邊的水果攤停了下來，旁邊的其他小攤上有成堆的海螺貝殼，我們試着吹出聲音，還有一個有趣的戶外畫廊，裏面擺放着畫着各式各樣夏威夷主題的半衝浪板。萬歲管狀浪區位於小島北岸，是衝浪者的聖地，在世界上以其巨大的七米巨浪而聞名。在這裏衝浪要求高超的技巧和勇氣，能夠不撞到下面的珊瑚礁，穿過巨浪回到安全的淺海區。

After three days of learning our way around：we boarded a cruise ship which would travel north during the night to the Island of Kauai where we would eat breakfast on the aft deck before heading in to the shops in the tiny town of Nawiliwili．Mount Waialeale which stands 1，675 metres above sea level is the rainiest spot on earth with its annual rainfall an amazing 1，150 centimetres! Kauai with a population of 60,000 is therefore lush with vegetation and beautiful waterfalls and is known as the "Garden Island"．It was here that movies such as Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Jurassic Park (1993) and more recently the television series Lost were filmed．

經過三天熟悉我們周圍的線路，我們登上了一艘郵輪，準備在夜裏開往北面的考愛島，在前往那威利威利小鎮的商店之前，我們要在船尾的甲板上吃早餐。海拔1675米的懷厄萊阿萊峯是世界上降雨最多的地區，這裏的年均降雨量達到了驚人的1150釐米，考愛島有6萬人口，這裏也因其豐富的蔬果和美麗的瀑布被譽爲“花園島”。（奪寶奇兵》（1981）和（侏羅紀公園》（1993）等電影和新近拍攝的電視劇《迷失》都在此拍攝。

Sailing back south past Oahu，the ship anchored at the Island of Maui or Valley Island which got its name from a huge valley formed when two large volcanoes erupted．Its red volcanic dirt is excellent for growing sugar cane. In by-gone days, the community of Lahaina was a whaling town．Fifty percent of the world's humpback whale population travel through Maui's warm waters and thankfully Lahaina's main industry has changed from whaling to tourism．Waters being too shallow to dock at the pier, passengers came ashore on the 128-person enclosed life boats．

往回向南經過瓦胡島，郵輪在毛伊島停泊，毛伊島也叫谷之島，因兩座巨大的火山爆發而形成的峽谷而得名。火山噴發出的紅色火山灰是種植甘蔗的絕佳土壤。從前，拉海納社區曾是一個捕鯨小鎮。世界上一半的座頭鯨都從毛伊島溫暖的海域中通過。幸虧現在拉海納的主業已經從捕鯨轉向了旅遊業。由於海域太淺，郵輪不能在碼頭停靠，遊客們乘坐能容納128人的封閉救生艇上岸。

A number of historic buildings are across from the town's park, in the centre of which is one of the largest and oldest banyan" trees I have ever seen，its many roots hanging down to form numerous new trunks making a living canopy over the entire park. It was delightful to sit on a bench in the park with balmy breezes blowing and listen to a school group sing a variety of Hawaiian songs. May is a great time to travel to these islands as it is just past their rid temperatures are comfortable．A canoe-building contest and festival was on at that time and it was very interesting to see different types of dugouts in various stages of construction．I had never heard of the ABC chain of shops until we arrived in Waikiki and they seemed to be located on every street corner in every Hawaiian town and Lahaina was no exception．

在市鎮公園對面，有一些歷史悠久的建築，公園中心是一棵我見到過的最大也是歷史最悠久的榕樹。它的許多根從樹上垂下來，變成許多新的枝幹，在整個公園上空形成一個天蓬。坐在公園的長椅上，徐風拂過，聽着學校社團唱着各種各樣的夏威夷歌曲，很是愉快。五月是去這些島嶼遊覽的最佳時機，因爲此時剛過完雨季，氣候十分宜人。那時還會舉辦獨木舟建造比賽，而這也是一個節日，期間能看到不同種類的獨木舟建造過程的各個階段是件很有意思的事。在到達懷基基島之前，我從來都沒聽說過ABC連鎖商店，但是在每個夏威夷城鎮的每條街道的拐角處，似乎都可以看到這些連鎖店，在拉海納也不例外。

They carry a variety of touristy items from Kona Coffee to macadamia nuts, jewellery, T-shirts, sandals, and snacks．If you are looking for small gifts, this is a good place to find them．

商店出售各式各樣的旅遊商品，從科納咖啡到夏威夷堅果、珠寶、下恤、涼鞋和小食品，應有盡有。如果你正在尋找小禮物，那麼這是一個絕佳場所。因爲我們要在這個港口停泊兩天，於是我們爲第二天預訂了兩個座位，乘坐一艘叫做“蘇格蘭迷霧”的美麗帆船出海，還和海龜一起潛水。

As we were to be in port for two days, we reserved two spots on a beautiful sailboat called Scotch Mist for the next day to sail out and snorkel with sea turtles. We then took a local bus to a nearby beach and，after looking in more upscale shops，lazed around enjoying the sun and the sand．

然後我們乘坐當地一輛巴士去附近的海灘，看了幾個高檔商店之後，慵懶地享受陽光和沙灘。

The following day was sunny, as Scotch Mist motored along the shoreline for a good hour to reach the sea turtle area．Armed with a disposable underwater camera I attempted a few photos as I tried to swim close to the turtles. They are beautiful to watch as their large flippers move them gracefully through the blue waters. Later I read that sea turtle areas are a favourite spot for sharks．Had I known that, I might not have been as enthusiastic about keeping company with the turtles．

接下來是晴朗的一天，“蘇格蘭迷霧”沿着海岸線行駛了整整一個小時，來到了海龜聚集區。我帶了一臺一次性水下相機，試圖在游到離海龜很近的時候拍幾張照片。它們優雅地划動着鰭狀肢，遊弋在藍色的大海里，看起來很漂亮。後來，我看資料才知道，海龜聚集區是鯊魚最喜歡來的地方。如果我之前就知道這一點，我可能不會像當時那麼熱情地與海龜結伴而遊了。

After a relaxing two hours the wind came up and so we had a most enjoyable time actually sailing back to port.

愜意的兩小時過後，海上起風了，所以我們向港口返航，度過了最美妙的海上時光。

Continuing south，we stopped at Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii．Here we had pre-booked a Safari Helicopter ride to see rivers of lava flowing from the Kilauea Crater. This is a trip you'll not want to miss. Do be prepared，when reserving, to give your weight as the pilots need this to place passengers in the right spots in the helicopter to keep things balanced．After being on a cruise ship for a week and being tempted by so much delicious food， we were not anxious to reveal our true weights but did anyway. After all were seated and had earphones in place, we lifted off with the ease of an eagle. As the volcano itself was not very active at this time, we flew over the rivers of red hot lava which showed up well in open areas.

我們繼續往南行駛，停在了夏威夷大島的希羅。我們已經在這裏預訂了一趟直升機短途旅行，從空中觀看岩漿從基拉韋厄火山口流出。這是一次你絕對不想錯過的旅行。事前要作好準備，在預訂飛機座位的時候，要告知你的體重，因爲飛行員需要這些數據，以便把旅客安排到合適的位置以保持機身平衡。之前已經在郵輪上度過一週的時間，而且受到如此多美食的誘惑，我們本來不想泄露自己的真實體重，但也只好照辦了。在大家全都坐好、戴上耳機之後，我們像蒼鷹一樣輕鬆地起飛了。由於火山在那個時候不是非常活躍，我們在許多條滾燙的紅色岩漿流上空飛過，岩漿在開闊地區顯得尤爲明顯。我們還在一些噴氣孔和火山口的上空盤旋，透過上升的蒸汽，我們能夠看到下面紅色的岩漿。

We also swung over a number of blowholes or vents where we could see the red lava showing through below the rising ng along the coast, we were fascinated by observing the clouds of steam as the hot lava hit the cooler ocean．Our flight finished up cruising over a large waterfall before setting down back at the airport.

我們沿着海岸飛行，看到滾燙的岩漿與溫度較低的海水匯合時升起的蒸汽雲，十分令人着迷。飛機在返航途中，飛越一個大瀑布，然後纔回到機場降落，結束了本次飛行。

Hilo is also known for its Hawaiian store called Hattie and there are several branches throughout the Islands as well as in California，Nevada and Florida. They have retail and online sales of Hawaiian fashions,foods,gifts, jewellery, music and books. On entering their shops, everyone is given a shell necklace. Their wide selection of shirts is world-renowned and it is worth one's while to browse at other items such as chinaware, sandals, nuts and coffee.

希羅還因爲有一個叫做哈蒂的夏威夷商店而聞名，整個羣島，還有加州、內華達州和佛羅里達州都有它的分店。這些店還有網上零售業務，出售夏威夷時裝、食品、禮品、珠寶、音樂和書籍。一進入他們的商店，店員會給每個人發一條貝殼項鍊。商店裏有很多種類可選的襯衫，在全世界都很有名，那裏的其他物品，比如瓷器、涼鞋、堅果和咖啡都值得遊客瀏覽一番。

Hawaii is much more than sandy beaches，and travellers from all parts of the world enjoy a stay in these beautiful islands.

夏威夷絕不僅僅只有沙灘，來自世界各地的遊客在這些美麗的島嶼上會玩得很愉快。