Whilst living in California, we thought we must make a trip out to Hawaii since it is about the closest place from which to reach it. Fortunately it happened and we did a two week vacation taking in the Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Maui and the Big Island. Each island has its own unique attractions and differing levels of tourism to suit your own taste.

There's a lot of variety to Hawaii, more than the palm trees, beaches and cocktails that the holiday brochures advertise. Internal flights between islands are fairly cheap with local operator Hawaiian Airlines and there's little excuse not to explore all that Hawaii has to offer.

We would have liked to have done more, specifically Kauai (kayaking its famous Nā Pali coastline) and seeing the natural beauty of Molokai, but time and budget didn't permit. A helicopter ride over the famous towering sea cliffs would also have been a treat, but there's only so far the wallet can be stretched.