Hawaii is, of course, one of the 50 United States. So it’s often included as part of North America. Geographically speaking, it is far from North America (by about 2,000 miles) and is in fact the northernmost part of Polynesia. Although the Hawaiian Islands aren’t very big (the “Big Island” is less than 10% the size of New Zealand’s North Island), they are pretty big when compared with Polynesia overall. If you take out New Zealand, the Hawaiian Islands make up about half the total area of the remaining islands of Polynesia. Maps of Hawaii usually show the main, (mostly) populated islands. But the Hawaiian Islands stretch out from the “Big Island” to the northwest for about 1,500 miles. (The northwest alignment is evidence of gradual tectonic movement to the northwest over a hotspot in the earth’s mantle that created Hawaii’s volcanoes.) Midway Atoll–famous as the location of a pivotal World War II naval battle–is located near the northwestern end of the island chain. However, it is a territory of the US and the only Hawaiian island not part of the state of Hawaii.
The first time I got to Hawaii was on my Navy ship in 1986. The ship was being reassigned from the San Francisco Bay Area to Guam. (Hey, no fair! I had requested to be stationed in California.
Talk about bait-and-switch.) We spent about a week in Oahu (“the Gathering Place”). I couldn’t believe they had an outdoor McDonald’s, and it served guava juice! Mahi-mahi was the de rigeur dish to order for dinner. (Well, not at McDonald’s, but in Waikiki.) Playing in the powerful surf on the north shore of Oahu was an unforgettable experience. The island was extravagantly lush. Not counting a layover at the airport in Honolulu on my return from Guam in 1988, I’ve gotten to Hawaii one more time. That was a work overnighter in 2000 to Maui (“the Valley Isle”). Even though it was a brief visit, I enjoyed getting to see another of Hawaii’s islands. I will have to post some of the pictures I took during my 1986 visit to the Aloha State.