h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The flight from Melbourne to Maui was the longest yet -- 11 and a half hours -- but I was too busy to notice much, thanks to a set of virtual reality glasses, some ear buds, and a tutorial on hang gliding. Orp Redilg, the man who had produced the tutorial, happened to be sitting next to me on the plane in case I had questions that the tutorial didn't cover.

He waited patiently for my questions after I finished, but all I could do was blurt out "You're sure you'll be up in the glider with me?" even though he had assured me of that several times already.

He smiled. "It's a tandem, which means two people, you and me.

"What if the wind blows me out over the ocean?"

"That's not likely, but if it happens I'm a crack lifeguard, and we will have boats waiting to rescue us."

"Or how about if we come down in that Park with the unpronounceable name?'

"Waianapanapa. Again, unlikely, but helicopters will be on standby to get us out. Just don't tromp around on the indigenous plants. People have gotten shot for less."

"That's so comforting."

Kahului Airport on Maui was small but pleasant. Soon after emerging from the plane, we were in a van climbing Mount Haleakala, the highest point on the island [more than 3,000 meters high]. Halfway up we grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant that had a huge butterfly bush out front. Vast swarms of monarch butterflies were darting back and forth around its branches. We could see other hang-gliders descending in the distance. They looked tranquil.

Finally the moment of truth came as Orp and I strapped ourselves into the glider and set off. After the first shock of being at such a high altitude wore off, I was able to enjoy the view of the island. Far off Hana, at the end of the island, was separated from us by forested slopes -- Waianapanapa, the place we didn't want to disrupt. We were lucky. When the glider came down, we landed on a pleasant beach. The boat was less than a mile away, and came for us at great speed.

There was a reception for us at our hotel, which had been frequented by celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzanegger -- though he wasn't there at the moment. It even had a tiny natural geyser in the lobby.

At the reception we met Kanekanani, who was a talented hula dancer. She explained our next day's itinerary on the Big Island of Hawaii where Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea were located. "You'll get a driving tour of the island, then visit a pirate ship. Trust me, you'll have a wonderful day."

[Amy P]

Tandem gliders sounds so cool but myself I am not brave enough to try hand gliding.

Nor I.

My face is red because I jus learned that the real-life pirate ship is on Oahu, not the Big Island. However, for the purposes of fiction, I can pretend that there's a pirate ship on the Big island.

Be careful what you wish for

The Big island has a company called Pirate Charters, which takes people out for deep sea fishing expeditions, so I'm going with that idea, though I'm tweaking the name to avoid giving anyone free advertising.