CHANGE OF PLANS, Mysticism, reading, forums, Numerology, Sun Signs, Divination

Posts: 5118 · Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 6:43 am

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I was a twenty-eight-year-old nurse in need of a change. My life was in turmoil, and the chance to work as a traveling nurse in Hawaii seemed to be an ideal opportunity. My plan was to work for four months, while exploring the islands in my free time. I would sit alone on the beach, ponder my future, and then return to New York to resume my life in the big city.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a young man was also in need of a change. Accounting in his hometown of Sydney had left him restless. His new plan was to work as a flight attendant for two or three years, see the world, and then resume his well-ordered life in Australia.

That day in August was like most days on Oahu: sunny and warm with palm trees swaying in the breeze. I planned to bike over Diamond Head to Hanauma Bay and join friends for a day at the beach. I envisioned a day lazing in the shade with a good book. I was down on men but high on Hawaii.

When I reached Hanauma Bay, I faced a dilemma. I wanted to lock my bike with my friends’ bikes, but I had forgotten the combination. The bike racks were in the parking lot on a cliff high above the beach. I needed to leave my bike with someone I could trust while I searched for my friends on the beach far below.

That’s when I noticed a sweaty, red-faced young man sitting in the shade of a banyan tree. Judging from his flushed face and his bicycle propped against the tree,I assumed that he planned to sit in the shade a bit longer. He wasn’t much to look at, with his damp hair plastered to his forehead, but he seemed safe enough. And since he already had a bike, I doubted he would steal mine.

He agreed to watch my bike while I hiked down the hill to find my friends. When I finally returned and secured my bike in the rack, he asked if he could join my group. I wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of giving up my solitude to keeping company with a stranger, but I couldn’t really refuse since he had been guarding my bike for the past twenty minutes.

Then he asked if I’d go snorkeling with him. Snorkeling? What a pest! Visions of reading in that quiet spot in the shade seemed to grow even dimmer. I told him that I didn’t have any money to rent equipment. He offered to pay. What was I to do?

As the day wore on and the beach started to empty, I learned that his name was Phil, that he, too, was twenty-eight, and that this was his first time in the States. His accent was a bit hard to follow, and we had to resort to spelling words at times to communicate. He was the first Australian I had ever met, and I was amazed at the differences in our common language.

Although I still wasn’t excited about making small talk with someone I didn’t know, I discovered that Phil was easy to talk to. And he had been very sweet to watch my bike and to pay for my snorkeling equipment. Before I knew it, I heard myself offering to buy him a beer for his generosity. I had arranged to meet him at his hotel for one beer, just one,before joining my friends for the evening.

A few hours later in the hotel lobby, I spotted one of the best looking men I had seen for a long time walking toward me. Tall and dark, Phil was a cross between Tom Sellick and Burt Reynolds. He certainly scrubs up well, I thought. I later learned that those were his exact thoughts about me. Apparently, I hadn’t been much to look at after cycling over Diamond Head either.

We spent the evening dancing in the disco at the top of his hotel. It offered a panoramic view of Waikiki, with mountain silhouettes to the west and the lights of the marina to the east.

The next few days we spent discovering just how romantic Hawaii is. We caught the bus to a beach popular with the locals for body surfing. We hiked to Sacred Falls and swam in the icy pool at the foot of the falls. We watched fabulous sunsets from the patio of his hotel while sipping exotic drinks. The air smelled sweet, tropical flowers bloomed on every corner, and we seemed to be surrounded by couples in love.

It was an extraordinary few days, made all the more special by the knowledge that it was only temporary. Phil would return to Sydney, and our time together would be just memories. I felt safe knowing that he would be half a world away. I had no plans to become involved with anyone at this point in my life.

But plans changed. Phil managed to swap schedules with his good mate Nyle and surprised me with a visit in October. We spent the time on Kauai. We swam at a secluded beach on the Na Pali coast, which could only be reached by hiking through a tropical rain forest. We took a Zodiac raft trip even farther along the rugged coast, through caves, to view a part of the island accessible only to boats and serious hikers. We spent the last night in a rustic cabin in the national park surrounding Waimea Canyon. Kauai lacked the nightlife of Waikiki but offered more remote beaches for long walks in the moonlight. This time when we said good-bye, we planned to meet in New York after my nursing assignment finished, so that I could show Phil another side of the States.

Once again, plans changed. In December Phil returned for my last week in Hawaii. It was our chance to explore Maui. We hiked into Haleakala Crater, ate ice cream cones with the tourists in Lahaina, and drove the dizzying road to Seven Sacred Pools. We raised the rite of picnicking to new heights with champagne toasts on cliffs overlooking the pounding winter surf of the Pacific.

Perhaps it was when we were standing on the rim of Haleakala Crater, wrapped together in a blanket, watching the sunrise; or while we hiked through the bamboo forest to Jackass Ginger Falls, the air heavy with the scent of ginger and plumeria; or when we ate a midnight snack of tempura mahi-mahi sandwiches in a diner on Hotel Street. At some point, before I was ready to admit it to myself, our plans for the rest of our lives changed.

Now—twenty-five years, two kids, and one mortgage later—our plans are to someday return to visit the places where we each took a chance and opened our hearts to a stranger. The kids plan to join us, too."That’s one plan we definitely plan to keep."

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