The final few days

I had initially planned a relaxing day for Wednesday after all my sightseeing but sure enough I was up at 0600 and on a bus to Manoa Falls in the heart of the island. I arrived in a residential street at about 0800 and was told by my bus driver to follow the road ahead! Sure enough a five minute walk took me out of the streets into a tropical rain-forest! I started my climb, luckily I was prepared with insect repellent and walking shoes as this was definitely off-road! It took about 45 minutes to walk the trail and I didn’t see a soul, to the point I was wondering if I’d come to the right place! But then the hills opened up and ahead was a spectacular waterfall of over 100 feet, there were warning signs about rock falls so swimming wasn’t allowed but standing at the bottom completely alone and only the sound of running water was a moment to treasure. I made my descent arriving at the bottom by about 0930 to see the coach loads of tourists arrive-perfect!

As I got back to the bus stop my bus was waiting to go back to ala Moana, where I got yet another bus. Having watched 50 First Dates numerous times I decided to go to Kano’ohe Bay where much of it was filmed. An hour bus ride to find that there is bugger all there! I did get to see Chinaman’s Hat Island though. More messing around on buses got me back to Kailua Beach where I was set on having a couple of hours relaxing on the beach before returning to Waikiki. I went for dinner at Tiki’s Grill and had probably the best meal of my stay on Hawaii, Shrimp and Asparagus Pasta with Macadamia Nut Pesto-yum!

So I woke on Thursday to my last day in Hawaii, I walked to the beach and collected my daily intake of Starbucks (this may bankrupt me on my round the world trip!). I waited for Hans Hendermann’s Surf Shop to open at 8 to book my surfing lesson! By 9am I was being told how to stand on a board, was dressed in shorts and rash vest and was carrying my surf board to the beach, along with about 10 other willing volunteers! We paddled the boards out past the breakwaters and were set up by the instructors to wait for a suitable wave. As the wave approached we were told to get paddling and were then given an extra push before being told to “STAND UP!” And sure enough I did!!! Standing on my first wave (albeit a very small wave!) was incredible, as the wave died I got back down on my board and paddled back out, this sequence of events continued for about 90 minutes by which point I had fallen off a couple of times, caused a couple of crashes and was completely knackered!!

We returned to the shop where we received our free t-shirts (XL so not much use to me) and were sold the CD containing hundreds of photos of us taken from the shore. This left me just enough time to return to the hostel to shower change, pack and check-out! I put my luggage in storage as the shuttle to the airport wasn’ until 1830 so I had the rest of the day in Wakiki for some last minute shopping, sunbathing and one last sailing trip on the Outrigger!

I walked back to the hostel as the sun was setting, a fitting end to an amazing stay. I am definitely planning on returning to Hawaii and would recommend it to anyone.

I got my shuttle back to the airport and boarded a plane back to LA, the flight arrived in LA at about 0530 local time. My initial plan had been to put my luggage in storage and get a bus to Santa Monica as my flight to London wasn’t until the evening. Unfortunately you cannot store luggage at LAX which stopped me in my tracks! Thankfully a quick phone-call to my Aunt resolved the problem, I jumped a cab back to Marina Del Ray and had a very relaxing day by the pool, a trip to Venice Beach for some lunch then a shower and change before heading back to the airport.

When checking in I was told there was an hour and a half delay, not the end of the world as I worked out I’d still be home in time to see the rugby!

When I got on-board I had an aisle seat on the central set of 4 chairs. The 2 middle seats were empty and there was a lady on the 4th seat. Just as we prepared to take off, she asked to move next to her husband which left me with 4 seats to myself!!! Seeing that people may be ready to pounce, as soon as the seat belt sign went off I stretched out and pretended to be asleep!!!! Much to the disgust of one passenger who I could hear asking an air-hostess to wake me and ask me to move up. Very sensibly she said she wouldn’t wake me! Needless to say I slept for about 9 of the 10 hour flight!

Well it was a packed 3 weeks and I’m not sure I’ll be able to continue that pace on my 2008 trip, but it had definitely given me taste of what’s to come!

Hawaii cont’d

So it’s Monday morning in Hawaii, up at 0630 and onto a bus with Starbucks in hand to go to the Arizona Memorial/Pearl Harbour. I arrived there at about 0830 along with everyone else and joined the queue. It’s free to enter and I paid $5 for headphones to get an audio tour, worth it as I had an hour to wander around the base before the film and boat trip to the USS Arizona. The film consisted of real footage from the Pearl Harbour attack and interviews with survivors, it was a real eye opener. As soon as you get on board the boat, there’s a somber atmosphere, you are asked to keep quiet and pay your respects. The memorial was really interesting, you are able to see the wreck underneath which is still leaking small amounts of oil.

After Pearl Harbour I returned to Ala Moana Centre, a huge shopping complex with everything from souvenir shops to Cartier and Jimmy Choos! I got a plate of Chinese food in the food court for $5 and it was excellent. I then walked to Beach walk via the Hard Rock Cafe. I found some gorgeous shops and brought myself a ring and found some ideal presents for people back home.

I walked back to the Hostel to drop my stuff off with a view to having a couple of hours on the beach but found a voucher for a sunset sailing trip on a catamaran called the Outrigger. so I made a dash back up the beach and got  on board. It was an all inclusive bar so I took full advantage of the cocktails (fruit juice, rum and vodka I think!), As we were heading out loads of Dolphins started playing around the boat, a stunning scene that made the entire trip worthwhile!

Having watched the sunset, the crew returned us all to shore, slightly worse for wear! I went to a restaurant called Senor Frogs! Mainly as I had a discount voucher to use, food was good and half way through they started a quiz, guess the TV theme tune! My waiter obviously took pity on me as I was alone and said he’d help me, the first tune was Doctor Who and nobody knew it (including my helpful waiter!) so I won! Unfortunately the prize was a shot and the shot glass, I don’t do shots at the best of times so managed to dispose of the liquid and kept the glass. My waiter gave me the answer to another one (Buck Rogers) so I now have a set!

Suitably fed and watered I bumbled back to the hostel collecting a few souvenir pressies on route.

The following morning I got up at 0600, got tea and OJ to clear the head and watched the sunrise before catching the bus to the North Shore- a 2 hour journey.

There was a stark contrast between Waikiki and the North Shore, It was much quieter up here and a more dramatic coast line with huge surf. I got off the bus at Haleiwa Beach which was very quiet at 9am! so I had an hour or so chilling on a deserted beach before deciding I was hungry so got back on the bus and headed to Turtle Bay Resort and took full advantage of the Brunch Buffet. I spent another hour or so on the beach there watching some very impressive surfing before getting the bus back to Sunset Beach. Here I got some fresh pineapple from one of the roadside stalls which was delicious. Back on the bus again to Waimea Beach. Instead of going to the beach I headed inland to the Waimea Falls, about a 1.5 mile walk through parks and forest up to the waterfalls. You can swim in the falls here but again I was concerned about my bags, I found an Australian family that seemed nice so asked them to keep an eye on it, the mum asked if I wanted her to take a picture of me, I passed her my camera which she promptly dropped!!!!!!!!!! As if that wasn’t good enough, she then asked me if her daughter could swim out with me as the rest of the family didn’t want to! Despite all of that it was lovely.

I went to Waimea beach and then back to Sunset Beach to watch the sunset (seemed fitting!), then made a dash for the bus as it started to rain. After a very long bus trip back to Waikiki I crashed out.

 Only 2 days left:(

And on to Hawaii…

So, on Saturday 13th October, my Aunt kindly got up at 0530 to take me to LAX airport for my 5 hour flight with Delta to Hawaii, check in was incredibly easy and within 10 minutes of arriving at the airport I was at the gate. I managed to get a great seat and slept for most of the flight. Landing at Honolulu, it was hot and sunny as promised and I jumped on a shuttle bus from the airport to Waikiki. On route the driver gave a bit of a guided tour, an example of the warm welcome you tend to get from everyone on the island. I arrived at Waikiki Beach Hostel at about 1400 to find an extremely basic hostel, not at all like I remember them being in Australia, and so dumped my bags, changed into shorts and t-shirt and headed to the beach which was less than a minute from the front door!

After taking in the magnificent beach and scenery that greeted me I decided not to waste any time and head up to Diamond Head State Monument. You can hike to the top of Diamond Head and look out over Waikiki and the surrounding coastlines. It was about a mile and a half walk from Waikiki to the Diamond Head Park and then it took about 45 minutes to climb to the top. It was worth every step, the views were incredible.

Having got back to the bottom, I’d had enough walking and jumped into a cab being shared by many other tired tourists and got back to Waikiki. By this time the sun was starting to dip so I took a walk along the beach watching people surf and swim in the crystal clear warm water. I ended up at a bar called Dukes Canoe Club which was on the beach, had live music and served a very nice cocktail! I enjoyed all of the above whilst watching my first Hawaiian sunset.

I ended up having dinner here too, amazing Calamari followed by ribs-yum!

My mission on Sunday morning was to figure out the buses, this was made much easier by the incredibly friendly and helpful people of Hawaii. I went to the nearest ABC store (every other shop was an ABC store!) where I was told I could buy a four day bus pass. Sure enough I got the pass and when I asked a few questions about buses, the person behind me  turned out to be a local bus driver and presented me with timetables for the buses I’d want to use and pointed me in the right direction to catch my first bus of the day.

This bus went from Waikiki to Hananauma Bay, a wildlife sanctuary, a great place for snorkeling. Sure enough having watched the film about the area, the reef and safety etc, I hired snorkeling gear and off I went.

Thankfully this was one of a few places that had lockers so I could go swimming and not worry about my possessions, a major downside of travelling alone. 

The snorkeling was certainly amazing, the water was so clear, the coral and fish were beautiful. Hundreds of fish were swimming up to you, some tiny some worryingly large!

Having timed my visit here well (early before hundreds of tourists descended on the bay), I headed on around the coast on the bus past Sandy Beach to Makapu’u Beach and the Hawaii Sea Life Centre and then onto Kailua Beach. This is an area recommended for Kayaking, so sure enough I hired myself a Kayak, dragged it to the beach and set off to Twin Islands, about a mile away.

It took about and hour and a half to get there against wind and tide, I made a crash landing on the beach, much to the amusement of the other visitors before turning around and heading back. On my way back a huge turtle swam in front of me and then I was treated to an airshow by the fighter jets from the nearby military base!

I managed to land back on Kailua beach rather more elegantly and took some time to take in the stunning beach which is popular with kite surfers.

I then had to drag my Kayak back up the beach and get it on a trolley, sadly I managed to get my trolley upside down, which again amused the locals who helped me get the blasted thing moving!!

I returned to the bus-stop a soaking wet, tired but happy tourist! I made ti back to Waikiki at about 1900 so went to a local restaurant called Lulu’s for a well earnt beer and some dinner.