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Published: July 27th 2008
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After the chaos of planning a wedding on the other side of the globe and our amazing wedding week in Scotland, we were pretty much KNACKERED!!! After the long journey from Glasgow to Toronto and then Calgary before finally reaching Vancouver, we were ready for a break. After unpacking and repacking we were soon on a plane bound for Honolulu and some piece and quiet. We knew we would be exhausted by the time the wedding was over and that relaxing was all we would want to do. That pretty much sums up our time in Honolulu. We stayed in the Queen Kapiolani Hotel which sits at the very end of Waikiki, so a little quieter than being right in the middle of the action. We had a great view from our room, straight out to Diamond Head and overlooking the zoo and Kapiʻolani Park. This made for morning wake up calls from peacocks and other zoo animals which made things feel a little more exotic than the rumble of traffic. We could see the ocean and also the dramatic mountain skyline, so a perfect spot for late afternoon cocktails.
The weather was a little drab and dreary for the
first two days, which was fine with us. We just slept and whilst Mike read books, Charlotte made trips to Ala Moana Mall for a spot of wandering and shopping. It's easy in Oahu to move around the island by public transport. "The Bus" as the local bus service is called, is easy and quick. The hour walk to Ala Moana can be hot and sweaty some days so jumping on a bus can be quick and simple. Always keep your ticket though as it acts as a transfer and depending on how long you plan to stay, you may be able to use it to get back again.
The location of our hotel also meant that we were close to Starbucks. Every morning we had a routine of getting up and heading there for our java. The Starbucks sits on Kalakaua Avenue at the point where the strip ends and the park begins. The beach is just across the road and the area is always busy. With our body clocks being slightly put out of place we were up and out by 7am every morning. We would sit and watch people jogging or strolling by. Surfboards would pass
us on there way for a day's action on the waves. Every day there would be a crowd of pigeons making their way around chair legs looking for crumbs. One poor wee pigeon had no feathers left, so we always knew when he was around! It was a nice relaxing pace that continued as our day went on. We bought beach mats and filled up our cool bag and headed to our favourite spot on the beach. Here we would laze enjoying the views and watching the world go by. One day when we arrived we found a huge crowd. We soon realised what they were watching, a seal. It was a monk seal and at first we thought that maybe it was injured and couldn't get back into the water. However, a sign informed us that all was ok, it was just resting. Hawaiian monk seals are known to locals as 'Ilio-holo-i-ka-uaua' which translates as dog that runs in rough waters. They are becoming an endangered species. One factor in their decline is that males attack females, especially in mating situations, this is affecting the numbers of the female population. Monk seals are more solitary animals and not often
seen in groups together. On June 11, 2008 the monk seal became Hawaii's official State Mammal, to try and bring a higher level of awareness to this animal. We were therefore very fortunate to witness this rare sighting and we spent the day with the monk seal taking it easy and enjoying a sunbathe nearby.
After sunbathing during the day and afternoon cocktails on our lanai in the afternoon, our evenings were spent visiting favourite restaurants for our dinner. One evening we went to Mi Casa Taqueria on Monsarrat Avenue. Monsarrat Avenue takes you up to the entrance of Diamond Head State Park. When Charlotte still worked for Harmony, this was one restaurant that the crew often frequented as it was a little more authentic than some of the restaurants on Waikiki's strip and also, it's BYOB - always a good thing!! We found out that they now charge you for bringing your own alcohol, but the food is still good and a reasonable price. Charlotte's friend Cristina, who is Mexican always had the flan. Mexican flan is an oven-baked caramel custard pudding, very similar to creme caramel. We shared one for old time's sake. Another evening we went
to California Pizza Kitchen, another restaurant that the Harmony crew used to hit. We went last time we were in Honolulu and Charlotte and Sheri also visited the one in Las Vegas a couple of times. The Thai Chicken pizza is really dynamite and Mike tried a Jerk Chicken one, which has become his favourite so far!!! Two nights in a row we went to one of the best Thai restaurants that we've found outside of Thailand. We're very bias when it comes to Thai food. Probably because it was our favourite food from the year of traveling that we did and also because we make it at home and it's always sooooo good. Vancouver may be filled with a lot of Asians but not so many Thai's and the Thai food is not always that great - often it's cooked by Chinese or Vietnamese. Therefore, we don't eat it too often. However, Dee Thai in Honolulu is brilliant. We always enjoy it. We also visited the every steady International Market Place which is a well known staple in Waikiki for food. It's a courtyard with various little kitchens serving different types of food - Hawaiian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Italian,
Filipino and so on. There is a great Vietnamese here which was also a frequent spot for Charlotte on her Harmony layovers.
Boy our bellies were very well satisfied on our honeymoon!!! Does it sound like all we did was eat, drink and relax?!! Well, you're right - it was. We also managed some shopping - yes, Mike did make it into the stores!! One day we also hired a car and drove up to the North Shore of Oahu. We drove West out of Honolulu out towards the airport. Once past the airport we started to head North. Upon descending down towards the ocean on the North, the vista is water all around. The road drops you down into the little laid back town of Hale'iwa. A stroll down the street here will allow you to browse in the shops and galleries and eat at the various cafe's and restaurants. Hale'iwa's roots are from a hotel which was built in the late 1800's. It was a grand affair and the rich came from Honolulu for weekend getaway's. The area was also well known for sugar mills. Many who worked in the mills left and opened up local businesses
which helped the town slowly grow. We wandered down the main street stopping at the Grass Skirt Grill for lunch. After poking through a couple of shops we were back on our way. The drive along the North Shore passes the many beautiful beaches on the way. We stopped at a few of them but as we continued our way around the island we headed into some rain clouds. We stopped briefly at Hanauma Bay on the East side of the island to have a look at the beach below but the weather didn't co-operate too much for us.
After a week of relaxing it was soon time to go back to reality and to normal life again. Not that it's easy to return to normal life after planning a wedding. After months of organising one of the biggest events of your life, suddenly there's a big gap and what do you fill it with!!! Well, it didn't take us too long to sort that out. It was back to work and for Charlotte studying for annual training. So it's been busy but August will mean another trip over to the East Coast and a weekend away in Chicago
- so more blogs to bore you all with - hurrah!!!
Until then, take care and lots of love xxx
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Nice photos
I like most of the photos you made. They look very interesting. Hope I can do such interesting ones someday.