Wet-n-Wild Waterpark is not exactly a Disney World class water park, but it's great fun for the kids regardless. Located WNW of Honolulu, HI, our trip from Punaluu took about 45 minutes. A couple of "don't miss" slides are the Tornado and the "Shaka". The wave pool is fun but shortlived fun as it gets old pretty quick. If you have kids under 14 y/o, they'll enjoy this waterpark. After the waterpark we headed to Waikiki to check into the Outrigger on the Beach. Hulu's was in store for our Open Table reservation at 6pm and we arrived early at 5:30pm [View Full Entry]

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This morning I booked a couple of tours for Thursday and Friday. Doing a Grand Island Circle Tour on Thurs and the Polynesian Cultural Center with a luau and show on Friday. Super excited for that. After that I hopped on a bus to Pearl Harbor. It's about an hour away by bus and I got there at 9:15am and already there were lots of people around. You have to go and pick up a ticket to tell you what time your tour will start. I had to wait about a half an hour for my tour. They have a gift [View Full Entry]

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Today took us to Boots and Kimo's for breakfast before heading out to Kaneohe Bay Sandbar by Kayak. Boots and Kimo's restaurant is world famous for the banana pancakes with Mac Nut sauce on top. They tasted as advertised, simply wonderful. We arrived at 7:45am (15 min after they opened) and had a short 10 min wait, whereas they gave us a menu to browse, then about 5 minutes later a waiter came out and took our order as we waited on the benches outside the restaurant before seating us. That made the wait for breakfast that much quicker! We did [View Full Entry]

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So Jenny (german girl from my hostel room) and I got up early to catch the bus to the North shore. Grabbed some breakfast at the ABC store and then we were on our way. Our first stop was Kualoa ranch where a ton of movies have been filmed. We bought our tickets to do the movie ranch tour. 2 american girls and us were all that was on the tour so it was good. We got to see a bunker that gets used in the tv show Lost and was used in Pearl Harbour. We stopped at a ton of [View Full Entry]

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HAWAII (OAHU) Nach all diesem Rummel in den letzten Wochen Australien, freute ich gewiss auf ein paar erholsame Tage Hawaii. Erholsam fing an mit dem ‚Längsten Tag’. Jedenfalls wars der längste Tag den ich bisher in meinem Dasein erleben durfte. Ich flog um Sechs Uhr abends in Sydney los und landete um am exakt demselben Tag am Morgen um Sieben Uhr Fünfzehn in Honolulu. Und das nach einem Neun Stunden Flug. Glücklicherweise flog ich gegen die Nacht und nicht umgekehrt..., ja sonst wäre ich garantiert auf den Felgen gelaufen. So gings vorerst eigentlich noch ganz gut. [View Full Entry]

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Our intentions today were to rent personal water craft from the Watercraft Connection in Haleiwa, however once our 13 year old discovered that he would not be able to take control, even with an adult riding, the excitement of doing this dimished to non-existent among our boys, which was fine with us, considering that we had really no interest in doing it. So, off to Waimea Bay in search of a parking spot. Upon arrival at Waimea at 11:15am, it was impossible to park without walking a 1/2 mile with lunch, chairs, umbrella, snorkeling gear in tow, so we headed to [View Full Entry]

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Our original 10 intinerary had the week-ends free of any activities but loafing and exploring, and week-days full of activities such as kayaking, golfing, jet skiing, surfing and such. Our day today found us on the beach at Shark's Cove at the North Shore and Malaekahana State Recreation area, both just a hop-skip-jump from our central Punaluu residence. Naturally I've included the mandatory pic or two of the kids enjoying the trip (waves to grandparents), and today they really enjoyed the tide pools at Shark's Cove after a good 2 hours of snorkeling the fish-fill cove. The population of th [View Full Entry]

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We woke up around 7 am. We were determined to have a good breakfast today. It rained again in the morning for 30 minutes. We saw a beautiful rainbow from the bathroom window. Hana is green (land) and blue (ocean). We checked out of the hotel and headed for a breakfast place. Ranch house opens only at 11 am. Locals told us to go to “Tutu’s”. It was small place with limited menu options. We had eggs, toast a French toast. We left Hana around 10 am. Now we continue on past Hana and south. Usually, most of the tourists turn [View Full Entry]

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On this day, there was excitement as well as some apprehension. Snorkeling! We left home around 8:30 am after breakfast. We need to find a parking spot that will be valid for 7 hours in Lahaina. Mornings are OK to park in Lahaina area. We got a lot that is free. By 9 am we were sitting in front of Pier #18 waiting for the catamaran. There would be at least 45 people. This hi-speed boat had bench seats on either side of the captain’s station. One can sit on the outside tube also. Captain Greg and Andrea gave a [View Full Entry]

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We woke up to the sound of three alarms (2 cell phones). Kids were cooperative. By the time we left home, it was already 2:45 am. Roads were pretty much empty. We wore 2 layers of clothing, and took our jackets, gloves and caps. We reached Airport area in 40 minutes. After travelling south east, we started climbing the mighty Haleakala. Roads were narrow, but well marked and constructed. We could not see the landscape outside because of the lack of light. After 6500 feet, you could feel the cold air seeping in. We reached the summit and the viewing area [View Full Entry]

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