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Aloha!
Next stop was Hawaii and the island of Oahu. We had planned on spending our three weeks island hopping-but due to not really planning things this was out of the question as the only means of travel is flying to the islands and last minute flights are super expensive. We got some sound travel advice on the island from a friend from home and found their was plenty to do for our three weeks. We headed to the north shore first which was surprisingly more difficult than we thought it would be -apparently everyone hires cars when they come to Oahu, which meant we had to find a taxi that would take us to the top of the island which involved lots of phone calls at the airport (this north shore seemed like it was another continent from the feedback we were getting -'you really wants to go to the north shore?' Was how the conversations were going to taxi drivers). Eventfully we found a shuttle service with a great driver who took us up to the elusive north shore which to drive took 45 minutes. The driver was very friendly and even took a detour up to a
Surfs up!
The North Shoregreat view point en route of the whole island (it's all about the tipping in the USA). The island has a huge military presence and there are lots of areas which people simply can't go-if you do head onto this areas or up roads near them a few scary looking American army guys are going to escort you away. Less scary things we passed on the drive was the dole pineapple plantation which we heard was world famous,also a couple of parks, turtle beach, Waimeo falls, Waimea bay and Haleiwa town. The island was looking beautiful and how I imagined -which was very green and lush yet also a little bleak and rugged.
We had booked a dorm bed In the only backpacker hostel we could find on the north shore and it was 'tired' to say the least. The dorm room doubled up as a kitchen and living area and had been taken over by a bunch of surf dudes who were not at all clean and there was no where to store out valuables and in general not a great option for sleeping. We upgraded to a double room in a cabin,which again you share -this would
be great if us and two friends were in it -but again it felt like we were intruding on other people space and were not loving it.
After having a walk around the area we decided we would not be able to hack it here for the ten days we had intended. It was beautiful and right on the beach, there were lots of low rising beach houses and the area was clean. However. due to the time of year the sea had some huge swells-making rookie surfers like ourselves have no chance of survival if we were to go in-so no surfing for us. Apart from roaming around the supermarket there was nothing to do at night-not one bar and we felt a little unwhelemd. After sleeping on it we decided to vacate and move to the more lively area of waikiki. Next problem was how we can get there! There wasn't a bus service, no taxis would come up and we were getting ready to hitch back down when our prays were answered by our hostel manager who said they had a shuttle bus which would take us to waikiki for 10 dollars-done!
Options for accommodation
in waikiki mainly involves expensive hotels on the beach. On the other side of the scale there are two backpacker hostels -one review from said hostels was 'if you like mould you will love it here' 'bed bugs come to party here' eek what had we done!? But our luck hadn't quite run out as Craig found an amazing price on a studio flat in marina tower (behind the huge hilton complex) which cost an extra 10 dollars than staying in the no fun hostel on north shore-yes.
It turns out our studio flat was pretty decent with it being on the penthouse floor 48 floors up which meant breathtaking views overlooking waikiki and the pearl harbours area. We had landed on our feet!
For the first few days we kept a low profile working on our tans and also being a bit healthier by going for nice long walks along the waikiki beach and trying to not drink every night which had been becoming the norm-we needed a detox following then James Michael Adams experience in Vegas! Ha! Whilst we were here we cooked our meals everyday and took advantage of our tiny kitchen meaning we saved
lots of money-Hawaii is expensive! But it is soooo beautiful and worth every penny!
After a few days we head out on our first tourist activity which was to Pearl harbour-this was pretty epic and the museum is so big we had to go back the next day to finish it off! We took the boat out to the shrine/tomb of the USS Arizona -this is very eerie. If you are unaware of the history let me give you a quick lesson. The attack on Pearl Harbour was a total surprise military strike carried out by the Imperial Japanese navy against the Pearl Harbour navel base, as well as other military strongholds in Hawaii. The attack started at 7.48am with 358 Japanese bombers and tornado planes coming into Hawaii in two waves. There were 8 naval battleships ships in Pearl Harbour and all of them damaged. Of these, four were sunk, all but one (the USS Arizona) were raised and fixed to fight again and a total of the eight ships six returned to service. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti aircraft training ship and a minelayer. 2,402 US americans were killed and
1,282 were injured, this was a big difference to the 65 Japanese soldiers who were killed. It was a profound shock to the America people and led to the USA's entry into World War 2.
The USS Arizona suffered greatly and following its bombing she exploded and sank. Of the 2,402 US Americans killed, 1,777 were on board this battleship and 1,177 went down with it and instantly died or could not escape. She could not be salvaged and and lies beneath the water as part of a memorial with it is dedicated to its crewman entombed inside forever.
Whilst we were at Pearl Harbour we had the honour of talking to a war veteran who was at Pearl Harbour the day it was bombed. He was a very nice, older gentleman wearing a Hawaiin shirt with his medals on show he gave us an insight to what it would have been like to experience this nightmare.
We did a couple more things here which included going on a submarine, the USS Bowfin. This for me was very intense-intense enough that l had to abandon ship/submarine half way through as I thought the walls were coming in
on me and out to get me. I do not know how people can live in those tin cans and dive deep underwater-I feel like freaking out just thinking about it!!!!!
We also had the opportunity to go onto a battle ship, the battleship Missouri-this was super cool! It is HUGE!!!!!!! The ship is literally like a little town and on board there is a dentist, post office, laundry, shop, library, television room and gym. Again, there are a few tight spaces and they have tried to pack in lots of people meaning the sleeping bunks are very crowded and you would get to know your neighbours within about 5 seconds. What a great experience I'm going to keep my eyes peeled to see if there is somewhere we can go on a air craft carrier ship.
Having got the bus to pearl harbour and how long it took to do the trip we accepted defeat and hired a car for three days. Our life was suddenly a lot easier and we had a choice of what we could go and see! Freedom again!!!!
First usage of our car was to take us up to the north
shore for a spot of shark cage diving! Now do not despair- this was not one of these outfits that throw chum in to attract the sharks -this was a more Eco friendly one. The area the shark cage is attached is where fisherman boats go and the sharks have built an association with the noise of the boat and potential left over fish for their food. So to attract the sharks the crew turn the engine on and in theory the sharks should come thinking they may get some left over fish. Very exciting and very scary at the same time!!! I turned a noticeable shade of green whilst we sailed out to the point where the cage is attached to the bed of the sea-I honestly thought I was going to be sick over the side if the boat-I couldn't believe that I had voluntarily paid to do this -I must clearly be mental! Turns out if was all for nothing for as soon as I was In that cage I was loving every second!!!! The time went so quick I wanted to stay longer. The sharks we were up against weren't the scary great whites but there
were sandbar and Galapagos shark which to be fair can reach around 12 feet-one such 12ft sand bar swan right under the cage and up and was the length of it. There were not many about -the crew thought a big tiger shark was around which makes the other sharks dive down and out of its way! This was a fantastic experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat! It was perfectly safe and well organised.
As a treat for not being eaten we went to the famous Kahuku area when the famous food vans hangout. The world famous Giovanni's shrimp van was our point of call. Along the east coast of oahu there are lots of van selling different types of food, but the shrimp ones are the most common and Giovanni's is world famous for his spicy shrimps. They lived up to their name, Craig thoroughly enjoyed his spicy shrimps and I enjoyed my super garlic ones -yum I wanted this to be our meal every day.
Following this we stayed In the north stopping at Waimeo falls and turtle beach to watch the giant turtles come in from the sea to the beach
to rest and lay their eggs-very nice. Down from here we stopped to watch some pro surfers tackle the huge 10 ft waves for a surf competition that was on. I couldn't have gone in the water to paddle let alone try and surf, these guys was very very good!
The next day with our car we visited the east coast which I thought was the most beautiful. We started at diamond head which is a volcanic crator and once you finally get up the stairs there is a great viewpoint of Waikiki. It was here we had our first shaved ice drink and l went for rainbow flavour which consists of every flavour the man sells-and it was lush! Shaved ice is a huge thing in Hawaii and a must if You go. We did an amazing half day tour of film sets and walked down a valley used in Jurassic park, a bunker used in lost, and an area used in the film 50 first dates. This tour was awesome!!!! Loved every minute of it. We also spent a half day snorkeling in the protected conservation lagoon called Hanauma Bay. This was good with a fair few
fishes around, but I much more enjoyed watching the Eastern Asians posing for hundreds of pictures/selfies sucking the stomachs in and puffing out they're chest (these are what the men were doing of course!) all along the beach, ALL afternoon.
We had a couple of nights out which were fun and even found a pool table to have a couple of games on (I won of course -ha). We had a few randoms come to talk to us-one said random was convinced he had met me before a few years ago and continued to keep questioning me on my date of birth-its my friendly and approachable face getting me into trouble again. We also watched the free firework display that the Hilton hotel puts on every Friday night -even muggles like us can enjoy the free display and it's a great touch to start your weekend. There are lots of Eastern Asians that come on holiday here and they are rich. By the Hilton hotel there is a shopping road which has Gucci, Tiffany, Prada, Dolce and Gabanna, Hermes -you name it they have got it! We felt proper trampy walking around in our old looking clothes. It was
a stark contrast to the many homeless people living in a nearby park. We saw a lot of homeless people here surprisingly. After speaking to a local he told us lots of people in construction had lost their jobs due to the lack of new buildings/homes being built in Hawaii which led people to loose their homes as they could not keep up their bills/rent/mortgage repayments.
All in all we LOVED Oahu and Hawaii -the people are so nice the weather was fantastic and we got out of our comfort zone by going Into a shark cage (you don't get to do that every day)! Want to go back already!!! Aloha!
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