Hawaii Part 2 - Kailua and Greater Oahu

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Day Four

Today we were heading out of town, to see a bit more of Oahu than just Honolulu/Waikiki. We walked back just beyond Fort Derussy Beach Park and picked up a rental car. We could have got one closer, but the hire companies in Waikiki charge a lot extra, even if you get a deal through your hotel. We headed back to the hotel to pick up our gear and from there we headed down the other end of Waikiki, past the aquarium and zoo, and up to Diamond Head National Park, where we were going to climb Diamond Head Crater – it was quite cool because the crater is large, and you go underneath one side of it by tunnel, and all the car parking and massive picnic grounds and stuff is in the centre. Diamond Head Crater lookout is at an elevation of 170m (560ft), and signage states that the walk is 1 ½ - 2 hours to the lookout and back, partly because there are two sections of steep stairs. However, despite my lowish fitness level, it probably only took us about 1 hour and 10 minutes at most, and I probably could have jogged everything apart from the stairs. It was much easier than I had expected, and the view was totally worth it, looking down onto Waikiki and the up west coast in one direction, down and almost south in the other direction, and in the middle, you could see all the picnic/parklands with the ring of the crater rising around the outside. It was incredibly pretty, but unfortunately, with my American road rule addled brain from the drive through Honolulu and up to the crater, I didn’t check my digital camera before we walked up, and I had actually left the battery in the car – typical! At least I still had my phone camera, but I didn’t really get the shots I was imagining. Nevermind, these things happen! It was good to be outside and doing something we wouldn’t normally do. Like climbing a volcano! It was stunning and well worth the effort, and dare I say it, I actually enjoyed myself!

From there we were essentially heading over to the eastern side of the island, but took the coast road to get there (Kalanianaole Highway). The road was winding and pretty (and not dissimilar to parts of New Zealand). One of the really nice things about Hawaii is that they have a lot of beach parks – large recreation/picnic areas – near the main scenic spots, often with pretty adequate car parking, so it’s really easy to stop and look at things. It was nice being out of the city and away from the tourist crowds, and we just cruised along at our own pace, radio up, as the beaches quickly gave way to a rockier volcanic coastline. Heading past the beautiful Hanauma Bay, we stopped at the lookout above Halona Cove to watch a group of people making a music video, and patiently waited until the conditions were right for a rocky blowhole to start spraying out seawater into the air. It was pretty windy though (and windy enough to also be a bit cold), so we couldn’t really stay outside too much at some of the more exposed scenic points, but Halona Cove itself was pretty stunning. From there we headed over to Makapu’u Point and parked the car. The car park was really full (and quite remote – we had heard of a lot of break ins in the area), but there was a local sheriff hanging out in his 4WD in the car park the whole time we were there (not eating donuts – haha!), which was a little more reassuring, so we decided to brave the trail to the lighthouse. It was a bit further than we had expected, but the track was sealed the whole way, which made it a lot easier. For some reason, Vaughan had decided to take his shoes off and leave them in the car, even though the track was made of black tar seal, and he quickly ended up hobbling from shade point to shade point, because the ground was just so hot. A lot of the walk was sheltered from the wind and the sun was INTENSE – we went through a lot of water during the walk! We finally made it out to the edge of the coast where at least it was a bit cooler, and eventually reached the lookout, just above the lighthouse. There looked to be a non-official gravel type path leading off to the lighthouse, but it looked really slippery and dangerous, and given that I was only wearing Chuck Taylor type shoes and Vaughan wasn’t wearing any shoes at all, we decided not to head right out to the lighthouse, even though it was very close - if there was a proper path, I have no idea where it started. The 2.5km (1.5km) climb to the lookout was at 200m (650ft) elevation, and the views were spectacular – we had originally looked at stopping here as it is a known sight for whale watching, but unfortunately we didn’t see any but we have seen whales back home before at least. We walked back to the car, with Vaughan rushing ahead a bit at the end due to his sore feet. From there we stopped for a quick photo at Waimanalo Beach Park Lookout, before pulling into Makapu’u Beach Park so that Vaughan could bathe his feet in the ocean. The beach was small and really nice, with a lot of kids on body boards, although after our hot walk, it was nice to get back into the air conditioned car, with fresh bottles of water.

From there we headed to Waimanalo Beach Park itself, where we parked up and had a quick wander around. We saw a couple getting married down on the sand – there were only a few guests, but the groom looked sharp in his military uniform (not sure what type), the bride looked happy, and the flowers were so bright and it all seemed perfect, despite the wind that was whipping up like crazy. We were on the windward side of the island now for sure! Waimanalo was interesting though because it was certainly a lower socioeconomic area than the places we had stopped so far – it was interesting to see how regular people lived on the island, because it’s easy to get distracted by “haves” over the “have nots” sometimes.

Not long afterwards, we made it to Kailua, where we would next be staying. Kailua is known for its beautiful soft white sand beach and more laid back attitude (Waikiki Beach has very yellow and somewhat course sand in comparison, and is generally just filled with tourists). There aren’t any hotels in Kailua or anything, so we stayed in a small holiday rental at the back of someone else’s main house property. There were quite a lot of generic shops, a couple of schools, a supermarkett, a couple of department stores as well as fast food outlets and restaurants – Kailua had all the basics you really needed. The waterfront properties were impressive in a middle – upper middle class manner. No massive mansions or anything, but very nice, relatively large, well-kept homes. It was beautiful.

On the way back to where we were staying (which was about a five minute walk to the beach), we stopped off at the Kalapawai Market, which was like a small general store and café, that also sold lots of varieties of freshly brewed Hawaiian coffee – delicious! We jumped in the car and went to the supermarket, stocking up on more Hawaiian beer for Vaughan and the ever present American snacks (just for a change!). Unfortunately they were re-laying the road surface right outside where we were staying, and the machinery was noisy and made the ground shake a lot, so it was kind of like being back in Christchurch aftershock territory, only with engine noise as well. While the general Kailua environment was relaxing, it was actually quite disruptive to have the road works so close, so we spent a lot more time out and about than we had intended initially. However once they works had finished for the day, it was really peaceful, and we were grateful when they wound down for the evening. After a bit of relaxation time back where we were staying (and some fresh local pineapple), we headed out to do some laundry, and met a nice local lady (originally from California though), who worked for the postal service, and we had a really great chat about the area and the sights, etc. I've always enjoyed these moments on holiday, where you have reason to sit around and talk with people you might not otherwise have time or opportunity to talk to. Our conversations in laundromats, the world over, have always been a really interesting and positive experience. Maybe I should start a biopic book, "Laundromats of the World!" - haha! Eventually we went for dinner at Big City Diner, where Vaughan had a bowl of chilli plus fries, and I had moco loco (google it!), recommended to me by a friend, Desiree. It was a really tasty, basic dish, and I really enjoyed it! It was certainly turning into an “eating” holiday, but we weren’t complaining!



Day Five

Day five was a bit of a driving day, as we headed out of Kailua (stopping off at Taco Bell for Vaughan – his American favourite), bound for some of the sights in the centre of Oahu (non-coastal based). However first we drove north a little, checking out Kaneohe before getting on the H3 freeway, through the mountains – the freeway was so elevated at times, and the mountains were incredibly steep. The view was amazing! Changing to the H1 and then the H2, we headed towards Wahiawa, another very local town, which was very, very busy because the freeway essentially ends there. We stopped off for more Taco Bell and some energy drinks before heading on to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We hadn’t really intended on going there – it was just something to do. I had been there as a kid, and had also read that a lot of what you want to see can actually be viewed for free, rather than being sucked into paying for the various “attractions”, so we kind of just messed about at the gift store, bought some pineapple whip to try (like pineapple-flavoured soft serve ice cream), took some photos of the gardens and the baby pineapples growing, and drove around a little bit by the bigger pineapple and sugar cane fields, and eventually headed back. The dirt was so incredibly red in places, and reminded me of Western Australia. On the way back we headed further south to the Pali Highway before turning east, as we had heard of a place called the Pali Lookout, and we stopped there briefly for obligatory photos. The view really was quite amazing from up in the mountains and out across the flat land and the east coast, but holy crap, it was intensely windy there – it was difficult to even stand up, and since it was clouded over and not humid, it actually got quite cold up there after a few minutes in the wind! We didn’t stay for too long because of the wind, and it was kind of freaky being so high up in those kinds of conditions.

By the time we finished up there it was late-afternoon, so we headed back Kailua, and had a walk on the beach. It was cloudy and cool by the coast by now too, so there weren’t many people about apart from more kite surfers and a couple of families. The water was cold and we weren’t willing to do much more than walk along in the shallows, but it was still really nice out there. There was also a nice canal type area there were teams practising in their outrigger canoes – it looked like they could bulldoze the beach down by the sea and open it up to get fresh water again with the next high tide, so the canal was quite clean, and teeming with wildlife. It was quiet and tranquil (even with the boats), and it was fun watching the boats race from the bridge that crossed over the canal.

We popped up to the store and bought some more Hawaiian beer for Vaughan and then sat outside where we were staying, eating more local pineapple and generally just relaxing. It was nice not to have anything in particular on the agenda as such.

When we got hungry we ventured back over to the main area of Kailua and went to Teddy’s Burgers, a fast food burger joint I had also read about somewhere. I have always loved the American burgers joints and diners. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a city or a small country town, you can always find one, and you always kind of know what to expect. Sometimes the food is crap, but that’s half the charm. And sometimes the dingiest places will surprise you, but two things are certain - they are always cheap, and they always have bottomless cups of coffee. There’s just something about them that I enjoy, and Teddy’s was no exception even though it was a bit more of a “fast food” style place (burgers, fries and drinks only). No complaints from Vaughan either – as long as there’s BBQ sauce and bacon, he’s pretty happy anyway. Kailua was such a relaxed place that there wasn’t really much to do in the evenings (after dinner), but that was OK with us. Although the beach looked inviting at night, unfortunately most evenings the wind was strong/cool enough to not really be that enjoyable for taking a walk or staying out too long, so we just returned to our accommodation and had another slow, relaxing evening. We’d both thought New Zealand was relaxed, but outside of the cities, Hawaii really is on “island time”. Nice!



Day Six

We started off the day by sleeping in a bit and then visiting Crepes No Ka ‘Oi for brunch. I had read that crepes were a common local breakfast food in Hawaii, and there were several recommended places to choose from. We chose Crepes No Ka ‘Oi because of their famous breakfast crepe, which included potatoes, onion, bacon and eggs, and it was incredible! So filling, and something I’ve not tried elsewhere (we’d had crepes a lot in Europe, but not savoury filled ones). We also picked a sweet crepe to share, which included nutella, Reese’s peanut butter cups, sliced banana, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Decadent but heavenly. Of course, the ever-present bottomless cup of coffee was also high on the agenda, and the service there was also excellent. We rolled out of there and across the road to look in the big whole foods market for a while.

We walked down to the beach with the camera and walked along taking photos of kitesurfers (great wind for them as it was another fairly windy day), families, lifeguard towers, the beach, kayakers, etc – it was really pleasant, and far less populated that then Waikiki side of the island. We reached the end of the beach and began to walk up the road at the end (for an elevated perspective), when we passed a couple walking with a dog that were stopped on the footpath. We acknowledged them on the way past, which made them turn to talk to us, and they quickly pointed out that there were a couple of wild sea turtles in the water, by the rocks where we had just been standing. We stood together talking and watching the turtles for a few minutes before they walked on, and we raced back down to the water to try and get some photos. It was difficult in the water, because I didn’t have any waterproof gear for my camera, and I was thigh deep in the water and getting hit by the waves that were enough to almost knock me off balance. Given that sea turtles only surface for a breath about once every five minutes, it was also difficult to know where/when they would pop up, but I managed to get a couple of shots. I wasn’t too pleased with the resulting photos, but it was still a really nice experience, and we hung around watching them swim under the water for about 20 minutes or so.

After that we jumped in the car and ventured to Lanikai, which is the beach next to Kailua, although mostly it’s beachfront properties with a loop road behind it. Again, the houses seemed middle – upper middle class, although here they were slightly older, and less likely to have fences between them all, so it had a little more of an “open” feel to it. Lanikai doesn’t have any stores or anything though (it’s just houses), as the loop road runs around and back to Kailua again. Even quieter than Kailua, it looked like my kind of place to live, and I can imagine it would be really relaxed and inspiring if you were an artist or a write or something.

After dropping the camera back and getting changed, we walked to the beach for a swim. Although there were people about, it wasn’t ever crowded in Kailua, and it was nice sitting in the warm white sand, given that it was also windy down there too, and not quite as warm as the other side of the island because of it. The water was also really cold in comparison, but that was OK – we jumped in anyway and paddled around for a while, eventually going back to the beach to sit and read while we dried off.

We had intended on going to a place called Buzz’s for dinner, which seemed to have a really good reputation, but after heading into Kailua town to visit the night Farmers Market, we ended up getting something to eat there. The market was excellent – high quality foods and food stalls of all kinds. We bought local breads, and ate a massive container of Kailua pulled pork and salad – it was so tender, and a really tasty local dish. We also had about a hundred Thai stuffed chicken wings, and tried goats cheese and strawberry ice cream (surprisingly tasty also). It was fun just wandering around, smelling all the food smells, watching the people, listening to the live music (including some family teen band in the car park trying to strut out a bunch of 70’s punk hits – great effort!). The plant/flower stalls were impressive with the local orchids on show, and the fresh local produce looked colourful and flavoursome also. While we sat on a bench to eat our pulled pork, we chatted to a local guy about Kailua for a while, which was pretty pleasant.

After hanging around there for a bit, we then went shopping for Vaughan, because in the States he can easily find jeans that fit him, so we were on a bit of a mission with that, but it was easy enough. I can’t say I minded shopping at all! As dusk fell we headed back down to the beach for another walk, but didn’t stay too long, as again, it was a bit cool and windy, so we just watching DVDs in bed with all the windows and doors open, listening to the native wild night life (birds and insects). Pretty relaxing really.



Day Seven

Today we had planned to drive up to the north of the island to watch the surfers, and check out where they hold the Pipeline Masters every year. We got up fairly early, in time to make it to Agnes’s Portuguese Bakery before it got too busy. We had heard really good things about the Portuguese bakeries in Hawaii – I’m not sure of the history behind them though. Anyway, we ordered a box of malasadas (like freshly deep fried mini donuts – google them too), and I got a cornbread apple crumble muffin thing. We had a pot of hot local coffee and chatted to one of the girls that worked there while we sat at one of the indoor tables – she was very smart, witty and seemed genuinely interested in where we were from, so we had a pretty fun conversation for a while, and got onto the topic of how many Kiwi bakery products are actually savoury (it’s about 50:50, savoury:sweet maybe), compared to the bakeries in the US where almost all the products are sweet. She said they made one type of bread roll with bacon in it, and that they had one left, so Vaughan made sure he bought that too, which turned into a bit of a joke given that Vaughan was also wearing a witty t-shirt about bacon at the time. After chowing down an unnecessary amount of food and inhaling all the amazing deep friend bakery smells for a while, we headed back towards the beach in the car and started heading north, through all the small towns and past all the surf breaks. The surf wasn’t very high, but seemed to be big enough and regular enough to have a decent surf on.

We stopped at La’ie to take a photo of the Mormon temple there, which was quite a stunning white structure, with clear pools of water cascading down several levels in front of it. The view of the coast was pretty amazing from up there too, even though it wasn’t a significantly elevated area. We passed through tiny towns and sugar cane fields, usually with the coast on our right but heading slightly inland from the coast for a short time, and the drive was pretty nice really. A lot of the towns were small and a little run down, but people everywhere seemed relaxed and smiling. As we hit the coast again, we stopped at the beach because there were loads of much better surf spots, and we walked out to Sunset Point/Sunset Beach, which is well-known for the surf break. Don’t ask me why, but Vaughan made the mistake of lying on the sand well below the high tide line (and quite close to the water) while the tide was coming in, and was surprised by the surf totally saturating him, despite his fast reaction-time (leap in the air and sprint) – it was quite amusing to watch. I kind of messed about with my camera for a while, taking shots of the surfers, the beach, shells, flags, whatever. There were only about 10 people around as far as we could see, and the north side of the island wasn’t as windy. I’m pretty sure I could have sat there all day just watching and taking photos of people surfing – it was easy to photograph because the surf break was quite close to the beach (at an angle). I really enjoyed just mucking about there for a while. It was a tempting thought to imagine jumping in the water and going body surfing or something, but even though I consider myself a strong (if relatively unfit) swimmer, with reasonable ocean smarts, I still didn’t really think it was a sensible decision, based on the specific environment. One good thing about the US is that a lot of their beaches are monitored, or display a high level of signage actually down on the sand about the conditions, compared to New Zealand beaches.

After spending a bit of time there, we ventured off again and drove for a short period of time before reaching Waimea Valley, a botanical national park type place, which a lot of tourists go to. I wasn’t sure whether we would bother stopping, but decided to venture in anyway. We parked the car and walked around for a bit, just on the main tracks, as we didn’t have any hiking gear and didn’t want to get lost or anything. We did the main short walk to the Waimea Waterfall. I remembered the waterfall from my visit as a kid, as they had a diving display off there at the time. This time it was “health and safety overdrive”, as you could swim there, but they had lifeguards, and every person entering the water had to wear a life jacket. It would be the same in New Zealand, I’m sure (over the top H&S). With the number of tourists that visit the park every year, it’s obviously an important precaution. We just looked around mostly, but didn’t really feel the need to go swimming. ON the way back we stopped and hung out with a peacock for a while, so I could take some photos, but kids kept on chasing him around and he was getting upset. We decided to bail on the park, taking a nature track back down to the car, next to the river, in the South American forest section, which was very green and lush. Luckily it wasn’t too hot as it was mostly cloudy – sometimes in the car it was a bit too warm, but generally it wasn’t humid at all, and quite good weather for activities.

Not long afterwards we made it to the surf town of Haleiwa, which on the outskirts was pretty run down, but really interesting. We stopped for a second at Haleiwa Beach Park, but there wasn’t much there. The centre of the tiny town was filled with old western style buildings (some possibly original, and some newer ones designed to fit with the older ones), and it was really busy and difficult to find a park, due to all the tourists. I was really surprised at the number of people there. We didn’t stop at any of the stores due to the general tourist madness, but we cruised down to the massive Kaiaka Bay Beach Park area and ate some of the bread we had bought at the Kailua Farmers Market the night before (cinnamon and walnut - it smelled HEAVENLY). There were very few people actually at the beach park, so it was nice and quiet. Surprisingly, this part of the coast was actually a little stony in places, and didn’t really have any surfable waves that I could see, but I think that was because there was a breakwater nearby, and also because there was no wind at the time. I’ve heard that the surf can really crank up in this area also, which would have been great to see, but nevermind. On our way out of Haleiwa, we passed a dipped area next to the road, by a bridge, and saw all these caravans parked down there – the smell of BBQ seafood wafted through the air and me being me, decided that we had to go back. We did a u-turn and parked the car, wandering between all the shacks/buses/caravans, to see what there was to see – mostly everyone was selling Creole/Cajun cuisine (like in New Orleans), including mainly BBQ’d shrimp. Even though we had just eaten, I was not one for letting a local food challenge pass me buy, so we ordered a plate of shrimp between us and sat at one of the outdoor tables to eat – it was actually a pretty cool area because all the shacks/buses/caravans as well as the tables were covered in people’s names, which people had signed in marker pen over the years. There were even marker pens available everywhere so you could add your own names or artwork. And did I mention that the shrimp tasted even better than it smelled? Heavenly!

Once we had finished up there we headed back towards Kailua via the inland route, which took maybe an hour and a half. Back past the Dole Plantation, and the pineapple and sugar cane fields, back over the elevated freeway through the mountains, and towards the beautiful white sand East Coast. Hawaii is a magical place. With a lot of nice food. And cocktails. And friendly people. My favourite thing: The “hang loose” symbol that everyone does towards each other while driving, instead of the “driver wave” we do here. Even on the freeway, people were generally laid back and willing to let other people into their lane, etc. The attitude was very relaxed over all, and although I think that Kiwis are similar, especially away from Auckland, we do still have certain things we seem to get irate about (especially when driving), which is not really an issue in Hawaii. Of course, I’m generalising all of Hawaii based on our experiences and just on Oahu, and not everyone will see it that way.

We eventually made it back to Kailua and had a bit of a nana nap before another walk on the beach. It was the last real night of our vacation, and we wanted another mission out onto the sand. Much like all the Australians know who the Kiwis are when they are on holiday there, some locals asked us if we were cold, because they were all rugged-up against the wind in their jeans and hoodies, while we were still wearing shorts and t-shirts. We pretty much just took our time and putzed about, with the intention of going to Buzz’s for a late dinner afterwards. We showed up at the restaurant and had to wait a few minutes – we were pretty much immediately accosted by these three drunk American girls (drinking cocktails while waiting for an available table because they hadn’t made a reservation), because one of them had dated a Kiwi for some time and it had ended badly, so she ragged on us the whole time, and her less-drunk friends looked a bit embarrassed, even though they were still participating. We just played along really, but they got annoyed with us when the people called us to go to our table – I think they thought we had managed to push in for a table ahead of them, but it was just that we had a reservation already. The restaurant was AWESOME – set up basically like a big upmarket tiki bar, it was fairly dark with loads of candles and Hawaiian-themed cocktails (with names like Lava Flow, etc). It was really popular with the locals because it was the only restaurant down that end of town, essentially actually in Lanikai rather than Kailua, and it was also a lot nicer than many of the other burger joints and stuff. Although there were clearly tourists around, it wasn’t dominated by them (us), and it didn’t have that really tacky vibe going on. The service was excellent too! Vaughan ordered the steak special (some kind of tropical fruit basted thing), and I had the salmon special. I can say without any hint of a doubt that it was the best meal I have ever had anywhere in my entire life! The salmon was so tender (moist – what’s my word here?) that you didn’t need to cut it, and it was just melt-in-your-mouth. It was stuffed with goat’s cheese, almonds, artichokes and herbs/spices, and it was phenomenal. No one needs to hear more about my dinner, but honestly, it was worth my miniature rave. We had a few cocktails and stayed until late – it was really enjoyable, and had certainly been a day for overindulging in the food department!




Day Eight

Today was our last day in Hawaii, with our flight due to depart just before midnight. We knew it would be one of those funny days where you’re kind of wanting to still enjoy your holiday, but you’re also kind of keeping an eye on the time and knowing you have somewhere to be. We ate some breakfast and left Kailua – it was a beautiful day, and a good one for driving. We headed for Pearl City (north of Honolulu) to go to the massive outlet centre there, the location of which I had tried to remember from when we were out that way in the shuttle after our visit to Pearl Harbour). Success – my memory served us well, and we shopped around, mostly looking for stuff for Vaughan, but kind of just seeing what was available. We didn’t actually find a lot that was really suitable, but Vaughan did buy some Vans t-shirts. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to find sports shoes this time, which is usually really easy in the US. After about an hour and a half looking around we decided to do the bolt and take a drive up the Western Coast, along the Farrington Highway. From the outset it was really obvious that this was a lower socioeconomic part of the island, and the further up the coast we got, the clearer it became. Although there were beach parks, there were a lot of dodgy-looking people hanging about, more people in the street, more fast food restaurants, alcohol stores and supermarkets (less anything else), more industrial buildings, and definitely more Hawaiians (native Hawaiian people, not Hawaiian-born white people who are known as “locals” instead, to distinguish). There were also a lot of I guess what Kiwis would call a “boil up” outside people’s homes (or a BBQ, or both), where they would make local food and have handmade signs outside, selling plates for $2 or similar cost. While the beaches were still pretty, they were really rocky and there wasn’t really any surfable surf. Kids played in the water a lot, but had to brave the rough rocks most of the time. While listening to the car radio as we drove, the weather report indicated a stiff offshore breeze on the Northern Beaches (Sunset Point etc), so it would have been a great day to drive up there, but you get that sometimes. Along the way we drove past several more military bases – they are absolutely everywhere on Oahu, and it looks like a great deal of the population are involved in some kind of way (after the tourism industry, of course). The Western Coast was all a bit samey, and as the road ended ahead in a dead end, we decided to turn back and head for some more shopping at Waikiki. We sussed out a place we could park at for free, and had a last walk in the warm water, past the shops and around the general beach front area. It was interesting to see Waikiki again after seeing so much of the rest of the island (ie: the less touristy parts), however I didn’t think any less of it, as Waikiki is just such a fun and vibrant place to be in general. We had another look around the Royal Hawaiian Centre briefly, and then I went for a shop in the store that I had saved all my money for – H&M. I shopped there a lot in the UK, and really miss the fact that there aren’t any back in NZ.

Since there wasn’t really much left to do, we decided to venture down to the far end of Waikiki, towards Diamond Head Crater/the Aquarium and Zoo. Pretty much as soon as we got there we had to make a run for it to catch a photo of the sunset from the boardwalk, but it was worth it – our last sunset in Hawaii. We could see a raincloud moving quickly over the hotels back at the main part of Waikiki Beach itself, and about one minute later it was pouring with rain, so we made a mad dash back to the car again. It was a bit of a crazy little mission, but it was actually kind of laughable at how it all worked out. At least the car wasn’t far away.

From there we pretty much headed to the airport with the rental car – or at least, we tried to. Vaughan decided he wanted to go to Taco Bell first. I remembered where I had seen one on a map and I managed to get us there. By this time it was dark and raining. Once we left I couldn’t find the freeway onramp, but continued in the direction of the airport, as there’s no real way to get lost. However the stop at Taco Bell had pushed us a bit closer to our departure time than I felt comfortable with. While we were still travelling towards the airport OK, the fact that we weren’t on the freeway meant that our journey was considerably slower. After about 45 minutes we managed to find an onramp and I drove like a fiend through a downpour, face up close to the windscreen, trying to rush the rest of the way. Once we actually got to the airport, we couldn’t find where to return the rental car. While many companies had well-signposted return facilities, you can bet that we had the company that was on some random street, five minutes away, and they hadn’t provided a map (we hadn’t picked the car up from the airport, remember). Eventually we found it, but by this time Vaughan was wearing his unhappy face and I was trying to be optimistic about the size of the airport (ie: it’s small and they won’t have many, if any other flights departing at the same time as us). True to previous form, we made it, despite the last minute difficulties, and managed to get checked in. On the way through we had to go through the body scanners for the first time. I didn’t look at the monitor in time, as I was really curious about whether the pins in my knee would show up. I guess maybe I will never know. At least on the journey home there were a lot of empty seats so there was space to spread out and snooze for our night flight. It’s all good!

Thanks Hawaii. Although windy, your weather was spectacular, your beaches were beautiful, your cocktails were tasty, your people were friendly, and your food was far far FAR too delicious! See you another time!

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Photos

Diamond Head Crater and Park
Bottom left: the crater rim from the lookout, looking east
Bottom right: Looking south west to Waikiki from the lookout

Windy Kailua
Steep hills in the background, hidden by the foothills, with parasailers going full force in the foreground

East Coast, from the Pali Lookout
Steep mountains on each side!