Welcome to Waikiki

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We started our day with a bit of snorkelling at the cove opposite the beach house. It was brimming with life and Daryl got some fab pictures of Angel Fish amongst others. We chatted to a Kiwi girl who had also taken advantage of this lovely snorkelling site before heading onto her next destination. We had our final breakfast at the grill and bid farewell to the North Shore.



Almost as soon as we left, a great dark cloud descended upon us and it started to rain (at this point I wanted to turn back and stay oop north.) We decided to head into Waikiki to see if we could leave our bags at the cheapy hotel we'd booked, as this would make it easier for us to get the bus back into the city later on after we'd dropped off the hire car.



We found it relatively easily and lucky for us a room was ready so we were able to book in at 1230 rather than the advertised time of 4pm. The only problem was the lack of parking so I was running in and out and up and down the stairs with bags whilst Daryl parked up and tried to avoid getting told to move on from the 3 minute loading bay. I was slightly concerned that there was no bed in the room, just two sofas, but figured we'd deal with that later,



Job done and we headed for Honolulu Airport to drop the hire car back off. As we arrived there a bit early, we parked up and I ran in quickly to see about petrol. The car had a full tank when we collected it and it wasn't clear if that was included in the price. It turned out it wasn't, but we could return it and pay their charge or refuel it ourselves. We decided on the latter as we had time to kill and figured it would be cheaper, and despite the girl at the desk saying there weren't really any fuel stations around this area (yeah right) I had a sneaky idea up my sleeve. As the hotel we'd stayed in when we first arrived was just around the corner, we parked up there and logged back onto their internet and googled petrol stations. It turns out there was one about 5 minutes away, so with a screen shot of google maps, we made our way and refuelled, and it was about a third cheaper than what the car hire place would be charging us-bargain!



On dropping the car off, we were told our return couldn't be completed as there was a scratch on the back left bumper and we had to return to customer services. Bloody great, there's me thinking we'd saved some on petrol only to be charged possibly a lot more for a scratch on the car. Fear not, we were covered by the collision insurance we'd taken out (and by we I mean Daryl-he is clearly the brains in this outfit, I probably wouldn't have bothered) the heavens had opened and it was chucking it down by now, and as we'd left all our bags in the hotel, all we had were the clothes we were wearing (ie shorts and vest) but it was one of those moments you just couldn't help but laugh.

The bus stop was right across from the rental place, and luckily took us straight into Waikiki. It cost $5 for the two of us and took about and hour, which was about 30 minutes longer than a taxi, but about £20 cheaper. I can hear my Mam right now saying 'tight sods!' but as I've said, added up all these things start to amount to a lot of money. Hawaii is expensive compared to mainland USA and the cost of living is high, possibly due to the fact a lot of things have to be imported/shipped in. Waikiki is especially pricey, and when we first started looking at holidays, we were doubtful weather we could afford it and if we actually wanted to spend that much money (especially as hidden costs really hike the prices up) that was when I saw an article about backpacking Hawaii. By doing it this way, we really have seen more than we thought we would and make our money go a lot further, plus we have made some great memories and met lots of people along the way (so always do your homework and look at places other than travel agents!)



Anyway I digress. We hopped off the bus and went to explore Waikiki (it rained still!) so we headed for food where I had a pulled pork burger and Daryl had a cheeseburger. As our friend Ali had said, there was an ABC store on every corner (and in between) which is like an American Woolies. Really these doesn't need to be so many-it's nuts! We had a mooch around the shops and Daryl eyed up some sunglasses.



After a few cocktails we felt we'd had a long enough day so ventured back to find out where this bed was. It turned out to be in the cupboard, as a pull down one, and as I pulled it down and laid on it, I didn't move for about 6 hours. At some point Daryl woke up on the sofa and got into bed and we had one of the best nights sleep of the holiday so far. This little hotel room had everything (despite the bed being in the cupboard) including a kitchenette and a big bathroom. Ok it didn't have a balcony and the decor was quite dated, but it really was a great room in a great location just a block away from the beach. I don't think the trip advisor reviews were very good, but we liked it, and to be honest I'd of been happy to stay here for the rest of our time in Waikiki.

http://kuhio-banyan-club.hotels7.info

Friday 19th September

We woke up at about 8 am after a really great sleep in the pull down bed. We made a brew, showered and checked out of the hotel, with a plan for the day to leave our bags in our next and final hotel and maybe take a hike of Diamond Head Volcano to pass time until check in. Our hotel was only a couple of blocks walk and luckily when we arrived despite being really busy, they had a room available, so we decided to scrap the plans for Diamond Head today and make our way to Waikiki Beach.The water was beautiful, and despite this beach being really busy and touristy as everyone had said, it was still a nice beach, with plenty of surfing going on.

Towards the end of the day, we decided to find a happy hour for some Mai Tais, and ended up at a place called Dukes, which was a beach bar at the rear of the Moana Surfrider hotel, the first hotel in Waikiki dating back to the early 1900s. (At least I think it was part of this hotel, they're all so big it was hard to tell where one ends and another begins!)

We had some food, and cocktails, one of which was called 'Tropical Itch' which came with a big wooden backscratcher in the glass-novel, and a huge dessert that resembled Haleakala that we had hiked a few days before (good old American portion sizes!) the evening was spent at a bar called Shore Bird, which had a good atmosphere and a bit of Karaoke which was entertaining. A lot of the bars are along the beach, which we didn't realise at first as initially we walked along the street side of the hotels, but thanks to good old Google and trip adviser, we found these nice places, and probably drank too much beer than we should of done. Hey, nobody likes a hangover, but a hangover in Honolulu, makes a pleasant change from a hangover in Hull.

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