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Published: October 27th 2005
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High Board
The view of the pool from outside the lift on our floor. September 26th Monday
Pack things into the car, there's loads of room in this boot.
We have been at the beach for 10 days and I could stay another 10. It is beautiful and the pace of life, slow to stop, is refreshing.
Arrive outside our Waikiki hotel and Steve chucks us out and goes to take car back.
Two bell boys immeadiately jump to putting the bags on a posh trolley.
What a difference from the last few days.
I book in realizing I am dressed in a sarong - not quite the same standard of dress as the rest of the tourists in the hotel...oh well.
Our room is on the 7th floor.
As we get out of the lift..activated by the room key card...there is a 4ft wall and a view down to the pool 5 floors below.
I'm not completely comfortable with this.
The room is fine but has glass doors leading to a balcony with an iron railing in place of the far wall with a view of the road 7 floors below. I am not comfortable with this either.
The kitchen area is well equipped and the bathroom is huge.
Boys go for a
Diamond Head Rim
Ridge our walk up Diamond Head took us to swim in the pool. They say they prefer the sea.
Walk to the beach.
There are people everywhere.The beachside hotels encroach on to the sand and it is a question of weaving our way through sun beds, towels and bodies.
The contrast with our camp shore could hardly be greater. Except the sand was clean, where we could see it, and the water was clear and warm.
The surf is different here too.
There didn't seem to be any and then all of a sudden the flock of surfers jumped onto their boards simulteaneously and rode slowly and gracefully to shore - standing up.
It was quite a sight.
Rain cut short our walk and we retired to cook tea.
September 27th Tuesday
Laze around the pool. Wander streets. Do some embroidery. Search for internet no joy.
Rory and Steve take the free trolley bus to the shopping centre. Steve manages to get some new swimmers (swimming trunks) but no luck for Rory.
September 28th Wed
Steve heads off bright and early to visit Pearl Harbour. The boys are not interested in another museum so I stay in town with them.
(The Arizona Memorial
Shade at last
Tunnel through the crater edge at Diamond Head is literally in Pearl Harbour. The Arizona battleship is still there but on the bottom with part of the superstructure visible two feet above the surface. There is a platform above and across it. The authorities provide a shuttle service to it free of charge. It starts at 08:30 and is first-come first-served. Advised to arrive early before the tour buses I caught a local bus at about 07:00. I joined the queue at 08:10 but it was moving quickly and I received a ticket for the 08:45 group. Had some naff coffee and part of a so-called pastry while waiting my turn. The 'tour'began with a filmshow explaining the tensions and build-up in the far east with Japan harassing China. It closes with footage of the Pearl Harbour attack. The shuttle visit to the memorial platform did not mean a great deal, I guess it is very different if you knew anyone affected at the time. The film was far more sobering. Not least because so much of the damage could have been avoided or minimised. Steve)
We explore the beach in the other direction. Still crowded but gets better the further you walk west. More surfers today
Are we there yet
These stairs took some energy I can tell you. Still on way to ridge at Diamond Head and more surf by the look of things. We are not tempted to swim.
Mooch round the shops and discover a toy shop with an aquarium around the stairs. It was huge and we stood on the steps with Manta rays, beautifully coloured fish and even small sharks gliding over and around us. Weird sensation. And we didn't even have to buy anything.
Pity we didn't have the camera with us.
Found a taco place that was a bargain.
Steve and I managed a couple of hours on our own early evening. We went to a cafe (Capuccino's, part of the Waikiki House of Joy) with WiFi internet - something that's sadly lacking in most of Waikiki.
It was cosy and the beer was cold and came in a huge jug. No charge for internet either.
September 29th Thurs
Leisurely breakfast and then wait for the bus to Diamond Head. After several minutes we are approached by a man who offers to take us there in his taxi. Steve barters and we get a ride in a stretch limo no less, and for only a few dollars more than the bus.
The car had once been luxurious
Much further?
This spiral staricase is near the end of the walk with leather seats, loads of room and champagne flutes lined up along the windows.
Hot and fairly strenuous walk up to the view point at Diamond Head. The whole place is the crater of an old volcano. Lots of switchbacks and some wicked stairs.
At the top the view is worth every panting moment of the climb.
You can see the whole of Waikiki and much of the coral reef that surrounds this headland. Cool was Owen's verdict.
TGI Fridays for tea...Rory's choice.
I had a huge pink cocktail. No idea what was in it, except perhaps raspberries, and no idea what it cost. It was a typical tourist drink and delicious. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
Heavy rain accompanied our walk back to the hotel.
September 30th Friday
Breakfasted early and downstairs to get a tour bus to Hanauma Bay to try our hands at snorkelling.
The weather is poor, cloudy with showers. We are told this will not affect the water in the bay.
Issued with flippers, masks and snorkels together with a map of the reef.
Some advice about where it is safe to swim and off we go.
Waikiki from Diamond Head
As you can see the walk was worth every step Had to watch a film about caring for the reef and so on.
Steep walk down to the bay, which is a national park and protected area. Very pretty.
Still raining as we don our masks and head into the sea. Had to sit in the water to put flippers on...they are very hard to walk in even in the water.
Snorkels in and then try to get used to only breathing through our mouths. This is not as easy as it sounds for the first few minutes. Once you get used to it, and as long as you breath slowly, it can be done.
The view under the water was absolutely amazing. There were tons of different fish straight out of an aquarium (well not literally). They swim very close to you. Floating over the coral is much easier than normal don't know why.
The rain was pouring down by now and the normally tranquil bay was becoming wavey.
This made it more difficult and we soon got very cold.
Made for shore and found our bags were wet too. Never mind it was such a great experience we don't care about that.
Tour bus back to hotel and
Lighthouse from Diamond Head
The dark patches in the water are the coral reef we snorkelled over later in the week. some hot drinks.
Washing and packing for the rest of the afternoon.
Gladiator is on TV tonight so we get take away and settle down to watch.
October 1st Saturday
Shuttle to airport for flight to Oz.
Long queues but they moved fast. Quite a hike from the check in to the gate through an airport with few walls, security must be a nightmare here. Or perhaps all the outside is airside.
Massive Qantas plane with 2 storeys. We are in row sixty something!
Personal entertainment screens for each seat, vegetarian food option, children's meal (ie tons of chocolate) for Rory and more choices of film than you could watch in the flight time. We just sit back and relax.
The flight takes 10 hours but because we cross the international date line we will not get to Sydney until Sunday (tomorrow) evening.
I'm told I will get the day back somewhere along the line.
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Helli
non-member comment
nice pictures
nice pictures