Day 5 - Diamond Head Crater Hike, Kualoa Ranch, Yard House & Tiki Bar and Grill

---

The alarm went off this morning at 6:20am. We stayed in bed a bit longer before getting up and making our way on foot the 20mins to get to Dollar Car Rentals to pick up our car at 7:30am. We got there on the dot and the line was already quite big. Due to the computer systems being down, 40mins later we finally had our little Nissan Versa and we were on our way in the direction of the South Shore to head up to the Diamond Head Crater Lookout.
Entry to the park was only $5 for the car and we had to wait maybe five minutes for a parking spot which was fine.
The brochure said it would take approx. 1.5-2hrs to do the hike but Marnee and I got up in about 25mins (Bec sat it out due to the highly uneven path).
The walk consisted of some concreted path, some dirt, some very uneven ground and at the end, some very steep steps.
The view from the top was spectacular. You could see the entire crater on one side all the way down the coast each way, and overlooked Waikiki. The water was so beautiful and that postcard aqua/blue colour.
We slowly made our way down, stopping to take photos along the way. It took about 25mins to get down as well. As we reached the bottom it started to rain so we made it in good time.
From there we drove to get some breakfast at little café we came across called Moena Cafe at the Koko Marina Shopping Centre at about 10:30am. I got the 'MC fruity waffle'. It was a giant waffle covered in strawberries, banana, blueberries, and whipped cream and shredded coconut sprinkled on top. Delish!
From there we drove the 40mins to Kualoa Ranch. We stopped across the road briefly, but the sun wasn’t out and the toilets were gross so we headed over to the ranch.
The Kualoa Ranch has been used in heaps of Hollywood movies, most notably Jurassic Park. It’s also actually still a working ranch where schools take kids to learn about ranch life.
We got to pat some animals in the petting zoo first including a turtle, goats, a donkey and horses.
Then it was time for our 90mins tour. We got on a bus with no windows and we were on our way.
First, we got off at the bunker on the property that was used during World War II. We got to go inside the bunker and take some photos. It had movie posters up of all the movies that had been filmed on the ranch including Mighty Joe Young, Karate Kid 2, the Jurassic Park franchise, A Very Brady Sequel, Journey ft. The Rock, Godzilla, Pearl Harbor, George of the Jungle, Tears of the Sun, You Me and Dupree, Along Came Polly and Soul Surfer.
We also saw a replica of the valley that movie producers paid $20,000 for to use in the Nicholas Cage and Christian Slater movie Windtalkers. From there we drove through the valley where Jurassic Park and Lost were filmed and stopped for a photo opportunity with a Jurassic Park sign. We also saw giant footprints of both the English and Japanese Godzillas, where Hurly set up his golf course in Lost, and various other movie sites. We then drove through more of the ranch before ending back at the start.
Next we jumped in the car bound for Target. It was a bit of a drive but back in the direction of Waikiki anyway. We shopped up a storm there before jumping in the car and thought we’d head to the outlets again. We got stuck in the most rubbish traffic for over 45mins before deciding just to head back into Waikiki instead. Even the trip back there took a while. We arrived at the service station opposite the hire car place at 6:20pm to refuel and take it back across the road to return. Then we walked all the way back to the hotel to shower after a long day.
It seemed to take ages for us to get ready but eventually we did and made our way down to the Cheesecake Factory but the wait was going to be 40mins so we walked around to Yard House. The wait there was only about 20mins so we played on the wifi until we were buzzed.
The menu was very extensive. I got bahn mi (a Vietnamese style roll), Marnee got pizza and Bec got a fake chicken burger. We were all pretty happy with our meals.
We went from there up the street, Bec went back to the hotel as she wasn’t feeling well, and Marnee and I continued down to Tiki Bar and Grill for one cocktail. I got one called The Monkey which tasted almost like a banana chocolate milkshake. Tasty.
From there we walked back to the hotel and got to bed about 12:30pm.

Total steps for the day: 23,652
Total kms for the day: 16.41

---