HAWAII: USA stop #3: The Finale

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We landed at Honolulu on Monday 23 May. This was always planned to be a warm, relaxing, no touring finale to our journey. It was also the first 'familiar soil' since leaving home.

Fortunately the plan worked ... temperatures in high 20's, balmy trade winds, blue skies, tepid ocean water ... still did some walks but the beach beckoned. The opening panorama was taken at Waikiki Beach 'central', in front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (Pink Palace) - always a busy spot.

The tourist bustle of Waikiki was still there but they've spent a lot of money on smartening up the main streets since we were there in 2000. More plants & gardens, water features, lawns - some upgraded shopping centres etc - lovely result. Note the photo of the new Sheraton Centre.

We stayed (for the 3rd time) at Outrigger on the Reef - you'll see from the photos why we love it ... location, location. Its Shore Bird Restaurant opens onto Waikiki Beach and has a cook your own bbq option - keeps prices down! This was a perfect to finish.

We've received lots of great feed back through the blogs - thank you - the stats. metre shows that the 12 blogs so far have averaged nearly 100 views each! Wow!

Cheers from Jan & Garry

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Photos

Waikiki Beach
Arrived at noon but had to go for a walk while waiting to get access to our room. This was our first view of Waikiki Beach and the Pink Palace.

Our Outlook
Our partial ocean view room had a lovely outlook with views of mountains & the pool to the left and the ocean to the right. The 2 chairs out there were well used!

Our Part of Paradise
Our hotel's beach front was about 5min. walk from Waikiki central (crowds) - spot Jan in the blue cossie. The Shore Bird Restaurant is just behind the yellow umbrellas.

Self Portraits
After 7 weeks I had nearly perfected the 'long left arm, self portrait' technique. An essential skill to have when travelling as a couple.

Feet on Display
The Sheraton Hotel had a new beach front pool - water level to edge - floating bean bags - so as you walked along the sea wall path you had this footy view!

Sheraton Centre
The main street through Waikiki has had a big face lift. The Sheraton Centre is shrouded in palm trees - and its outdoor eateries look onto tropical gardens & ponds.

Beyond Diamond Head
We walked for an hour and a half from Waikiki to Diamond Head Beach Park - beyond was Black Point - now we were surrounded by serious surfers a few tourists.

Lunch on the Balcony
Long walk = big appetite. But we were saving ourselves for dinner, so a light bbq chicken & salad on the balcony worked fine - local beer was better than I remembered!

Waterfront
The sea wall walk from our hotel to Waikiki Beach (central) - the dark mass in the water to the right of Jan was a school of little fish - millions of them!

Shore Bird Restaurant
Dined here 3 out of 4 nights. Note the beach flares and line of surf in the background - with balmy nights, the open sided restaurant had a wonderful Hawaiian atmosphere.

Comments

[Gordon]

Thanks for the Memories
Hi Guys, Just wanted to thank you for all the wonderful blogs. I've enjoyed every minute of it. The captions made me feel almost as if I was there with you....Gordon

[Ian]

Aloha!
Nice way to finish up a memorable trip!

[Debbie]

Perfect Finish
Might as well finish in style! Very entertaining blogs.