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Published: November 22nd 2011
We landed in Honolulu, Hawaii, around noon on the day we lived twice. We’d departed Manila at 7pm and arrived earlier that day having spent 9/10 hours in the air. After a mini grilling for Ash at immigration we collected our bags and boarded the bus bound for Waikiki. The lady who sold us our tickets announced that everyone was expected to tip the driver before hopping off. This was to be a theme of the trip, most restaurants included a tip guideline and examples of % calculations with the bill and some, but not all, tour guides mentioned gratuity was not included in the ticket prices. Welcome to America! Checking in to the Ewa Hotel (as in “what-‘eva’” per the lady at the airport) was a tad painful as the poor guy seemed too nervous to actually look at us or speak to us directly. We did manage it though and we very happy with our budget double room with partial sea view. The rooftop had a huge area with tables and chairs and sea views slightly obscured by hotel towers. No pool but the beach was only a block away so no complaints from us.
Emilie arrived late
that night so we caught up over drinks before jet lag caught up with us all. Our first few days were a wash out due to jet lag, although we did discover Terry’s Burgers which were 50’s style, big and delicious, ABC the local convenience chain referred to as “All Blocks Covered” for good reason and some pretty good, although not cheap, restaurants (Hula Grill, part of the Outrigger Hotel standing out). We couldn’t help but feeling our time and money were running away from us so we booked on to the Atlantis submarine trip (which was ok bar the extremely annoying guide shouting into the PA system), hiked up to the top of Diamond Head crater for fabulous views of all of Honolulu, the island of O’ahu and the ocean and a hike up to Manoa Falls, a waterfall and jungle hike nearby (also the set for Hawaii Five O and Lost).
One unique and very interesting tour we did was visit the Pearl Harbour exhibits: Bowfin Submarine, Arizona Memorial, USS Missouri where WWII officially ended with the Japanese signing the document of surrender, the Aviation Museum (where our 90+ year old guide Eddie Young fascinated us with
fact and personal experience for over an hour) and various other museums. The layout was fantastic and the displays extremely informative; our only complaint was we didn’t have enough time in one day, even though we got picked up at 6am and dropped off at 6 pm! The bus journey between exhibits was kept entertaining by our guide Cowboy and overhearing our fellow retired American passengers try to out-do each other with war and personal stories. Tacked on to the end of this trip was a tour of Honolulu City sites such as the Royal Palace. By the end of the day we were pooped and had our first early night.
The next day we flew to the Big Island or the island of Hawaii. Our approach from the air showed a bleak, barren landscape and we doubted whether we’d researched correctly. Luckily, the grimness is because the airport is built on an old lava spill. Pretty cool. We got a bus from the airport to the town of Kona eventually, although it nearly didn’t happen because the driver couldn’t tell us the price or deal with enquiries; he was the driver you see and ‘I have to concentrate
on driving as its the important part’, the ticket seller must do that and he wasn’t around so see if you can find him otherwise the taxi rank is over there. Strange work ethic but he did a good job of getting us there safely once we paid the money to someone else. We spent a week staying at Uncle Billy’s. Our rooms were big and we had balconies looking out to sea. The breakfasts weren’t worth getting up for (Ade had a radioactive green looking boiled egg one day) but it was the cheapest option we could find and very centrally located. We hadn’t realised the IronMan competition started the week after we flew out. Each day the town got busier and busier until on our last night the roads were closed and the place was mobbed with athletes training, their support crew, spectators and stalls. Not being familiar with the competition we asked around, turns out the race involves a 2.4 mile swim followed by 112 miles cycle then an easy marathon to round it out. Mental!!! People die every year. And it’s roasting in Kona to make matters worse. Enough about that nonsense. (We did chuckle each
time someone asked if we were competing!)
Whilst in Kona we took in as much as we could. The day we arrived we went out for a double dive with Jack’s Diving Locker to see manta rays. The first dive was before sunset, the second at night with lot of lights to attract plankton which attracts the mantas. We were unlucky though and only saw one, they had seen 12 a few nights earlier. That night we discovered the local bar Sam’s Hideaway tucked down a lane. Here the drinks were dirt cheap and the locals belted out hits from the 80’s and 90’s on the karaoke machine. Fun times. The following morning we were scheduled to get surfing lessons at Kahalu’u Beach but luckily the waves were flat so it was postponed. Our sense of equilibrium this early was questionable. We wanted to give spotting the mantas another go this time from above so we’d booked on to a night snorkel with a different company on a small catamaran at the same spot. Luck was definitely not on our side as we saw none this time, as apparently happens approx 15% of the time. The trip back was
fun with cocktails and nibbles which lifted our spirits. While in New Zealand, Ade and Ash met a Hawaiian lady named Kimberley, who lived near to Kona with her husband so one evening we all met for dinner and drinks where we brushed up on local sites and enjoyed some locally caught fish.
One whole day was dedicated to a Lava Combo tour with the Kapohokine Tour Company. We packed in a drive across Saddle Road through the two largest mountains Mauna Kea and Mauna Lao right to the other side of the island, a viewing of Rainbow Falls in Hilo, a trip to see the huge crater at the Volcano National Park, the huge fissure cracks of Kilauea Iki which erupted for 5 weeks back in 1959, Thurston Lava Tube, a huge tunnel formed by lava cooling at different temperatures, watching the sun set from a black sand beach called Kalapana (possibly one of the coolest things ever), eating a BBQ dinner at a macadamia nut farm, trying the local Kava juice with its relaxing properties (actually called ‘ava in Hawaii but Kava throughout the rest of Polynesia) and finally viewing the craters at night to see the
red glow from the bubbling lava down below. During the trip we passed many old lava spills and through a dense jungle with massive swathes cut down from lava flows. It was truly awe inspiring.
After the previous immense day we were sharper for our second attempt at surfing, which was a lot of fun. Ade was our group star with Em in the middle and Ash pulling up the rear. We can predict that there will be more surfing on the cards. We headed to a different location this time, out by the old airport. Our ‘instructors’ left a little to be desired and took off for an afternoon of surfing with their mates and all the snacks and drinks designated for us after the lesson.
Star gazing from the top of Mauna Kea was on the itinerary for that night, Maverick was our guide from Forest & Trail Tour Company. We stopped at an abandoned sheep station for a canteen style dinner of stew in long tents before ascending up to the summit where we watched the sun set over blankets of clouds alongside the impressive observatories installed by many countries including the US, Britain, Japan
and France. The feeling was surreal and we’d highly recommend to anyone. The luck remained elusive though and the pretty cloud for the sunset didn’t lift (as occurs only 5% of the time) thus interfering with star gazing somewhat. We did use the 11 inch telescope to get a closer view of the lava flowing on another part of the island and to get a closer look at the surface of the moon. The highlight was watching Jupiter rising and spotting three of her moons. The hot chocolate and cookies kept us sated for the long drive and snooze home.
On our final full day we were up early again for another double dive. We followed a pod of spinner dolphins for a bit before jumping in ourselves for some aquatic adventures. The diving is good in Kona but not one of our favourite places although if we’d seen 12 mantas swarming around us I’m sure we’d think differently. Our final night was spent at the Royal Kona Resort enjoying a traditional Polynesian Lu’au (earth pit cooked meal) and cultural show. The backdrop of the stage was pounding waves and a spectacular sunset. The complimentary seat upgrade was appreciated
as were the unlimited drinks included in the price of the ticket. The show was a lot of fun and the food very tasty although in hindsight the trip back to Sam’s Hideaway was not one of our better ideas (think Bon Jovi – Living On A Prayer & The Beatles – Hey Jude).
Before we caught our flight out we had to satisfy the condition of our massive discount on activities by attending a presentation at Kona Coast Resort at which they tried to get us to by a time share which we tactfully at first, then more firmly, declined. We stopped at Da Poke Shack on the way back to Kona for deconstructed sushi which had been recommended by a few locals and fully lived up to expectation. And with that yummy raw tuna, we finished our stay in Hawaii, hitting the skies, this time bound for Vancouver.
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Sarah K
non-member comment
Fab!
Great updates and photos, guys - thanks and keep 'em coming...or have you stopped now?!? Take care! xx