Goodbye Kaua'i, Hello Honolulu & then LA!

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Our last day in Princeville turned out to be cloudy and wet so it made having to leave a bit easier although the sun did break through around 6pm. On top of that David, Tracey, Annie, Michael, Claire, Alexander, Jill, Trevor, George, Lisa, Peter, Luke and Georgie had departed so, the party was definitely nearing the end.

We've enjoyed lots of adventures; amongst them, cocktails at the St Regis while watching sunset and sabering of a champagne bottle as the sun went down. It was at the St Regis where Kev said G'day to Pierce Brosnan (apparently he has a house on Kaua'i along with many other actors including Harrison Ford and Julia Roberts). After cocktails and that bit of excitement at St Regis we enjoyed a lovely evening meal at Tiki Iniki with those party members still remaining. We also visited the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Reserve - where we saw lots of birds, a seal and some whales - and the Kilauea Lighthouse - along with Karoline, Andy, Mira and Larissa. That evening we went to the Tahiti Nui Restaurant for a Luau with Tracey, Annette and Paul which included some family entertainment to celebrate the 'legendary' Auntie Louise with songs and Hawaiin dancers who put on a great show. Annette joined the dancers to strut her stuff too! It was all very exotic which finished up a traditional fire dance. Back at our house we were introduced to the game of Spoons which was quite a revelation, and extremely noisy! Then, all too soon we were watching our last sunset and drinking the last of the Moet. The following day, in dribs and drabs, those remaining left to fly to Honolulu on the island of O'ahu and then back to various places.

We ourselves flew to Honolulu for two nights. The island of O'ahu is known as 'The Gathering Place' and is the third largest of the Hawaiin Islands; home to about two-thirds of the population of the State of Hawaii.

Oʻahu was apparently the first of the Hawaiian Islands sighted by the crew of HMS Resolution on January 19, 1776 during Captain James Cook's third Pacific expedition. Escorted by HMS Discovery, the expedition was surprised to find high islands this far north in the central Pacific. But Oʻahu was not actually visited by Europeans until February 28, 1779 when Captain Charles Clerke aboard HMS Respluton stepped ashore at Waimea Bay after taking control of the vessel following the murder of Cook on the big island of Hawaii a couple of weeks earlier, details of which I covered in the earlier blog. But many things have changed since then.

Honolulu has grown so much since we last visited 30 years ago. It's a bit spoilt in my opinion since it's chock-a-block with hotels and huge tower blocks; ah well, that's progress I suppose. Amongst other things we did a bit of shopping at the Ala Moana Shopping Centre although I personally bought nothing. We did a bit of a tour around some of the island which took in Hanauma Bay, the Halona Blow Hole and the From Here to Eternity Lookout. I'm sure you'll remember visiting those place with us Neta when, together with Bob, the four of us spent a few days in Hawaii all those years ago.

To finish off our visit this time we also treated ourselves to dinner at the Moana Surfrider Restaurant to celebrate Sienna's eighth birthday; a memorable evening.

Finally leaving Hawaii, we flew from Honolulu leaving 9.30pm and, due to the time difference, arrived in Los Angeles at around 5.45am the next day. Bags collected, we caught a shuttle to Long Beach which is where we are now. But more of that later!

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Comments

[Neta woolcock]

Memories
Michelle I have very happy memories of our visit to Hawaii in 1987, oh so long ago. Bob and I revisited Honolulu about 8 years ago and like you felt that Honolulu has been a bit spoilt by "progress". We went back to Hanauma Bay last time and snorkelled, a promise we had made to ourselves 30 years ago. Enjoy the rest of your adventures xx