I had a big post written and when I went to post it, I lost connectivity and with it, the post. So below is just an outline of the major stuff of what we’ve done, lots of other bits have been left out.
Tuesday – Waikele outlet stores – a massive complex with 50 outlet stores of big name designers and clothing companies. Shopping is the 3rd biggest industry here, so we thought we’d do our bit, but didn’t buy that much. 2hr bus ride was actually really useful, saw heaps more of Honolulu than we would have otherwise.
Wednesday – drove to the North Shore, home of the big surf beaches such as Waimea, Pipeline, Sunset etc. Checked into our bungalow which was set up for 10 guests, but since the place was empty, he gave it to us for $125/night. Bargain. We had about 1km of beach just next to Sunset which we shared with 10 other peeps. Just a beautiful, secluded location right at our doorstep. Couldn’t ask for more.
Thursday – checked out NS more including Turtle Bay, an enormous resort which is almost it’s own town. $540 a night in their 1 bedroom studios ( plus 12% tax) was considered cheap, it’s usually $1080 a night. We had our $9 shared lunch and enjoyed the experience.
Friday – Haleiwa, one of the original towns on the North Shore. Just tried to blend in with the locals really. Slow-paced day but really enjoyable.
Saturday – drove back from North Shore, checked into fancy hotel, I walked to and up Diamond Head (big volcano-like ridge with old military outlooks), Deb checked out more of Waikiki
Sunday – spa day as it was our 10th anniversary of being a couple. Basically just an excuse to use the hotel’s incredible facilities. 4hrs of massage, hot tub, private view over the ocean and fitness gym was a great way to spend the day
Monday – didnt do a whole heap. Couldn’t sleep so we went to denny’s for breakfast @ 6am, surfed in the day and then went to Germaine’s Luau for evening entertainment
Tuesday – i got to do my motorbike ride. Hired a 750 Honda cruiser for 4 hours and did a big tour of the east coast, stopping off at Sandy’s beach, the local beach break, Makapuu Point, Kailua and Pali. Incredible mix of ocean roads with cliffs on the other side along with mountain roads with rainforest as far as the eye can see. Had a huge grin on my face the whole time, was just awesome. And yes, despite the hiring guy looking at me funny, I insisted on wearing a helmet. Deb had an enjoyable day doing some more shopping and of course finished the day with a swim/body surf.
Wednesday – Pearl Harbour was a trip we weren’t sure about doing, but glad we did. Pretty incredible place with 1100 personnel still intombed by the USS Missourri after getting bombed by the Japanese. Funnily enough, there weren’t that many Japanese there. Learnt a lot more about it all, even though we’d seen Ben Affleck’s documentary on it 😉 Had lunch at the cheesecake factory as today is really our last day here 🙁
So tomorrow we leave at 12:55pm local time and get back to Sydney at 5pm Friday local time. We stay in Sydney Friday night and fly into Adelaide at about 12:30pm Saturday (have to check that).