Last day in Hawaii before coming home. I got up early and went for a swim at the hotel pool, then lay in the sun until 9am. Early but the sun was still hot at that hour. I then headed up for a shower and dressed in time to meet Larry at 9.30am. He was everything I had imagined him to be and it was so great meeting him after all these years. I was saddened that his wife Suz couldn't be over to meet us too. We headed up to the hotel pool and sat in the cabana bar and talked all morning, took photos, made him write in my book. Then we headed up to the hotel room to get bathing suits as we were going to the zoo and then to haumanu bay for swimming. However, we found out it would take us an hour to get to the bay, so decided to only go to the Honolulu Zoo instead. Larry dropped us off there, but it really wasn't far. He then went on to audition for a major role in 'LOST'. I hope he gets it :)
The Zoo was small. Didn't really allow for good photos as the cages were still those old fashioned black ones. Many of the animals were not there, or sleeping as it was so hot. Some exhibitis had no water which I thought was terrible. The rainforest aviary was good though and I managed to get some good photos there. Honolulu also had two Komodo Dragons. Highly endangered and rare, it was interesting seeing them, but were smaller than I had imagined them to be. Guess Jurassic Park had influenced my perception of these jurassic animals :)
It was really hot at the zoo, and we were finished by 2.00pm. We headed over the road to the beach and walked back to the hotel via the beach with our feet in the water to try cooling us off. Some of the waves drenched us but it was nice. It took about half a hour (about the length of three beaches) to get back to the hotel. Both Mike and I were really tired, the beaches were crowded, so we decided to relax at the hotel pool instead. So we would swim when we were hot, then lie in the sun to warm up. Blissful. Very blissful. At one stage the sun went behind a cloud and I felt cold. I laughed as in just 24 hours we would be in the winter of Auckland and it'd be much much colder.
For dinner we headed to the restaurant where we had breakfast and had an all we could eat buffet for $12.00. That included dessert, which I had a pineapple and mint mousse. Sounds horrible but was really really nice.
After dinner we headed to the Pacific Beach hotel to see an aquarium that took up two whole floors. Great spootted stingrays, and all sorts of tropical fish - was very interesting. A diver was in there feeding the fish when we got there so that was worthwhile seeing. Over to Macy's where I bought Anne her Clarins stuff, and through the market again. I decided to try one more time for a Pearl. I was able to draw a voucher and this time got a 40% off, chose an oyster, and this time got a rather large black pearl. The black pearl was larger than the other 3 I got the night before. So I was very pleased. Decided to leave it at that, and headed back to the hotel to pack. Took me about an hour to pack up everything, then hit the sack. Home in the morning - and I'm more than ready to get there.
Showing posts with label Hawaii. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hawaii. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
1st August - Hawaii
Bus picked us up at 8.30am on a tour around the island. Past Diamond Head slopes and around to Hanauma Bay which I loved. Abssolutley stunning. The tour guide was excellent and moved her mirror so we could lipread her. Unfortunately my asthma flared up on the bus and because I couldn't get enough oxygen I kept falling asleep. Further - my implant really really needs a map and I understood absolutely zilch so Mike was interpretiing for me most of the way, when I had my eyes open!!
We stopped for lunch at a golf course the ko'olau. I looked at golf gear in the shop afterwards with Mum in mind. But had to walk out in the end because there was nothing under $100. Thought that counted right? Some of these golf courses charge $100,000 per year to join!!
On up the coast - very beautiful beaches - reminded me a lot about Barbados once we got away from all the highrises of Waikiki. It got very hot, and I wanted to get out and swim at every beach we stopped, but no time. We stopped at a Japanese Buddhist Temple, the Byodo-in Temple which was also very interesting. We also stopped at the Kualoa Ranch, and was taken on a short boat trip on a fresh water lake. At high tide the sea spills over into the lake and it was weird sitting on the boat looking up at the sea which was slightly higher. This area is the site of Jurassic Park filmset, Fantasy island and a few other famous movies.
Then up to the famous North Shore beaches where the surfies are, and the swell runs hot at certain times of the year. So beautiful again - I've never seen such blue blue water. Down the middle of the island through coffee, sugar and pineapple plantations. Stopped at the Dole Pineapple plantation and went in to the shop. A real tourist trap - everything too expensive, but I did buy a pineapple icecream which was very refreshing. But even that was steep aat $4.50!!! We passed Pearl Harbour but wasn't able to stop as we were running late.
We got back to the hotel at about 5.30pm. I wasn't hungry so Mike went with his Mum to dinner while I had a shower and then headed out to buy a cabin bag for the plane as I was running out of luggage space. I also found all the manuals and charger for my phone, and took it over to the Tmobile guy and told him to give it to someone needy. In return I got free internet access and arranged to meet up with Larry Littleton the next day. Larry I met on the Say What Club years ago when I first joined. We have been talking to each other ever since online for 12 years so it was great to set this up. He and his wife moved from Santa Barbara, California to Ka'uai, Hawaii a few years ago.
After that I met up with Mike and his Mum and her partner Paul again and we walked over to the beach to watch the fireworks that go off every Friday night. Mike went for a swim and watched the fireworks from out in the water, I was minding his bag so I missed out on seeing them. I can't swim at night due to having no balance. It's bad enough trying to walk on sand in the dark, but trying to swim in the dark is worse as if a wave hits me I don't know which way is up, and the waves at Waikiki can be quite powerful!
We then walked around the shops and then Mike and I walked through the market. I decided to try for a Pearl from the Maui Divers store. It's not guaranteed you will get one, but they gave me a swing at the barrel, and I pulled out a 50% off voucher. So I could then choose an unopened oyster and pay only $7.49 for it. There may or may not be an oyster in there - a true gamble. Well - it just so happened that a fairly large pink pearl was in the one I chose. So I was rapt, and they were surprised. Deciding that luck was on my side, I did it again, and paid $14.99 for the next gamble. This time, I got not one, but two white pearls in the oyster I chose. The white ones were only marginally smaller than the pink one. Not being a gambler really, I decided to quit while I was ahead, but was really pleased about it. Will get them set back home.
Got back to the hotel around 10 to 10.30pm.
We stopped for lunch at a golf course the ko'olau. I looked at golf gear in the shop afterwards with Mum in mind. But had to walk out in the end because there was nothing under $100. Thought that counted right? Some of these golf courses charge $100,000 per year to join!!
On up the coast - very beautiful beaches - reminded me a lot about Barbados once we got away from all the highrises of Waikiki. It got very hot, and I wanted to get out and swim at every beach we stopped, but no time. We stopped at a Japanese Buddhist Temple, the Byodo-in Temple which was also very interesting. We also stopped at the Kualoa Ranch, and was taken on a short boat trip on a fresh water lake. At high tide the sea spills over into the lake and it was weird sitting on the boat looking up at the sea which was slightly higher. This area is the site of Jurassic Park filmset, Fantasy island and a few other famous movies.
Then up to the famous North Shore beaches where the surfies are, and the swell runs hot at certain times of the year. So beautiful again - I've never seen such blue blue water. Down the middle of the island through coffee, sugar and pineapple plantations. Stopped at the Dole Pineapple plantation and went in to the shop. A real tourist trap - everything too expensive, but I did buy a pineapple icecream which was very refreshing. But even that was steep aat $4.50!!! We passed Pearl Harbour but wasn't able to stop as we were running late.
We got back to the hotel at about 5.30pm. I wasn't hungry so Mike went with his Mum to dinner while I had a shower and then headed out to buy a cabin bag for the plane as I was running out of luggage space. I also found all the manuals and charger for my phone, and took it over to the Tmobile guy and told him to give it to someone needy. In return I got free internet access and arranged to meet up with Larry Littleton the next day. Larry I met on the Say What Club years ago when I first joined. We have been talking to each other ever since online for 12 years so it was great to set this up. He and his wife moved from Santa Barbara, California to Ka'uai, Hawaii a few years ago.
After that I met up with Mike and his Mum and her partner Paul again and we walked over to the beach to watch the fireworks that go off every Friday night. Mike went for a swim and watched the fireworks from out in the water, I was minding his bag so I missed out on seeing them. I can't swim at night due to having no balance. It's bad enough trying to walk on sand in the dark, but trying to swim in the dark is worse as if a wave hits me I don't know which way is up, and the waves at Waikiki can be quite powerful!
We then walked around the shops and then Mike and I walked through the market. I decided to try for a Pearl from the Maui Divers store. It's not guaranteed you will get one, but they gave me a swing at the barrel, and I pulled out a 50% off voucher. So I could then choose an unopened oyster and pay only $7.49 for it. There may or may not be an oyster in there - a true gamble. Well - it just so happened that a fairly large pink pearl was in the one I chose. So I was rapt, and they were surprised. Deciding that luck was on my side, I did it again, and paid $14.99 for the next gamble. This time, I got not one, but two white pearls in the oyster I chose. The white ones were only marginally smaller than the pink one. Not being a gambler really, I decided to quit while I was ahead, but was really pleased about it. Will get them set back home.
Got back to the hotel around 10 to 10.30pm.
31st July - Hawaii
We had no dinner on the plane coming through last night because we had to pay for the meals and they wouldn't accept cash. I didn't want to ring up a Credit Card charge of only $5 as the fees would be that much!! We weren't impressed.
So this first morning in Hawaii we were starving. I got up fairly early, and popped down to the hotel lobby looking for an internet cafe so I could carry on unlocking the phone that we had done at the airport the night before. I found no internet cafe, but I did find a T-Mobile store (same store that sold us the phone in SFO when we arrived). I told him what I needed to do but they had two internet booths that you pay for, so I fed $5 in and got into my email. Found hte email from Tmobile saying that I couldn't unlock my phone as we hadn't had it for 3 months. Thats NOT what we were told when we got the phone, so I called over the tmobile guy and showed him the email. He asked what type of phone I had so gave it to him. Turns out that even if we unlocked the phone, we still wouldn't be able to use it in NZ becauase it's the wrong frequency. Again we had been told we could so we were not impressed.
After this, Mike's mother took us ddown to this really neat restuarant for breakfast - $7.95 eat all you want. They had amazing food. I honed in on the french toast and pancakes!! Afterwards I felt guilty and had some fresh fruit. The fresh fruit cancels out the calories in the maple syrup right?'
After breakfast, we jumped on a trolley bus to the Ala Moana shopping centre. I was sunburnt from San Francisco so didn't want to get more burnt, plus I still hadnt bought my tshirts I wanted to buy. Headed down to Walmart first, then over to Sears. I spent ages in the shoe section as they were so cheap, but ended up buying nothing as no room in my luggage. Instead I just drooled. Then to the women's section and I bought some jeans, tshirts and a pair of shorts. Thats it - done - no more shopping for me. That had taken two hours. By now it was very hot, so sat and had a drink and headed back to the hotel.
Jumped in our swimsuits and headed over to the beach and had a swim on Waikiki beach and lay in the sun until 5.30pm. Bliss Bliss. I wasn't hungry - still full from breakfast. We had dinner at an Ihop restaurant (cheap), and then wandered around the shops and marketplace. Eveyrthing so cheap but so much the same. Booked a day tour around the island for tomorrow.
Hit the sack early again as I'm still tired.
So this first morning in Hawaii we were starving. I got up fairly early, and popped down to the hotel lobby looking for an internet cafe so I could carry on unlocking the phone that we had done at the airport the night before. I found no internet cafe, but I did find a T-Mobile store (same store that sold us the phone in SFO when we arrived). I told him what I needed to do but they had two internet booths that you pay for, so I fed $5 in and got into my email. Found hte email from Tmobile saying that I couldn't unlock my phone as we hadn't had it for 3 months. Thats NOT what we were told when we got the phone, so I called over the tmobile guy and showed him the email. He asked what type of phone I had so gave it to him. Turns out that even if we unlocked the phone, we still wouldn't be able to use it in NZ becauase it's the wrong frequency. Again we had been told we could so we were not impressed.
After this, Mike's mother took us ddown to this really neat restuarant for breakfast - $7.95 eat all you want. They had amazing food. I honed in on the french toast and pancakes!! Afterwards I felt guilty and had some fresh fruit. The fresh fruit cancels out the calories in the maple syrup right?'
After breakfast, we jumped on a trolley bus to the Ala Moana shopping centre. I was sunburnt from San Francisco so didn't want to get more burnt, plus I still hadnt bought my tshirts I wanted to buy. Headed down to Walmart first, then over to Sears. I spent ages in the shoe section as they were so cheap, but ended up buying nothing as no room in my luggage. Instead I just drooled. Then to the women's section and I bought some jeans, tshirts and a pair of shorts. Thats it - done - no more shopping for me. That had taken two hours. By now it was very hot, so sat and had a drink and headed back to the hotel.
Jumped in our swimsuits and headed over to the beach and had a swim on Waikiki beach and lay in the sun until 5.30pm. Bliss Bliss. I wasn't hungry - still full from breakfast. We had dinner at an Ihop restaurant (cheap), and then wandered around the shops and marketplace. Eveyrthing so cheap but so much the same. Booked a day tour around the island for tomorrow.
Hit the sack early again as I'm still tired.
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