Darrin's Hawaii - Day 6

Soooo, did nothing today.

The plan was to get up early and head to Pearl Harbour. But, majority rules (meaning: husband) and we slept in.

So, we woke up late, got ready, then moseyed over to Eggs’n’Things. It’s a pretty popular place, and sometimes you can apparently wait more than an hour for a table. We decided since we didn’t have any plans, that today would be the day we would finally wait for a table (we’d tried two other mornings but left when told the wait time).

We checked in downstairs, were told it was a 30-40 minute wait, and staked our claim on the sidewalk. After about 15 minutes we got a pager and then it was probably another 15-20 when we got called upstairs to the restaurant.

We both went for the Sweet Bread French Toast with bananas, covered in whipped cream and mac nuts. Yup, sweet enough to cause a coma. But delicious! Darrin also ordered a side of bacon ($5.75 for 4 strips!!! Even for Hawaii that’s extreme!!) and I got a side of potatoes which couldn’t have been more perfect. Topped it off with a Plantation Iced Tea, which is tea and pineapple juice.

After breakfast we grabbed drinks from the hotel bar and took a nice walk down the beach. We were out for about half an hour and it was hot, but not too crazy since it was only around 11am. Plus, the drinks helped!

After our walk we went back to the pool bar and grabbed a couple more to enjoy while sitting on the Diamond Head balcony (sun). I enjoyed the heat, but Darrin ended up moving to the Ocean Balcony which was in shade.

Then another trip down to the pool bar for a couple more and back out on the balconies. The menu at the bar only lists Strawberry and Mango Daiquiris but I asked if he could make a pineapple one and voila! Best drink in the land. Unfortunately I was so excited I took several big sips and got a cold headache that nearly knocked me off my feet. But it was worth it to have them create a new concoction that should already be on everybody's menu!

Finally, no rain. It spit a bit while we were in line for breakfast, but it was nothing. There’s supposed to be a 40% chance this afternoon, but right now the clouds are rolling in and out. For once I think we might not get soaked. (Of course, I say that every day.)

Oh, and now another trip for drinks. Darrin just came back with a six-pack. But there’s no bottle openers! Good thing I brought one. Verdict: Hapa Brown Ale is excellent, similar to Fort Garry Dark.

Besides lounging on the balcony and probably another walk on the beach, we have no plans for the rest of the day. We’ll see where the wind takes us I guess!

The only bad thing today is the mosquito bites seem to act up when I get in the sun. As soon as I get hot a couple of them really flare up. Actually, I’m quite tired of the mosquitoes. My first bite was literally when we got off the plane. Somewhere between the baggage carousel and getting in line for the shuttle one of them got me. I’m probably up to 20 now. And winter used to be my reprieve!...

Oh, and it just started raining. Just a sun shower though. Hardly anybody left the beach.

Denise's Hawaii - Day 5

Today was a nice, lazy day. Lounged around, had a leisurely buffet breakfast downstairs and took our sweet time getting ready in the room. We spent some time on the balcony too, watching the action below; there were cheerleaders practicing on the beach, and hula lessons in front of the hotel.

We didn’t hit the road until late morning. We checked out Ala Moana Shopping Centre. Grabbed a few goodies at the ABC on the main level. The second level is all window shopping – Bulgari, Dior, Chanel, and Cartier. And those were just the ones around the escalator!

After that we drove out to the Plantation Village. They have different buildings, each showcasing the type of home that would be built for different ethnic labourers that came to Oahu in the early 1900’s. There were houses for Chinese, Japanese, Okinawans, Portugese, Koreans and Puerto Ricans.

Gary, our tour guide, was amazing. He was great at getting people involved and kept grabbing people to act out different bits of history. He made a couple of high school kids a picture bride and her husband; there was a Hawaiian-Okinawan girl and a Korean-Okinawan-Hawaiian man that he kept quizzing about Hawaiian and Japanese culture; a man from the South became a rich Chinese entrepreneur and Darrin was a wealthy white landowner through the whole tour. It was pretty funny, but the actual history is pretty sad. Between the picture brides, and labour contracts that were NOT in the workers favour, and people never being able to return to their home countries, it was sobering. But Gary delivered everything in a way that was still entertaining.

After that we wanted to hike the Manoa Falls Trail and drive Mt. Tantalus Round Top. Unfortunately one missed turn on the freeway and we ended up with a half hour longer trip! But, with a little recalculating on the GPS we pulled in the Manoa Falls parking lot around 4:30.

We were warned that part of the trail would be slippery since it had been raining. Even though the forecast last night and this morning said there was 0% chance of precipitation. But, believing the weatherman, and assuming the earlier rain had been a fluke, we set out sans raingear. It’s only a 40 minute hike on a well-travelled trail so it didn’t seem worth carrying both backpacks. But I should have known better. It seems to always rain here… always.

The hike up was wet and slippery, and because all the dirt is orange your socks get stained, but besides scrambling over rocks and trees here and there it was a pretty good hike and even families with kids were passing us on their way down.

The view of the falls itself was great. 100 feet straight down into a small pool. Most of the pool is filled with giant rocks and boulders now. Apparently there was a landslide in 2002 that pushed 30 tons of debris 600 feet over the cliff and down the hill. We got some great pictures and video footage and headed back down.

Two minutes into the descent and the skies opened up. It rained, hard, the entire way down.

The rental car has one of those keys that can’t get wet or the starter won’t engage so we were scrambling trying to find somewhere dry to hide it until we got to the parking lot. Mission accomplished. My travel pants have a secret pocket to deter pickpockets, so we put the keys in there, then covered it with my tank top and then my blouse. It took three layers of fabric, but we managed to keep those keys dry!

By this time though it was nearly 6 and we looked like drowned rats so we decided to call it a day and drag our sorry wet butts home to dry off.

A couple drinks from the bar and up we went to chill in front of the tv.

Denise's Hawaii - Day 4 troubles!

What a day! I think we had more adventures at the hotel than out on the road today!

We checked out of the oceanfront suite this morning and left our bags at the Bell desk. They said our oceanfront room would be ready in the afternoon so we headed out for the day.

When we came back this evening we picked up our key at the front desk and headed upstairs. Opened the door and…. water everywhere. The bathroom sink had flooded everything. Looks like someone had dumped coffee grounds or something in there because there was black stuff all throughout the pool on the floor and the sink was overflowed with black water. We called downstairs and they said they would find us a new room quickly and send maintenance and housekeeping up right away.

We went to the front desk and the replacement room they gave us was three floors lower. I really loved our view on six so I had really been hoping to get something close. I asked reallllly nicely if might be possible to get higher than third. The poor desk clerk had to call the bell desk to cancel our bag delivery to our room on 3 (and previously to the first room on 6) and do some shuffling but he managed to get us fifth floor – directly under the room we left this morning! Perfect!! It is a gorgeous corner room, with two balconies and a view of Diamond Head as well as the ocean. We never checked into the third floor, but I think it was also a corner suite. And the sixth floor room that flooded was a corner with two balconies, one oceanfront and the other sort of facing beach and sort of facing the building next door.

Every person we spoke with was apologetic about the mess in the sixth floor room and they all seemed genuinely embarrassed. While it really wasn’t that big a deal because these things can happen to anyone, it was nice to know they all cared so much. Ambrose at the front desk was awesome, and then Kyle the Front Desk Supervisor called to apologize on behalf of himself and all the staff involved. What a great crew at the Outrigger Reef!

So we managed to have four rooms in one day, have our bags almost delivered twice before the third time was the charm, and dragged our carry-on and backpacks from floor to floor. But in the end, the thing I’ll remember most was how exceptional all the staff were that dealt with the problem. Front Desk members, housekeeping and maintenance, all great.

But, enough about the evening, let’s start at the beginning of the day.

We checked out a little later than we wanted to and had to ask housekeeping to come back when they arrived at 9am. We dropped our luggage off at the bell desk and loaded all of the rest of our stuff into the rental car. Grabbed a couple towels from the pool and headed east.

Today’s plan was Windward side, with possibly North Shores and a lookout enroute to the windward side.

As soon as we pulled out of the lot our tire light came on again. We went back to Dollar and explained the situation. The attendant we were dealing with thought it might be a nail causing a slow leak so he did a quick switch and we were on our way.

We headed up into the mountains on Pali Highway and turned off onto Old Pali. Wow. The trees have grown so far over portions of this road it’s almost dark. It was so lush, and the trees were huge, the philodendrons had leaves more than a foot wide. It was absolutely gorgeous.

The old Pali joins the new Pali back again just in time for the Nu’uanu Pali lookout. From this vantage point you can see a good stretch of windward coast including Mokoli’i and Kualoa Park. Just below the lookout there’s a portion of old Pali that you can hike. We only went a few minutes down to get some great shots so I don’t know how far it goes, but it’s paved so it would probably make a really great hike.

From there we caught Kamehameha Highway to Kualoa Beach for a quick swim. Unfortunately it was a bit rocky so nobody was going in the water. But, luckily for us we brought flip flops so we were able to go far out and the bottom wasn’t a problem.

After the swim we went over to the ancient fishpond, but we couldn’t get a great view.

We continued up the coast to the Polynesian Cultural Centre. But it was closed. D’oh! It was careless on my part. Originally PCC was supposed to be during the week, but because of all the rain we reorganized our schedule and I moved PCC to Sunday without even thinking. Mormons created the Polynesian Cultural Centre to share the culture of Polynesia and still run it today, so no alcohol is served on the site and the centre is closed Sundays. I didn’t even think of it when I moved our plans around – and it’s more than an hour to get there!

We decided to continue around on Kamehameha and visit the North Shore beaches to see if there was any good surfing. I don’t know exactly where we were, but at one point we turned a corner and in a valley in front of us was a wind farm! Just came up out of nowhere. It was an amazing sight. They are BIG. There was at least 7 or 8 turbines, with the lush mountains behind them. It was an awe-inspiring sight. Unfortunately the camera was in the back seat and we were going 45mph so the shot was gone before we could even think about it. It’s just one example of how Hawaii is trying to find greener ways of doing things. For energy, you see a lot of solar panels, on houses, and controlling highway signs. But the wind farm was amazing. I had no idea they had one. I don’t know if there are others on Oahu, or on other islands.

We ended up stopping at Pipeline and Banzai and the shorebreak was crazy. It was a calm sea, but not far off the beach they’d start building until they crashed on shore. There was only one surfer where we were, but swimmers and bodyboarders were everywhere, enjoying the ride.

We continued into Hale’iwa and grabbed some pizza and wings for dinner before returning to Waikiki.

One cool thing we did pass on the road, but didn’t really get to “see” was where Lost and Jurassic Park were filmed, and the resort from Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Tomorrow we may try to get to the Polynesian Cultural Centre again, but we haven’t decided.

Day 3 pictures

Problems with this blog AGAIN. Pictures from today's  blog.

Denise's Hawaii - Day 3 Pineapples

Today was a little slower going, but it all turned out great.
We were late leaving the hotel for breakfast and then had to come back anyway. We wanted to eat at Eggs’N’Things but the lineup was 40+ minutes, so we just dropped our postcards off at the USPS outlet across the street and headed back to the hotel. After breakfast we had to head back to the room to get a few things we forgot but found out our internet was down and had to wait for repair.
By this time we were two hours late to pick up our rental car so I called to confirm that everything was still fine. While confirming our reservation she told me we had been given the wrong address when it was booked. So we walked over to the new address she gave us and picked up the car. But as soon as we pulled out of the lot the tire light flashed on the dash! So we looped back around the block and they filled all the tires to the right pressure.

When we finally hit the road we were 3 hours late from my original plan. So, away we went to Dole Plantation. Unfortunately it took us a little longer to get there than it should have. I had read about a really pretty route to take that was preferable to the H2 and Kamehameha. I was trying to navigate from a bad map and he was trying to follow the GPS (which didn’t have my route in it). Needless to say we got lost twice, but never too far out of our way.
We did make it to the Dole Plantation and it was a lot of fun. Overpriced maybe, but a fun outing. The maze took us about an hour, which I think is pretty good. We had a plan and stuck to it and almost never got lost. We also went on the Pineapple Express train tour. You know, 8000 acres of pineapple fields was way less exciting than I had anticipated. But the narrative during the tour was really informative.
Back in the restaurant we tried the Dole Whip, a soft serve pineapple ice cream We got the vanilla/pineapple swirl topped with chopped pineapple. Definitely worth $4.50 on a hot day (and it’s always a hot day in Hawaii). Even though it’s been raining and dreary for three days, it’s never cool and it’s always humid. But it’s a nice break from -25!
Leaving the plantation we were going to stop at the Royal Birthstones, a sacred site where ancient Hawaiian royals would give birth. Sadly, we never did find the turnoff. They date back to the 12th century and are marked with petroglyphs, so it’s a shame we didn’t get there.

On our way back through Wahiawa we grabbed a late lunch at Maui Mike’s, which serves fire-roasted chicken and little else. It was awesome. It’s apparently a favourite with the army folk too. In our half hour there we saw five grab dinner. Schofield Barracks, Hawaii’s largest army base, is just down the highway.

We got back just in time to change and head out to our evening show. We headed to the Holiday Inn Beachcomber to catch the Magic of Polynesia show. It really was a lot of fun. Hula dancers, a singer, and Hawaii’s number one illusionist made for a pretty good 2 hours.

Afterwards, we decided to pop into the Hard Rock up the street for a couple drinks and a late night snack. Waikiki absolutely comes alive at night. There are torches all down Kalakaua and down a couple side streets like Beachwalk and Lewers. The sidewalks were full of people going to and from shows, bars, restaurants, or just window shopping. All the stores are open late and there are street performers everywhere. There was even one balloon artist who made the coolest, and cutest, little penguin. If I thought it stood any chance of making it home in one piece I would have bought it in a second. The next most interesting person out there was the corner preacher with the megaphone who told us we deserved to die for bringing our sins to Hawaii. To each his own…

We finally got back to the hotel just before midnight and finally got to see some good night sights. The clouds lifted a bit this evening and we saw stars for the first time! Not a lot, but enough to let us know that tomorrow should be a good weather day. Today was also the first time we saw a sunset; the cloud cover and been too thick and low up to now.

Enough stargazing, time to get to bed. Tomorrow we move out of this suite and into a regular oceanfront room so we need to pack up and get out! If all goes smoothly tomorrow we should be swimming in the morning and see the Polynesian cultural centre in the afternoon. Then, hopefully, we can hit the North Shore beaches and check out some surfers. We have a few here at Waikiki Beach and Grey’s Beach (in front of the hotel) but I want to see bigger waves and hard core dudes out there!

Denise's Hawaii - Day 2 Animals, Fish and Rain

What a wind storm. Trying to sleep last night and the wind kept throwing around the furniture on the balcony! Chairs were moving all over and one was knocked on it’s side and then dragged around. Still slept pretty well, but noises like that definitely wake you up.

When we got up it was a bit dreary, but we weren’t worried. Ha! Famous last words.

We went to Moose McGillicuddy’s for breakfast. Mmm, mmm. Darrin had the All American Skillet and I tried the breakfast potatoes. Potato skins with eggs, bacon, cheese and green onions. Perfect! When we came out it looked like the ground was wet, so we hoped that would be it for the rain.

After breakfast we were going to walk to Waikiki Aquarium and then the zoo. But, we were running behind and didn’t want to get to the zoo after lunch at prime sun time. So we changed our plans and went to the zoo first. About 15 minutes after we got there the clouds opened up… REALLY opened up. But we continued on, soaked to the bone and really enjoyed our visit. And we never did get any sun, so burning never became an issue.

The zoo is in the process of building a brand new elephant enclosure, and it looks like it’s going to be great, I think it opens at the end of this year. There were some really cute animals, like two different miniature gazelles, a fuzzy little fox with a stuffed chimp, and a group of lemurs. Unfortunately the paths don’t drain in the zoo and a couple of exhibits weren’t approachable unless you wanted water up to your shin. Because of that, we didn’t really get to see the cheetah except when he was up on a hill and looking out of the enclosure. But it was a great trip and even though it kept raining off and on we’re glad we went.

They had some beautiful birds, big cats, several different primates, a reptile house, and savannah animals like giraffes, zebras, ostriches, etc. The hippos were totally cool, and the rinos too who were camouflaged, which caused a dad beside us a bit of trouble when it took over a full minute to point them out to his daughter! My favourite part of the zoo though was Baubles. Baubles is a “special” meerkat who has some problems, the biggest being balance. But his clan look after him and he lives a happy, if wobbly, life in the zoo.

Then, after the zoo, still dripping wet, we headed over to the Aquarium. They give you an electronic tour guide and when you reach an exhibit you punch in that number on the keypad and the narrator tells you about it. They had all the usual cool stuff, coral, jellyfish, sharks, groupers, and they’re building a new coral reef. In an outside tank they had a monk seal who was content to just bob up and down in the water.

Unfortunately we got about three pictures the whole day. We snapped a couple shortly after arriving at the zoo and then the rain never really stopped. It started just as I was about to take a picture of Diamond Head and the camera never came out of the bag again.

Ha, everything in my pocket turned to mush. I had a couple coupons and receipts and they just mashed together. And while we were walking back to the hotel we stopped and shopped along the way but had to keep handing cashiers these soggy, dripping wet bills. Most laughed, but one guy was cranky and before he gave us our change he made us wait there while he got paper towels and slowly wrapped our three bills up and patted them dry. Whatever!

Now, shopping for us consisted of grabbing some snacks for the hotel room and a couple of souvenirs. But I get the feeling some people come for a LOT more.

We passed a Coach store, Ferrari shop, three Le SportSacs, and a Louis Vuitton shop. I can’t even afford to window shop at those places…

We didn’t make it to the Wailana Coffee House today, we just wanted to get home and change into something dry. Maybe tomorrow. But for now, we ordered room service again and watched the Hilton Hawaiian fireworks from our balcony.

I’m glad it didn’t rain early morning or late in the evening. There were two weddings on the beach below our balcony today, one morning and one after sunset and I can’t imagine how upsetting it would have been to have to change the day if the rain hadn’t stopped.

We have to go pick up our rental car tomorrow and it’s about a 20 minute walk, so no sleeping in in the morning. Tomorrow is the Dole Plantation. Tonight though, we grabbed some cut pineapple from the cooler at an ABC (these stores are EVERYWHERE - on some blocks there are two or three of them!) A little snack, a little TV and then to bed.

Hawaii - Beach

Night shot from our balcony.

Hawaii - Diamond Head

Hawaii Outrigger Reef

View of MBDRM and Master Bath from back of master bath.

Denise's Hawaii - Day 1 Travel Day

Aaahhhhh.

For a travel day, it was a pretty good day. Flights both ran long, we were flying into headwinds to Vancouver and to Honolulu, but after snoozing a good portion of the first leg and some on the second, I hardly felt the 10+ hours of flying time.

We got into Honolulu in mid-afternoon, received our beautiful orchid lei greeting and caught the shuttle to the hotel.

OMG. The hotel. Outrigger Reef on the Beach. We paid for a room upgrade for a couple nights and it is A-MA-ZING. Corner room, balconies on two sides. The Master Suite has one oceanfront balcony and one that faces Diamond Head. The bathroom has a two person walk-in shower and a 2 person jet tub.

The living room/dining room is ocean front and that washroom has a tub/shower and the usual amenities.

The beach in front of the hotel is small, but that hasn’t stopped people from jumping in. Well, wading in up to their knees, the water’s rough today. It rained earlier and was cloudy for most of the afternoon/evening. But the breeze coming through the open balcony doors is so refreshing. Nice and cool. Helps beat the humidity. You step from the plane into the jetway and the humidity hits you like a wall. Didn’t think of that in my “we’re going to go hiking nearly every day” plan.

Darrin tried Moco Loco for dinner and loved it. Hawaiian dish with a bed of rice, topped with a beef patty, two eggs, onions and gravy. Not my style, but a huge dish on the islands.

The weather forecast calls for rain in Honolulu almost every day we’re here, but I’m not worried. I don’t think it rains continuously, it probably just comes and goes. They have flash flood warnings too, but that’s just in the valleys I think, because they’re steep and narrow. The girl who brought the room service up said they issue flood warnings all the time, almost every time it rains, so no big deal.

Tomorrow we’ll be around Honolulu/Waikiki with zoo, aquarium and some shopping. For dinner we’re hoping to hit a local coffee house down the street that was recommended to us; supposed to be good and cheap.

We were resetting our internal clocks for several days before we left, getting up one hour earlier each day until we hit 3am (7am Hawaii time) and it seems to have worked. It should feel like 1am (three hours past my bedtime!) but instead it just feels like I had a good full day and I could go another hour or two.

I'm having a lot of problems with the blog, so I'll upload each picture as a new post. Enjoy!