Home again

We woke to another beautiful, blue sky day, and very much wanted to head out to the beach. Instead we packed and departed without a problem, taking a $32 cab ride to the airport. The Honolulu airport is a little confusing. Check in appears to be the same for domestic as it is for international, then we took a shuttle bus ride around to the shops and departure lounges. There is no outward immigration in the US, which is always a little discombobulating. Just a security check, shops, and the gate.

We departed a little late, with a plane less than half-full (yay), with a 9hr57 minute flight time. We left at lunch time, and arrive at 7.20pm Sydney time, which I find quite comfortable as far as long international flights go.

The dollar was still around parity for this trip, which makes everything so affordable for us.

I would definitely come back to Hawaii. We’d like to see some of the other islands, but there’s still plenty to see and do on Oahu, including just relaxing at the beach.

Our hotel was fantastic. It was close to the beach, had a great view (from every room, apparently), a lovely pool and excellent staff. Some of the hotels further down Waikiki looked fabulous, but had little beach front and appeared more hectic.

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay

Hanauma Bay for fabulous snorkeling

Today started slowly, as a result of last night’s drinks. Dom and I woke late and ordered room service lunch, then were collected by M & J to head to the eastern side of the island to snorkel.

I really enjoyed the drive through the suburbs and along the spectacular coastline to Hanauma Bay, a protected marine park. We hired snorkel and flippers for $7.50 each and found some free space on the beach. It was a Saturday afternoon in summer holidays, so it was a popular place to be. There was plenty of sea space for all and we had a blissful couple of hours watching the many and varied sea creatures go about their daily business. M & J even spotted two sea turtles.

Further around the east coast, J took us to dinner at Haeiwa Joe’s, a favourite restaurant with views over the craggy mountain peaks. The house specialty was prime rib, which the boys both ordered. The steaks were massive, but impressively, both finished. The meat was very tasty, and not at all as expensive as the ‘Market Price’ we had expected.

I enjoyed travelling on the highways as they cut back through the mountain ranges via tunnels through to Waikiki.

We all said goodbye and then Dom and I did a last trip into Waikiki for a few souvenirs. There are many people out at night, making for a quite festive and comfortable atmosphere. We sat on the beach for a while, looking at the stars and trying to pick the northern hemisphere constellations.

Hawaii, Day 4

 By yesterday morning Dom and I both had sore throats – thanks to international travel, I think. There were some overtly unwell passengers on our flight out. I made it through with some throat lozenges, but sadly Dom was quite unwell.

He soldiered into action for a morning trip to the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Whilst we arrived at 9am, and were given the next available tickets to the boat trip to the Arizona, it was not available until 11.45am. We weren’t interested in waiting that long and so toured the site ourselves, reading much of the story boards and seeing the relics. It was a moving experience, even without the Arizona, which we’ll see next time. I think that taking an official tour would help, or perhaps pre-booking, but I’ll look into that before we go back again.

The weather has been really lovely. Day time temperatures are around 30 degrees, and at night it is about 24 degrees. Balmy. Idyllic.

I spent the afternoon checking out the shops at Ala Moana, a large shopping centre close to our hotel. The prices were excellent, and it was difficult to decide what to take home. Designer labels were affordable – not something you come across in Australia.

We spent a quiet moment at our hotel pool, which was very pleasant, and then joined M & J at a teppanyaki restaurant in downtown Waikiki for dinner, followed by drinks back at the Yard House.

Turtles and Waimea



Today we set off to swim with the turtles at a beach on the western side of the island, close to the Disney resort. It wasn’t signposted at all, and I’m not sure how M knew they were there. It was at a little rocked-in cove, with no facilities. We saw a couple of friendly creatures, and admired their swimming style.

Lunch was at a Mexican restaurant nearby, which served delicious corn chips and salsa.

From there we rejoined the main highway north to Waimea, where we swam again, enjoying the extra buoyant seawater. The sun and sand were hot, and the ocean cool and refreshing. We saw many military bases during our round-island tour and enjoyed the changing scenery.

The two mountain ranges create great misty clouds which sit on the range top, and the northern side of the island was windswept and dark, in contrast to the sunny and vividly bright Waikiki. The ‘Jurassic Park’ movies and the TV series ‘Lost’ were filmed here, to give you an idea of the spectacular scenery of the island.

Sun lounging and swimming in the afternoon, followed by dinner at the Yard House again. We walked a lot during this holiday – it was about 1.5km from our hotel into the restaurants and shops. There were very friendly cab drivers, but walking seemed like a good idea to help wear off some of the (fine) American cuisine.

Hawaii, Day 2

M collected us from the hotel in the hire car (highly recommended – whilst the beach and shops are walking distance, all of the other attractions are a distance) and we set off back past the airport to the Waikele Premium Outlet centre, which had Gap, Coach, Calvin Klein, Famous Footwear, and more. It wasn’t the largest outlet centre but it was set in a pleasant outdoor village setting and definitely worth the trip.

M treated us to a trip to the NEX (Navy Exchange), which is a huge shop containing everything from computers to makeup to Ralph Lauren handbags – all at discounted and tax free prices. Entry is available to military personnel only, by ID card. It is a little overwhelming having so much in one place at such great prices.

Another swim, more sunset drinks and dinner at the famous ‘Dukes’ on Waikiki beach. We opted to wait a little longer for an outside table (recommended) and the favourite dish of the evening was the ahi, a grilled tuna.

Hawaii, Aloha

In order to meet my cousin, M, mid-way between her temporary home in Quantico, Virginia, and Australia, we arranged to share a holiday in Hawaii. Her husband, J, was to be stationed there for two weeks during our holiday period, so it was a perfect idea.

I spent quite a bit of time checking for airfares. I use airfare.com, skyscanner.com, webjet.com and the airlines’ own websites to find good prices. There are currently no airlines that fly from Brisbane direct to Honolulu, but Hawaiian Airlines will commence this service in November 2012.

I was originally going to fly with Jetstar, but then found that Hawaiian had lowered its prices to the same price, but included seat, bags, food and entertainment, as well as having more suitable flying times for me. On the day prior to me booking, the airfare had been $700 more. Inexplicably, on the day that I did book, it was $1000 return.  I encountered this unexpected price change again when I booked for some upcoming LA flights. One day it was $2300, the next it was $1400. I have no advice to give on this but to check the websites regulary and be ready to book if you find a great fare.





The flight departed Sydney 10 minutes early on Tuesday night. It was a full A330, but the staff were friendly and all went well. Movies were pay per view, but TV shows were free. I slept most of the way and arrived at lunch time in Honolulu, relatively fresh. It took quite a long time to get through immigration as we'd landed behind a couple of Japan AIrlines flights. Whilst waiting we saw that you could pre-register for a quicker passage through, so we’ll look into that for next time.

Out into the warm Hawaiian day, we were greeted by M with leis for us both, made of beautiful frangipanis.

We checked into the Hawaiian Prince Hotel in west Waikiki. Despite being early for check-in, they found us a lovely room on the 17^th floor with opening windows and a wonderful view of the marina and beach. It was large and comfortable and we really enjoyed our stay here. The staff were excellent and we'd definitely both recommend this hotel and stay here when we come back.



Straight to the beach in front of M’s hotel, the Hilton Hawaiian Village – a huge complex with 4 accommodation towers, pools, restaurants, shops, a water slide, flamingos and penguins, beachfront and a seawater lagoon. The sky was blue and the sun hot, and the water very refreshing. We had tried to book into the Hilton as well, but being summer holidays in the USA and RIMPAC ( a military exercise involving many nations’ forces), it was booked out.

We walked up Waikiki towards the imposing Diamond Head, and stopped for lunch at a beach side bar belonging to the Sheraton. We ate very tasty fish tacos (soft tortilla, not like the crispy tacos we have in Oz), and sipped the local beers in the sunshine, whilst watching the people, ocean and watercraft. Just in from the beach are shops and restaurants, including Macy’s, Ripcurl and high end such as Prada and Louis Vuitton. We had a quick look at Macy’s and the prices were very tempting - $9 bikinis by Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren!

That evening we met up with J, who had to work during the days, and had a celebratory drink at the Barefoot Bar, a beach side bar of the military hotel, the Hale Koa, on Waikiki. Their mojitos were very tasty. We were joined by J’s colleague, a Harrier (Jump Jet) pilot. I had to refrain from asking lots of dumb questions about fighter school!

We ate at the Yard House, a bar/restaurant with many, many beers on tap. Dom was in heaven with a wide selection of IPAs to choose from. To dine in Waikiki, you have to arrive somewhere, put your name on a list, and wait with a pager until a table is ready. Most waits were less than 45 minutes, but it pays to not wait until you’re starving to choose a restaurant!

Prices were cheaper than Australia, even though the listed price then has tax and gratuity added later. We ordered some share entrees (called appetisers) and mains (called entrees) and had a great evening.

The temperature is idyllic. Warm at night - no jacket required, and hot during the day, but a dry and pleasant heat, accompanied by cool sea breezes.