Hawaii at long last…
Leaving a cool and damp Sydney was no great hardship and apart from an active and loudly verbal 3-year-old seated (sometimes) directly behind us we arrived in Honolulu having enjoyed more than a few hours sleep.
Cranky-looking customs officials awaited us, however, we hit the jackpot with a very happy official who enjoyed a joke! Honolulu… Sunny, 27 degrees, with a strong cool breeze.
Our pre-arranged driver was nowhere to be found. A phone call, a 10-minute wait and an excuse of heavy traffic later, we were collected and deposited at the Outrigger Reef Resort in Waikiki 30 minutes later. Alohas all round – what a lovely musical language. The Hawaiians obviously have an obsession with vowels!
First impressions of Waikiki… colour, heat, crowds, touristy (duh) – no surprises (the ‘Surfers on steroids’ seems to be quite accurate). My favourite colour is turquoise and this colour (in many different shades) is the ocean – stunning! Of course, the ocean is like a magnet and we enjoyed our warm swims, once we’d navigated our way around the rocks.
We found a tiny little beach (with many less rocks) with a shady tree. This beautiful spot also happened to be a docking area for the local catamaran charters. We got used to moving out of the way when we heard the conch shell horn.
I’m writing this as we’re waiting at Honolulu airport for our flight to Maui and looking back over our 2 days in Waikiki, I can say that it is an interesting place and I look forward to exploring it further on our return and doing some tours. The locals are talkative, helpful, friendly and very, very polite!
Highlights so far… the ocean ofcourse, but also the wonderful local Hawaiian musicians, their pretty music and the expressive hands (and smiles) of the hula dancers.
Please note: Only two cocktails so far… a Pina Colada (thinking of you both Steph & Jayne!!) and a Mai Tai (Bree, that one was for you! I agree with your Mum, they are quite strong J)
Turtle count: 0
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