View from our room to Diamond Head
We have reached our final island, though its the first island we actually arrived at – oh never mind its too confusing !
We are in Honolulu on the island of Oahu for our final 4 nights staying at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach, and right on THAT beach – Waikiki.
Not a lot to report today really – an “in transit” day really – oh, and a new island and new shops !
We left Volcano House just before 8am as we needed to get to Hilo to catch our plane. It was about a 45 minutes drive and we wanted to get some breakfast at the airport before our 11am flight. The weather this morning was a lot clearer and we could see quite a bit of steam in and around the crater and from nearby vents.
View down to the beach
It was really a downhill trip all the way from Volcano House to Hilo. With the natural shape of the volcano, heading from anywhere higher up is just a gradual fall to the coast so, at about 4,000 feet at Volcano House we just coasted downhill to Hilo International Airport which is right on the coast. All the airports are on the coast – probably the flatest places around. This side of the island is also the wettest so most of the trip was through pretty lush and green countryside. Heading toward Hilo, we were also heading in the direction of Pahoa which, as I mentioned previously, is where the current lava flow is. We came to the turnoff and there was a big “Road Closed Ahead” sign and we could see smokey clouds in the distance from whatever the lava was burning.
At the airport, dropping the car and checking in were simple as was breakfast – a bagel with cream cheese and nice fresh fruit. The flight was again right on time and we arrived in Honolulu about noon. The pilot had indicated he was expecting a rough ride due to the weather however it was pretty smooth. After collecting our luggage – now expanded to 3 bags with all the shopping – we headed to the car pick up on the shuttle bus and this time we actually have a Toyota Corolla. All our bookings have been for a “Toyota Corolla or similar” but until now we hadn’t laid eyes on one !
Night time view – pool and bar area
Adrienne had made a list and was checking it twice and our first stop was about 20 min north west of Honolulu at the Waikele Premium Outlets. We knew we had come back to “Big America” as we headed along at 60mph on the 12 lane freeway packed with cars weaving between lanes. The credit card got another workout and then we headed back again to the Ala Moana Center to throw it about a bit more. Liam, I think it will be cheaper to bring you on future holidays as I don’t cramp your mother’s style enough ! Not having had much breakfast, we managed a couple of nice BLT’s for our lunch.
The traffic was heavy and we made it to the hotel about 4pm. Call me old or oldfashioned but give me laid back USA any day ! Honolulu is a cross between Las Vegas and the Gold Coast. I think we have seen more people in the last 4 hours than we had in the rest of our holiday ! Instead of people on the sidewalks pushing leaflets into your hand for girly shows like Las Vegas, here they push leaflets for live weapon firing – yes we have AK-47’s !
We went for a bit of a walk down the beach “strip” before dinner to find somewhere to eat – and who should we bump into (not actually bump into – just walked past) but Anthony Mundine and family – no minders in toe ! We decided to try PF Changs for dinner – very tasty but we ordered too much so we have a doggie bag which will probably feed us for the rest of the trip ! On the way back to our room we stopped at one of the shops and Adrienne found a nice gold charm – a sea turtle – for her charm bracelet. The lady was having a quiet night and was very eager to make a sale so we got a very good deal.
Tomorrow we head into the countryside to tour around the island. So until then ……..