After months of planning, our trip is finally under way! We eased into it, staying in Waikiki which is well-developed, clean and scenic, if a little pricey. We're learning to do travelling the backpacker way, which meant staying in a hostel, catching the public bus or walking everywhere and buying groceries we could prepare ourselves.
A highlight was the view from Diamond Head, even if it was the busiest hike we've ever done, with a row of ant-like humans trailing up the volcano crater and battling for position on the platform at the top to get a happy snap.
The oreo cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory was delicious and we thought we had the ideal beachside location to enjoy it until a random drunk, homeless lady with her pants around her ankles came to interrupt the serenity!
We also enjoyed walking to the the tall and pretty Manoa falls through Jurassic Park style scenery - dense tropical rainforest covered with creepers and complete with the sounds of birds and running water.
Hale'iwe was a cute little town with lovely gift shops and galleries and delicios shaved ice. Swimming with the sea turtles that just happened to be in the bay there was a magical experience.
North Shore had impressive waves and it was fun watching the surfers, even if the surfing conditions were above our pay grade!
Turtle Bay Resort showed us how the rich do Hawaii vacations! (We sat on their manicured grass eating our peanut butter sandwiches since we were too stingy to pay for lunch out.)
We accidentally caught a bus going in the wrong direction back and learnt that the next bus doesn't come for a long time, particularly when it breaks down! That meant the next bus home around the windward side of Oahu filled up very quickly but it was still a good chance to experience the other side to Hawaii. It seemS a lot more Polynesians live around there and we liked the simplicity and natural beauty of the towering mountains meeting the sea, rather than the remarkable scenery being hidden beind skyscrapers.
Overall a lovely start to a year off.
