Flew to Oahu on Dec 3: Madison to Denver, Denver to San Fran, San Fran to Honolulu . . . oh wait. The plane never took off from San Fran. 4pm flight, delayed an hour to 5pm. Delayed an hour to 6pm. Delayed an hour to 7pm. Delayed an hour to 8pm. Delayed an hour to 9pm. Delayed an hour to 10pm. At this point we calculated that we’d be arriving in Honolulu past 1:30am, the point at which car rentals close down. We bailed, booked a flight for the next day, found a close hotel, got the hell out of there. Bought a bottle of wine, watched TV, glad to not be in the airport any more.
We found out later our flight actually left at 11:30pm, which had it arriving in Honolulu at 3am. Nice!
Dec 4, day one (which should have been day two) in Honolulu. Checked into our Airbnb, walked to the beach, started the long and arduous process of unwinding.
(Click thumbnail for photo gallery, which should open in a separate tab. Photos can be view in various ways – default, full screen, slide show. You’ll figure it out.)
Dec 5, day two in Oahu/Honolulu. Hiked to Manoa Falls. This hike was actually difficult. It had rained heavily of late, it rained on the hike. The trail was steep, rocky, huge roots and rocks on the trail. We were thankful for our hiking shoes and poles. Still, the majority of hikers wore your basic thong flip-flops! This was a theme on every hike we were to do in Hawaii. Several women had children on their backs. Others had large dogs, yanking and pulling them as they tried to stay upright. Everyone seemed to manage. We didn’t see anyone fall. Most of them looked at us with pity.
After the hike, we drove a loop on Tantulus Drive that took us up high above town. A lookout was available at PuuUalakaa park, overlooking Diamond Head.
(Video at the end of this gallery.)
Dec 6, day three, Honolulu. Some tennis at the Diamond Head Tennis center. Nice facility, 10 courts, very friendly folks. There was a senior doubles tournament in progress for Senior Olympics. We still found a court and drilled for an hour. After that, a visit to the Punchbowl (National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific), where my eldest aunt Anabel Goode is interred.
Dec 7, day four Honolulu. Hanama Bay, first day of snorkeling. Hanama bay is a great swimming and snorkeling spot, but sadly it’s world famous. Asian tourists, every single one of them armed with a selfie stick, just pummel the place. We knew to get there early, barely got a parking spot. Long line to get in, then you have to watch an obligatory 10 minute film on the history of Hawaii, of the bay, of the sea life and coral, and are admonished not to touch the coral. Then there’s a long, steep walk down to the water. The Asians all walk. All the fat people from Wisconsin ride the tram. Then all the unwashed masses go out and stand on the coral.
After a couple of hours of this, we drove north, up the coast. Took pics at a very scenic lookout point. Ended up in Kailua, which we really liked. Almost a normal looking town, and the beach was sensational. Creamy soft sand, like Florida, and it went on and on. We were treated at the end with front row seats of the high school war canoe teams coming out for practice.
Click thumbnail for photos. Check out videos of the big canoes at the end.
Last day in Honolulu. We strolled Waikiki, downtown, crazy busy, big buildings, luxury shopping, big malls and hotels.
December 9, First day in Kaua’i: Airbnb digs, misc shots, a medium level hike.
Dec 10 – hit the beach at Poipu
Dec 11 – Hiking and sight seeing Waimea Canyon, the “Grand Canyon” of Hawaii. Took pictures at various lookout point, then hiked to the top of Wai’po falls, which we had seen at distance from several vantage points. Standing at the top of Wai’po falls offered no particular viewing point, rather an extreme desire to not fall in the water and get swept away.
Dec 12 – Drive to the North Shore of Kauai, and Hanalei. Got lucky with the weather – warm and sunny. The north side of Kauai is the cloudy, stormy side.We gandered about on the way up, then hit a beach at Hanalei Bay, a large bay with four named beaches on it. We dropped out blanket on Waikoko Beach. The beaches on this day were mostly empty. There’s a video at the end of this gallery where nothing goes on at all, except the beach, the surf, the sounds of the waves, the sunny skies.
Dec 13 – a low key day. Played tennis at the local community college in Lihu’e. Drove south to Poipu and Allerton Gardens, down that way. It was a “free day”, overrun, we couldn’t get in, walked over to Spouting Horn park for a picture, then beached it near there at Kukuilua Bay. Eileen reported the best fish of all her snorkels.
Dec 14 – last day. A drive to Wailua Falls, hike to a Ho’opi Falls, north of Kauai, and a stroll around Kauai, which seems to be the “tourist heart and soul” of Kauia. Has a lot of restaurants, bars, and hotels, even though it’s not the island’s largest city.
