Hawaii: 5 days of Awesome

Ahhh... Hawaii.

There are many ways to do Hawaii, I imagine, from big budget vacations to an extended lay-over.  The latter is what we did, proving that it can be done on a shoestring. 

Enjoy the following highlights...

We arrived into Honolulu with enough luggage to clothe half of Napolean's army.  We will later pay dearly for this oversight as we depart for New Zealand.  All domestic American flights will allow one to check two luggage bags, plus one carry-on, plus a handheld (like a purse or a large camera bag).  This is NOT the case with international flights.  And so we learned a valuable lesson through the thinning of our already thin wallets. 

After sleeping like rocks in our postage stamp-sized hotel room, we decided to start with the obvious:  Pearl Harbor.  So we caught the bus from Waikiki and after about a 50 minute ride with a revolving cast of characters, we arrived.  The bus system in Waikiki/Honolulu is as sophisticated as in any American city, being very regular and usually on schedule.  If you didn't want to rent a car or simply walk everywhere, you could rely on getting everywhere 'in-town' as well as to points all around the island for a nominal fee.

The interesting thing about Pearl Harbor is that the Arizona Memorial and the exterior of the submarine display is absolutely free.  But everything else is a 'pay per view'.  We took advantage of the free stuff and even found some good deals at the gift shop.  The Arizona Memorial itself was stunning.  After watching an hour long film setting up the scene, you take a short boat ride out to the site which is located out in the middle of the bay.  The memorial is absolutely flooded with light.  With so many views into the Hawaiian blue sky or out over the water of the bay, its easy to feel like you're floating. 

Our hotel was located next to a beautiful canal with a far view of Diamond Head Crater.  From the lobby to Waikiki beach was a mere 10 minute walk over three blocks of hotels, restaurants, and corner stores.  One thing that Hawaii is not short of, is ABC Stores.  These are basically your standard convenience store, but they also carry towels & swimsuits, a decent selection of t-shirts, wine and alcohol, and some even have produce on-hand.  There's atleast two in every city block.

On our second day, we rented a car.  This is a must if you want the freedom to see the entire island of Oahu on your own terms, without having to work around bus schedules and peak-time crowds.  And really, we spent around $160 for two days with the car - an easy sale.

As soon as we got our wheels, we headed over towards Diamond Head, which is the highest point at the eastern end on the Waikiki shoreline.  A brief stop and look at a little, hidden away surf beach slowed us down - this would be a consistant theme that neither one of us would regret, to randomly stop and have a look at everything and anything.

Diamond Head proved to be a good investment of money and time.  For a small fee, you drive into the crater from the northern side and park.  From there, we took the 45-minute hike up to the top of the crater.  The beginning of the trail is paved and wide and easy, but before long you find yourself switchbacking up moderate grades.  After an overlook into the center of the crater, you ascend a 100+ step staircase and then follow a tunnel through old pill boxes and other battlements within the crater wall.  Exiting (almost crawling)through the 5-foot thick concrete wall of the seemingly highest observation point, you wrap around to the left and continue for another two minutes up to the highest most lookout point.  It was a breathtaking view of Waikiki to the west and the ever-expanding suburban sprawl into the northern hills.  And there seems to never be a bad day for pictures in Hawaii.

Upon leaving Diamond head we journeyed east, then north, through places like Hanauma Bay, Waimanalo Beach, Kailua, and Kaneohe.  Just west of Kailua is the Kualoa Ranch and Activity Club.  Before we even stepped on a plane, we had planned to take a 2-hour ATV tour of the ranch - our big expense of the trip.  The ranch is where many TV series and movies have filmed and it is quite possibly one of the most beautiful areas on Oahu.  Jurassic Park, Lost, & Windtalkers have all been made here as well as many more.  This is another must-do.

The violent creation of Hawaii was stunning.  The mountains rose straight up out of the flat.  Pictured above the fence is 'Chinaman's Hat', which is one of many off shore lava outcroppings.  Many places have such sharp angles harsh contrast from years of volcanic activity, but yet I have never seen a place so green.  We were wow-ed everytime we turned a corner along the coastal highway; the land would suddenly give way to amazing views for what seemed like miles, only to become hidden once more around the next bend.

Our third day in Hawaii was a little less structured.  We had the car for the entire day again and decided to just hit the highway.  Rain had rolled in overnight, but it looked like if we headed west and north across the island, we just might outrun it.  We found more places to stop by, stumbling on the massive Dole Plantation with its miles and miles of pineapple fields.

Along the way were several small beaches that begged to be explored.

We found little stands to peruse, looking for gifts and trinkets to send home.  The miles of shrimp farms made lunch a joy as we dove into a pound or so of sweet and spicy-fried goodness.  Rounding out the afternoon, we spent just enough time at the North Shore's Polynesian Cultural Center to note that it was another 'must-do', but the hefty price per entry would make it a 'must-do when we come back'.  So we have a goal.

As we drove back to our hotel, we happened upon an overlook that saw much of Kailua. Dust was setting in fast, but we lingered until complete darkness.

Since the last few days had been so action-packed, we didn't mind sleeping in once.  On day four, we probably didn't leave the hotel until close to 11:30a.  But we made a beline to MAC 24-7, a restaurant only a few blocks from us.  We seen this particular place featured on a TV show called 'Man Versus Food', a program where the host attempts to complete different food eating challenges.  The super-sized 2 pound burger, the 8 milkshakes - these are all past challenges.  The one that we were interested in was the 'Mack-Daddy' - three 14-inch monster pancakes that account for almost 5 pounds of food.  We got the pineapple, coconut, macadamia nut one and were not disappointed.  But we were ultimately defeated by the beast.

The afternoon was purposely laid-back, with a nice walk along Waikiki Beach, a long final phone call home to Pennsylvania, and several more photo ops. 

As we ate Kim Chi and watched the sun set, we knew that we'd be back, hopefully with friends and family.