Aloha from Hawaii
Aloha! This morning I awoke to find myself in Hawai’i, and so far it is living up to expectations – beautiful surroundings, perfect beaches, friendly people. After another sub-par American Airlines flight from LA (they had the five of us, including 2 little kids, seated in five randomly separated seats – this time it didn’t take too much time to fix it) I was exhausted last night, and couldn’t wait to collapse into bed, after hauling the luggage up to our rooms and consuming the obligatory Hawaiian pizza.
This morning I woke up, pulled open the blinds, and I was in paradise. This is the view from our hotel in Waikiki…
We decided to take a leisurely stroll through the streets of Waikiki, had breakfast, and did a bit of shopping at a local market. Waikiki is very reminiscent of the Gold Coast back home but somehow feels a lot more relaxed and less frantic. I’m not sure if it was because it was Sunday morning but there weren’t too many people about, except on the beach itself, which is where we will be heading after lunch. The other thing that surprised me about Waikiki is how compact it is, once again compared to the Gold Coast. There’s only two or three streets between the beach and the Ala Wai canal, and the length of the strip is only a mile or so.
The other thing I found amusing was that driving the streets of Honolulu and Waikiki last night felt somehow familiar, and then I realised it was because of my Xbox 360 game, Test Drive Unlimited, which is set on Oahu. I now realise just how authentic that game actually is. I could have brought the map out of the game box and it would have helped me get around here. I look forward to taking a drive out in the countryside tomorrow and taking in some of the scenery of this beautiful island
I suppose I should also recap on the last few days, since it’s been a little while since I last blogged. Thursday we went to Disney’s California Adventure Park, which was surprisingly good.Much quieter than Disneyland itself but with a heap of good things to look at and some great rides – the best of the ones I went on were the California Screamin’ roller coaster and the Grizzly River Rapids ride. Friday we took it fairly easy, did a bit of shopping at a huge mall in Orange County – South Coast Plaza, and took the kids to see the new movie Underdog, which was excellent.
And that’s our plan for the next three days we have in Hawaii – take it fairly easy. Spend some time on the beach, take some drives around the island and mostly just relax. I don’t know if we will get around to see the big tourist sites like Pearl Harbour since the kids probably don’t have the energy and patience at this stage of the trip. Any suggestions for things to do or places to visit from Hawaii veterans out there?
Categories : Family, Travel | 5 Comments
