Hawaii!

Finally- it is time to talk about Hawaii. This is how it happened. I had been quietly researching holidays in the islands for a couple of months, but nothing had caught my eye as they mostly seemed to be package deals. One Thursday morning at about 830 I checked the Grabaseat auctions and spotted a flight for 2 to Hawaii! I texted Phil at work and he gave the green light that he would go too- so I bid, some one else bid, and I bid once more before the auction closed at 1030. Score flights at nearly $1000 off the ticket price!

We then did internet research about which Island we wanted to visit. Although our flight was into Honolulu on Oahu, we agreed the Big Island appealed to us both most and would be where we would spend most of our time. The advantage of a short week long holiday meant we could get Lonely Planets from the library and take it on our trip.

Finally the day came- we departed for the airport by taxi very early, catching our flight to Auckland and waiting for our connection to Honolulu. I forgot how much water there is between Auckland and Hawaii. I'm used to the overnight flights, having one in the day time and therefore trying to stay awake on the plane was a bit of a challenge. We finally arrived in Honolulu airport and were delayed for what felt like ages due to problems with the air gate . They finally relocated us to another gate with a working one, and off the plane we went. I think we must have been about the last flight of the night. When we arrived there were only ~2 customs people open to serve the whole flight- and of course we had been near the back of the plane and were at the back. Unknown to us, the other line added more custom agents, and finally we changed cues. The check ins took a fair bit of time due to the finger printing of foreigners. Finally after maybe an hour or two in the line, we cleared customs and caught the Waikiki shuttle off to our hotel, arriving in at something like midnight or 1am.

We were up bright and early to catch our 6am shuttle to the Pearl Harbour tour we had booked.
Pearl Harbour was the #1 thing on my to do list for Honolulu. We watched a sombering video, wandered around the area, and finally took the boat over to the Arizona Memorial. I am glad I had the opportunity to visit the historic spot. The bus driver then took us on a city tour with lots of interesting history and commentary. We also saw the apartment where Barack Obama lived.
Upon returning to Waikiki we wandered for ages past about a million (okay, maybe 20) ABC stores (touristy convenience stores), and finally stopped at Senor Frogs for some mexican fajitas. We then continued wandering, checking out the beach and the markets etc. Impressions of Hololulu- it seemed to be a very clean place with lots of city workers continually cleaning the place. The beach was okay, but nothing spectacular.

We were up at 6am to catch our flight to Kona, Big Island. We took a luxurious limo ride to the airport and being used to non tipping NZ forgot to tip the bellboy who ordered it. (Oops... Felt a bit guilty about that). First impression of Kona was that it had to hardly ever rain there- much of the airport was open air. We then picked up our rental car (a Mazda 6- highly recommended!) and cruised up the west coast all the way to Pulolu Valley on the north tip of the island. We then cruised down the scenic Kohala highway back to Kona where we visited the touristy strip of Kona and visited the markets where Phil found some tasty mangos. We then ventured down south to find our hostel in Captain Cook. Once checked in, we then drove down to Kealakekua which is where the Captain cook monment can be seen in the distance. Captain Cook died here after returning to the Island in a skirmish with locals. We then drove back to our hostel which was conveniently close to the very yummy Mia Bella italian restaurant. This part of Hawaii was really interesting. Shops and restaurants were right along the highway for miles.

We were up at 5 something am the next morning and went on a 4 hour fishing charter. No luck on the fishing, however we did see some pilot whales. We spent the rest of the day visiting lots of beaches. The first one was right by where we caught the fishing charter, we spotted several sea turtles. Of the others, Disappearing Sands beach was one of my favourites, it had a shore break and lots of people were riding those funny boogie board things. I was up to my knees in water when a big wave swamped right over my head. Fortunately my glasses stayed on, but it really did a number on my swimsuit bottoms! Fortunately the water was deep enough. :) We also visited a lovely snorkelling beach where I was able to see pretty yellow fishes swimming by. We thought we'd save some money by cooking our own dinner, but discovered grocery prices weren't that cheap! We did cook our dinner in the hostel and met a couple of Aussie girls and one American to talk the rest of the night away.

Phil was up early for another fishing trip. I slept in trying to get over my cold. We tried to find Kiholo bay and drove back and forth and back and forth before finally getting there. I have to say the Lonely planet instructions were a little substandard on that one. We ended up discovering this was truly a locals beach. It was a black sand beach but with almost black pebbles instead of fine sand. We did see a cool lava tube where you could go swimming, however when we got there there was a topless local using it, so we didn't check it out. We had another go at the markets. We really noticed the resorts. They were the oasis in the dry lava covered area with green grass and palm trees and their own shops and restuarants like Macaroni Grill. We returned to the beautiful snorkelling beach and after a swim/snorkel, sat and watched a beautiful sunset as someone played a ukelele in the background.

The next morning we departed about 6am. We visited the most stunning beach called Hapuna Beach. It is a beautiful white sand beach- and we were lucky to be there early- as it would be packed later in the day. We then did a walk to see some petroglyphs before we journeyed over to Waimea. We did a quick stop there at the markets and I had some yummy fruit popsicles. We then headed to Waipio valley and did the walk down the hill and the big walk back up. What a simply stunning place!!! We also did a few other stops/ drives like Akaka Falls and the 4 mIle Scenic drives. We stopped for some food in a cute cafe in Honokaa. And then we headed to Hilo where we checked into our hostel and also ran into our American friend who was staying at a neighbouring hostel. Small Hawaii. :) Hilo had a very different feeling to it. It was very local- not at all touristy.

The following morning we didn't have to get up early! We were booked on a helicopter tour and had to be there around 10. I was scared but have really wanted to go on one. It did feel like a magic carpet taking off as we lifted into the air and headed towards the lava area. It was amazing seeing down below where houses were buried and seeing a house cut off by lava flow. We also toured over a beautiful rain forest area with lots of stunning waterfalls. That was amazing! :) After the helicopter ride we headed down towards Volcanoes Park. We saw steam vents and craters and did the drive down the Chain of Craters Road. We also came down the other side to Kalapana/ the end of the road. It was almost surreal seeing all the lava flow and trying to imagine what was there before it all came. The people of Hawaii seem to have a respect for Pele (the "godess of the volcano"). The lava is mostly slow moving so the people got out, I think it was our helicopter pilot who said Pele gives, Pele takes and the people accept. We ate an AMAZING mexican meal in Pahoa. I ordered beef burrito and it came with wonderful roast beef instead of mince. I really enjoyed the Mexican in Hawaii- and the Root Beer!

The following morning we checked out of our hostel and began our journey home. We went south so that we could have circled the island during our journey. We stopped at the very amazing black sand beach at Punaluu. It had very fine black sand, quite different from our other black sand beach experience. We then journeyed around the rest of the island and back up to Kona airport, dropped of the rental car and caught our flight back to Honolulu on route to Auckland and then Nelson.

It was a wonderful holiday. Hightlights of Hawaii include:
- the amazing diversity - rain forest, dry and hot , so many climates all so close together
- yummy bananas and mangos
- beautiful beaches like Hapuna
- Waipio valley- absolutely stunning
- the volcanos area/ the helicopter ride. Considering the amazing ness of geo thermic activity.

The down sides- the radio stations which played reggae and stuff I just didn't enjoy and the ones that played music I liked kept cutting out. :)
- expensive groceries
- the end of the holiday...

We drove 901 miles on the Big Island in under a week. I'd recommend that rental car. :) I'll post a few photos in the following post.