Day 10: Giving ourselves a day off

Had the best plan ever today and that was to do nothing.

Here's cheers to a day of doing nothing

Didn’t miss out on any time at the feeding trough though, still managed to rock up to Cagneys for breakfast (prawn toast, wow) and lunch (prawn Louie, a bit of a theme happening.)  Dinner was in the main dining room of Starlight with delicious food choices, personal service and a few good wines. Going to add Conundrum as a new red fav.

There's nothing light about lunch.

@Mac loves the air-conditioning and the shade, I love the sun. Strategy today was to find your comfort spot and do your thing. I spent the day poolside or on the deck. Would have been handy if someone  had warned me though, that the slushies that are served poolside are actually alcoholic. Need to temper that with a bit of water in the future. Think this is the first time in a llllooooooknnngggg time that I have outdrunk @Mac.

Slushies, hot tub, pool and deck.

Our butler, Lou, introduced himself this afternoon and talked us through a few tricks of the ship, made some reservations for us and confessed he too had been caught by the nozzles in the shower – in his full uniform.

Had a special invitation to join senior management for a cocktail party (good time to meet some new people and hear their travel and life stories) and then took in the Polynesian Cultural Show in the theatre.

Unfortunately there was a little phone hiccup. Had accessed the phone to take a selfie in the lift and was then distracted by @Mac asking me to “store” the invitation in my handbag and I wasn’t quite as careful with putting my phone away as u usually am.

 “Champagned” and “canapéd” ourselves at the cocktail party and then sat down in the show. Opened my handbag to get my phone out to take some pics ... and oh no ... realised I didn’t have it. @Mac made his way back to the Library (venue for cocktail party) and did a search of the hallways and shelves and with no luck in spotting it, reported it as missing to the staff.

@Mac even had his torch on in the theatre and was doing a scour under the seats and in the aisle ways.

Nothing for it really - just had to accept that it was “gone” and hope for the best ... maybe someone would hand it into lost property and it would make it's way back to me.

An entertaining show featuring music and dance from the islands

Settled in and enjoyed the show. 45 minutes later, put my hand down by my side to lever myself off the seat ... and lo and behold .... there was my phone in the pocket of my dress. Found! Crisis averted. But how embarrassing. Had to go and find Gulsen our concierge and call off the search.

Dinner delights

Rounded out the evening with a late visit to the Starlight Dining Room and then toddled or is that wobbled back to our room to set the alarm for a 6 am start for a very early excursion tomorrow.

Step count: 8786 ( that’s clocked up getting food and drinks)

Weather: 29-18 low cloud cover early, some rain then glorious

Day 9: All aboard The Pride of America

Ho hum just another day the life of an ordinary VIP traveller- and that’s hilarious because we had no idea we were VIPs.

Daddy Daughter Fathers' Day time.

Saturday here but Father’s Day Sunday at home which meant messages came through and something a little different – there was an opportunity for Daddy Daughter time in the celebrations.

 Skipped breakfast and concentrated on our exit strategy - one last load of washing (so easy) stuffed the cubes back into the bags and restored some order to the apartment. We were so focused didn’t even glance outside - BUT a text from @Mindy who was out surfing advised us to look outside – grey skies and teeming with rain.

 @Mindy and @Ian were out surfing again and today was their dream come true - big waves for them day. Were on such a high reliving the exhilaration of lining up with the 100s of other morning surfers on the 6 footers. Interestingly, their coach Elliot “toes” them out- literally hooks his toe onto the front of their board and tows them out – sharing the paddling load. They have had loads of fun with this and today’s surf had a few consecutive waves rolling in anf they had to dive off the board and under to reject some that were just too big for them.

Back in the apartment ... we sent Chris the owner a message of thanks, locked the door and headed to the Lobby for a cab – many different companys here and thought it was fitting that today was Saturday and we had a Pony Cab. Might be an omen bet in that.

Crawling weekend Waikiki traffic but we easily made our embarkation timeslot- so many staff on hand to meet and greet and help everyone. We thought we were super organised and had all our documents ready - we’ve got two copies of everything. But when we handed our little wad over – @Mac's papers were not in the stash. Held up the queue a little and had to resort to showing the documentation online. The location of that paperwork remains a mystery.

Time to move on

Progressed to security screening and for the first time the knee triggered an alarm. They pulled me to the side and called for a “female wander “ – had to do arms up, pat down and pirouette. Which by the way was repeated later in the afternoon when we reboardec. Think its a thing now for the cruise ship.

Next staging process was the fresh flower lei for the ladies and a shell lei for the gents. Live hula demonstration and band. All very exciting. One of the staffers approached us and inquired if we were VIPs. We had no idea – but she couldn’t find our names or cabin on her clipboard list so we were ushered into the “ordinary “ passenger queue.

 No worries we chatted with all and sundry and then were lucky to frontup to staffer Thearon for checkin. He was very chatty and we were telling him of our not so great mai tai experience and he recommended the number 1 voted place for out afternoon meeting with @Mindy and @Ian – The Moku. Funnily enough he described Dukes’concoction as “kerosene” – I’d described it as “gasoline” so we were on the same wavelength.

All forms completed and dodgy security photos retaken and then comes back to tell us he needs to escort us to the VIP lounge. We do have a “penthouse suite” for this cruise – very fancy-pantsy for us. Got offered food and drinks, had our own intro from our concierge and then, while waiting for the staterooms to be ready, we’re escorted to a private function in Cagneys for lunch. This VIP stuff is OK.

Prawns, seafood chowder and shrimp linguine washed down with wine and lathered with the best butter ever! A grand start! Had a chat with the sisters at the table next to us and in no time at all we were called to our room.

Bloody marvellous. So spacious and ore cupboard options than our new kichen. Very comfy with a double balcony overlooking the pool. Champagne chilling in the bucket, canapés ready as accompaniment and fresh flowers on the table.

No time to waste drooling though – just dropped the carry on and disembarked for the Moku meet up. Wow, mai tais were in a world of their own, topped with a pineapple foam and a slice of fresh pineapple. Settled in, ordered some pizza – the surfers were hungry – and there was another round.

Our wait staff’s description of “boozy” was very accurate. And after a tearful, farewell (on my behalf) it was a last wave to @Mindy and @Ian. We literally “alcohol wobbled” the 600 metres back to The Pride of America to once again set off the “wanding alarm” to be immediately ushered to the safety drill that we didn’t even realise was a thing because we had to complete it 4 times online before boarding.

With just 1200 on board instead of 2200 capacity, we thought the coffee line would offer a post mai tai solution – did take 20 minutes and we were only 3rd in line. Could be a long time between drinks.

Exploration time, deck time, sunset time – filled in the hour before sail away at 7.

Mac’s luggage arrived – but no sign of mine. Eventually got a “you are naughty” letter because I had a bottle of contraband wine in my bag. We had to “report” to security for screening which involved a very cordial guest services man wheeling my bag out and handing it over. Got my bag and still have the wine. Bizarre. And even more bizarre, my backpack had Mac’s premix stash inside and nothing was mentioned at the screening.

Hit the comedy show late – if we had been on time actually had priority front row seating. Maybe next time.

Finished up with a later dinner at the Aoloha Cafe (it was beef night for @Mac) and then hit our deck for an up close and personal view of the pool party.

The shower was hilarious. Consists of three options. An overhead rain shower, a handheld shower and the about 8 jets of water that spurt water out horizontally from the wall – massages your back, buttocks and knees ... mind you I guess that depends on how tall you are. And, you can turn around and do the other bits. Anyway I turned the water on - shower was set to the nozzle spray and I managed in two minutes to flood out the bathroom. Water everywhere, but can I just say, that if anyone is looking for me, I’m probably in the shower... it was decadently delightful. AND there is a bath tub spa. I’m set.

Loud music, lights, entertainment still all in full swing late! Thinking maybe the location of this cabin overlooking the poolside entertainment might be wasted on us. We’ll see.

Step Count: 8451

Weather: 31-25 rain till 11 and then stinking humidity

Day 8: Going out with a bang

Such a surprise this morning - it was raining! The area is in severe drought so I guess it was a welcome relief for the locals. Did all its serious falling in the early hours of the morning and by 8 am it was clear skies and sunshine. Didn't  impact our trolley adventures at all.

Two of my favourite things @MindyMoo and Shaved Ice!

Started the day with a quick dash to pick up a parcel for @Mindy at the seamstress and then a sprint to meet up with @Mindy and @Ian at the start of the trolley route - well,  we walked briskly  they literally sprinted to arrive as the trolley was boarding. Perfect timing.

Trolley riders

We do love to do the local hop on hop off service and this company runs over 5 lines. Because we are such experts at using public transport amd have ventured to all the corners of the island most of the "major" stops on many of the lines had been covered. We opted for the Red Line - Heroes and Legends  and were joined by @Mindy and @Ian for our last full day before separating until August of next year.

Got to visit the Mueum of Art, Punchbowl Crater and Military Cemetery, the State Capitol, Iolani Palace, Chinatown, Salt Wall Art, Ala Moana and The Duke. This was a two hour circuit if you opted to complete with no stops. Once off, you were at the stop for one hour until the next trolley arrived. Needed to select a few favs.

The Pig and the Lady ... and @Mac devouring

 We chose to stay on board and ride out to Chinatown supposedly for some great shopping (probably only 1 out of 10 stores open) and some food. 

Settled on The Pig and the Lady - but they were booked out for their dine in option. Ordered their "take out" and rejoined the trolley (no eating or drinking on the trolley) to go a further two stops to set up and eat and then enjoy the wall murals that form part of the annual PowWow festival.

Loved the murals (some so so big,  all filled with colour and detail) and loved the browsing of the specialty shops. Every obscure doorway in Hawaii seems to open into another mall, or plaza or collection of outlets and eateries. @Mac scored a new Aloha shirt here courtesy of @Mindy and @Ian who had been determined to buy a genuine "Made in Hawaii " shirt... rather than a "Made in China" or "Designed in Hawaii, made in China" option. Very special.

 

PowWow murals- so big - spot @Mac under the carriage

Left the tour a little early and joined the uncharacteristically short line for my absolute new fav in Hawaii - shaved ice. Yes, just a snow cone ... but served on a plate with so many delicious options. So sad I have discovered it so late  ... but it will be a regular. The relentless heat makes this treat extra specially refreshing and there are "bubbles" included- little tiny balloons of juice that pop with taste. I think I probably need a hundred more to be able to describe the joy of eating this stuff.

Final stop for us was The Duke. He is everywhere on Honolulu - a revered amd iconic hero. Credited with introducing surfing to the world he was also an Olympic champion, a Honolulu Sheriff and is credited with performing a super human feat in rescuing 8 fisherman from a capsized vessel making repeated trips on his board to drag the sailors from the sea. 

For @Liz

Fried and exhausted after the trolley we  took up different recovery strategies - @Mac opted for a snooze in the air con and I found my chair in the pool and opened my book for the first time. 

That was 1 hour of recharge and then the evening session was underway,

It was the last rendezvous on the deck for sunset viewing - we had a wedding in the pool complex below and a hula show in the courtyard. 

Headed out at 7.30 to make our way nextdoor to the beach for the Hilton fireworks. Everyone was streaming in the same direction - a real party atmosphere with towels and mats covering the sand and couples and families taking up their favourite spot. The dinner cruises were also lined up in the water and even in the darkness swimmers were on their floaties bobbing around.

Right on the dot of 8 o'clock the sky exploded with colour accompanied by the whoops and screams of the crowd. It banged and cracked, sizzled and popped, offering sprays of colour across the sky which were reflected on the water. It only lasted for 5 minutes but it was a spectacle.

And what a great marketing ploy by the Hilton. Thousands of people drawn into their precinct who would now eat and drink and party the night away.

We had an 8.30 booking across the road at The Red Lobster - seemed a little "shellfish selfish" given that @Mindy and @Ian don't actually eat seafood - but there were steak and chicken options on the menu. Ordered up a storm and enjoyed their company cause this was our farewell dinner.

Great entertainment, great food, great company. The trifecta.

And now for a little behind the scenes truth telling. Had to uncap the poison pen this arvo. Felt we were definitely short-changed on the Red Line earlier today. Have fired off the email (rather than going public on social media) to let the trolley company know what a "fail" the commentary was! This was live commentary, not the pre-recorded headset suff. For 11 of the 13 stops in our lucky dip of drivers we had to endure a guy who according to @Mindy and @Ian thought he was rehearsing for his stand up comedy gig at one of the stations on the sidewalk later tonight. We were expecting factual, informative, insightful Heroes and Legends stuff - we were dished up a combo of "This is my life" and "The Comedy Club." Families around us were commenting that they didn't know what was fact or fiction and we were all looking for ear plugs to find solace from his laughs and guffaws at his own "so not funny" jokes. He did a segment on "tree puns" that would even have had @Gary cringing. In contrast, for just two of the stops, from Chinatown to Salt, we had a young woman who was AMAZING. She gave us more detail and insight in that 10 minutes than we had on the remaining hour fifty with the dude. Will see what they come back with - response pending.

On the domestic front, tried to tackle the laundry early this morning to freshen up precruise. Challenged on so many fronts. Challenge number 1 was finding the laundry but Google seemed to have the answer = Floor 8. So off I headed. Glad I have a habit of striking up conversation in the lift and with two bags emblazoned with "laundry" they were a good conversation starter. Mature fellow early risers set me straight. "Sure, there's a laundry on 8, but there is one on every floor, right across from the lift."

Even better.

Challenge number 2 was paying. Managed to fill the machine, select the wash and add the detergent but every attempt to pay by swiping all the card options in my plastic artillery left me with the same error message. Eventually noted that pay included an " insert card" option which worked a treat. Only to present Challenge 3. The cost of the load was now $8 not $3. By this time I didn't care - was happy to pay anything.

Set it in motion and went for a walk to find the "lounge chair pool" and came back to note a sign in font too small for me to read at a distance that basically said "Don't worry" - there was not really an $8 charge - all will be adjusted within 24 hours.

Challenge 4 - I now had a pre authorised card to start the dryer - but I had swiped so many to get to this point that I had  absolutely no idea which one in my arsenal was the "preauthorised" solution. Back to trial and error and eventual success. Oh well, a learning experience - it will all come out in the wash - eventually. Very keen to see how the transactions play out on our statement.

And now on to phase two of the Hawaii adventure ... tomorrow we join the cruise. Excited. 

Step Count: 15828

Weather: 30 - 25 - very early morning rain

Our very own RiverFire

Day 7: Trekking to our own stairway to heaven

 I have to say we are pretty lucky to be here to be telling the story tonight. I am not sure if @Mac was the hero or he was the one who placed us in danger. 

Hot and sweaty at the summit of Diamond Head

Our morning routine is now established. Alexa voice wakes us up and then it is out onto the deck to enjoy the views, and the sunshine and to feast on some fresh fruit and any leftover food from the night before. All washed down with fresh pineapple juice. A freshen up, a pack of the bags and then we head down to the coffee shop for the heart starter.

Starting out right at the Ilikai

We got very serious this morning and along with the coffee infusion, decided to download the local Hawaiian transport app. This has made life a lot easier and we had plenty of time to board that reliable bus 23 at 10:08 to make our way out to Diamond Head for our hike. @Mac had booked the park entry last night and scheduled us for 11:00 o'clock.. seemed like a good idea at the time because that gave us plenty of time for the morning rituals and the bus trip. But when you REALLY think about it that meant we were hiking in the hottest part of the day.

A little hiccup as Mac boarded the bus. Apparently I had successfully loaded my card with today’s credit for our bus trips but somehow hadn't quite completed the action on his card amd when he tapped on, the card was declined. Thank goodness for a generous driver - he just Hawaiian style waved @Mac on and told him to have a good day. We took our seats and promptly reloaded that card - successfully this time.

Blissfully unawares

Once at the bus stop we had to make a preliminary climb up the hill and through a long tunnel before we were able to reach the ticket booth and check in for our 11:00 o’clock hike time. The posters in the arrival area suggested the hike would take us 90 minutes - not so sure they had made allowance for age, a new knee and weight. But we set off in good spirits and just took one step at a time at our own pace (well my pace rather than @Mac’s potential) and I definitely took advantage of all of the hand holds and hand rails that we were met with along the way. It was hard work and we were passed by streams of people – not sure we ever overtook anybody. And it was HOT. But the views were definitely worth it.

Had the opportunity to look down into the crater to see the flat area that we had recently left that was the ticket booth and continued to scale up the barren steep cliffs to the rim of the crater. Lots of uneven paths pitted with potholes and eroded little gullies and flights of very UNwelcomed stairs but all interspersed with lookouts and amazing views of either the coastline or the crater itself or its walls.

 Everyone was patient along the way greeting each other and encouraging of each other as the climb up became steeper and tougher. @Mac was disappointed that the 93 step shortcut section had been closed but I was actually rejoicing because from the vantage point of the bottom step it looked as if it were straight up.

At the summit, the view of the coastline and downtown Honolulu and the beach of Waikiki were absolutely spectacular and worth every step. So glad we made it.

 

The ascent had a different set of challenges – our stride length became much shorter, knees under a bit more pressure and the heat was really ramping up as we were already an hour into the climb. l clung to the sides of the railings and tried to find every vantage point of shade that was on offer. It was hot  and we were parched and sweating but have to admit that although it was a little tougher on the knees the downhill journey was much kinder.

Got back to the entry gate exactly 2 hours after we had left. A little bit longer than the average but I’m sure we enjoyed it just as much as the fastest hikers on the Diamond Head trail.

 

Still marvelling at the variety of people on the trail. @Mac commented on the number of foreign languages we heard in passing our fellow hikers. Quite amazed at the number of young families who were encouraging toddlers to take the steps along the trail and carrying babies on their front, back and shoulders as they tried to finish the climb

 

We had no service in the crater and had no idea of when the homeward bound bus would be available. As we came out of the entry tunnel a cab driver waved at us and offered us a ride back to our hotel for $15. We smiled and said no thank you keen to do the return journey by the bus. @Mac was on the transport app and now that he had reception, discovered that we had just 8 minutes to make that final section to get bus 23.

I sort of did a staggering walking run to increase our speed and just as we reached the roadway after six minutes of this agonising limping and lagging gait at speed, @Mac noticed a bus around the corner and could clearly see the number 3 on it and announced we had to SPRINT. . now I’ve just walked up and down Diamond Head for two hours and SPRINTING is not really in the vocabulary of my legs. But clenching onto @Mac's hand I did try and send those signals to propel those legs up and down.

Not much happened really. It was sort of akin to dragging a dead dog on a leash  ... or dragging those wet hessian sacks across the beach looking for worms. Any-who ... I found myself stranded in the middle of the road with @Mac pulling me along and the bus barrelling towards us.

Thank goodness the driver was awake – he had to brake in order to miss hitting us. Could have been a very sad end to our Hawaiian birthday bash.

 The driver was also kind enough to hold the bus for us. Unfortunately it was bus 3 not 23 and we had to thank him and wave him on.

 Finally home safely after our big adventure and rewarded ourselves with two scoops in a bucket from the ice cream store in the lobby. Way too much but we just kept on dipping that spoon down to the bottom of the tub and declared it “lunch.” Do think we need to reassess this two scoop habit that we have developed over time. Always too much but somehow we always “force” ourselves to eat it.

@Mindy and @Ian were kind enough to come and set up in our unit and make sure that the cold water was ready and the air conditioning was on to cool us down. We had planned on going to visit the Ala Moana centre with them but opted to just sit and be and cool down for two hours. Really, we had expended all of the gas that was available to us and to be honest we had a little nap.

 Eventually roused ourselves around the four o’clock mark to go and enjoy the afternoon breeze under the swaying palm trees beside our local lagoon. Amused ourselves by watching all of the passers by. We were eventually joined by the solo shoppers and the stranded travellers @Bri and @Dan.

 Clouds were doing their usual afternoon movement and I wasn’t confident that we would be witnessing a sunset this evening. We left the lagoon and took off to the Hilton around 6:00 o'clock to have a look at the luau and to order ourselves some dinner. 

 I think the word pizza was mentioned two days ago and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since so we had to hunt around in the depths of the Hilton to find the restaurant. Managed to place our order, only to get home as the sun had just dipped under the horizon and can you believe it, that, for the first time on our balcony time, there was not a cloud in sight and we had missed it. No worries just set up our dinner and drinks and sat down and watched the glory of a  changing sky post sunset. Still magical.

 The big travel news of the day is that for Bri and Dan and the Carters who were supposed to leave early this morning – their flight was postponed for 20 hours. They were re directed back to accommodation supplied by the airline to spend another day in Waikiki with an anticipated departure tomorrow morning at 4:30 AM - have to be at the airport at 3:00 AM in order to get this flight.

Can you imagine how stressed you would be if you had connecting bookings at the other end for a tour or a cruise. Being selfish I hope that all of our arrangements continue as smoothly as they have so far.

So glad this flight was closed

Step Count: 14986

Weather: 30 - 24 .. felt like 40 on the hike

Snorkelling Videos and Stills courtesy @Mindy and @Ian

 

Day 6: Does my face look big in this?

Another adventure today that needs TheBus- only this time the service only runs every hour which means super dooper organisation and timing.

Up early for breakfast leftovers- still eating the pancake stack and combined it with one of the apples that set us back $2.50 a piece!

We were packed and out the door at 9 am ready to walk and then catch the L1 line bus to Hanauma Bay. @Mac had prepared the schedule and bus route the night before but we wanted to check with the Concierge before taking off! 

Coffee - a long time between drinks

That seemed a sensible move because according to the Concierge, TheBus we really needed was the 23 and it stopped right outside our building. Saved us a 35 minute walk to the L1 AND bonus of all bonus, meant we had time to kill and we could join the coffee line. Win, win all round

What? Stop! Who said that was a sensible move? Definitely turned out to be a real furphy. Naively, we boarded the 23 with confidence only to be told after an hour that we had reached the end of the line and the old route direct to Hanauma had been cancelled last year. Had to disembark with our new best friends (a mature couple from Switzerland) and the Carter family who are part of the #Squad. The young guns took off on shanks pony for the last 4.5 km and the mature travellers opted to swap to the L1 (the original bus @Mac said we should be on), with a wait of 20 minutes, to get us another 2 km closer.

Swiped our Holo for the second time and after just a short ride were off the bus again  and hot footed it over the footbridge and zigged when we should have zagged.  Instead of following @Mac’s directions we were sucked into following a young woman who had her mobile phone out following a map – she was dressed for the part as well as a beach goer. Hmm, looks can be deceiving.  Finally came to our senses and asked a “real” local for directions only to find we were heading in totally the wrong direction. Obviously our very perky guide was heading somewhere else. Even with our local’s help, didn’t really believe it was the correct way because we were scaling a hill, walking on the side of the road ... no footpath and no signage.

They didn't say anything about "resting" or "hanging"

As usual, calm and collected, @Mindy to the rescue with location services turned on, we confirmed we were AOK and found the entrance. Just a teeny little stumbling block at the gate – the Security Guard wouldn’t let us in because we didn’t have proof of ticket purchase. ANOTHER call to @Mindy and the guards took pity on us and let us through. Arrived at 12 o’clock after leaving on the bus at 10.08. The Carter family who walked the whole way, arrived at 11.30 ... hmm, not quite 10 out of 10 for public transport this morning.

The numbers in this snorkelling mecca are strictly controlled – pre-purchase of entry tickets control the number of people per hour who are admitted. The entry requires photo ID for the purchaser and then a 30  minute staging process to get you through the booths and then into the information centre, through a compulsory safety briefing and then a trolley ride to the beach.

Perfect setup - these guys are pro!

@Mac and I were travelling light but the #Squad had their own gear and food plus beach chairs, umbrellas, floating tubes and @Melissa had taken on the responsibility of hiring everyone’s scuba gear in town. Apparently when all 12 sets of snorkel gear were dropped as she alighted from the Uber at the top gate this also was a morning highlight for the Security Guards.

And just saying. The gear was half the price, we didn’t have to queue to get it and it was great.

The young ones were in by 12.35. @Mac surveyed the scene and hit the water about 1. I was a little slower – needed to find myself a private little corner to have a crack at getting the gear on and after a little floundering and flailing I had parked myself in the shallows until @Mindy and @Mac sidled up to me like a life raft and a tug boat and we were away.

Tentative, but determined

Water was crystal clear, as blue as blue, calm and refreshing, literally teeming with fish and probably averaged a metre in depth. The rocky bottom of the crater formed the foundation of the reef, with hard coral covering the uneven surfaces to make the perfect home for the fish. All colours, all sizes, all shapes – some little lone souls going about their feeding, others dashing around and changing directions in colourful schools. The stiller you were hovering over one of the depressions the more fish that found their way to you.

And, best of all, you just stepped off the sand into the water and within a metre you were sucking your tummy in to skim your way over the reef. I had loads of fun right in close to shore – others were much more confident and skimmed their way out to the depths where the waves were breaking over the reef.

Actually saw lots of the fish

My fav

My favourite fish by far were the massive big blue Parrot fish that endlessly sucked their way around the rocky tops but the bright colours of the butterfly fish were dazzling in the way they lit up the little underwater caves. @Mindy is confident she saw all the fish named on the educational poster and I’d believe it because other than for a refresh of the sunscreen she was in the water snorkelling the whole time.

We were warned to make way for the Monk Seals who use the shores as their resting place. They rope off the area for safety when one comes ashore. I was a little relieved the volunteers didn't bring out the pegs and rope and cordon me off by mistake while I was recovering from my ocean float.

Strict timing provisions here meant the loudspeaker was blaring at 2.45 warning everyone they had to be out of the water by 3.00 and off the beach by 3.30. The carpark gates closed on the dot of 4 pm and if your car wasn’t out – too bad too sad.

Uber ready at end of the day.

After our protracted bus experience of the morning @Mindy convinced us to join her group of 4 and take the last 2 seats in their Uber. Yep a totally different experience without having to worry about directions, hiking or missed connections.

But we did want to finish on a positive note with the buses and found ourselves a 42 to deliver us right to our door. We detoured to the ABC Shop on the corner ostensibly to pick up a cake of soap (don’t even ask) and came out with a chicken salad, a fruit salad, a bottle of wine and some premixed MaiTais ... oh, and the soap. But best of all @Mac got one of the ubiquitous ABC bags that he has been hankering for since we arrived. Dawdled (had to check it @Julie) over to the next corner and ordered dinner as a “take out” from Red Lobster – and @Mac was in heaven – he’d scored the coveted pair in a single afternoon.

Double bagged!

We were back at the Ilikai, with dinner and drinks on the balcony, ready for a spectacular sunset. And it did deliver!

Dinner on the balcony

We have noted lots of signs on public transport and in venues about “leaving the sand in the bay.” It hadn’t quite resonated until tonight’s shower.

WARNING WARNING – please do not use visualisation here.

As I stripped off, I noted how rough my skin was on my bottom. We have heard a lot about tuberculosis here in the retelling of the history of Hawaii and have been reading at home about the spread of Monkeypox – can you catch these from toilet seats and what are the symptoms? Phew, no, not either of those.

After sitting in the trolley bus to get up from the beach, then the 40  minute Uber ride, followed by 20 minutes in the bus and a couple of hours on the deck – the not so fine sand had embedded itself in my butt cheeks! Had to give myself a spa treatment to get those “pebbles” back – feel that now my cheeks are as smooth as my feet and I have about a bucket of sand to return to the Bay.

Fresh to you from Hanauma Bay, via my bottom.

Might try my thongs tomorrow. (Oh Uncle @Gary, that one is for you.)

Step count: 12746

Weather: 30 - 25 ... noooo, seriously

PS I wonder if this is what @Tanya and @Glen meant about hiring a car?