Aloha

Hawaii was awesome despite my gripes about American food. Boff and I started off a bit rocky. It was quite typical in an atypical fashion; I was doing the driving and he couldn't read the map properly so we had communication issues. It was the first time I've driven on the right, driven in a foreign country, and driven for four days straight after getting off a plane, and I don't even drive very often even in Sydney (not having a car has a great deal to do with that) so you can understand I needed some navigational confidence.

Day 1, Kauai, was getting used to the driving and also spending some time looking to buy a sim card. Turns out they're not that popular in the US because a lot of their phones are CDMA and also there's a crime/terrorist tinge to cheap sims. We did go to the Kauai Museum in Lihue and also Spouting Horn in Poipu, though.

Day 2, Kauai: We went to Waimea Canyon and did a few lookouts and a couple of trails in Kokee State Park. In the evening we ended up at the Waimea Heritage Fair where we bumped into our B&B hosts and had a great time hanging out like a local.

Day 3, Kauai, started with a few hours at Allerton Garden, which is a tropical wonderland (often used in films, actually). It's US$45 for a guided tour and quite interesting. Not sure if it's quite worth $45, but it is worth visiting, certainly. Also dropped in at Poipu, which a popular beach spot (it was okay), and the historic town of Hanapepe before watching the sun go down at Macarthur Park.

Day 4, Kauai, was a big touring day - we went most of the way around the island. Stopped at a lot of lookout points, including one where I saw my first wild monk seal, and also Kilauea Point, which is a big wildlife spotting area with albatross, plovers, boobies, monk seals and whales out and about. It was also a sanctuary for nene (Hawaiian geese).

We went as far as the caves and Kee Beach at Haena, which was a lovely spot, only the road in was quite tricky so by the time we drove in it was almost time to leave again. We hit Lihue Airport just as Shaun Tan received his Oscar for Best Animated Short Film and I was so happy for him because I've met the guy a couple of times and he is genuinely nice and also self-effacing.

Day 5, Oahu, saw us cruise the main strip at Waikiki and spend several hours at Honolulu Zoo. We were there so long was because all the animals were active and therefore photogenic. A lot of them were mating, too. In the evening we met up with the brides Dina and Desiree and their posse and spent happy hour(s) at the Red Lion pub before wandering down to the International Marketplace, which had a whole bunch of touristy stalls.

Day 6, Oahu, started with a hike to Diamond Head Crater, which is the tourist thing to do. The climb wasn't as bad as every guidebook made it out to be, so I was pleased. We then went to Pearl Harbor. I did the basic tour (short film + Arizona memorial + general displays) and Boff paid for the full thing. After we finished the basic stuff together I headed for the Waikele outlets where I ended up buying clothes and shoes - can you believe it?

Day 7, Oahu: Boff was tired of spending entire days in the sun, so we spent the morning at Waikiki Aquarium, which was a great little place, followed by a trip to the Honolulu Academy of Arts to try and get on a tour of Doris Duke's Shangri La. The tours were booked up but it happened to be free admission day so we wandered around until closing.

Our first failing for the day was not being able to hire a car for our trip to the North Shore. This meant we had to rely on the bus system to get us there. While cheap at $2.50 a ride, the trip takes more than two hours (compared with 45 mins by car) and there is a 'no luggage policy'. We decided to risk it and managed to get on the right one, and get off at the right stop (despite a pile of anxiety on my part).

Our second failing I discovered when I called our accommodation for the night at about 7.30pm to tell them we'd be there at about 8.30pm and they had an answering machine message saying the office hours were until 7pm. So we ended up going to the house Dina's family rented for dinner and frivolities before crashing on their couch.

Actually, not strictly. There was an incident involving accompanying drunk ringbearer Kristin on a stupid quest to buy cigarettes (the store was closed) whereby Boff spent the entire time protecting her from being run over, only for her to get injured falling off a tractor. That's the short version. I won't elaborate.

Day 8, Oahu: It turned out that the inn had left our key out for us. Boo. Anyway, the focus of this Thursday was the Wedding of Awesomeness between Dina and Desiree. It was fun. There was food. There was booze. There was poker playing (at which I SUCKED). Here are some photos:

powered by photoswarm

Day 9, Oahu: The first grey day we encountered didn't scupper our plans to go snorkelling. We ended up swimming and feeding fish at the Pupukea Tide Pool near Sharks Cove in the morning and then headed to the Polynesian Cultural Centre for the afternoon and evening.

The PCC was brilliant, loved it. The village shows were great (the guy from Samoa should be a pro comedian. Seriously, I got abs from trying to control my giggling) and the 'Ha - breath of life' main show was quite a bit of fun. The only thing is I wish I'd had more time there. If you end up going, definitely make it a full-day excursion.

Day 10, Oahu: We were about to haul arse to the bus stop and cross our fingers the driver would be lenient enough to let us on when we met the Brazilian part-time actor who drives the inn shuttle to Waikiki. The shuttle was free; he worked on tips.

Dumped our stuff at the HI Hostel and then went to the Academy of Arts for the Shangri La tour, which was fascinating and not at all something I would've heard about or gone on, had Boff not spotted it. We then treated ourselves to Mexican and a sunset stroll on Waikiki Beach before parting ways - Boff was off to Big Island and I had one more day before flying home.

Day 11, Oahu: Being boyfriend-less meant... shopping. I wish I weren't such a cliche but there you go. Caught the free trolley to Hilo Hattie, a large Hawaiian gift store, where I ended up buying some pearls and a bunch of souvenirs for everyone. Then caught the bus to Waioli Tea Room, which is apparently a Honolulu institution. Tried to get high tea, but apparently you have to book ahead so I ended up just having lunch there.

My one bid at randomness was a trip to Chinatown. Unfortunately it was a Sunday evening and there was really not much going on. A lot of lei-making shops and hair and beauty salons there. I drank a soursop bubble drink and saw rainbows.

Day 12, Oahu: 5am airport pick-up. Ergh. But I got home on the divine wind. My luggage weighed almost 22kgs but I didn't get charged for extra weight. Nothing seems to have broken. I had a row of two seats to myself. Immigration, baggage claim and customs took all of 20 minutes (I didn't even think that was physically possible, but what the hey). Then I caught the train and it came in 3 minutes, changed at Central and got straight on a North Shore train. Have no idea what happened to Sydney while we were away.

Will catch up on the rest of the week shortly. Right now, someone needs to sleep.