The Rest Of Hawaii...

OK, its been three months since my last post and I need to finish up the 'Hawaii' series. Our last day in Hawaii we did more of the same, hanging out at the beach, wandering the shops on the main street, and in the evening we did probably my favourite thing in Oahu, the Maitai Catamaran...

The catamaran departs from the Northern end of Waikiki beach and sails out along the water. It basically goes back and forth parallel to the sand for 90 minutes, but is manned by an amazing two person crew who are loving life and really friendly and relaxed and the super tasty mai tais flow non-stop.

 Diamond Head.

 People on the catamaran.

 Another few catamarans were out, as well as lots of sail boats.

 Another catamaran doing a similar cruise to ours.

 We did the sunset sail so we got some amazing evening views.

 Yep.

 The sun begins to set over Waikiki.

Heading back in to shore after a relaxing, enjoyable, fun, and slightly tipsy 90 minutes out at sea. What a great way to spend our last night in Hawaii!

I would highly recommend the Maitai Catamaran for a trip in Waikiki. It was under $40 per person (plus tips), which when you consider beers/mai tais/soft drinks were unlimited along with the relaxing and amazing sightseeing sail, it was definitely well worth the money. Make sure you book in advance, they tended to book out several days ahead and we went in the Hawaiian 'Winter'.

Do you like to go on sailing/boat trips when you go away?

Next up, my California photo series...back into blogging, I promise!

Aloha Hawaii...

I'm back from my trip to Hawaii. It was interesting. I did a ton of shopping and came back with my suitcase doubly as full as it was when I departed Melbourne, which means success! I did find the people in the shops to be a little too pushy/annoying, compared to the mainland East Coast of the US. Homeless people were everywhere - Waikiki was literally covered with homeless people on the main street by the beach. My Mum said she had heard once on a Stephen Fry show that apparently the counties on the mainland pay these homeless people an airfare over to Hawaii where it is consistently warm (ie. good for sleeping out at night) so that they get them off their own streets. There was ridiculous traffic at random times of the day. Shopping and meals were more expensive than they are on the mainland - meals in particular were closing the gap quite significantly between Australian and US prices, especially once you add in a 20% tip. It was good to go and do Hawaii properly - back in 2008 I made a stopover on the way back from the East Coast, where I had travelled alone, and a combination of jet lag and loneliness meant that trailed around the Ala Moana Centre for a few hours aimlessly without buying anything (also back then I didn't know what any of the shops were, whereas now, with both online shopping and my living in the US means I know exactly what is in what shops and what I do and don't want to go into) before sleeping for half a day, venturing out onto the main street and buying Subway for dinner, then changing my flight to leave the next morning, three days early. I'm going to do a multi-part photo series on my holiday in Hawaii, starting today, to show the different things I did and my thoughts on them. Enjoy.

Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach - the famous view.

Waikiki Beach looking in the other direction.

Hotels lining the beach. The swimming barrier/break lines most of the beach, which is a shame as you don't really get to experience waves like a regular beach. I guess they want to make the lifeguards' jobs easy.

Diamond Head.

International Marketplace signage - this last little bit was all that remained with about 10 stalls at the front of the once much larger marketplace by the main street for the month of January. Come February 1st, the whole thing closed for good.

Koi fish in the pond for the Japanese tourists at the Marketplace - a place to buy mainly pearls and other jewelry for souvenirs.

Holidays...

So it's been a couple of months since my last post. I didn't get any comments on my Fiji trip post so I didn't think anyone was reading anymore so it felt kind of pointless to keep blogging. That and the last few months of the year at work are always super busy. Anyway, it's holidays now and this time in one week I'll be traveling to Hawaii with my mum! I'm looking forward to the trip. I've been to Hawaii once before but I was by myself and got bored quickly and spent half the day sleeping with jet lag from coming from the East Coast of the US, so I changed my flight and went home early.

Things I'm planning on doing in Hawaii:

Sunset sail on the Maitai Catamaran, which includes free mai tais in the price!

Shop like a boss at the Ala Moana Center.

Hike to the top of Diamond Head for an amazing view like this.

Visit Pearl Harbor.

Snorkel at Hanauma Bay and then drive around Oahu.

Sunset yoga.

Go parasailing - I booked this last time I was in Hawaii but then I went home early so never did it. I did this in Cairns and it was amazing!

Overeat at The Cheesecake Factory.

I'm a bit concerned that I will be effectively going to Hawaii to escape the heat of Melbourne. Ugh.

Have you been to Hawaii before? My mum and I are there for a week. If you have any suggestions on things we should do then please suggest away!