We are off to Hawaii for our 5th Wedding Anniversary, without the kids. When i think of Hawaii i think of Surfing, Volcanoes, Hawaii Five-O and Elvis Presley movies. But there is certainly more to it than that.
In this blog we will show some of the best things Hawaii has to offer.
Day 1 : Our first destination is Honolulu on the island of Oahu.
We arrived early well before check-in, so we went for a walk along Waikiki Beach.
Luckily enough some visiting mainland Americans gave us some tickets to go on the trolley. Lucky Us!
There are a number of trolley lines taking you around Honolulu, of which we went on the Green line which runs from Waikiki Beach to Diamond Head Crater and back to Waikiki Beach via the Kahala shopping mall.
The trolley driver provided excellent and funny commentary outlining many facts about Hawaii and in particular Honolulu. At the half-way point of the ride, we stop for about 10 minutes, where you can have photos of the famous beach kiss scene from the movie 'From Here to Eternity' featuring Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr.
Day 2: we went on a tour to the Polynesian Cultural Center. This is a Polynesian-themed park. The center consists of 7 simulated tropical villages : Hawaii, Samoa, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga, and the Marquesas Islands, each having performers demonstrating various arts and crafts. It's like travelling all around polynesia in one day.
In the afternoon there is a parade of canoes in the main lagoon showcasing signature dances of each Polynesian culture.
For lunch there is a traditional lu'au which offers traditional foods, including pork cooked in an underground oven.
Day 3 : we go to pay our respects to the fallen at Pearl Harbour. We arrived mid morning, and by that time all tickets to USS Arizona Memorial had been sold out. Tickets can be bought at the Pearl Harbour visitors center. Either come very early or pre-book if you can, to guarantee a ticket. So instead we bought tickets to the USS Missouri battleship. A shuttle-bus from the visitors center to the USS Missouri takes a detour through the airport where Amelia Earhart flew her last flight from, and also featured in the Pearl Harbour movie starring Ben Affleck.
When you arrive the battleship looks humungous. So much bigger than what you see on TV or at the movies.
Day 4 : The adventure doesn't stop, today we are off on a ATV (All Terrain Vehicle/Quad Bike) Movie Tour at Kualoa Ranch.
The tour takes us around a valley where many television and movies have been shot. Including Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbour, Godzilla, Mighty Joe Young, Hawaii Five-O and Lost.
This Jurassic Park scene is where they hide behind a tree trunk as the Dinosaurs race towards them.
Godzilla's foot print
Day 5 : we are for a drive to the Dole plantation. Famous for its pineapples. Acres and acres of pineapples, so you need a train ride to go around the whole plantation. The weird thing about this place is you can by an oyster shell and hopefully get a nice pearl. Not sure what it has to do with pineapples. An interesting place, only need a couple of hours to look around.
That afternoon we headed back to Waikiki Beach, and even though i am true blue Aussie, i've always used a boogey-board at the beach. So what better place to have my first surf than in Hawaii. After a 20 minute lesson it was off to the surf. (I was hoping my wife would take some video/pictures of me surfing to prove to my kids that i did stay up on the board but she decided to go shopping).
Day 6 : we are off to Maui, staying at Sheraton Maui Resort.
Day 7 : we go on a turtle snorkel tour up the coast of Maui. Along the way dolphins jump out of the water and play around our boat for about half an hour. Awesome!
I wasn't able to take photos of the turtles but we saw 2 turtles while snorkelling.
Day 8 : Arrived in Kauai.
Day 9 : We took a helicopter tour of Kauai. This was the most spectacular helicopter ride we've ever had. The scenery was amazing. You can see why so many TV shows and Movies are shot in Kauai.
Day 10 : We continued our journey to Big Island. Famous for the Kilauea Volcano.
Day 11 : One of the reasons to come to Big Island is hopefully to see some lava activity. So we decided to go on a Helicopter ride around the island. We travelled around the center of the island but no luck in finding any lava flows.
We did land on and old lava flow, so we could get out of the helicopter and go for a walk across it.
Day 12 : We hired a car to travel around the island, stopping off at a pizza house. My wife keeps talking about this place as being the best pizza she's ever had.
We found the twin waterfalls made famous in the TV show 'Fantasy island'.
Continuing our drive around Big Island, we stopped at 'Kilauea Caverns of Fire'. The lava tubes we are going into are part of the longest and deepest system in the world. The caves were carved out 500-700 years ago.
We've arrived at Volcano National Park
Along the Crater Rim Drive we came to Thurston Lava Tube. This is free and well worth seeing. It is only about a 20minute walk from the carpark through the fern forest. Nice and cool on a warm day.
At Volcano National Park, there are many walking trails you can follow.
Hot gas vent. Smells like rotten eggs.
Most of the lava flows are highlighted as to when they occurred.
Day 12 : Took a trolley from Waikiki to let the wife go shopping at Waikele Premium Outlet on our last full day in Honolulu.
We've come to the end of our Hawaii trip. Sad to leave as we both enjoyed are trip immensely. Looking forward to taking the kids here one day.
Itinerary
Days 1 -6 Oahu
Days 6-8 Maui
Days 8-10 Kauai
Days 10-12 Big Island
Day 12-13 Honolulu
Costs (All prices in $US and current prices) :
Oahu
Trolley Ride : $20 Adult, $15 Child for 1 Day Pass on Green Line (Scenic Tour)
Polynesian Cultural Center : $116 Adult, $92 Child Pick up from Waikiki Hotel
Dole Plantation : Admission is free. Pineapple Express train tour : $8.50 Adult, $6.50 Child
Kualoa Ranch ATV Movie Tour : $74 per person for 1hour ride
USS Missouri Tour : $25 Adult, $13 Child
Surfing lesson : $75 per person
Waikele Premium Outlet : whatever money you have left
Maui
Snorkelling Tour : $75 per person. Includes some refreshments.
Kauai
Safari Helicopter : $239 per person 1hour tour (check website as they have specials sometimes)
Big Island
Blue Hawaiian Helicopters : from $200 per person for 50 minute tour
Kilauea Caverns of Fire : $29 per person for 1 hour Scenic Walking Tour