Hawaii Last Days. 11 & 12 January 2020

Up early and a quick trip from Princeville to Lihue to fly back to Honolulu.

We had debated whether or not to take the bypass to miss the traffic jam in Kaapa’a and ended up taking it. However when we came back out on the main road we saw that they had made two lanes going south by putting cones up to take a north bound lane and make it a south bound lane.  If you think that is confusing to read then imagine how it is when you are driving and driving on the wrong side of the road anyway. 

Dropping the hire care off was a breeze and a slick operation. We drove in and there was a guy there to scan the number plate so he had our details and check the car over. He directed us around the building where we hopped on the bus and were driven 3 minutes across to the airport. Alamo Car Rentals. 

The rain had followed us to Waikiki and for the next two days it bucketed down. 

Our transfer driver dropped us at the Outrigger, however it was a different Outrigger to the one that we had left 2 suitcases at earlier in the week! That was the outrigger reef and this was the Outrigger. How amazing that they had taken our cases and not even checked if we were guests. So if you happen to be in Waikiki and need your bags stored just drop them at the Outrigger Reef Hotel. It will cost you $5 for the concierge’s tip. Cheapest luggage storage we have ever had! 

We would stay at the Outrigger again (either of them) it is a nice hotel and we breakfasted at their restaurant right on the beach.

Earlier in our trip an old friend had made contact to say that he was working in Honolulu and would be back from Xmas with the wife and kids when we return to Waikiki. Geoff flatted with me about 35 years ago and it was so great to see him. The years slipped away and we were all laughing and being silly again like only kiwis can. I am sure that the people around us at Dukes bar thought we must be drunk at lunch time. 

We dined together both nights and stopped in at the Lewers Lounge in the Halekulani Hotel. It is a posh bar and the band that night was Maggie Heron and Ricky Holmes and they were excellent. 

Remember on our first day in Waikiki we missed our Pearl Harbour tour, well we managed to get there on the 12th. The thing that stuck out for me was that the Japanese made a genius attack, I had never thought about it that way before. The information movie was really great and quite moving, we both expected more from the boat trip out to the sunken Arizona. The most amazing thing for me was that it is still leaking oil after 79 years. And as the veterans die they have their ashes placed in the sunken vessels. There are only 2 veterans left now. 

The walk through the submarine was a bit squeezie!

Funny thing is that we had been told the first time we went there that we couldn’t do the tour because our guide had the tickets and we were too late. However this time we had tickets and at no point did anyone ask for our tickets. We could have just strolled on in and got on the boat. 

I have a little list of things that I have forgotten to tell you:

Every time Lance and I take a flight together I am reminded that he has rough elbows that feel like baby hedgehogs. I keep getting poked with these prickles. Next time I am going to take some time to sand and moisturise him before we travel. 

When we went to Walmart we had to stand in a queue before we could leave the shop to show our receipt and she scanned it and our beers!

A young couple that we were talking to in Kauai had been hiking and thought that they could hear a goat. As they got closer they found that it was a young woman who had lost her way. They left the path to find her and then the three of them were lost for a while. Obviously they found their way out otherwise we wouldn’t be talking to them at dinner. 

I can’t remember if I have already mentioned this but every day in Kauai we passed some road works. After a while we realised that the truck that was parked inside the traffic cones was actually holding the power lines. The pole must be on order. 

When ever I am in the USA I am perturbed by the large gap between the toilet door and the wall. It is the length of my first knuckle (yes I measured it). It is not so bad when you are in there but when you are standing in the queue you can’t help but be nosey and find yourself studying the person in the cubicle. 

On this subject I was in the toilet at Pearl Harbour and was looking at how high the frames were holding the toilet cubicles whilst I was going about my business. Suddenly the person in the next cubicle shut their door and the walls started moving. So much in fact that the lock on my toilet door lost its connection with the wall and the door opened!

Tipping, what a pain in the butt. We are so conscious of getting it right that we end up tipping way too much. It’s not the percentage calculation that is the problem it is different rules for different situations. 

Hawaiian people

Talking to one of our drivers was really interesting. The true Hawaiian born people are the indigenous people and call themselves Hawaiian and have their own culture and ways that have been passed down along their line. However people who come and live in Hawaii (in particular Americans) call themselves Hawaiian because that is where they live and maybe even were born there. But that would be like me calling myself Maori because I was born in NZ. 

And so we come to the end of our trip. We will definitely be back in Honolulu at some stage and will maybe venture to another island. Great food, great bars, great shopping and great company. Thanks for coming with us and if you happen to win lotto you could sponsor us so that I can write more blogs about more places. 

If you are keen to read past trips before you take the journey yourself check out our experience https://reestra.blogspot.com

Day 14, 10 January 2020

Still raining in Princeville, they get over 300 inches of rain a year and up in the hills some places get 400! Well that is what they told us, and that it is one of the wettest places in the world. That wasn’t in the travel brochure!

This evening we attended our first ever luau, along with 688 other people.  But despite the size it was an excellent evening.  The pick up was in a small tourist bus and the driver chatted away with his local knowledge and was quite a character.

As we drove through an area in Kīlauea he informed us that the land that we were passing through belongs to Bette Midler who bought 38 acres in 1988 as a gesture to keep the wild areas protected from development. 

The approximate population is 70,000 people, with 250,000 wild pigs and around 700,000 chickens on the small island. The chickens are tough and apparently not eaten by local people who buy their chicken from the supermarket. Shame because they could do with eating a few thousand each. 

There was a mixed bunch on the bus but mainly middle aged and American. The Luau Kalamaku is a slick operation and we were ushered to a table where our places were saved by the server whilst we had our photo taken. Unfortunately we didn’t venture out of the huge open sided centre as it was pouring. Outside there appeared to be stalls and beautiful gardens and you could pay for a train ride around the plantation. 

Drinks were part of the $120 package, but remember that we had a deal where we paid half price because we went and listened to a boring time share promotion earlier in the week. My first drink looked like it was a nice rose (from the look of the bottle), bad move it was like drinking jelly. So I moved to a guava lava cocktail which wasn’t bad but too sweet to stay on for the whole evening. Finally I found a red and settled in. Lance said that the beer was great!

We sat with a group of 8 Canadians who were older than us and apart from one had all gone to the same school as some stage. Three of the men had been firemen together and one of them had played ice hockey for Canada. They were really nice people and we enjoyed our time with them. 

The show was very professional and we enjoyed the parallels with our own Maori culture. The buffet meal was interesting but not particularly appetising, however I did enjoy the pork that had been cooked in the imu. 

On the bus ride home the driver had clips of movies playing and they all aligned with the places that we were driving through which was great. 

We arrived home ready for bed and an early start in the morning for our flight back to Honolulu. 

Hawaii day 12 & 13, 8 & 9 January 2020

Our days are starting to focus on the main event of the day which is lunch, dinner or both. Therefore this post is a bit of a mix of bits and pieces of Hawaii that I have not already written about.

Food

On the 8th we were down in Wailua (where we had that lovely lunch the day before) and were looking for a recommended place to eat, however it was at the other end of the daily Kaapa’a traffic jam and Lance had said he wanted a burger.  Spotting a sign Burgers 100% beef across the road we took a chance and swung into the parking lot. My only criticism of the place was that the unisex toilet could do with a clean and I felt the need to hover and not sit.  Other than than it was great.  Lance had an ‘Original Burger’ that met the burger meter scale of excellence on the visual scale.  He almost needed a bath after eating it.  I had a Kenji bowl which was a bit like the Hawaiian Loco Moco without the egg. I have been wanting to try a Loco Moco but the egg has put me off. So here we go... a 100% grass fed beef patty, white rice, teriyaki, ponzu aioli, caramelised onions and cheddar.  What a find! This meal cost us the same as the ordinary food truck meal that we had in Hanalei and was ten times better.  In fact Lance is still talking about it.

The 2nd lunch (obviously the next day, not a second serve on the same day) was at a Mexican place called Verde in Lihue. We were hoping for something great as we had to drive 1 hour and forty minutes to get there. The service was good when we got there however thirty minutes after we had ordered we were still waiting for food and watching others who had arrived after us receive theirs. The waitress was walking past and stopped and asked what we had ordered and said it won’t be long. Lance received his coke but still no sign of our food. When the food did arrive, mine was outstanding. The fish tostada arrived looking like a mountain of salad topped with crispy potato sticks. I thought to myself “Hmmmm, it this just going to be just a lettuce thing?”  But no it wasn’t!  The seared fresh tuna was sitting on a  crispy corn tostada with salad, guacamole, pico de gallo which is a salsa made with tomato, cilantro, onion and lime juice, chilli and chipotle sauce.  I also ordered street corn which had five small grilled cobs on a sizzling hot plate with a dollop of some sort of yummyness on top. It tasted like mayo or sour cream with chipotle, lime, coriander and garlic all mixed together.  This time I felt like I needed a bath. Lance said that his was okay, but he was still a bit hot under the collar about the hour wait with no explanation. They did say sorry when I paid, but if they had explained it before when the mistake first happened we would have been likely to tip higher.  Still, it is a great place to eat. 

Driving has been a lot easier on my nerves since Lance found the ‘lane assist’ function on the car. Now it beeps when he wanders out of the lane and I don’t have to nag.  It also pulls him back into the lane like his car at home. And there have been road works that we have passed every day but now realise that the truck is supporting the powerlines. Maybe a pole is on order. 

There have been several incidents where we are both standing on the wrong side of the car and realise that it is a left hand drive.  

On the second day as we drove out of the main street that enters Princeville Lance cried out “Look at that fountain.” The truth is that the huge Roman style fountain had been there the day previous, in fact I had pointed it out to him. But he was concentrating so hard on staying in the right lane and finding our way that he missed it.

Roosters

Lance has already posted on Facebook about the roosters, who will now be known as ‘those bloody roosters’. The island is covered with what looks like more roosters than hens. We have now investigated the breeding patterns as a result of the mating that is happening regularly outside our door.  In fact it is more like a rape. But the powers that be really got one on the old rooster, there is actually no penetration in copulation because their equipment is not long enough!It wouldn’t be so bad if we were woken every morning by bloody roosters, but they start in the early hours. Some days it has been as early as 2am and they sound like they are on our pillow!

When I used the public toilets at the Waimea Canyon I found that the toilet door was a little short. Now I do remember posting a similar photo a few years back in Mexico. But they are short people. I don’t know what the story is here, when standing I could see right over the top!

The resort that we are staying at is very nice even though our room is a bit wanting we look out over the golf course to the sea and fortunately the weather has been cloudy and a cool 24 or 26 because we have no air conditioning. The whole area of Princeville is covered with resort style accomodation and has two large and very nice hotels.  

Further south at Wailua we have been passing a derelict resort and I have finally remembered to google it. The Coco Palms resort was where Elvis filmed Blue Hawaii and many movie stars of old would stay there. It was destroyed in a hurricane in 1992 and the owners walked away and left it. 

The other night as we were driving home in the dark we passed a cemetery and most of the graves had lights shining on the headstones. 

We still haven’t seen any surfers and the seas have only got more ferocious. But we have seen kite surfers out there. Scary stuff. 

Last night we ate locally at the Tiki Iniki in Princeville. It is a cool place and the service is good, but the food was nothing to write home about so I won’t. 

Hawaii Day 11, 7 January 2020

A late start to the day today with a load of washing done and a decent coffee from the local coffee spot.

Our check in time for a sunset cruise with Capt Andy’s was at 2pm so we thought that we would stop somewhere for some lunch as it is an hour and 15 minute drive to Pt Allen.

When we were at the airport in Oahu I grabbed a Lonely Planet style book called ‘The Ultimate Kauai Guide Book’ and it has been our bible, particularly for food. The book recommends a place called the Oasis located at Wailua which is about 40 minutes into the drive to Pt Allen. When we got there we found that the Oasis is located in the Wailua resort which is beach front. What a great spot, the pool area was fantastic with islands and tunnels and the Oasis was named perfectly as it sat right by the beach and was a welcome retreat and perfect for how we wanted to dine that day. 

Lance had been itching for a burger, but when he saw the menu he needed a Philly Cheese Steak. He is a bit of a BBQ buff and subscribes to many youtube channels on the subject and he was pretty excited to find a Philly Cheese Steak in the flesh! Myself, I ordered a fish taco which hit the spot perfectly. I suppose dear reader that you are curious about the Philly Cheese Steak? Tender rib eye steak has been chopped and combined with caramelised onions, garlic butter and is enveloped by a crusty bread roll, but wait there’s more. Gooey provolone cheese is melted over the top. Lance was in heaven!

We waddled out into the sunshine with an hour up our sleeve for the 35 minute drive to Port Allen. Bums began to clench when I checked google maps and it said that the drive would take 55 minutes and we would arrive four minutes before check in.  Now those of you that know us may know that I am a person who is unlikely to be late where as Lance is the person that is never late and will arrive sometimes embarrassingly early.  His mouth was saying all the right things “well we can’t do anything about it’.  But I know that his brain would have been screaming! The reason for the delay is that at Kaapa’a there was slow moving traffic through and just past town. As we crawled along the destination time pushed out to 2:12pm!  Thankfully as we got back to normal speed we reclaimed some time and arrived at Capt Andy’s at 5 minutes to 2pm. Checking in I didn’t even have time for a toilet stop before we were taken about by our Captain, no not Andy but another fine looking young man called Tony.

The vessel was a 65 foot catamaran with 5 crew a chef and Captain Tony. The 49 passengers were a mixture of people older than us down to young couples, and no children. We found a breezy spot at the back and enjoyed the ride around the Na Pali Coast. 

Initially an elderly Indian couple from Kansas were sitting next to us. That is initially from India and not American Indians. Later their daughter moved them up to the bow and part way into the cruise they arrived back aft soaked to the skin.  In fact so soaked that Grandad not only had his shirt removed by his caring daughter but also his trousers! I can see the image that is forming in your head but swipe that away, he was wearing thermals, top and bottom.

The view was great, before we had even left the harbour (or harbor if your are American) we spotted a large sea turtle. Our main desire was to see humpback whales and we did! Not terribly close but enough to see their shiny backs slip out of the water as they breached. And then of course there were dolphins accompanying us alongside the boat.  The water was so clear that you could see them rolling as they swam and one baby was sticking with their mummy. 

The ride was quite bumpy in places and both of us are not prone to sea sickness but I did wear some bands on my wrist that work by pressure points in the right area to avoid nausea of all kinds (hmmm wonder if they work for hangovers). 

A couple of young women who were soaked came aft after a while and one was feeling really unwell so I butted in, passed over my bands and advised to to keep looking at the horizon and not at the floor which is where she was looking.  After about an hour she passed them back and said that she felt much better.  We were sitting talking to her friends, a young couple who are living in Alaska. When I mentioned that I had been to Alaska and was amazed that kids were walking on the streets when there could be bears around she said that they have bears in their yard all of the time. They are generally scared away by humans and their dogs.  She said she was more scared of moose and they had one in their yard once and it kicked in their porch when the dogs started barking at it. After a while her husband who was wearing a patch behind his ear for sea sickness disappeared to the toilet to bring up his dinner and when he arrived back, looking pale, he asked if he could borrow my bands. And he wore them for the rest of the journey.

On the subject of dinner! When we climbed aboard a garlic smell wafted around the boat and Chef Hans was preparing our evening meal. All along the way the crew checked on us for non-alcoholic drinks, helped people as they moved around and were just generally caring. At 4:30 the bar opened and beer, wine and a cocktail were available as part of the deal.  We just had soft drinks as Lance had a long drive home in the dark, on the wrong side of the road with no street lights.

A salad was served first and whilst it was wanting in something other than lettuce and a crumble of feta it was fresh and we gobbled it up. The main was a large steak with delicious potatoes, asparagus and carrot. It was plain but good to eat and while the steak was a bit more cooked than what we like it was a good piece of meat and we enjoyed it. For dessert we had a little key lime pie and it was the nicest that we have had so far on this journey (still not a patch on mine though).

We cruised back into the harbour with the sail up but actually I think it was more for aesthetic reasons as the motor was pushing us along, the sun was setting and everyone seemed happy with the evening. We certainly were happy and would recommend this cruise if you are coming to Kauai. There are two cruises and this is slightly more expensive but well worth it.

Hawaii Day 10, 6 January 2020

The Island of Kauai is rumoured to be the oldest of the Hawaiian Islands and was the first to be named. We have now almost circumnavigated the island. I say almost because the road does not go completely around the coast and we would need to hike over mountains, enough said.

The beaches are all pretty wild and more like our west coast beaches in Auckland.  Swimming is not allowed at some of them as they are so treacherous, in fact while you wait for your luggage at the airport there is a video warning you of the dangers. The reddish sand is littered with drift wood and it appears that people spend time building structures out of the larger pieces of drift wood along many of the beaches. There is no noticeable tide even though there must be one and for all of the surf shops, cars loaded with surf boards and costal car parks loaded with cars we have not seen many surfers or swimmers in the water.

The next township along from ours in Hanalei Bay and it is a popular tourist spot. It is a very ‘earthy’ and very quaint village. We spotted a small area with food trucks and decided that was where we would be lunching. Lance had pad Thai and I had a Brazilian dish. Both were underwhelming especially at a cost of $50 US dollars for the two.

Continuing around the coast the roads narrowed and the vegetation became ever thicker. We passed many local homes that ranged from bach (shack for you Aussies)  style to really lovely beach houses.  In many spots there were steep and muddy tracks down to the water and people were clambering down, but still no swimmers.

When travelling south from our village of Princeville there are many small townships where a tourist may stop, the largest being Kaapa’a. There are food places galore, all cheap looking hippy style cafes, food trucks and small restaurants. 

Yesterday I forgot to mention that we lunched at Poipu which is at located at the southern part of the island. This is a bit more upmarket and has a small modern outdoor shopping quadrant and restaurant area. The Dolphin had been recommended to us by the concierge so we thought that we would give it a go for fish and chips. It was a great location and we sat on the veranda, but the fish and chips were just okay, they were just fish and chips like you would get at a takeaway, and we ate with plastic cutlery and had to scrape our own plates. Now don’t get me wrong here, I am not being snobby about this and I am happy to scrape my own plate, but not when I have just paid the equivalent of $75 NZ for fish and chips. But then I guess when you have a captive audience of ‘out of towners’ you can get away with it.

On the whole it was a pretty lazy day that gave Lance more practice driving on the wrong side of the road.
We did stop at a lookout that we had previously passed and is located opposite our village shops. Expecting more grand mountain vistas we were surprised to find a valley of taro fields! They look more like rice fields in Thailand than something from Hawaii

Dinner was had at Piazza in Princeville, only five minutes from home. The food was really great and the service was also great and they were very attentive.  Lance had a salt and pepper style octopus, and it was tender with a crispy coating.  Some pieces were just chucked and there was a variety of whole baby octopus from as big as my thumbnail to a decent bite. I started with ahi (tuna carpaccio and it was lathered in olive oil with a forest of olives and capers. Mmmm,mmmmm.  Lance choose shrimp and scampi fettuccini and myself butternut ravioli. Again they were very good. No NZ wines at this establishment which gave me an opportunity to try Siduri Pinot Noir which comes from Oregon and was very nice.  I must mention here that I have found that the Americans pour a healthy sized glass of wine, and I do ponder over what their thoughts might be when they come to New Zealand and we give them a dribble in the bottom of a huge glass. Anyway cheers to you, I had three!

Hawaii Day 9, 5 January 2020

Kauai

Our first full day in the island of Kauai started with a helicopter ride. The day before we left NZ for Hawaii a chopper full of tourists went down in Kauai and tragically had no survivors. But this did not discourage us and my thinking is that now more than ever is when all boxes will be ticked and no risks taken.

The 8:15 check in at Blue Hawaiian Helicopters was in Lihue, a 45 minute drive. So we left early and took to the road. Lance is pretty confident driving now and it is only at intersections that we get a little stressed. The good thing here is that it is all very laid back and if we take a wrong turn we will not end up on any freeways and can easily navigate our way back to where we should be.

After a safety briefing we were in the air. The morning had started off cloudy but had cleared by the time we hit the skies.  We had been told to wear dark clothing as anything bright will reflect in the glass and ruin photos. How lucky that I had been shopping in Waikiki and had a new black and grey long skirt and a black top, because all of my summer clothes tend to be bright!

Our pilot Marty was informative and cheery, and our fellow passengers were a young honeymoon couple from Oklahoma. When they said where they were from I was surprised that Lance didn’t start singing “Oklahoma, where the wind starts sweeping down...” Because he is a bit of a musicals buff. But I bet it was going on in his head.

The flight was fantastic and took us over the mountain range and around the some of the coastal areas.

At approximately five million years old, Kauai is the oldest of the main islands. The highest peak is Kawaikini at 5,243 feet (1,598 m) and it was shrouded in misty cloud. The second highest peak is Mount Waiʻaleʻale near the center of the island, 5,148 ft (1,569 m) above sea level. The terrain is incredibly steep and rugged and coated in vegetation, apart from the Waimea canyon which is red layered volcanic rock. 

Mr Honeymoon from Oklahoma had obviously tried to wear dark colours, but unfortunately the little white flowers on his shirt made it impossible to take photos out of the main window and I have even included a pic here so that you can see what I mean. 

This is not him just his reflection!

Lance and I were in the back seats by the smaller windows with two empty seats between us. It would be stink to be a passenger in those middle seats as you would not get such a great view. Even though I am moaning I still had fantastic views and took about 200 photos.

This is definitely a must do if you are on this island, I highly recommend spending the money.

We also found out that rainbows are actually round and not an arch!

After the flight we jumped in the car and carried on around the southern part of the island to take a look at the Waimea canyon by land. There are amazing hikes that wend their way through these canyons, but fortunately the canyon has a lookout that you can drive to. The road in from the coast was curly but the actual road surface was great. It took about 40 minutes to get there via highway 552 from the coastal road and there were clean toilets at the top, and a snack stand. The view was outstanding and cool to see it from the ground. It certainly is like a mini Grand Canyon. We took a different route (550) down and it was steeper but quicker and had spectacular views.

We had an easy night with left over tuna and a beautiful bought but home made guacamole and a few drinks on our little balcony over looking the golf course and a peep of the sea. The problem is that the bar running across the balustrade is right at eye level!