View from room at Outrigger Lauana Waikiki

Saturday, 20 May 2006

• Arrived at HNL around 7:30pm, picked up rental car, drove to hotel for check-in and relaxed
• Returned to airport around 11:00pm to pick up friends
• Crashed; 5 extra hours aren’t always good!

Sunday

• Went to Eggs ‘n Things for brunch – had a ham and cheese omelet and chocolate chip pancakes (delicious!)
• Drove to Pearl Harbor to visit the USS Arizona Memorial
• Shopped at a Foodland grocery store
• Window shopped in Waikiki
• Dinner at Duke’s Canoe Club

Eggs ‘n Things

Pearl Harbor

Duke’s Canoe Club

Monday

• Attended a free breakfast followed by a sales presentation for Fairfield vacation ownership (mistake!) — ended up taking almost 3 hours and not sure it was worth the discount I was “gifted” for the luau
• Visited Waikiki beach and lounged by the pool
• More shopping in Waikiki

Tuesday

• Visited the Dole Plantation
• Drove north from Dole to Haleiwa to eat at Cafe Haleiwa
• Continued driving along the north shore to see Pipline, Sunset Beach, and Chinaman’s Hat
• Drove the wrong way into the Polynesian Cultural Center parking lot; was stopped by a parking lot guard; inquired about admissions prices and promptly left after being informed it was $40/person :-)
• Drove down the east coast and through our first highway tunnel
• Visited Waikiki beach even though there was light rain
• Stayed by the pool at Outrigger Reef for happy hour

Dole Plantation

Cafe Haleiwa

Sunset Beach

Chinaman’s Hat

Wednesday

• Woke up early and went on a Makiki Valley Hike – we ended up turning around less than half-way through our intended route as the path was narrow and muddy with little protection from the cliffs
• Went back to Waikiki beach
• Went on a Starlet dinner cruise which had beautiful views of Waikiki, Diamondhead, and a nice (if a little cloudy) Hawaiian sunset

View on Makiki Valley hike

At the end of the hike, we came upon this sign and our shoes really needed washing!

View of Diamondhead onboard Starlet dinner cruise

Sunset aboard Starlet dinner cruise

Thursday

• Drove out to Hanuama Bay – as we were driving out, the lot was full and thus we set aside our plans of going back into town for snorkel gear (it was barely 10:15am; must get there earlier!)
• Drove up the eastern coast, visited “The Blowhole”
• Visited Kailua Beach Park
• Rented a kayak and paddled out to Flat Island – walked around the island, which is also a bird santuary and heard the strange baby cry noises of one bird
• Dined at Keo’s Thai Food in the heart of Waikiki

Lagoon just west of The Blowhole

Kailua Beach and Flat Island

Friday

• Slept in – vacation beggining to wear us down
• Returned to Eggs ‘n Things for late brunch
• Went to Germaine’s Luau out west of Pearl Harbor – the food was not as good as I expected, their frozen drink machine was inoperable (grr), but the show itself was quite nice – the bus ride could have been a bit quieter (our “escort” was on the PA system virtually the whole ride and late at night, it’s a bit much

Performance at Germaine’s Luau

The poi at Germaine’s Luau

Saturday

• Decided to hike Diamondhead as it was our last full day
• Lounged by the pool
• Went for an early dinner at The Cheesecake Factory in Waikiki

View from atop Diamondhead

Sunday

• Back to Eggs ‘n Things for a third time (mmm, this place is good) – instead of the ham and cheese omelet with chocolate chip pancakes I opted for scrambled eggs with Portuguese sausage (very delicious as well)
• Went to the airport for a dropoff around 2pm
• Decided to make one last trip around the island
• Drove as far as possible out west until the road ended near an observatory, doubled back, headed north back up past Pipeline, etc., then back down the east coast

edit: updated itinerary and published on 14 June 2006