Honolulu

Thursday April 7, 2016; Arrival in Honolulu

Woke early and went up to breakfast just after 8:00am to be greeted by the island of Oahu on the starboard side. As we had breakfast we sailed past Diamond Head and the Waikiki Beach before entering the harbour and docking around 10:00am. We disembarked as soon as we could and strolled around the nearby downtown for an hour or so before returning to the ship for lunch. We saw some interesting buildings, statues and the first church in Hawaii.

After lunch we caught a taxi to the airport to pick up our rental car. The taxi driver shouldn’t be allowed on the road!!! However, we did make it there safely. Once in the car we drove up to the North Shore to see the waves at the Banzai Pipeline at Sunset Beach. Hopefully got some great shots of the surfers riding the 15 to 20’ waves. We then drove down the East side of the Island, stopped to get a coffee and some cheaper water and something to donate to the Fanning Islanders. We then drove down to Waikiki Beach and had a quick stroll along the promenade before finding somewhere to park the car overnight. We did find a parking garage that only cost us $5 overnight, but we have to take the car out before 6:00am so a VERY early start for us tomorrow.

We got back to the ship about 8:00pm and then quickly changed and ran down to dinner. Only 6 of us there tonight versus our regular 13, not sure what happened to everyone else! After dinner popped into see the Polynesian drummers, but didn’t stay long as we need to get ready for tomorrow!

Friday April 8, 2016; Honolulu Day 2

Well we made it! Got up at around 5:00am and managed to get the car out of the parking garage by 5:45am!!! So we decided to start our day right then and there and it’s off to Diamond Head for us. We arrived at just gone 6:00am and were amazed at the number of tourists already there. We really didn’t know much about what to do there, but saw everyone walking down this trail so off we followed! Well this is the trail that takes you right up to the edge of the crater that forms the park and is a VERY healthy hike UP!!! It’s a climb of 560 ft over 0.8 of a mile, but with lots of steps along the way! Anyway, we made it and enjoyed the great views from the top. As we climbed we managed to catch the sunrise, an unusual event for the two of us!
We had a treat after we descended as 4 helicopters came into the crater to transport out some Army personnel who had been training in the crater.

After Diamond Head we moved onto Hanaumu Bay which was formed when part of a caldera collapsed into the sea creating a horseshoe shaped bay.

Then we carried on around the South East corner of island stopping frequently to take pictures.

By now we were feeling a little weary so we set off back towards the airport to drop off our rental car. The only difficulty we had was finding a gas station to fill it up. I did think that I had found one, but it turned out that it was inside the Pearl Harbour base, so we had to go look for another one! We got back to the ship around noon and then had some lunch before retiring for a well earned nap!

We woke up so that we could wave goodbye to Honolulu as we set sail for Hilo on the Big Island.

For dinner we were booked to have a meal in the upscale Pinnacle Restaurant, we both had excellent meals and will probably do this again before the end of the cruise. After dinner we enjoyed an excellent concert by a classical pianist and caught a couple of songs in the B.B. King club before going to bed.