So I've been really busy since I got back from Hawaii...that I forgot to post anything about Hawaii.
So here is a little run down of what I got up to in June.
We flew Jetstar...which was an interesting experiance, having only ever flown VAustralia. the seats were ok, but being a discount airline, there are no frills. We paid for the ipad entertainment, which was worth it, but there wasn't a great selection. I am considering buying an ipad for myself for future traveling, so that I can have my own stuff. We didn't pay for the food, we ate before we went through customs. Plane food is never good. I had snacks, but wouldn't do that for a longer flight. But for 10 hours it wasn't bad.
We tried to sleep, but had a bunch of screaming babies near us, and I think I only got an hour here or there.
We left Kay and Nick in Honolulu and waiting ages for our flight to Maui. We probably left a little bit too much time, but you always want to safe rather than sorry.
We then had to wait in line for ages at the car rental place. We were supposed to get a compact focus or something, but they gave us a jeep. It was pretty scary driving that at first, AND on the other side of the road, but I grew to love my jeep and with the GPS we managed to get to our hotel. I would totally drive somewhere else in the US (no major cities) in the future.
Our hotel in Maui was gorgeous. The Maui Coast Hotel was right across the road from the beach, had plenty of parking, wifi, a pool and a bar/restaurant. It also had a free laundry which we took advantage of before we left for Oahu.
In Maui we did a day of zip-lining and shopping and the beach. We drove to Ruby Tuesday for dinner and found a safeway supermarket...and did lots of shopping.
We drove up Haleakala (took 2 hours) and saw the beautiful crater. We also hit the beach.
We did 1 tour in Maui down the Road to Hana. It was very wind-y and I was glad I was not driving that day. The tour guide was great fun too. So many beautiful sites.
Our 4th day in Maui was spent sleeping in, having breakfast out, shopping, and hanging at the beach before drinks by the pool. Then we did laundry and met up with Kay and Nick for dinner. We went to the aussie themed Outback Stakehouse which was funny.
After 5 great days in Maui we travelled back to Oahu. Our hotel wasn't as big or as fancy as in Maui, but the Aqua Waikiki Wave was nice. We had wifi and a fridge. We could also could see the ocean from our balcony, which was nice.
We had almost 2 weeks in Honolulu, and got up to a lot. We saw Waikiki Beach - which was soooo crowded and not a great beach.
We explored downtown and saw the palace. We went shopping at the mall...a few times. We did Pearl Harbour which was great. The submarine was very cool, the battleship was also pretty cool...and HUGE.
On Vanessa's birthday we went to The Polynesian Cultural Centre and Luau. -Which my last post was about.
We did Wet and Wild which was a lot of fun. I did get a little sun-burnt that day. But it was worth it for the waterslides.
We did a LOST tour which was a nice way to see The North Shore. But it wasn't as good as it could have been. It was actually a bit disappointing. But we did get to see some awesome locations from the show. It just could have been a better tour.
We walked up the Diamond Head crater...which was a big effort, and took me almost an hour, but it was worth it. The views and just how good I felt about myself once I walked all the way up there. But the stairs and the tunnels were pretty tough.
We got to shop at Walmart!
We swam with Turtles and took a cruise in a Catamaran off Waikiki.
We went to The Cheesecake Factory...a few times. And had a few different cakes.
We did a tour over to The Big Island. Which was amazing. A LONG day but we got to see volcanos!
We went to Kualoa Ranch where they filmed LOST and Off The Map and stuff. It was a great day. Gorgeous scenery. We ended the day with a Luau at the ranch.
We went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. I saw pretty fish and reefs.
And we did more shopping. Lots and lots of shopping.
It was a great trip. I'd go back again, but I'd spend my time at Maui. Honolulu was too touristy and not as relaxing.
The only downside was getting up at 4:30am to head to the airport and finding out of Legally Blonde was finishing early back home and organizing tickets for the last show.
Aloha
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Carlie
