Water all round!

Today was reasonably sunny, which I'm told is a rare occurrence in this part of the world. Our plan was to visit a couple of waterfalls in the morning. Waterfalls are one of the benefits of being in one of the wettest places on the planet - spectacular formations are everywhere!

First up was Akaka Falls State Park. The star attraction of a short round-trip walk, Akaka Falls is a massive waterfall. The rest of the walk is pretty nice as well, with several really nice stops for mini-waterfalls, moss-covered tree trunks and massive banyan trees:

Akaka Falls State Park

Next up was Rainbow Falls. It does what it says on the tin: depending on the angle of the sun, a rainbow is thrown up by the water tumbling into the river underneath the falls. While it wasn't quite at the right angle, there was a rainbow while we were there. Behind the lookout there's a massive collection of banyan trees where you can hide in the shade for a while, and go further out onto the rocks above the falls:

The fantastic Rainbow Falls

Got back and chilled for a while, before deciding the day was not yet over and heading out again. We headed for a couple of beach parks, but ran away pretty quickly as there was not much to either of them. I then amused myself walking around first Coconut Island, a small outlook island jutting into the bay:

Coconut Island: an accurate description

And then Liliuokalani Gardens, a large Japanese garden in the middle of the town, with some nice bridges and shady places to sit back and watch the world go by:

The picturesque Liliuokalani Gardens

So a pretty full day, all things considered! Tomorrow if the weather holds up we will head off to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the other must-do day trip from Hilo. Until then!

Felicity says:

We were indeed lucky with the weather, the only other time I have been here it was unpleasantly damp. I only yelled at him once to get a move on and stop taking so many photos of the same thing. I thought I was very patient really. Mainly because the $5 entry fee only gave us 2 hours of parking at the Akaka Falls area and we just made it back to the car in time - and we were lucky we went early because on our return we found that people had had to park a long way up the road and walk in. 

We are now in the tropics!

Well, 'one of the wettest places on Earth'. Which means it RAINS all the time! Fortunately the weather has been not so terrible so far, hopefully that keeps up.

The morning started off a couple of hundred kilometres away on the shores of Waikiki, for a final-day sunrise opportunity over the tall hotels of Waikiki Beach. There were several other tourists out on the pier waiting for the sun to rise, and it was pretty spectacular too:

Spectacular sunrise over Waikiki

Then packing. We will be spending the next week or so on the Big Island, and had booked ourselves on an afternoon flight to Hilo, on the north shore of the island and where all the rain supposedly ends up.

But first we had to get there! Cue a considerable wait for a shuttle, a stretch of roadworks holding up traffic, a huge queue outside the terminal for TSA security clearance, and what we thought was an enormous queue for the bag drop. Much squawking from my mother later, we arrived at the gate with plenty of time to spare.

Hawaiian flies 717s all around the islands, so I'll be getting used to these birds over the next few weeks. They're really, really skinny compared to their length, hence being known as one of the 'flying pencils' of the skies:

A regular fixture in Hawaii, the 717

Our takeoff runway was the 'Reef Runway', right out on the ocean. This meant a sharp right turn on takeoff and spectacular views out of the window towards downtown Honolulu:

Takeoff over Honolulu

Once that was complete, came the rest of a 35-minute hop to Hilo. As is customary on Hawaiian inter-island flights, there is a water or juice offering, which can be sat on your tiny tray table:

Hawaiian's tiny tray tables

Following was one of the fastest touchdowns I have ever seen, there must be a premium put on time for these short flights.

A couple of hours later we had a car, had gone to our hotel, a nearby supermarket and topped up on supplies. Tomorrow the weather looks to be decent and we should be heading out to some parks and waterfalls. Ciao!

Felicity says:

"Plenty of time to spare"???!!! Ten minutes is not plenty of time, it took me that time to get my blood pressure back to normal, I was convinced we were going to miss that flight. The only thing that saved us was the huge bag queue (100+ persons) was for mainland agricultural inspection... we found a much smaller queue for the inter-island flight. You don't think you have just a tad too much plane geek stuff in this blog Matthew? And you should be saying "Aloha", not "Ciao".

I hiked Diamond Head! And didn't buy the crappy souvenir t-shirt that says so!

But seriously, those t-shirts! Today's job was to simply hike Diamond Head. After two reasonably busy days I decided to leave around mid-afternoon, not doing anything else during the morning.

After grabbing a couple of buses, you walk along the road that leads up to a tunnel and an entrance, where you cough up $1 to enter the park ($5 if you're in the car).

This trip had dual purposes: I wanted to hike Diamond Head, but I am trying to convince mum that she would be able to hike it, for when we are back in Honolulu in a few weeks.

The trip up took a fair while, with a number of switchbacks and stairs to climb, but the views from the top are soooooo worth it! There are several lookouts at which to stop on the way up too, but the main attraction is the lookout at the summit.

From the top, you can easily see Koko Head and Hanauma Bay to the east and the airport to the west:

Hiking Diamond Head

It was a late finish up at the lookout. The park (very unclearly I might add) advertises that it closes at 6:00pm. According to the leaflet, "make sure you don't get locked in!" Thinking that this meant the tunnel closes at 6, I raced down faster than normal, overtaking a couple of dozen people on the way.

I eventually discovered that they close the gates at 6 o'clock, but security stays there for 'a while'. After said while, they leave, and anyone else that arrives at the tunnel gate has to call the police. A group of us that left at the same time conjectured that this was the job given to the newest rookie of the Honolulu PD.

We could still see people standing on the lookout at about 6:30 when we were waiting for the bus. Man that would have been one HELL of a sunset from up there, but I'm not sure it's worth getting a stern talking-to from the police over.

Tomorrow will be a travel day. I may or may not get up early for a sunrise, but in the afternoon we are off to Hawai'i (The Big Island for those playing along at home). Until tomorrow!

Felicity says:

We're doing a HIKE??????? I didn't see that on the itinerary that I approved. I do believe he is dreaming but the argument is continuing. "Rinse and repeat" of yesterday for me - the pool and Ala Moana shops. And send a couple of postcards home, do some research for the Big Island, try and repack all our stuff ... pretty much vegetating in preparation for my chauffeur role from here on. 

A city in a city. More sunset photos!

Today was much more of a relaxation day than yesterday. With one of the major landmarks ticked off, today we decided to head towards Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki.

Right next to our hotel, the village is entirely self-sufficient, with grocery stores, expensive shops, pools, beaches and activity rentals all on its enormous grounds. There's even a collection of ponds and streams with ducks, turtles and gigantic (read: over-fed) koi fish. Some of the more unusual attractions included a waterfall with a sign in front saying "Take a Selfie! #AlohaSelfie". #Lolwut

The monstrously large Hilton Hawaiian Village

That was enough for us for the day, stopping only to take a photo of a vintage car in our hotel parking lot. Next to all the Chevrolet Camaros, Dodge Vipers and Ford Mustangs that cruise the streets here, this seemed oddly out of place:

Out with the old and in with the new

Dinner was to be takeaway food from the massive selection available at the Ala Moana Center up the street. I decided to leave earlier and take some photos in Ala Moana Beach Park, and from Magic Island looking back towards Waikiki. There was a fair bit of rain involved, but I was happy with how my shots turned out:

Sunset from the Ala Moana Beach Park area

Dinner and a walk home later, I'm completely stuffed. Again! Tomorrow will be the last full day in Honolulu, and will mean hiking up to Diamond Head, to tick off the last remaining 'must-do'. Until then!

Felicity says:

Yep, and while he did all that photography I used the hotel pool, shopped at Walmart and cruised the expensive stores at Ala Moana Center. No real purchases made yet as we don't want to carry any extra goods until we return to Waikiki at the end of the trip. Nothing much has changed in Waikiki since all my other trips, though Ala Moana is undergoing a major reconstruction, so I'm looking forward to seeing all the new shops next trip.

Oh Waikiki, you so fine and you know it

What a stunning first day! The weather finally improved in the early afternoon, so after attempting to sort out a lost suitcase, which was eventually recovered later in the day, I put on the walking shoes and headed towards Waikiki Beach.

There's not a place like Waikiki in the world. Its scenery makes it one of the most instantly recognisable beaches on the planet. Other attractions on the beach include its open-air surfboard lockers, masses of rent-able shaded chairs:

Beach-side in Waikiki

After a pass up the beach and back, I decided to hang around for an extra while and sit on the beach, waiting for the sunset. I was always going to Waikiki for my first sunset here, I was just too lazy to go back to the hotel.

And what a sunset it was! Even the locals remarked about how good it was. There was such a great variety of subjects to frame the sunset with, from surfers to umbrellas, to massive groups of people that suddenly appeared on the beach to capture the sunset:

Beautiful sunsets to be had here!

The massive hotel buildings of Waikiki provide a pretty decent backdrop as the sun goes down too:

Waikiki's hotels after dark

Once you get off the beach, Kalakaua Avenue is a marvel in its own right. In case you haven't spent enough money on your mega-expensive hotel, there are numerous stores including Apple, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany's, Hermes and the like. There's also bamboo tiki torches dotted everywhere:

Typical Waikiki street scene

Completely stuffed tonight, I suspect I'll sleep very well indeed! Slightly less planned for tomorrow. Until next time!

Felicity says:

I didn't walk anywhere! Spent the day at the hotel waiting for phone calls re lost bag, then a round trip to airport to swap bags with person who had an identical bag (whoops). But that's a good thing, as I didn't sleep on the plane and just chilled.  

Trip Report: JQ5

An upgrade to business class on this trip! Was keen to see what Jetstar had to offer up the pointy end, they spruik it as "business class", but us realists see it for the premium economy that it is.

Starting off with a quick trip to Qantas' International Business Lounge. It looked a bit dated, but was in reasonable enough nick, and with most flights having already left it was pretty empty. Some obligatory passport/boarding pass/food photos from the lounge:

Life in the Qantas International Business Lounge

With only minor hold-ups, we were soon in the air. The hold-ups getting on enabled me to grab some snaps of our Boeing 787 Dreamliner. I later found out the plane was less than 6 months old - almost fresh out of the box, and the newest in Jetstar's fleet!

Jetstar's newest equipment!

Less than an hour after take-off, and with the gentleman in front of me's seat fully reclined, dinner was served. Three courses seemed about par, but the food was surprisingly decent compared to what I was expecting. I took a menu photo, but all that needs to be said is a couple of pastry entrees, chicken, and chocolate tart:

Jetstar's 3-course business class fare

Settling in to sleep for a while, awakening only to mum watching one of 4 movies she watched on the trip, I awoke shortly before breakfast. Too hungry to take a photo, I promptly dove in. Also a great selection! Food is a winner for me on this sector.

As we neared Hawaii, we were treated to some typically spectacular scenery. The sunrise was just fantastic, and the scenery on final approach into Honolulu was also nothing short of brilliant:

If this scenery keeps up, I'll be very happy!

Props to Jetstar's crew, and many thanks are due for letting me into the cockpit post-flight to examine the inner workings of the Dreamliner:

Cockpit view of the 787

That about does me, I'll be traipsing around Waikiki as the weather looks great!

Felicity says:
Plane geek overload here... but I concur with Matthew's compliments to Jetstar, the staff were great too. No sleep for me but at least I caught up on 4 recent movies.