Hawaii :: Two Months in Honolulu

“Every day of the year where the water is 76, day and night, and the waves roll high, I take my sled, without runners, and coast down the face of the big waves that roll in at Waikiki.”
– Duke Kahanamoku

I had originally planned on island hopping from Australia to Chile going by New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, etc etc, but when I got to Fiji I just wasn’t feeling it anymore. I was just going through the motions and not really enjoying myself. I felt like I was just going places so that I can check them off my list and that’s not how I wanted to travel. So I sat down and tried to figure out what I WANTED to do and Honolulu immediately came into my mind. The pull of staying there for a elongated period of time was so immense I decided to see what I could get for the amount of money I had originally allocated to island hopping.

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Hawaii :: Kualoa Ranch

AK: “I want to go, but I guess I can’t afford it.”
Christin: “Hold my beer.”

Being a huge fan of both films in general and Oahu in general I wanted to go do the Kualoa Ranch tour, but decided not to as it was really expensive and I’d already done the Hawaii Five-O Tour. Without knowing this one of my oldest and dearest friends bought me a gift card for my birthday (or Christmas, doesn’t really matter) at Veltra, a place that sells experiences. They had Kualoa on their list and I was overjoyed! Full day Kualoa Total Experience Package, here I come!

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Hawaii :: Christmas in Honolulu

“Hula is the language of the heart, therefore, the heartbeat of the Hawai’ian people.”
– Kalakaua

Finding something to do for Christmas Eve in Honolulu isn’t hard, that’s why I love this place. It’s got fantastic beaches, great weather, happy people (because they’re on vacation) and chill atmosphere. But if you need it – there’s always something going on. A concert, a play, an impromptu standup, slowly eating an ice cream cone while Santa is dancing and singing at one of the local malls (and a high standard one at that).

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Hawaii: Pearl Harbor 1 – The USS Bowfin

Today was an eventful day… I got up at 0530 am to get ready for my guided tour/trip. Discovering Hawaii Tours had a pretty sweet deal where you get to visit Pearl Harbor (including entry to the USS Bowfin submarine, a trip out to the USS Arizona Memorial and all the museums on the grounds), then they take you to the USS Missouri where you get a guided tour of the battleship and some time to stomp around on your own, before they take you to the Aviation Museum and Hangar 79, before you end up with a visit to the “Punchbowl” (National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific). Between there we actually made a stop at the statue of King Kamehameha and “Hawaii 5-0 headquarters”!! Psyched! I had that on my list of things to do 😀 Continue reading