Waikiki Arrival

Sunday 23rd July
White caps on the blue ocean this morning a little breezy out on the water, but never the less another beautiful day. Too bad we have to leave, but more adventures are calling us onwards. After our usual in room breakfast we print our boarding passes in the lobby (a neat service) call the bell hop to take our bags to the Porte-Cochere and descend to the parking garage to collect our bags. We are soon loaded and on our way to the Kahului airport. We top up with gas (petrol) in Lahaina with no problems except our debit card is rejected for the first time. Problem soon solved, we move on, not a lot of traffic on the road this morning, the locals all enjoying a lazy Sunday morning no doubt. The weekend beach campers are still camped under the scrubby trees along the coastline by the golden sands, foamy white waves rippling in from a turquoise ocean that deepens to sapphire blue as your eye is drawn further out. Youngsters frolic in the surf as we whizz by on our ribbon of black top road towards our destination. The drive is an easy one, we arrive at the airport in plenty of time, turn in the trusty little red Hyundai Elantra and shuttle back to the airport terminal. Security as usual is packed with travellers and their associated paraphernalia, one couple with a young child have about a mile of stuff to feed though the security scanners. Amanda has a panic attack as we approach security, she can’t find her boarding pass, it has fluttered out of her hand at some point, a fellow traveler thinks they saw the pass on the floor Amanda goes searching while I step aside. Another traveller tells her they have passed the pass in to security. We re join the line. When we reach security the officer has the pass in her hand, she asks if she is Amanda Palmer, with a broad smile she says yes and we pass through relieved. The flight is on time, we board for our up and down flight to Oahu. My window seat allows me a good view of the islands of a Lanai and Molokai as we leave Maui. This allows me to take a couple of video clips to use on my trip movie. No Sooner than we are up we are down again landing in Honolulu. It was sad to leave Maui but we have such great memories of the Wedding and the incredibly enjoyable times we ave spent with Amanda’s family.

Before leaving we called Jimmy the taxi driver, a reliable and jovial little Vietnamese fellow that goes the extra mile for his customers, we call him whenever we need a cab in Honolulu and true to form he is just pulling into the pickup point as we wheel our cases into the area. Jimmy drives us into Waikiki to our destination the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, a grand old hotel on the beach front that conjures up the feeling of old Hawaii, like Raffles did for Singapore before they overdeveloped it. The Royal Hawaiian although developed, with new modern towers still retains the old buildings and the historical feel with tropical gardens and lawns. Wide cloisters and arcades that run around the outside of the ground floor contain elegant shops and at points act as breeze ways to allow the ocean air to flow through the building to cool it. Outside the beach bar offers all day snacks and cocktails, once we check in and are shown to our room we head off in that direction, both feeling hungry. This part of Waikiki is wall to wall people, the beach is loaded with bikini clad girls and bronzed males vying for that perfect patch of sand. Pink beach umbrellas line the fence line that marks the hotels limits, and beyond the palest of milky blue oceans plays host to surfers, canoes and catamarans in a whirl of motion. The largest black surf ski I have ever seen sits out in the ocean, a lone rider, maybe a patrolling surf lifesaver looking out for anyone that runs into trouble. While Diamond head crater watches over all the activities from above the bay as it curves eastward. I order a Pina Colada and Amanda a house Chardonnay, we sip away on these under a cloudless blue sky, no signs of the hurricane here today. Our lobster brioche rolls arrive, a fitting luxurious lunch for such a setting. Eat up no dinner tonight our over indulgence is catching up with us. 

We return to our room and unpack before taking the rest of the evening off for an early night to recharge our batteries in full for tomorrow.