Thursday 27th July
Today is effectively our last day in Hawaii, sad but true. Time once again marches on and we must keep to our schedule of moving ever further east to circumnavigate the world in ninety days. Another quiet morning on the beach at breakfast time this morning, no amusing sights to occupy our attention. The catamarans are coming in from their harbour across the bay to beach on the sand ready for their next load of adventurers. The sea is still a milky pale blue with those small white foamy waves that give those “P” plate surfers an easy ride. Clouds do gather quickly and dissipate quickly too! While we gaze out at the ocean its colour changes to a greeny grey, a shower of rain comes thundering down, sending early beach goers scrambling for cover, but just as quickly the sea colour magically returns, turning once again to that pale milky blue, cloudless skies triumphantly return and the scene returns to the normal picture perfect we have come to expect. Undercover we watch on at the colourful scene laid out before us as we enjoy another beachside breakfast.
We return to our room to complete the packing of our suitcases and determine if we need to ship any items back home or on to the mainland. Maintaining our luggage weight on this trip is essential. Our personal weight we are sure has increased dramatically, just as well the airlines don’t weigh you at each jump off point or we would be up for excess baggage for sure.
Kate returns for another visit, And we once again stroll out into the Waikiki strip on some last minute errands that include shipping a couple of parcels home and one on to Troy & Heather on the mainland. We locate the post office in a quiet corner of a shopping mall on the second floor of a Waikiki strip building. Just a whole in the wall really, but fully stocked with parcel boxes and staffed by a very friendly and helpful employee who helps us complete customs forms etc. for parcels heading home.
Leaving the floor, movement catches my eye, behind the clear glass office doors of ANA, a Japanese airline, stands a robot greeter, waiving its arms about furiously. The closer I move towards it the more it recognises my movements gesturing me in with both arms. Kate and Amanda join me as we bow to it and it bows back, nodding its head. A visual display on its chest shows messages in several languages. Remarkable but apparently common place in Tokyo.
On our return we stop at the Royal Hawaiian bakery for some refreshments, cashing in our bonus free bakery item voucher for some delicious looking banana-macadamia nut muffins and banana bread. We stop to enjoy them in the grandeur of one of the cool cloistered spaces that the hotel offers.
We part ways as I wander around the hotel with my camera, trying to capture the essence of the place. While the sisters cruise the hotel arcades shops just because they are there.
We all meet back at our room, the sisters having had a fun hour or so browsing the hotels stores, predictably picking up the odd trinket or fashion accessory. Jim is on his way in from his office in downtown Honolulu to have a special celebratory dinner with us. This evening we are celebrating the approach of his 80th year, we are starting the celebrations early, encouraging him to continue them right up to his actual birthday in October.
Tonight we dine at the Royal Hawaiian’s restaurant the Azure, magically converted from the breakfast space it was this morning into an elegant outside dining area.
By the time we arrive for dinner the sun is low in the sky it’s intense heat dissipated for the day. The Royal Hawaiian sits in the centre of the bay that is Waikiki and so the view from our outside table hides the Sun but takes in the ocean and Diamond Head Crater that is set against darkening clouds. The rays of the sun catch a rain shower as we take in the view forming a rainbow that appears to be shooting upwards from the point into the sky! Beautiful!
Fish is on the menu of course, locally caught and purchased fresh each day from Hawaii’s famous Pier 38 market. Amanda and I seem to be finely tuning our fishy tastes and on the eve of our departure we have a grip on the scaly creatures names. Tonight the Onaga (Red tail snapper) oven roasted with a crispy skin tempts us, this we order with sides of mashed citrus, white sweet potato and the chefs version of spicy Kim Chi Brussels sprouts. Needless to say beautifully presented and delicious. For a different taste tonight we try a glass of a Sonoma valley Rose. Rose tends to be a little drier style here, but this one is spot on not too dry not too sweet. Pale rose coloured in the glass a blend of Pinot noir and Grenache, delightful.
The sun goes down briefly painting the wispy clouds pink, lights from the hotels and restaurants around the bay blink on, providing the dinner cruise guests out on the water with a panoramic light show view of Waikiki. We just have a partial view but it adds to the elegance of the location with twinkling light bouncing off every reflective surface. We have a wonderful last night with Kate & Jim, topped off when Jim is presented with a chocolate birthday dessert by the restaurant waitress, he immediately cuts into four, for us all to share. Really hard to believe we are at the end of a four week stay. We say our sad heartfelt goodbyes, then make our way to our room for our last nights rest before hitting the skies again tomorrow, destination San Diego.