Sarah and Rachel do Hawaiifornia, July 2009 - Day 13

[DisneySarah]

The cast:

Me (Sarah) 24 – Disney addict and holiday planner extraordinaire

Rachel, 21 – Lover of sleeping in late and not doing a lot else. Partial to a little Disney. Oh, and my little sister.

Day 13 – Around Oahu
Saturday 25th July


Up early today, as we had a car booked for 8.30am, and had a 20 minute walk to get to the Enterprise office.

I have to say the system was ridiculous here. You queue up for half an hour to get them to acknowledge the fact that you are there. Then you have to sit outside on the pavement for more time until they have printed out your rental agreement, and then back outside for another half an hour until the (severely short, it appears) staff have collected your car and brought it to the bottom story of the car park. Hmm. It was about 10am when we were finally on our way out of Waikiki beach.

We were attempting to drive East around the ‘windward’ side of the island, but couldn’t find our way out of Waikiki beach! So instead we did a loop around the one way streets. It was definitely Rachel’s fault – she was the navigator! Although she maintains that it was my fault because I should, “have known” the way. Yeah, because I automatically know my way around islands 7000 miles from home. Sisterly love

We did eventually find the way out towards Hanauma Bay, which we drove straight past because we would be coming back here on Monday.

Our first stop was Halona Blowhole, which is a natural hole in the rock. When a wave crashes on to the rock, the water gets sucked up and blown out the top of the hole, creating an effect like a volcanic geyser (though actually not volcanic at all).



Back in the car, and our next stop was Kailua beach. This is a stunning white sand beach on the east of the island which, in my opinion, is much nicer than Waikiki (but obviously does not have all the conveniences). We could have spent all day every day here but had to move on, as the car had to be back by the end of the day.







One thing we did notice about the rest of the island of Oahu (outside Honolulu and Waikiki) was that although it was relatively poor and not touristy at all, but the Hawaiians do appear to have a nice, outdoor lifestyle – this was a Saturday and everyone seemed to be out and about on the beach, surfing, kayaking etc. Although can’t say I’m surprised with the gorgeous climate they have all year round!
After Kailua, we stopped at again at another beach, where there was a good view of ‘Chinaman’s Hat’ – an island shaped like a hat just off shore:



Looking back, away from Chinaman's hat inland:



And then at Denny’s a bit further north (can’t remember the name of the town, sorry) for lunch.

Continuing north, we saw some gorgeous, deserted beaches, but unfortunately we didn’t have time to stop and enjoy them all

Next was the part of the drive I was most looking forward to...I’m a complete ‘Lost’ addict and had (by some miracle) convinced Rachel that we NEEDED to see some of the filming locations, which were about an hour’s drive further on from where we had lunch. Rachel is not a Lost fan at all so I did feel pretty guilty about this...

We passed the cutest little town on the north shore, which appeared to be famous for its shaved ice, as there were huge queues everywhere for it. Sorry, can’t remember the name of this town either – serves me right for not making notes!

Finally we arrived at Mokule’ia beach, which was apparently where they filmed the Lost plane crash scenes at the beginning of the first season.



Then on to YMCA Camp Erdmann (think that’s how it is spelt!) where the ‘Other’s Village’/Dharmaville is set – apologies to non Lost fans if this makes no sense at all! This is actually a working YMCA camp, and just after we arrived all the teenage campers came streaming back to the cabins, so we had to reluctantly leave! But I did get these pictures beforehand:





We drove straight back down the Interstate (Although, as our bus driver pointed out on the first day, they shouldn’t really be called interstates in Hawaii, as its impossible to drive in to another state!) and through Honolulu back to Waikiki. We saw this number plate, which I thought was cool:



And got our car back to Enterprise just in the nick of time, and walked back to the hotel via Jamba Juice...mmm!

Now this evening, we wanted to try out the nightlife of Waikiki! So we got ready, and headed out to The Yard House, which is a rock restaurant bar with the largest selection of draft beer in the world – apparently! A bit like the Hard Rock Cafe, I guess, but more like a bar on a Saturday night.

When we arrived, there was an hour and a half wait for a table, told you long waits would become a theme! We didn’t mind though, as we had spotted the ‘half yard’ glasses for draft beers you could get at the bar. Well, this was the Yard House, would be rude not to!

So, we got our over 21 wrist bands,



and I got half a yard of bud lite, and Rach got Raspberry cider:



Not sure how long it actually took, but it didn’t seem that long before our table was called



I think some of the people on other tables had been there quite a long time, and by that I mean drinking a long time, because as soon as we sat down, a guy literally announced he was joining us...Umm, ok we are about to eat though! We were polite enough at first but he would.not.leave! I don’t know if its just me, but I think its rude to sit there and watch people eat, especially if not invited! Totally put me off my food! Anyway, eventually we dropped enough hints - if not outright TOLD him we were not interested and he went back to his friends.

By that time the half yards had gone down very nicely, thank you, followed by another one (just a pint this time!) and we felt ready to move on.

Next, we tried an Irish bar but we weren’t really feeling it, so we tried Senor Frogs (another bar/eatery) but couldn't really be bothered to fight the crowds to get to the bar by now, so we headed back to the room for about 1.30am.

Tomorrow: More beach, please!

[DisneyMadAng]

Great photos. You did well to do the nightlife thing after the long drive!

[Guest]

Another great report with lovely photos.

[Guest]

Great photos again! The beaches are so nice!

[colinzy]

Beer looked good!

[Guest]

Oh wow! That beach looks amazing! And omg getting to see the lost set! woohoo!

[Strommie]

The beaches look amazing. Loved seeing your 'Lost' photos as well!

[pepsicube]

Those beaches look amazing!

[mossyflossy]

lovely beach pics

[orlandosgr8]

Lovely photos, sounds like you had fun