Waikiki, HI

In typical Morton, or should I say Julia style, we left the packing right up until midnight the night before. I hate packing! A few cheeky glasses of Pinot with our Airbnb guests seemed more of a priority at the time. Blurry eyed, straight from work to the airport, (with a wardrobe change at the traffic lights) we made it. Surprisingly, the 9hr flight over was a smooth one, considering how ridiculously cheap the Jetstar ticket price was – hardly enough to contribute to the fuel costs.

Waikiki and Honolulu were just as expected. A really large crescent cove, with green mountains shouldering it. Dave had mentioned the turquoise Waikiki waters before but seeing is believing. Caribbean blue waters, built up like the Gold Coast, with a Polynesian feel. What wasn’t expected was a strong Asian influence, particularly Japanese. This made me feel slightly better about the first meal being at a udon noodle bar with a queue a mile long. American authenticity was regained later with lunch spot recommendation #1 (My work colleague Anthony had given us a list of restaurants to work our way through). California Pizza Restaurant had the best Hawaiian pizza – thankfully because if a Hawaiian can’t get it right, who can? I’m not going to admit how many times we went back there – why try anything new when you’ve had Hawaii’s best pizza and sangria?

After a good long sleep to get over the jet lag, we decided to get our cultural tourist on. In lieu of paying for a tour, we decided to wing it on the $2.50 local bus to Pearl Harbour. Sure, it took us 2 public buses and nearly 2 hours through all the backstreets, but we got there eventually. The options for entry ranged significantly in cost. As the 2,000 free tickets they give out daily to the USS Arizona Memorial sold out an hour earlier, we opted for the second cheapest option, a $7.5 walking audio tour. An hour in, we decided to go and stand with a crowd to see what they were doing….as you do. We managed to get the only 2 standby seats that hour out on the boat to the memorial. The significance of Pearl Harbour was only evident when standing on top of the USS Arizona Navel Ship, which was one of the 22 marine vessels that were bombed by the Japanese at 7am Sunday 7th December, 1941. The white bridge-like feature hovers over the 900 sailers that still lay below. 2,390 people were killed within 2 hours that morning. It was the American’s first ever attack from the sky, and really shaped the armed forces today.

Americans are some of the friendliest people. Take the grounds keeper who saw us waiting aimlessly for a bus back to Waikiki. She stopped, gave us the correct directions and checked we had change for a bus. A lady on no more than 7 bucks offering us 2 bucks get home. And then saying we made her day. Flipping unbelievable.

Day 2’s ‘Anthony food recommendation’ was Lepperts. I noted this on my phone before leaving without really knowing what to expect on our mission to find lunch spot number #2. Our treasure hunt this time lead to a home-made ice creamery that was too good to even try explaining. We had to go back for seconds to be sure! Although we were on holiday, I’m don’t know about ice cream for lunch. We then proceeded to an all American Buffalo wings restaurant for… Mac and Cheese (me) and Wings (Dave). Our meals came with complementary celery and frozen carrot sticks. This place was the pinnacle of all American sports bars with a ridiculous 48 televisions displaying 7 sports. Did I mention they served frozen carrot sticks in this joint?!

We wanted to go out on the water in some shape or form but it was just a matter of how. After a bit of negotiating with the Hilton sales office we got a great rate on the half day, catamaran sailing cruise; snorkelling with the turtles and what seemed like unlimited sneaky mai tais were also included. What better place to form a friendship with a Scottish couple, Sandra and Ally and an American couple, Cristin and Justin – both on their honeymoon and both staying at the beautiful Hilton Hawaiian Village. A hotel us poor kiwis were lucky enough to be smuggled into. With the Hilton towels in hand as the ‘secret entry’, we had a fabulous afternoon by the pool and on the waterslides. Of course a fabulous afternoon wouldn’t be complete without more of those sneaky mai tais… sneaky because 9hours after the first.. unsurprisingly, they caught up with us.

I don’t know weather Dave’s a really good husband or I’m just a really mean wife, but the following day was spent at the Waikele Premium Outlets. A sunburnt, hungover Dave did very well. All husbands out there, listen up: Dave survived 6 solid hours!!! Although, I came prepared with Dave’s iPad (in case he found a man cave), it wasn’t needed. It fact all bargains of the day were found by him – $13 for Gap and Ralph Lauren tailored shirts and pants, about 90% off. I couldn’t complain about $13 Armani and Levi’s jeans either. In all honesty, I didn’t buy much because I was just too overwhelmed with it all.. Yes, hard to believe! (Anthony, you did warn me it was cheap). All I can say is I’m stoked we hitched a lift with a Japanese tour group home – unlike the journey there, two public buses over 1.5hrs was just too much to bear for the journey home – especially with 15 shopping bags in 35deg heat.

That night we were invited out with our Hilton Pool people smugglers / aka friends from the night earlier and some more Aussies to join them for an evening at a restaurant on the beach to watch the beachside fireworks. Back to the Hilton pools the next day with a few more sneaky mai tais then to WAIKIKI BEACH FOR THE FIRST TIME! We negotiated my favourite rate… free..for those waterfront deck chairs and umbrellas! With turtles in the water, I think our Scottish friend, Ally, rightly said in an accent that really needed subtitles, “Why pay to see the turtles, when they come to you!”. (There were a few Scottish ‘Fbombs’ in there too)

To top off our final evening in Waikiki, and Anthony’s final food recommendation, we headed down the beach to the stunning Barefoot Beach Cafe. Delicious but affordable food on the beach close to Dimond Head. Couldn’t help but waste a few hours listening to live, Hawaiian acoustics until the sun set behind the surfers catching the final waves of the evening – at 7pm!

Speaking of which, no Hawaiian adventure would be complete without a surf lesson. The blimmin’ packing kept us up again until well after midnight. At 7am we rolled out of bed and down to the surf school in front of the famous Duke statue. I’m pleased to report I have found my calling in life. I’m not good at any other sports, except surfing… if I don’t say so myself. This was the first time for me and I was pleasantly surprised with how easy the concept was. Kneel, look forward, hold on, standup with weight on the back foot, enjoy the ride. So saying, we did have a private instructor, with 40 years experience, on a foam long board surfing in perfect conditions on one of the world’s best beginner beaches. Neither the less, I got up every single time within the hour, even the first time! The hardest thing about it was my 5ft body struggled to get the 12ft board all the way back out. I should of had Weatbix before I left to assist me gain power in my chicken wings. Why no one has invented surfboard with motors I’ll never know. Dave’s mission of gaining a surfy wife has been achieved!

Overall, I’d say an 8 out of 10 for Waikiki. Meeting our new friends was an added bonus and really shaped the trip. I also loved the warm, tourquise water and nightly atmosphere. The nightly air is warm, with vibrant streets, lined with tiki torches and tasteful fairy lights . An example of vibrant is H&M open till midnight 7 days a week, with an In-house DJ for goodness sake! Booking an Airbnb apartment was a great idea for saving money on the accommodation. We were 5 minutes walk from the ocean, had cooking facilities, a huge room with ensuite over looking the canal and golf course on the 10th floor it even had privacy as we never saw the other guests staying in Room #1. The host did have guests clean their own bathroom afterwards to save the turn around time… I’m getting good ideas for Hotel Morton. I do think if the purpose of a holiday was about swimming by the pool and enjoying the daily happy hour, a beach front hotel would be the way to go. Waikiki is the perfect destination for those after a relaxing, beachy, mai tai induced, shopping holiday. It’s a great place for families and couples to have an easy break. I do think 5 days was long enough though. When I look at the photos there wasn’t much culture or life changing experiences but the objectives were met. We’re very relaxed, we’ve shopped till we’ve dropped, we surfed and sailed Waikiki and I’ve finally stopped coughing – must have been those sneaky mai tais. But right now, it’s time to board the plane and begin the next adventure in Ha Wa E!