Our first two full days in Waikiki were to "acclimatize" to the time change and heat, and we were able to do that quite nicely. Yesterday we hiked the trail up Diamond Head. It is not long - a mere .8 miles - but it is a pretty strenuous hike. Diamond Head is a dormant volcano, and the hiking trail starts in the centre of the crater and winds its way up to the top of the rim overlooking Waikiki Beach where the U.S. Army built camoflouged posts in 1908-1909. There is very little shade on the trail up, it is rough and very steep, and it is incredibly hot. The breeze off the ocean once at the top was most welcome. Following our hike, we returned to the hotel and spent the afternoon swimming and lazing on the beach.
We celebrated John's birthday dinner last night, and we headed out in search of a small restaurant called Cafelatte, but had no luck finding it (assumptiion that it is no longer open). We continued wandering along the Waikiki strip and stopped for a pre-dinner cocktail at the poolside bar at the Westin - a very nice location indeed, under a huge Banyan tree! We finally ended up at the "Hula Grill". It is above Duke's Canoe Club, at the Outrigger on Waikiki Beach - it is open air, as are most restaurants, overlooking the beach and ocean. It was a beautiful evening and dinner was excellent. We stopped back at the Westin for an afterdinner Mai tai (voted Hawaii's best!) and then strolled the beach back to our hotel.
Today, we had a relaxing morning at the hotel before picking up the car and heading to the North Shore. We are driving a Ford Edge, which I am quite enjoying. We detoured up the West Coast to Yokohama Beach, with the idea of driving through Kolekole Pass to get to the North Shore. Thankfully, we found out sooner rather than later that the route through the Pass is a Military Road and not open to public access. So we returned to Pearl Harbour and headed up to the our cottage in Hale'iwa. It is a very nice little cottage. We had a light snack for dinner and are now lazing with our feet up. Time to sign off and plan our day for tomorrow. The weather is promising to remain sunny and warm, so we will get out and enjoy the day again!
Honolulu and Waikiki Beach from Diamond Head
Surf at Yokohama Beach
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