Almost Sunrise & Almost Sunset

 

Fantastic view to end what was a fantastic day

The first planned activity of the day was to catch the sunrise on the summit of Diamond Head National Park. We made the reservation online as soon as it was available. We had set our alarm. We had bought our coffee. But somehow at 0557, we were still in an uber...We got off at 0610 and started the uphill hike at 0611. Sunrise was at 0626. Fortunately the temperature was still a cool 23 degrees and the incline was not as bad as we expected. Somehow, we got to top just after the sun had risen past the horizon. Oh well, close enough is good enough! We still blame the uber driver for circling around our hotel unnecessarily for 2 minutes...

Start of the trail. 0611. Let's go. Surely walking the hills of Pymble and Gordon is good preparation!?

Clouds changing colours...gotta hurry

We overtook many but had to slow down here...there was no way to pass!

Sunrise! Almost!

At this point, I have to admit that we overlooked crossing the international dateline. Like newbies, we assumed that an overnight flight from Japan on the 10th would see us arriving at our destination on the 11th. Well not if you were going east! Luckily this was picked up early enough to book a hotel hence our single night at Waikiki Beach. We had to return to the airport to pick up our rental car which we got for a bargain because we booked it so early (AUD115 for 2 day hire!) Surprise surprise out shuttle did not turn up. Fortunately we had learnt our lesson and contacted them after 15 minutes at which point they agreed to refund us and called us a cab. 

Our pick up at Hertz turned out to be Mal's highlight of the day. Being a gold member, we managed to skip the long lines and had our pick of cars! The red Dodge it was! It was off to Aulani for some spa time at Laniwai and fancy dining at the newly reopened Ama Ama. Laniwai was expensive...I initially had reservations but today's experience was just amazing. They had beautiful spaces and facilities that we could use pre and post treatment, including a sauna, steam room, and outdoor pools/rain showers. However, as we had the last time slot for the day, we did all our relaxing pre-massage. The massage bed (heated) was also the most comfortable we've ever been on! 

And thus we found ourselves late for...sunset. We had booked dinner at a time to catch the sunset but once again only just managed to get there after the sun had dipped below the horizon. The view was still magical and the food was amazing. The menu is now a four course price-fixe and we both enjoyed every dish. 

Breakfast at our balcony

Go faster red!

Disney's Aulani at Ko Olina

Our studio

The sight of this never gets old!

The most giant dole whip we've ever had and a poke bowl for lunch. It was enough to fill both of us

Seriously one of the best spa experiences we've had

Outdoor rain showers and hot tubs

Relaxing outdoor spaces

Inside waiting area and refreshment staiton

The showers and changerooms had everything that you needed, including bags for wet swimmers

Sunset...almost!

The view from our table

Venison tartare with black garlic and truffle. Superb

Octopus with miso and parmesan risotto. Surprisingly light!

Scallop and shrimp ravioli topped with lobster and yuzu cream

One of the more unusual and delicious dessert I've had recently. Passionfruit ganache, white chocolate pistachio crunch, kalamansi curd and gingersnap tuile. The last was super tasty!

Reliving the 10th

My Japan Airlines "breakfast"

Our overnight flight to Honolulu was uneventful but very short! We expected a flight time of 10 hours not 6 hours! By the time meal service, take off and landing were taken into account, sleep time was unacceptably short!!! Belinda + no sleep is never a good combination...

Fortunately immigration and luggage were super fast. Unfortunately our prebooked shuttle was super slow. We were not impressed with having to wait for an hour while they sorted out why our names were not on the list despite us having printed confirmation numbers. We got to the Hilton Waikiki Beach eventually and to our surprise our room was ready. By this stage, both of us were tired and the bed looked super inviting but we had already bought trolley tickets and we couldn't waste those! So off we went to Ala Moana Shopping mall to buy ultra important things such as a dry erase board...

Waikiki Beach deserved a quick visit (although most Australians undoubtedly will find it somewhat underwhelming) as did McDonald's. We had to try the haupia pie (Hawaiian coconut pudding). Our stamina completely died after this. Fortunately the hotel was only 100m away and we made it home somehow and crashed.

Bed...looked so comfy...so tired...

View of Waikiki Beach from our balcony

Let's be a good tourist and go on the pink trolley

We should know better. USA land of the big food and big drinks. You'd think we were noobs

we do love looking at unusual stores

Afternoon swim at Waikiki Beach

The haupia pie. Delicious!

Back To Honolulu

Unbelievably, the cruise had come to an end. We had our last breakfast at Cagney’s, savouring not having to prepare breakfast ourselves…We were not in a rush to disembark and thus strolled off the ship just after 9am. As we didn’t leave US territory, there was no immigration or customs. As soon as we got off, we found our luggage lined up in a big hall ready for us to pick up. Oma and Opa’s booked private transfer came and we said goodbye as they left for their flight home via Japan.

We took a taxi to our hotel at Waikiki Beach. We whiled away the hours at Waikiki waiting for our room to be ready and lunched at Marukame. The udon lived up to the hype and the food was inhaled! We took the opportunity to relax with the whole family depressed about having to return to reality the next day.

Last served breakfast. Sigh...

Time to shop!

Marukame udon. You choose the type of broth, then added toppings as desired

The children very happy to eat Japanese food

Come early because there are often LONG lines

The famous Waikiki Beach

View from our balcony

The children allowed to watch TV....

Happy Birthday Jonah!

With much sadness, we had to farewell both Malcolm and his parents today. Malcolm left well before the children woke up to make his early morning flight back home. Nana and Grandpa drove with us to return the rental car at the airport before we split ways, them to their airport hotel and us on to the port.

Whilst it was exciting to meet up with Oma and Opa to board a cruise, it still wasn’t quite the same without Malcolm. Our home for the next week will be NCL’s Pride of America as we sail around the Hawaiian Islands. There would not be too many 10 year olds who could say that they got to go on a cruise for their birthday! Lucky Jonah!

NCL Pride

We booked the cruise a while back and got a great deal in a 1 bedroom ocean view suite which fit all 6 of us. The price ended up being cheaper than getting 2 balconies and so we took it and gladly embraced all the perks that came with a suite including priority check-in. We were able to board the ship as soon as she was ready and was sitting down at Cagney’s enjoying our lobster bisque for lunch by 12pm. At 1pm we were able to explore the ship and it was not long until our cabin was ready with our luggage lined up outside.

The first ones to board!

Waiting for our welcome drink

Oma is happy now

Let's get the dining started

Lobster bisque, one of our cruise staples

Studying the entertainment offerings

Lovely Hawaiin touches to welcome guests

One of the public lounge areas

A little hula

Whilst our suite was clean and comfortable, our first thoughts were that despite refurbishment around 3 years ago, the ship still felt old and tired compared to the other NCL ships we had been on. This was apparent in the fittings within the suite itself. Our continuing explorations took us to the children’s facilities which seemed alright, followed by the spa and gym. Our attempts to win at the spa raffle were in vain.

As the sun set, we sailed away for our first destination of Kahului, Maui. We did consider spending time on a select island but ended up deciding that NCL’s itinerary would give us a great sample of the main islands. With the help of our US travel agent, we chose a few travel companies for private tours at our stops to maximise the use of our limited time on each island. I'll include details of the companies we used as we go along.

Our suite

The adjoining second room

From our amazing travel agent!

Perks of being a frequent sailor

Perks of being a suite guest!

Time to sail away!

Our route

Our dinner this evening was at East Meets West, one of the complimentary restaurants onboard. They served Asian food which was a little hit and miss. Some of the dishes were too sweet, some were passable, but the one of the desserts turned out to be a winner! (Red bean fried pancake with green tea ice-cream)

We enjoyed the rest of our evening in our cabin sipping on our free sparkling wine and munching on our complimentary munchies. The children caught on to the complimentary on demand movies swiftly...

One guess for the theme of the restaurant!

Chinese, even sub par ones, was still welcomed when one hadn't had it for a while!

The winning dessert!