Hawai'i - Part I

Happy Saturday!

Last night we went to bed ridiculously early (for a Friday night) in order to rise and shine at the equally ridiculous time of 4am.

The plan was to get the car from the parking garage across the street (where we have been parked for the last 3 days) and pay the $10 per day parking fee. Eeek! I hate having to pay for parking, but there are perks to waking up at ridiculously early times. It turns out the parking garage gate was wide open. We are honest people, and knew we had been parked in the garage for the last 3 days. We would feel really bad just darting out without paying, so we buzzed the tenant at the parking garage a few blocks away. He said that if we leave the parking garage before 6am, we didn't have to pay the parking fee. SCORE - Today is our lucky day!

According to Google maps, it takes about 40 minutes to drive to LAX from the hostel. Interstate 10 and "The 405," as the locals call it, are deserted streets at 5am on a Saturday, so the 10-minute drive was smooth and painless.

Our flight was an uneventful journey, except for the first 15 minutes basking in the fart from the 8-year old boy next door and the last 20-minutes getting whiplash from the 6-year old girl (who was the 8-year old boys cousin, mind you) kicking the back of my seat.

The plane food was surprisingly tasty - a breakfast burrito and chocolate muffin. I mean, who could complain about a chocolate muffin? It even had chocolate shavings on top!

And the in-flight movie was the cute story of Marley & Me.

I read the Hawaiian Airlines magazine, which included a great article on Junk - a raft made of plastic bottles and a Cessna fuselage (body). This article and other comments made throughout airline TV gave me the impression that Hawaiians were really concerned for the environment and were taking steps to better their environment.

Unfortunately, we weren't greeted by Hula girls or wrapped in Lei necklaces when we landed. You could preorder a lei greeting through Hawaiian Airlines for an extra $5, but it just isn't the same when you know about it - and have to pay for it.
But we did receive an "Aloha" or two, and at least a dozen "Mahalo" (Thank you) on the plane and in the airport.

We left LAX at 8:45am and arrived in Honolulu, HI at 11:30am. Only a 2-hour flight... Hardly!
More like a 5-hour flight. Hawaii does not observe daylight savings time, so they are 3 hours behind Pacific and 5 hours behind Central Time. So, we called our families to let them know of our safe arrival at 2:30pm and it was 7:30pm in Louisiana.

Our travel notes said to take the #19 or #20 bus to Waikiki. The nice crossing guard at the Honolulu airport said we need to make sure the bus we get on says Waikiki across the electronic banner. We were so deliriously happy to be in Hawaii - pinching each other, in fact - that we didn't pay much attention to the bus numbers and, of course, hopped on the wrong bus. The bus driver scolded us as our foot landed on the first step of the bus - the one that did not say Waikiki.
We had hopes to blend in upon our arrival, but the bus incident has officially blown our cover.

After 15 minutes and our first hint of sunburn, the #20 bus with "To Waikiki" traveling across the electronic banner arrived. We also knew it was the right bus because it was full of happy-looking vacationers with only a few annoyed locals sprinkled in. The bus ride was uneventful - but the buildings and people were fun to watch.

We were exhausted from the flight and were in need of an island map, so we went to the mall (yes, the mall) in Waikiki.

Our bodies were craving something cold, so we found a vendor selling iced coffee beverages and maps. It's Saturday and this place is overwhelmingly packed with people! Some are tourists, yes, but it is also drenched with locals. We are surprised at the number of Asians on O'ahu.

After the refreshing break, we walked to the hostel where we were greeted with an "Aloha" and a warm handshake from Joanna. She is a sweet lady - short and stout with glasses and a great sense of humor - who genuinely wanted to share information for a pleasant visit to the island.

This hostel does not have coed dorms, so Richie was staying in the male dorm, while I shared a room with Maria (from Spain) and Cecil (A friendly lady from Fairbanks, eager to escape the Alaska cold and to feel the warm air and get some sun!).

I am in love with this hostel. It reminds me of Maw Maw Muriel's camp. For those who've never heard about the camp... it was a green rectangular box on stilts sitting on a strip of land between the bayou and Lake Fields near Lockport, Louisiana. Every summer, Maw Maw would load the boat with Chiquita Banana boxes full of supplies, and either her 5 granddaughters or her 5 grandsons. See, the girls would stay at the camp with Maw Maw for 2-3 weeks, then swap with the boys.

The camp was very simple with bunkbeds, one bathroom, and a kitchen/living room area. We had to walk four camps down to use the only telephone around. And Maw Maw had a 10-inch TV with rabbit ears that could only catch 1 station. During storms, we'd stack playing cards on the small-squared cover of the ice chest and remove the couch cushions to make forts.


I suppose the combination of the warm and humid weather, screen doors, bunk beds, and the smell of sunscreen on O'ahu makes me really miss home in Louisiana. I can't help remember living in our swimsuits every summer, making mud pies, climbing trees and throwing "China Balls," and bathing outside in the #2 Tub.

Complete nastalgia.

For dinner, we went to Star Market, where the locals grocery shop. Funny story: Along our route, we were passed by two middle-school age boys on bikes. They were singing the song from Flashdance - "She's a maniac, maniac on the floor... And she's dancin' like she's never danced before..."

Great, now the song is in my head. Heehee... now it's in your head, too!

A few blocks down the street at the pedestrian crossing, we met up with the same two boys. I jokingly blamed them for getting that song in my head and they giggled. I politely asked them to sing a different song to remove the "She's a maniac, maniac on the floor..." song they were just singing - and they did!


DAY 2:

This morning, we picked up our scooters from Hawaiian Style Rentals.



Unfortunately, I was given a moped with the left mirror missing, which made my first day ever on a moped feel slightly awkward. I shared this unsafe feeling with Brad (the staff member) who was very sympathetic and shared my safety concern. Unfortunately, there were no bikes with both mirrors available the day we arrived, as they were all rented out. Great news for Hawaiian Style Rentals - but not so good news for me as a first-time mopeder. Thankfully, I was able to bring my mirrorless moped back at 9am the next day and exchange it for a newer all-the-mirrors-you-could-ask-for moped.

Hawai'i does not require helmets for cyclists or 2-wheeled motor vehicles, but we opted for helmets anyway.

So from Lemon Road in Waikiki, we putted to Le'ahi or what is commonly known as Diamond Head State Monument.

FYI: There is a $5 entrance fee for cars, but we were on mopeds, so it was only $1 - the first pleasant surprise with these little mopeds.

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And our first funny story with the mopeds:
We were at the entrance waiting in line to proceed past the ranger station. I turned off my bike because there was no sense idling. It was our turn and I couldn't start my moped. I did everything Brad at the moped place instructed us to do... made sure the key was turned properly, the yellow button was switched on, and turned the throttle... nothing happened! After a few attempts, this huge Samoan guy in a Sheriff's uniform approached me and gently asked "You can't start it?" I looked sadly at him and said, "No, I'm not having any luck." He looked at all the switches and confirmed they were on properly, but noticed I wasn't holding the brake. Ugh... talk about feeling like a fool! We both just laughed uncontrollably. The rest of the week, I went through the following list to start the moped:

1. Turn the key to "Open"
2. Turn the yellow button to "Open"
3. HOLD DOWN THE BRAKE YOU CRAZY LADY!
4. Hold down the yellow button and push the throttle

Never again did I have trouble starting my moped. Silly, Michele!

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The crater was quite a trek - only a 0.8 mile journey, but it was a 560 foot ascent!
The summit presented the most spectacular views of the southern coast. We were surprised with the large number of people climbing the hundreds of steps and switchbacks to the Fire Control Station.

The best part about this photo was the guy (not pictured) who offered to throw rocks at Richie.
Heehee

The switchbacks leading to the "top." This is a GREAT Train to Climb hike!
(I think each year, Island Fitness should fly all T2C team members to Hawai'i for training! What do you think about that, Laura?)

The stairs leading to the "top" ridge of Diamond Head Crater

Looking north towards the "windward side" of the O'ahu.

The view of the Pacific Ocean from the "top" ridge of Diamond Head Crater

We passed a ranger-led group and overheard the guide remind the group that they are actually standing inside the crater. He said 1 in 10 visitors he takes up tell him "That was a great tour, but where is the crater?" not realizing they've been in the crater the entire time. This isn't too surprising, considering the fact that the crater covers over 350 acres and is actually wider than it is tall.

View of Diamond Head Lighthouse from the crater.

And the view south. The tall buildings are hotels and resorts in Waikiki.

Our next stop was Monoa Falls at the base of the Ko'olau Mountains. The 1.5 mile trail through rainforest, massive ferns, and bamboo is the trail seen in the movie Lost World.

It was a nice hike, but we were a little disappointed by the dripping 150-foot waterfall. We were mostly entertained by the 8-member family ahead of us yapping about the length of the trail. They turned around about 1/2 mile into the hike.