Friday morning, Melbourne, 3 degrees and overcast. We awoke excited – today was trip day.
We had several hours before we had to leave for the airport. Just as well really, given that in the rush to finish off work Megan and Anthony still had not packed for the trip (although we had guided Amelia and Hamish to a state of almost-readiness during the week). The extra time in the morning also proved useful in getting the house in a good state for our return. Wendy would be most pleased to know that 3 loads of washing were done, beds were changed and a house clean was finished (although Hamish might have been a little rushed with his job on the vacuum).
With everything done, and the obligatory 47th check that we had our passports and tickets and we were off to the airport. Pre-booked long-term car parking was a great idea as it appeared that people without pre-booking might have been turned away.
With the experience of international travel fresh in our minds, we breezed through security and border control for a brief wait before boarding our Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Well, that’s what Boeing call their plane. We’ve decided to rename it the Boeing 787 Time Machine.
With the vagaries of the International Date Line working in our favour we managed to land in Hawaii, drive around Oahu and check into our accommodation all before we even left Melbourne. Don’t believe me? Let the numbers tell the story …
- Depart Melbourne: 3:45pm Friday 29th June
- Land in Hawaii: 5:50am Friday 29th June
- Set off to drive around Oahu: 7:00am Friday 29th June
- Check-in to our accommodation in Honolulu: 2:15pm Friday 29th June (it’s a small island!)
See? Surely the only valid explanation is that we travelled back in time?
Friday morning, Honolulu, 25 degrees and sunny. We landed after nearly 10 hours in the air.
The flight was uneventful although, after the relative luxury of Qantas Premium Economy on the long legs of our last trip, Economy class with Jetstar was a bit of a letdown. We had dutifully paid the extra money for dinner and breakfast meals and even for the in-flight entertainment. We needn’t have bothered. A few muesli bars and a packet of two-minute noodles in the day pack would have arrived at the same result and significantly cheaper. We will be taking our (empty) water bottles on the plane to fill up in the bathroom on the way back – we all arrived in Hawaii terribly dehydrated. For my fire brigade friends, I was well into the orange end of the pee colour scale – some do gooder OO would have delighted in pulling me off the fire ground in that state.
I’m now ready to declare that the Ingram’s are now experienced travellers – well at least at getting through security. We’ve heard lots of people complain about security at American airports but to be honest, so far at least, our experiences have always been good. Honolulu was no exception and we arrived at the rental car desk in no time at all.
A shout to the lady at the Budget counter. Always nice landing in a new location to the friendly face of a local. She was able to point out all the things we should check out on our whirlwind driving tour of Oahu and made Hamish’s day when she upgraded our Mustang to the GT free of charge and let him pick the colour. Given the choices of Black, Red, Silver and White we were surprised by his choice of Silver, but since this was a special treat for Hamish it was all down to him.
After a brief game of Tetris to fit the luggage into the boot space we jumped in to the car in anticipation of the journey ahead. Well, that’s not entirely true. For Hamish and Amelia it was more of a case of contorting themselves into the back seat – what do you expect from a car really designed only for two?
It was at this point we probably should have spent more time examining the map. Instead, we set off, wind in our hair (did I mention we had a convertible?), laughing at those left in the garage carefully planning their routes.
Of course, they probably didn’t find themselves not 5 minutes later having an embarrassing conversation with a U.S. Airforce airwoman armed with semi-automatic weapons. See what happens when you throw caution to the wind? You find yourselves trying to enter Hickham Airforce Base, in the wrong lane, and have all the gate staff block 5 lines of traffic while the stern looking airwoman examines your licence and allows you to do a u-turn. Pretty sure my name is now on some sort of list – probably has a title something like “Idiots who can’t read a map”.
After our little adventure with the U.S. Military we got ourselves sorted and headed off north through the middle of Oahu using our old school tourist map – the GPS upgrade might have been a good idea. The lady at Budget warned us to watch out for the potholes in the road – she wasn’t wrong. Hawaiians might be really good at surfing and looking really good in their bathers, but they can’t builds roads. In fact, I think they know how bad their roads are – why else would they all be in such a rush? It felt like the speed limits were only advisory and even when pushing the speed a little I still managed to get tailgated by everything from a buzzbox to a truck (a real truck, not just a ute!). Never having driven a convertible before the noise of traffic hurtling past was pretty confronting to the senses and Amelia swears that she is never driving in a convertible again after nearly being whipped to death by her hair.
Moving onto a single lane road we found ourselves heading past the Dole Pineapple plantation. It was too early to drop in, but we made a point of having pineapple later in the day as a tribute – mmm.
We continued on, enjoying the amazing scenery until we got to Hale’iwa on the northwest coast of Oahu. This little town was recommended to us for breakfast and it did not disappoint. Plenty of options and pretty quiet at this time of year made it a good stopping off point. We found the Coffee Gallery (also recommended) and decided on their breakfast bowls – homemade granola with honey and fresh fruit and acai berry in Amelia’s case. It might not sound like much but after the rubbish served by Jetstar this was heaven. The kids and I stuck with water (dehydration still being a factor) while Megan had an Iced Honey Latte – another recommendation worth following.
While in town we also stopped at Matsumoto’s for a local tradition of shaved ice. Essentially this is a dome of shaved ice in a bowl with coloured, flavoured syrups. Despite having just had breakfast, the kids couldn’t resist. The adults had a taste, but only 1 – it was bloody awful – I don’t know how the kids managed to finish theirs.
We were barely back on the road when we came upon a beach known to be frequented by Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles. Seeing a group of people congregating on the beach we assumed that there must be a turtle on the beach. Braking rapidly to park on the side of the road we bounced through a pothole that threatened to swallow the car whole. Playing Frogger with the heavy traffic we crossed over to the beach. The locals might drive with determination, but they are also really good at opening gaps to help pedestrians get across the road.
We spent a few minutes on the beach with the admiring crowd checking out the turtle and thanking our luck at being able to see the only turtle on the usually busy beach. Volunteers work at the beach to keep people within a reasonable distance and to answer questions – pretty cool really.
A good stretch of the drive took us along the northwest coast, home to well-known locations such as the Banzai Pipeline, Waimea Bay and home to the famed Surfing Triple Crown. An amazing area that must be humming with people in Winter when the surf is really up.
Before long we found ourselves at Kahuku – home of the food truck and specifically Fumi’s Shrimps. To be honest, if we had not read about this place I’m sure we’d have driven right past. A rusty old truck sitting on flat tires it looked more like a salmonella production plant than a food preparation facility – but the prawns were yummy. Megan, Amelia and Hamish shared two plates of Garlic Shrimp, Garlic rice, corn and pineapple. Although a little early for lunch it barely touched the sides. We timed our arrival perfectly though. As we began to eat, a procession of tour vehicles arrived with Japanese tourists.
By this point in the drive we were all feeling pretty tired, having not had much sleep on the plane, so we decided to drive down the east coast without stopping. This drive was incredibly scenic, sandwiched as it is between the sea and soaring volcanic cliffs. Not that Megan, Amelia and Hamish saw it all though – with full bellies from lunch they all struggled to stay awake. Hamish, in particular decided that the inside of his eyeballs was more picturesque than the verdant rainforest and turquoise sea. The driver, finally feeling more comfortable with the Mustang, was able to enjoy the view but wished he stopped to take some photos. A quiet car also allowed time for contemplation. Hawaii was always a place that I had planned to come back to with my dad. He had been here several times to attend Rimpac with the Navy (ironically Rimpac 2018 is happening while we are here) and always spoke fondly of the scenery and the people. I made it Dad – and I got to bring my family with me.
Heading west again, the speed limit increased to 60mph as we travelled under the mountains through a tunnel. Finding ourselves on freeways all the way back to the airport to return the car, we managed to forget that we were supposed to top off the fuel. Bugger – a rookie mistake that will see us pay well above odds for the fuel, although having not slept for nearly 22 hours will do that.
After an expensive taxi ride to the Hilton Hawaiian Village we arrived prepared to queue (for hours some had warned us) to check in. Once again, our timing was perfect, and we waited less than 5 minutes to be served. Easy!
Our room on the 24th floor of the Tapa tower is good sized and functional. A base to explore from and with 2 double beds requiring a boy bed and a girl bed, one to ensure that 3 out of 4 of us should get good night sleep. See if you can work out who will miss out on forty winks.
Settling into our room we had showers, got changed into cooler clothes then headed out for a big walk into town – 15,000 steps on Megan’s fitbit – where we got ourselves a T-Mobile SIM card for Megan’s phone, got ourselves an early dinner and some groceries for our room.
Arriving back to our room we had glimpses of the fireworks display from our balcony before climbing into bed by 8:30pm, exhausted.
A great first day.