Because we had to cancel our return trip to Danzante resort with our friends the Klimans (who did get to go), we decided to replace that trip with a trip to Hawaii.
Marsha had never been to Waikiki and I had not been to Hawaii since 1989..... How time flies....
So we decided to go to Turtle Bay Resort on the most Northerly part of Oahu for a week, and then a couple of days in Waikiki (a couple of days is about as much as we could stand).
Turtle Bay resort was recommended to us by some friends and it was everything
we had hoped. It's located on a point of land about as far North
as you can go (about 45 minutes drive from the airport in Honolulu). The main
hotel, as seen in this picture is made up of four wings, and every
room has a view of the ocean, and the beaches.
The rooms are spacious (although we did have a bit of a hassle when we
checked in as the room they gave us was on a smoking floor, but we
sorted that out).
I am just going to let the pictures on this page speak for themselves unless I think some more information is required.
Our first stop after checking in.....
The beach with the condo units and the beach restaurant on the right. Great swimming, mediocre snorkeling
The night we arrived there was a humongous storm.... rain, thunder,
lightening..... next day was cloudy and
then all was as Hawaii should be...
All of the trunks here (except the one in the foreground) are one VERY old banyan tree
We weren't very far from a large air force base.... military everywhere in Hawaii
Paradise found - don't know who she is, but it's a nice picture.
A surfing contest at Pipeline
This group were doing a fashion shoot for Edie Bauer's spring catalogue -
eight people plus the models.
They were doing this at the resort all week.
Now we are in Honolulu - sunset at the Hilton Hawaiian Village
We spent part of an evening at Waikiki but it was just nutso... way worse
than when I was there last, but
good for a laugh. Gazillions of Asian tourists, and gazillions of stores
catering to them.... bizarre....
The last evening we went to one of the last outposts of civilization in
Waikiki - the Royal Hawaiian Hotel
(the pink one) which you can't get to from the street any longer and have to go
through the entrance to the
Sheraton Waikiki driveway and walk around. We had drinks on a very serene and
beautiful terrace overlooking
the beach followed by dinner graciously served in the attached dining room, also
overlooking the beach. This
dining room was so swank the waiter called us by name every time he came to the
table..... very cool
We went out on the Atlantis submarine just off Waikiki beach - there are two
submarines, one sixty feet and
one forty-eight feet - we went on the smaller one.
The pilot - note the depth gauge on the wall - we were at 42 feet depth at
this point and went down as low
as 120 feet. This is one tourist attraction that is worth every cent!!!
This is a lousy photo - but shows a large green sea turtle swimming past us at about 80 feet....
Next day we want to Pearl Harbour and spent some time on a WWII submarine and
on the USS Missouri - that is
one LARGE ship.... those are 16" guns pointed at us....worth seeing
On our last day we went over to Diamond Head (above) and found that there is
a hike from the bowl at the
bottom of the old crater up to the lip - the highest point in the picture above.
The hike was about .8 miles and
consisted of a very steep switchback trail to a steep stairway of about 80
steps, followed by a tunnel, followed
by another steep stairway of 99 steps, followed by a ladder to finally get to
the old military lookout (from WW I)
It was a very tiring hike, but worth it to see the spectacular outlook...
Looking North - that's the parking lot Wayyyyy down there at the bottom....
The long windy steep trail.....
