Downtown Honolulu & Hanauma Bay

We had a lazier morning today, as we slept so well last night after our exertions yesterday, but by late morning we were off again!
This time we headed for Downtown Honolulu, which is the business district, so Sunday is the perfect time to explore this area as there was no-one there!
It's really nice with wide, palmtree-lined streets, some lovely old buildings among the skyscrapers, and the Royal Palace & statue of one of the Kings.
We also visited the Aloha Tower by the dock area, which is an upmarket shopping area with some nice bars & restaurants.

The hibiscus which is the national flower, is so beautiful, & grows like hedges along the roadsides.

There were some Banyan trees there too & they're called 'walking trees' as they shoot down roots from their branches in search of water, which look like lots of legs!

Early afternoon we headed to Hanauma Bay, which is a national park & a protected area, famous for snorkelling & for being the setting for the beach scenes in 'Blue Hawaii'!

We both did a bit of snorkelling & saw lots of interesting fish, & also some wildlife on land as well!
It's a truly beautiful spot.

Picture of Diamond Head Crater and Honolulu from the air

..................... and no I did not take it myself, we only walked up to the high point overlook!

The glorious Hawaiian scenery

The View to Waikiki from the top of Diamond Head Crater.

99 Steps Up & 99 Steps Down!

Hanauma Bay

Halona Blow Hole

The Windward East Coast

Lanakai Beach

The Special Small Beach we found at the end of Lanakai Beach.

I realise I got my days mixed up as it was Friday that we did the Polynesian CC, but hey I'm on holiday, what does time matter!!
Yesterday, Saturday, we went on a drive across the island to the east coast & had a lazy couple of hours on Lanakai Beach, which was absolutely idyllic.
On the way we came through some stunning scenery of high jagged peaks & lush vegetation, then the view of that stunning blue sea just takes your breath away.
We first of all found this tiny little beach, which we thought was private, till a really nice guy came over & had a chat with us. It wasn't private but we felt a bit isolated, so we moved on to the bigger beach.

After that we drove round the coast seeing some fabulous scenery on the way....including the incredible Halona blow holes near Sandy Beach.
We parked up at Hanauma Beach & looked down, but didn't pay to go in as it was getting late in the day, but hope to go there today.

We then drove up to Diamond Head, the volcanic crater that overlooks Honolulu, & climbed up to the viewing platform....phew what a trek, especially in 80deg heat....steep paths, over 100 steps & through 2 dark tunnels, but it was well worth it, as the view was awesome!

Needless to say we didn't venture from our apartment that evening & we both slept like logs!!