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!!

Polynesian Cultural Centre

Here we are learning to Hula!!!!

Our apartment is called Rainbow Inn....we found out why after a shower of rain!

Thurs was a brilliant day as we went to the Polynesian Cultural Centre, which I've known about for years as it features in Elvis's film 'Paradise Hawaiian Style', so needless to say I was really looking forward to this.
We set off fairly early as it's about an hour's drive from our apartment, on the NE of the island. On the way we drove through the centre of Oahu & passed the Dole pineapple plantation, & again for the Elvis fans reading this.....think 'Blue Hawaii'....just exactly as it was portrayed in the film, even down to the pickers in the fields!

We got to the PCC & had about an hour to kill before it opened so we found this fantastic beach & chilled out there for a while.

We then spent the day touring the PCC in a group of about 12 with our own guide, & we started with a ride on a canoe.....which will mean something to the Elvis fans!!

It was fascinating to learn about all the different cultures of the South Pacific Islands & be entertained by their people.

There was a wonderful canoe parade, a great dinner & the most amazing show in the evening....quite spectacular!

We got back at nearly 10.30pm...totally exhausted!!

Pearl Harbour & Waikiki

He seems to creep in wherever we go!

Elvis statue at the Blaisdell Centre where the Aloha Concert was broadcast from.

USS Missouri

USS Arizona Memorial Pearl Harbour

Boys and their Toys!

What an amazing day!

We both woke up about 5.30am...still jetlagged with another 3 hour change since coming to Hawaii!

No problem though, as things seem to kick off early here, so by 8.30am we were at Pearl Harbour, which actually opens at 7.45am.....and it was already quite busy.

Really enjoyed the tour of the USS Arizona Memorial & it was very moving to hear all the details of the bombing & how many lost their lives. It was eerie to see the rusted parts of the ship that are above water & the outline of the rest of it under the water.

What I hadn't appreciated is that the Memorial forms a 'bridge' at right angles over the ship.
The really amazing thing is that you still see patches of oil seeping from the sunken engines, which after nearly 60 years is incredible, especially as it burned for 3 whole days. People refer to these oil patches as 'black tears'.

We also did a tour of the USS Missouri, one of the last battleships built for the 2nd WW, & used finally in the Gulf war in 1991.

We were there for over 5 hours.....phew!!

We came back to our apartment for lunch & Trev's 40winks, then headed to Honolulu & Waikiki Beach.

On the way we stopped at the Neal S. Blaisdell Centre where Elvis performed his 'Aloha from Hawaii' show ...the 1st worldwide live satellite performance, & where there is now a statue, then on into Waikiki.

Well I think this will be our one & only visit......much too hectic for us oldies, but it had to be seen.
I kept pointing out to Trev that there were lots of bars doing 'Happy Hours', but we ended up in the Mai Tai beach bar of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, where I had to have a Mai Tai.....but no happy hour.....oops!

Watched the sunset then headed back to our oasis of calm!!