In this nostalgic post I tell a story: nearly five years ago I went to Hawaii with my mother. You'll notice the activities of this trip were quite different than what you may have seen in my other posts: we went to a beach, rode in a submarine, climbed a rainforest mountain, went to a luau, and went to museums. It isn't necessarily a bad thing that Mom and I did such touristy things, but I want you to know the flavour of what is to follow: I've got no insight into living in Hawaii, unfortunately, just some fun photos of what you might do when visiting.
Following the recommendations of a few viewers (whom I appreciate very much) I have included a higher quantity of photos! Some photos aren't great, since this was some time ago, but hopefully the Travel Channel won't cancel my funding. Soon to follow, I hope, I will be a relocating and/or revamping the blog and its design (as I'm told it is very badly designed), and will be finding a new focus for future travel stories. Until then, kick back and enjoy my trip to Hawaii.
As you might have guessed, the weather in Hawaii is quite beautiful: it rained for maybe twenty minutes throughout the week we were in Oahu.
Click 'more' to see... more!
Follow up:
This was our hotel in Makaha, in the western part of the island of Oahu:
As you can see, it is situated in front of a gorgeous mountain:
and is surrounded by golf courses and gardens:
I was damn impressed by how big these apartment buildings were (in background), and by how much bigger still the nearby mountain was:
Say hi to my mom and to my delicious lunch and guava juice:
Our rental vehicle was this guy:
and so we drove down this road:
to this observatory and this museum:
Where we saw these things:
and this awesome tree (included for all you tree lovers, you know who you are):
On the way out of the museum I noticed these impressive views of some of the city:
In the early part of our week in Oahu, we also went to Honolulu to check out the famous Waikiki beach:
I don't remember the historical significance of this statue at Waikiki, but there was (at the time) a webcam pointed at this that could be watched any time:
and there was another cool tree, the entirety of which I failed to capture:
We decided it would be fun to take a trip in a submarine. We were right! We went to this beach:
and got on a boat to head out to the submarine. From the boat I saw this impressive sight:
and then piled into a submarine:
and dived down to the ocean floor:
where we saw tropical fish swimming around in real and artificial reefs:
including a shark:
and loads more fish:
After the submarine ride we were convinced to go on a 'free tour' of a 'museum' which was really a sales front for jewelry. It was fairly dodgy inside, but I wasn't allowed to take pictures. (Being fairly Bond, I took pics anyway. They are pretty awful though, so I won't bother you with them.) Lesson learned, my friends.
We then climbed a mountain which is also a rainforest. At the time, I did not know such things existed. You can tell that I knew little about it, because I chose to wear these shoes for the climb:
We began in a leafy area, of course:
and I was quickly impressed with just how thick the vegetation became:
and how large it became:
and how impressive the occasional glimpses of our destination were:
You'll notice there are these strange walls of vegetation. I have no idea what they are (though I will likely try to find out later) but they were really neat:
and there were quite a few impressive and attractive trees:
We could eventually see our destination a bit more closely:
Like a good video game veteran I checked behind the waterfall for treasure and secret areas. Someone else must have got there before me, unfortunately, as the chest was empty.
We then went to a luau, which is a traditional Hawaiian party and feast. I ate meat at the time, and so I had some scrumptious pig that was cooked in the ground (photo of a similar pig later). Strangely, the best meal I had in Oahu was actually a 'Monte Cristo' at a hotel restaurant. But I digress...
The beach at the luau was very serene:
The entertainment was both family friendly and, well, entertaining:
On our last day we drove up through the middle of Oahu to the North-Eastern side to go to a massive park which teaches visitors about the various cultures of the Pacific South West. We saw this intimidating character:
as well as a parade of the various cultures on boats:
and their various living arrangements. This one, if memory serves me, is an Easter Island abode that was dug into the side of the land because of the intense winds that prevented buildings from being constructed:
There were a few more performances, including this one that allowed various Derpy Dads in the audience to impress their families by wearing accessories native to the peoples of the Pacific South West (though I forget which nation is represented here):
and here is the ground-cooked pig I promised you earlier, at the dinner that ended the evening:
I'll leave you with a couple parting gifts. First, here is a younger me trying my hardest to look Hawaiian:
Second, a Hawaiian sunset to see you off. Thanks for reading!
