Waikiki Wanderings
One of the hazards about bringing a family of 6 away to stay in a hotel is the fact that everyone has to share a double bed. Our room at the Embarrassing Suits has 2 double beds and a double sofa bed so the kids had to draw straws to see who had to share with whom. Toby is notorious for lashing out, subconsciously of course, but he must have a strong self-preservation instinct and if anyone accidentally rolls anywhere near him as they’re slumbering, he may just throw a right hook in his sleep! Sam, Ross and Molly have all borne the brunt of this nocturnal violence, much to Toby’s embarrassment and remorse of course! Molly likes to sleep on a diagonal, completely entrenched in position so space is at a premium for whoever she’s sharing with! Maisy tends to do circles, helicopter style, while she’s kipping. This was not so bad when she was a bit smaller but she’s grown a bit more now so the helicopter blades have extended, making a night next to her a perilous experience indeed! Sam likes to wrestle with his covers, which almost always end up on the floor, so if you like being cosy, he’s not the one to share with. We do look forward to tales of sleep antics each morning over breakfast. I think everyone is more than ready to get their own beds back!
Today was almost a carbon copy of yesterday, where we spent most of the morning down at Waikiki Beach, swimming, floating, surfing and relaxing on the sand. The surf had dropped a little today but there were still some fun waves to be had after enduring the extra-long paddle out the back. We were again entertained by the live musicians at the Surfrider Hotel, adding to the atmosphere. One of the funniest things we saw out in the waves today was a real-life surfing dog! I know it sounds hard to believe but this cute little canine was hanging ten (actually I’m not sure how many toes a pooch has) but he was seriously catching waves! His proud owner had put him in what looked like a little fluoro orange life jacket so you couldn’t miss him! He was having a ball and certainly getting more waves than the average tourist! No-one would dare drop in on a cute little puppy now would they? We also had a chuckle at another bloke who was paddling towards the line-up with a full-sized esky on the front of his mal and a huge long fishing rod in his hand! The things you see!
After the beach, we retired to the shade of the hotel pool area once again, where everyone had a refreshing dip and some lunch. It was Adam’s turn to indulge in a massage today – more therapeutic than anything as he’s struggling with an uncomfortable sofa bed, playing havoc with his back.
Keryn then suggested whoever would like to, could join her in catching the trolley (a bus that looks just like a tram) to the famous Hilo Hattie complex (just a shop really) in Honolulu. Sam, Molly, Ebony, Chelsea and I decided it was worth a squiz so we boarded the complimentary trolley and were on our way. Upon our arrival to the iconic shop we were endowed with a complimentary shell lei and offered an icy cold pineapple or guava juice! Hilo Hattie is really just a massive souvenir shop, containing all things remotely Hawaiian. There was an abundance of merchandise containing anything and everything pertaining to palm trees, hibiscuses, grass skirts, hula girls, surfboards, sunsets, turtles and the beach, with racks and racks of what is known as “Aloha Wear”, in other words, Hawaiian print shirts, dresses, skirts, shorts, sarongs, hats and trousers. There seems to be quite a trend here to deck out the whole family in identical Hawaiian print clothing, Von Trapp style, particularly amongst the Japanese holiday-makers. It’s quite hilarious to see them on the street! You can’t miss them! We have been tempted to buckle to the trend ourselves but it could be challenging to find 11 matching outfits! Stay tuned…
The trolley drivers are all wired up and wearing microphones and love to make people laugh with their funny observations of Hawaiian life and their commentary on the surroundings. The trolley driver we had for our return trip was no exception and she was being bothered by someone’s squeaky seat. She kept asking, in her funny Hawaiian accent, “whose seat is making that squeaky noise now?” She kept referring to it sporadically throughout her other commentary and then told us she had the tools on her bus “to shut that thing up!”. Every time we went over a bump, it did squeak really loudly! We were reunited with two of our buddies from the luau, Bev and Lani from Iowa on the bus and they greeted us like long lost friends!
While we were at Hilo Hatti, Ross and Adam took Maisy, Toby and Georgia shopping around the local Waikiki streets. Ross bought himself some classic Hawaiian print shirts (Aloha Wear!) which he’s looking forward to showing off in the office on casual Friday! Maisy also scored herself some Aloha Wear!
We had organised to go parasailing while we were here, buying the discount tickets online before we came away. We just needed to call a day before and book in a time. Keryn volunteered for the task and called while we were all in the room. She was dictating the booking number to the lady at the other end of the phone and was doing the “C for Charlie” thing. When she got to “B” there was a long pause and she said “B for…, B for…., B for… bottom!” Upon hearing this, the entire hotel room erupted into spontaneous laughter! She was genuinely enquiring whether we were required to wear any special footwear there and announced we would all be turning up wearing thongs and was that OK? Sam pointed out later there was a glitch in translation and the poor woman at the other end of the phone was envisaging us all – men, women and children – turning up in G-strings! (“thongs” are “slippers” here and G-strings are “thongs”!!). Upon reflection, Keryn did think the woman was slightly taken aback and simply said, after a pregnant pause, “all beach wear is fine ma’am”. I think there’ll be a bit of excitement at their offices before we arrive tomorrow, only to disappoint when we turn up with covered cheeks!
Dukes is a great restaurant, which we’d heard lots of great reports about, with a beer garden spilling right out over Waikiki Beach. It’s full of surf memorabilia and has a fantastic laid back atmosphere. We had been looking forward to going there for dinner and enjoying views of the sunset from the beer garden, as the Gallaghers had done last time they were here. By the time we rocked up there tonight though, it was standing room only and a huge crowd was grooving to the beats of the band, obviously well-known around these parts! It was PACKED and the crowd was overflowing out onto the sand! Our hopes of getting a beachside table were slim. We had to make alternative dinner plans. Ebony suggested we try Jimmy Buffet’s, right in the centre of Waikiki, so we traipsed over, not quite sure what to expect. It turned out to be a great choice and entering into the restaurant was like walking into a tropical cave, palm trees everywhere with fire torches and a whole entire wall projecting the rolling surf. We could have walked right into the set of Gilligan’s Island! The food was fantastic, although the portions were typically HUGE! Sam and Ebony had ordered their nachos from the “Starters” menu and Ross suggested they could’ve sustained a third world country for a week. You’d think we would have learnt by now!
Just as we were finishing up our dinner, a live singer – Randy Allen – was setting up ready to play so we decided to stay and listen to a few of his songs. He was awesome! We were right in the front so he asked us where we were from and whether we’d like a request. He played some Jack Johnson for us and he was really good! To send us off he said “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!” to which we instinctively replied “Oi, oi, oi!” A bit sad really.
After dinner we took in the night time sights of Waikiki once more, visiting the International Marketplace and having a wander around. Buskers and other street performers were out in force and we were handed all kinds of brochures and other miscellaneous junk mail as we walked. One of these stood out from the rest though. It advertises itself as Hawaii’s safest indoor gun range; where you can go along and fire “real firearms!”including M-16s and AK-47s! I’ll never understand the Americans’ obsession with lethal weapons. Scary stuff!
