Honolulu – 17th March
Happy St. Patricks Day – Tom.
Today we arrived at the island of Oahu one
of the eight Hawaiian Islands, famous for Pearl Harbour and Honolulu. We first drove to the centre of Diamond Head
Crater, which is an extinct volcanic crater, accessed via a tunnel through the
crater wall, where we observed lots of wildlife, including Hibiscus and
Mongeese (or is it Mongooses).
We admired the spectacular coastline and
stopped at Hanauma Bay to view the beautiful beach and offshore coral.
We continued driving along the coastline
and stopped at the Halona Point Blowhole (unfortunately the weather and tide
levels did not produce any water spouts).
However, we were fortunate enough to see two whales close to shore doing
their classic tail flips.
After viewing another beach we stopped at
Pali Lookout to see views across the island.
On returning to the ship we immediately
jumped on the shuttle bus that took us to Waikiki Beach, where after a brief
stop at McDonalds for lunch and internet connection, we wandered through
Waikiki, visiting the Hard Rock Café, which was in the middle of its St
Patricks Day celebrations. We went to a
beachside restaurant for refreshments whilst we watched the surfers surfing the
surf (which was smaller than anticipated).
After visiting a night market in Waikiki,
we grabbed a cab and returned to Honolulu for an evening meal on the waterfront
before rejoining the ship for a late departure.
Needless to say we were exhausted after a
long but very enjoyable day. Definitely
a place to return to in the future.
