Our great day improved from great to wonderful when we were joined by Melissa & Duane fresh from 5 months travelling through Central America. After a few hours of much needed catchup along with a lot of "ooohs and aaaahs" from the Educator and the Apiarist (aka Mum & Dad). It had been a long day for all however and sleep was welcomed by everyone!!!
Wednesday morning saw us tuck into a healthy breakfast of tropical fruit while looking at the amazing view from our apartment
before heading towards The Bus http://www.thebus.org/default.asp?f=y&m=main . Public transport in Honolulu seems pretty good and at $2.50 per ride is well priced but unfortunately some misreading of the schedule saw us walking a bit too far and by now it was a very warm morning, so we hailed a cab that deposited us on the western end of Waikiki Beach right near the "Duke".
Walking along the road we saw lots of barricades and lots of security but it was only when we were asked to stay off the road and footpath because it was a "hot set" that we realised we were right in the filming of Hawaii Five 0!!! No it wasn't the show with Jack Lord, but the new series and no matter how good the Apiarist was looking there was no offer of a "bit" part as we walked by.
While waiting for the hourly # 22 Bus we watched some city council workmen using Kanga's to break up some concrete at the base of a statue. Obviously Workplace Safety isn't in their contract!! Finally the very full (hourly) bus arrived and the very squashy bus trip started. Fortunately the Apiarist was offered a seat which made the trip much easier for me. He had an entertaining hour listening to the tales of the VERY sprightly 87 year old Japanese-American lady who told me the story of her long life entirely spent on Hawaii.
Thirty minutes of stories later we and the very full bus arrived at Hanauma Bay http://www.hanauma-bay-hawaii.com/ where we hired masks, snorkels and fins and set off to explore the bay. The water was warm the fish were both colourful and plentiful and we spent an hour or so exploring to our heart's content. Although there are some restrictions (closed Tuesdays, must watch a video before going there, $7.50 to enter the Marine Preserve) it was a great place to spend some time.
Unfortunately the previously indestructible underwater camera decided it had had enough. Consequently you'll have to imagine the colourful fish that were on display in the clear turquoise waters. Oh well we bought the camera at Walmart in 2012 when another one went to the great camera god in the sky and it had survived the Apiarist's best efforts to destroy it for 2 years. Looks like we'll be shopping again soon!! Took the cute little shuttle to the top of the very steep hill that we had walked down earlier (tight core, look over the horizon, transfer your weight, dorsi flex, dorsi flex, dorsi flex!!!) before just making the bus home.
Again the Apiarist was offered a seat which made the long trip easier and quite entertaining due to the "Announcements!!" of stops, "get to the back of the bus" etc by a guy who was sitting next to the driver. Not really being certain what he was saying I asked nearby passengers and they were equally uncertain but equally entertained. Unfortunately Julie's seat (at the back of the bus)wasn't as comfortable due to it's proximity to the motor!! They were happy the ride was over and we were all happy when we visited Subway for a "Pulled Pork" sub as we had neglected to take any food apart from three bananas and a bottle of water.
Caught a cab to the apartment, had a coffee and discovered that the Diamond Head walk closed at 4.30pm. While Melissa & Duane went shopping we headed down to take a closer look at the Outriggers who were practising on the canal before JAF went for a walk/ jog while I enjoyed the views from the apartment. Upon the return of all of the group from their various outings we headed to a nearby Vietnamese restaurant for a great "Pho"!!
Apart from the camera malfunction, a great day was completed with a great sunset and equally stunning nighttime views!!!!
