Hawaii September / October 2005
Thursday September 22 - Bec was first to fly to Honolulu being part of the PLC Swim team to compete against other clubs from across the Hawaiian Islands.
Saturday September 24 - After watching the historic AFL Grand Final between Sydney and West Coast (which Sydney Swans won) the rest of us (Kim, Nic and Phil) headed to the airport and off to Honolulu. Lucky us with the upgrade to Business Class. Nice flight, long Immigration queue with photos and fingerprints then onto the connecting flight the Maui. It was about a 45 minute shuttle bus to the Westin Hotel Kaanapali but worth it. Nice place and nice room with a great view of Molokai and the pool which we jumped into shortly after arriving.
Sunday - relaxing by the pool and dinner at Leilani with Hula Pie for dessert.
Monday - a little shopping in Lahaina. We got to Lahaina in a taxi which worked out a touch more expensive than the shuttle bus but much more convenient.
Tuesday - more relaxing by the pool and reading. In the afternoon we headed to the Sheraton to watch the sunset and locals jumping from the cliff into the sea. Dinner at Rusty Harpoon.
Wednesday - 2:15AM!!! Phil joined the "Cruiser Phils Mountain Bike Tour" for
a 38 mile ride down Haleakala, a volcano that hasn't erupted for over 200 years.
It took an hour to get to the tour base near the airport then, after loading the
bikes, a coffee and muffin, it was back in the bus for the slow climb to the
top. Still pitch black of course. We arrived at the car park around
5:00AM thirteenth bus in the queue out of about 35 up there. We then
waited about an hour before sunrise over the volcano - it was freezing. We
then had to wait about 5-10 minutes between each bus group ahead of us before
our turn to head down. Each group had around 10-15 people. We
started down around
7:45AM.
Kim and Nic were surely still asleep. The ride down was very easy being
tar all the way. We only had a couple of stops to take in the view and
most of the time was spent looking at the bike in front of you in case they
stopped too quick or whatever. Have to give it to the tour company though
- they play it very safe.
Around 10:40 we reach Paia, the bottom, packed the bikes up and found a place for coffee and bagels. Back to the base to unload the bike trailer then an hour back to the hotel in Kaanapali arriving back around 12:30PM. By now Kim and Nic had made it to Lahaina for shopping and Phil had a sleep.
Thursday - more pool time and reading. In the afternoon back to the Sheraton this time to swim with goggles to look at the fish and a turtle. Dinner that night was a treat with a BBQ at the pool, some take away Hula Pie and a movie under the stars.
Friday - was up early and off to the airport to fly to Honolulu and catch up with Bec. After checking in to the Sheraton Moana Surfrider in Waikiki Kim, Phil and Nic headed out to meet Bec at the Aston Hotel about a kilometre up the beach toward Diamond Head. So good to see her and we all went to the beach to catch up each others adventures. Bec had her team dinner that night so Kim, Phil and Nic went to Dukes next door to the hotel. Very nice food and quite reasonably priced considering it's right on the beach.
Saturday October 1 - Time for the PLC girls to head home to Sydney after some fun times in Hawaii, and time for Bec to rejoin the rest of the family. With a choice between the beach and shopping shopping won out at the Ala Moana. Kim found some nice new shoes at Macys, Bec and Nic went mad at American Eagle and Abercombie and Fitch. All in all a good day at the shops.
Sunday - Beach Day - All day. Reading, baking, swimming, reading some more and then surfing at the end. Wouldn't you know Bec bumped into the same surfer that taught Kailah and her the previous week when she went to hire the board. Nice guy. Eventhough he was giving someone else a private lesson he gave Bec and Nic a few tips too. They caught a few good waves and had a good chat too. While talking about the Swans big win the instructor mentioned they were staying in Waikiki for a break after the season. In the hotel right next to ours. Bec and Nic grabbed the camera and headed up the beach in search of the Swans. Ten minutes later they were back with huge smiles - "Best day every - we meet Barry Hall". Kim and Phil couldn't resist so off they went for a look and found a gaggle of Swans at the bar. Ablett, Schneider, Ball, Hall and Bolton to name a few. Had a good half hour chat with them. What a highlight. Dinner at Dukes was excellent again but the wait for a table was a bit longer than the other night.
Monday - it was time for more shopping this time at the Premium Outlet at Waikele - about 20 minutes drive from Waikiki back past the airport. After hiring a car off we went. First stop and the primary objective "Polo Ralph Lauren". Big hit and plenty of purchases. After such success why not try a few more stores. Nothing at CK but Adidas was the bargain of the day with new golf shoes for Kim just $20. This was quickly followed by Nine West were at least four more pairs of shoes were purchased.
There was more to see but we'll have to leave those shops for another trip. It was getting late and we all wanted another swim and surf so back to the hotel to dump the shopping and slip into the swimmers. Small waves but Bec still managed to catch a few good ones.
Dinner that night was what we had all hung out for - Tony Romas. A huge onion loaf, bottomless drinks and ribs, ribs, ribs. Delicious.
Tuesday - was time to fly home so after an easy drive to the airport and drop off of the car it was check in and the pleasure of an upgrade to Business Class. Nice - very nice way to end.
