Day 85 - Hawaii (2)

A beautiful Hawaiian morning sun enticed us straight down for a swim in the waters of Waikiki Beach. The water was lovely, though I was not expecting the rocks underfoot, we must have picked the wrong spot, but it was lovely.

We found a good place for breakfast on our stroll back to the hotel. I had the house special, bacon, eggs, and a whopping big pancake all on the same plate, with a bottomless coffee for $6.95. When I saw it on the menu I thought huh? a pancake with bacon and eggs?

A swim and a spa back at the hotel, and we booked some tours for the rest of our week here. Then we were off to the Ala Moana Shopping Centre. This joint at some stage was the largest shopping centre in the USA and it is a tad on the large size. We did not actually get to look at it as our first mission was to find the Walmart store around the corner.

Never seen a Walmart, now I see what all the talk is about, this place has everything. We only brought clothes for a couple of days in our backpacks, no check in luggage, so we got a few t-shirts, socks and jocks to see us out - no, we are not doing any laundry at all this week!!!

Back to the Ala Moana shopping centre, and as we arrived a show had commenced, traditional Hawaiian singing and dancing on the centre stage. Donna salivated at the near naked athletic man flesh that was dancing on the stage. I of course was completely oblivious to the gorgeous young near naked women, preferring to watch for the technical execution of the show:)

Another example of what a small world we live in here, as whilst we we watching, we were tapped on the shoulder by a fellow 'escapee' passenger, Jenny. She, along with Nikki and Betty are staying close by to us on another hotel on Waikiki. By the time the show and the catch up chat ended it was time to grab some lunch, so it was off to the largest food court I have ever seen.

By the time we had finished lunch, it was time to head back to the hotel, so we are going to have to go back to Ala Moana to have a proper look. We needed to get back to shower and change , meet Bob and Wendy, and head off on the first of our bookings.

As I understand there are only two 'traditional' Luaus on Oahu, and we were off to one of them tonight. I believe a lot of the hotels put on a dinner and show, but we wanted the real thing. It was an enjoyable night, they put on a good show and fed and watered us well. The pulling of the pig from the ground oven (I am sure it has a name) was quite entertaining in itself !!

The Luau was set out in the country, about a 90 minute drive (peak hour) out of Honolulu. The site was right on a coral beach, with the waves crashing on the coral bed that bordered the property. Donna got to do some more salivating at the athletic near naked man flesh, and got a little merry on the Rum Punch and Tequila Sunrises she was drinking.

Donna joined the sing-a-long on the bus ride home, whilst the rest of us slept most of the way home. A great day , ended with a lovely evening.

We have had reports from friends on Sun Princess that the weather since LA has not been the best for them, and that they are/were getting affected by the elements of Hurricane Gilma. Rest assured, Gilma is tracking in a south east direction, and Sun Princess in a south west heading so I trust by now it has settled down. Lovely Hawaiian weather awaits them :)