Our Last Day in Paradise :(

Our plane didn't leave until 9pm on Sunday night so we spent all day on Waikiki Beach. After doing a little shopping we walked the beach, laid out in the sun, and of course had food and drinks. I love this place and can't wait to return...:) We arrived back in Sacramento around 8am then an hour drive to Modesto. Needless to say we were exhausted, but this was a trip of a lifetime that I will never forget!

Diamond Head

I guess Diamond Head is the most well know volcano on the island. We hiked up it Saturday afternoon. It was quite a climb but well worth the view!!

View from our Hotel

We stayed at the Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio, it was a super nice hotel even though we didn't spend much time in our room. Here is the view we woke up to every morning. Surfers would be already out even as early as 7am. They probably were out before the sun came up and they would stay until the very last bit of daylight.

The Dragon Upstairs

After our food and drinks from Bamboo for Two we ventured around the corner to a little dive called The Dragon Upstairs. Once again a local hangout. We enjoyed some live music from a bluesy kind of artist. He walked over to us between sets and asked how we found that place? He was very surprised but with the internet you can find anything!!

Saturday Night

Our last night on the island and I had found these neat little places to go on Living Social. We started out toward China Town which was a 5 mile drive and it ended up taking us an hour to get there because we kept getting lost. Of course this did not deter us, we wanted to go to places that were local hangouts not touristy hangouts. Our first destination was Bamboo for Two Martini Bar and Restaurant. A very neat little hang out...and our waitress had only been in Honolulu since August...she was from Tennessee..

Para Gliding

Today I went para gliding with Jorge. He is a darling guy from Venezuela. He has a masters degree in engineering and said he got tired of the office and a 9-5 and gave it up to do this for a living. His wife is a vulcanologist and they have lived on the island for 11 years. I think that is such a neat story to follow your dream.. Para gliding is such a neat experience. We hiked half way up a mountain to the take off point. Jorge gave me instructions stating...the wind will catch the sail and pull us about 3 steps backwards, when this happens I will tell you to run and you run as hard as you can off the mountain....now don't worry you will not fall, you will be flying before you know it! and he was absolutely right, I ran about 3 steps and we were in the air. He flew me to about 2000 feet and it was an amazing view. I could see the island of Maui from this height. At the end of the ride he asked if I was up to doing some tricks....well, of course....he evidently didn't know who he was talking to!!!lol He asked me to lean from right to left then to stay left and we spiraled down toward the ocean at an incredible speed, of course he pulled us out of it and would go back up for another ride. So much fun. The flight was about an hour long and worth every penny of it....I posted some pics from my point of view.

Friday evening

After the sail we enjoyed a Mai tai and watched the sunset over Waikiki. The pictures do not do it justice.

Friday afternoon

After the surfing we took a catamaran ride off of Waikiki beach. It had rained right before we left so we almost backed out. The skies cleared up just in time for our sail and I am so glad we didn't back out. We had a great ride, the wind was just right to take us sailing around Diamond Head. We also got to see some more sea turtles and on our way back in some dolphins swam beside the boat jumping out of the water and really giving us a show.

Friday...Surfing with the Hawaiian Fire School

While in Oahu....well you know the rest. So what is Hawaii famous for??? besides the beautiful coast line? Yes your right the birth place of surfing...so we had to try it!!! I was a little apprehensive at first because the water was so rough and the waves were pretty big (from my point of view) The school is taught by off duty firemen so that in itself is enough reason to learn to surf. I was the first one in the water (not by my choice) and I paddled like a crazy person to get out into the surf!!!lol I don't know if it was fear or excitement that was driving me but either way the adrenaline was pumping!! My goal for the day was to stand up on the board at least one time....well I done better than that...I stood up almost every time however my ride was short lived. I think about 20 seconds was my longest ride. But it is so much fun and I am ready to go back and get to be a amateur at this!!lol

Thursday..ahhhhhhhh a day for relaxation

Today was a spa day. We went to pure Joy Spa in Honolulu and got a 90 minute massage and a 90 minute facial. It was magnificent and was a much needed break from having fun on the beach!!! That night we went to Amuse Wine Bar. I have never been in a place like this. It was a restaurant and bar with a very lounge type feel. They had live acoustic music and a local crowd. I think JoAnn and I were the only tourist in the whole place. They had machine's with various types of wine and you chose what you wanted to taste, inserted a pre-paid card into the machine and dispensed your wine. You could dispense from 1 oz to 6 oz and each one was priced differently. It is a very unique idea that would only go over in a large city.

More scenic views on our drive

A drive around the Island

After leaving Hanauma Bay we decided to take a drive around the island. We came across this ranch which had the ocean on one side and as you can see the mountains on the other.

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay

On Wednesday we went to Hanauma Bay. This area is full of coral and has the most
magnificent marine life. We identified at least a dozen different fish and at the end of the day a sea turtle came up close to shore and I was able to snorkel with him. He was amazing, such grace, and he just let me swim beside him like I was suppose to be there.

More Beaches

Happy Birthday To Me!! Sept 28th

Today we went to Waikiki Beach and hung out for a few hours then walked over to a colonial style hotel named the Surfrider. It is an old colonial style hotel with a beach front bar. The bar and hotel is built around an 109 year old Banyan Tree which is actually pretty remarkable. We had lunch here then drove around the island to other beaches to site see. By the way....we rented a car to have for the week...a red mustang convertible!! How cool is that??