Hawaii

Well I have finally made it back to NZ, but first I'll fill you in on the details of my short stopover in Oahu. Stepping off the plane back into what was effectively summer was amazing. The Honolulu airport is the weirdest airport I have ever been in, but after a few weird looks (and comments) at all my luggage I successfully got to the hostel. It was a block from the beach in Waikiki. The first day I just walked around a bit, hung out by the beach and made some friends in the hostel. Then I went to bed pretty early, but thanks to jet lag wasn't able to sleep past 8 any morning.

Waikiki Beach

You can see Diamond Head poking out behind the trees.

This brought back so many memories from our Hawaii trip when I was little.

Thursday I had a lazy morning, then went on a kayaking trip with the hostel (they have different trips organized every day that you can go on). We went to the east side of the island and kayaked to an island called Chinaman's Hat. Once we got out there we hiked up to the top for some wonderful views. It rained on and off the whole trip, so it made it a bit more exciting. The hike/rock climb up to the top was really slippery/muddy because of the rain and I ended up covered in mud by the time I got back down.

Chinaman's Hat in the background

At the base of the hike. The end of it was just rock climbing

RAINBOW!!! It got stronger too

Once we finished the trip it got nice and sunny.

Friday I went with the hostel group again to hike up Diamond Head, a big crater turned military base turned tourist attraction. The views were absolutely gorgeous. We got hit with a tiny bit of rain, but hid under cover until it passed 10 minutes later. My camera died halfway through, so I had to borrow some photos from someone else in the group. That evening the hostel threw a BBQ on the beach to watch the fireworks the city shoots off every Friday.

View of the Crater (Courtesy of Andy)

View of Honolulu from the top of Diamond Head (courtesy of Andy)

Courtesy of Andy

Saturday I went with the hostel group again. (I was really enjoying not having to plan anything and the trips were so much cheaper than if I did them myself, plus automatic friends to go with). We drove pretty much around the entire island, stopped at a few beaches, did a short hike and watched the surfers at one of the best surf beaches in the world. We even went and saw the beach where the show Lost was filmed. It was a great day and we all came back pretty sandy and tired (but might I note I never got sunburned the whole trip).

This beach was so much fun to photograph

The beach in the background is where they filmed Lost

Sunday I woke up way earlier than I would have liked to go see the USS Arizona memorial and Pearl Harbor. They really did a great job with everything and it was really cool to see the ship. I spent the rest of the day lounging around and chilling by the beach waiting for my shuttle to the airport. I then confirmed Honolulu airport is the weirdest airport ever (the terminal had giant openings to the outdoors where window should have been and it started raining and blowing on us).

Circle of Remembrance

USS Arizona Memorial

 

The white buoy at the top left is where the bow of the boat is

I got to Auckland nice and early and uneventfully. I spent the day trying to run errands (all unsuccessful) and went to bed early. I don't think I have ever fallen asleep that fast. Since I got here I have gotten my NZ drivers license, gotten a bit of furniture and gotten a nice juicy burger. Thursday night I went out with a few of my friends who were in town. Playing a game called heads or tails (you predict the coin flip by putting your hand on your head or your tail, and stay in until you guess wrong) I successfully guessed about 10 flips in a row and then won a best of three rock paper scissors game to win the game. I won a 2 for 1 bungee jump off the Auckland Bridge, so looks like fate has decided for me.

Other than that, things are going well. Its been good seeing all my flatmates again and we hung out with Sean's friends last night. Tomorrow we are having a flat potluck dinner which will be a lot of fun. I'm just waiting on getting the rest of my furniture so I can get my room more organized and stop living out of suitcases. Hopefully that will be soon! In the meantime, try and stay warm while I enjoy my nice summer (despite the fact I had to wear a sweatshirt last night). I'll finish off with a nice photo from Hawaii to help you feel warm.