Hello again Bloggers.
Glad to be back on the scene again. I would like to share with you my honeymoon holiday experiences from Hawaii using my Australian point of view. We arrived on the island of Oahu, Hawaii on the 27th of December 2019 from Brisbane Queensland. Just in time to witness the end of the old decade and to welcome in the new one. I myself have been to Oahu before back in 2012 but this time was extra special as I had the enjoyment of showing around my new wife the high lights of the Island.
What did we both like most about Oahu?
Oahu is not the biggest island out of the Hawaiian Islands in land area but it is certainly the most populated with close to 1 million residence if I recall correctly. The capital of Oahu is called Honolulu and the shopping / party district is called Waikiki. If you like to relax on the beach for most of the day, then go shopping for designer handbags then go for drinks and partying at night then Waikiki is the spot for you. Personally, myself and wife did all of our partying when we were in our early 20s. Yes, of course we went out for 1 night in Waikiki but I can’t justify the hangovers and wasted money on drinking anymore so our plan was to get out of Waikiki as much as possible and see what the rest of the island had to offer. Waikiki is the equivalent of Surfers Paradise on the gold coast of Australia just 10x more over the top and at the time of writing 1 Australian dollar was equal to 0.60 USD so we did find things kind of expensive.
Oahu is still a big island in land area so we needed to find a way to get around. The best mass public transport system that I could see to get around Oahu was the public bus. Yes, Oahu has plenty of taxis, Uber and Lyft available but using these types of transport would rack up huge bills very quickly and remember I said that 1 Australia dollar is equal to 0.60USD. We found the public bus to be very affordable and convenient to use, for about $5 per day we could get an all-day bus pass and when used in conjunction with Google maps we found it really easy.
Yes, the bus can become over crowed at peak times and we had to share with some interesting local characters who loved to strike up any sort of conversation with us, unfortunately mental health and homelessness is a huge issue in Oahu but really at no point did we both feel threatened by them, just smile and say no thank you.
The North-shore of Oahu was our favorite part of the island. This region is far away from the hustle and bustle of the crowds and we found miles of beaches. There were a lot of mobile food vans on the side of the road and I encourage you to try what they have. They sell all sorts of local fresh produce and we never had a bad meal from them, this was defiantly a cheap way to get our dinner. We learnt that “Shave ice” was imported by Japanese immigrants prior to WW2. You will see a lot of Shave ice being sold around the island and I tried it once just to say that I have tried it. Its basically ice-cream in the middle surrounded by ice, then covered in syrup on top, great if you like really sweet desserts.
Snorkelling, the best snorkelling sites that we could find on Oahu was located at Hanauma Bay. To make the most of time you will have to get there early and don’t both bring the car as parking will be a nightmare. Again, public bus was the easiest way to get there but be prepared to paid $15 USD per person to get through the gates. On our 5th day we actually did hired a car for 2 days, this was to give us more independence and not be at the call of a bus time table. As an Australian it took about a day to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road but I can proudly say that I did not get into any accidents and I returned the car undamaged.
What did we both like hate about Oahu?
As stated above we hired a car for 2 days. Petrol (or Gas) is very cheap in America which is why they can afford to run such huge 4x4 trucks. Oahu’s road infrastructure is in desperate need of being upgraded, I have honestly seen less pot holes in the roads of Iraq than at Oahu. Driving a big car in Oahu which uses MPH with the steering wheel on the wrong side was a challenge at first but by the 2nd day I was getting the hang of it. Parking would also fall under the infrastructure problem but come on Oahu sort out your roads and parking. New years eve was a gathering on Waikiki beach with about 100,000 other people. We arrived about 30mins late so the beach was already packed well before. We were both thinking that there would be a huge 10 second count down then the whole lot would go up with fireworks, laser light shows and celebrations. Sadly, we were wrong, no count down, just the count on my phone using the world time app and just once 1 boat out at sea launching off some fire works which lasted no more than 15 mins. Even an American girl said to me that the 4th of July celebration was better than that.
What did I learn from Hawaii?
Booking ahead is key. I have been of the opinion that we just turn and get a rental car on the same day, or just turn up to a public event and get a ticket straight away. No, be prepared for plenty of queues and crowds. Booking and planning ahead of time is key so that you get the full experience of your Hawaii holiday.
Hawaii defiantly has some amazing beaches and snorkelling on its door step however I’m trying to be as unbiased as possible but I think that Australian beaches are better. Hawaii has volcanoes and Australia does not, I have always found volcanoes interesting
I defiantly want to get back into SCUBA diving again, being underwater is a totally new world and I want to have those experiences again
Keep up your physical health. Hawaii is a very mountains place to see all of its wonders its going to take a lot of walking and hiking.