Continental Surf Hotel Honolulu

Aloha Waikiki on balmy Oahu - what a place to "hand loose" as they say in Hawaai.  After a couple of  hectic last few weeks in Auckland preparing for this trip, we absolutely enjoyed being wrapped in the warmth of sunrays as we explored this beautiful island.   US$2 would buy a bus ride on "The Bus" from one side of the island to the other.  So what if the trip took a good couple of hours, destination was well worth it.   Arriving way up north at Sunset Beach in time to catch a surfing compet...

Note to self: when travelling anywhere, print EVERY little bit of information regarding the trip so that you have a hard copy in case somebody needs proof. Even if it's not a complete informational package, any little bit of info helps. A couple of international phone calls and several attempts at faxing the QANTAS terminal later, our flight informationg departing Honolulu was on paper, and we were allowed to check in, with no time to spare. That is, the check-in closing time was pushed back ...

We caught a shuttle bus to our breakfast orientation meeting at the Hard Rock Cafe at 7.30am on Wednesday. Welcomed with a lei and a photo, we picked up some complimentary cakes, drinks and fruit and sat down. There our host gave us a brief look at some of the tour packages they had on offer. We'd already discussed what we wanted to do, so it was just a matter of organising ourselves and fitting what we could into our 5 days on the island. We settled on a circle tour of Oahu, a kayaking and s...

Our bus was late, it seems the norm here to be running on "Hawaii time" so it wasn't too big a deal. Unfortunately for us, we were one of the last groups to be picked up, so we weren't able to sit together on the bus: Kelly and Carlo sat at the back, and Miguel and I in the front. We passed the Aloha Stadium, which was our original destination on Wednesday and we realised just how far away it really was from the Waikiki area. Our first stop was the Dole Pineapple Plantation, which was next to...

There was a printing error on our ticket and so we were forced to rush to the Hyatt Regency as the bus was there 20 minutes earlier than we had anticipated. We were travelling to Kailua, on a tour that would introduce myself to snorkelling whilst re-introducing myself to kayaking, something I hadn't done since year 7 camp (on a lake where the water was barely waist high). Kelly bought an underwater camera for the group for $17US, which we later found out was not only more expensive than in Ho...

The alarm went off at 6.30am; it was time to get ready for our Hanauma Bay snorkelling adventure. So I pressed the snooze button a couple of times. At around 7.30am we received a phone call -- the snorkelling adventure had been cancelled, and Hanauma Bay was also most likely to be closed all day due to the rain, and jellyfish. What a bummer! Miguel and I wanted to make the most of it and so caught the bus to Ala Moana shopping centre. Miguel was in search for a very specific calendar that my ...