Hawaii wrap up
Trip Start
Nov 06, 2003
1
8
87
Trip End
Jan 24, 2004
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Oahu,
Hawaii,
United States
Thursday, November 13, 2003
I've never experienced Honolulu's rush hour traffic before -- it all happens too early for most tourists. Wednesday, we inch through over an hour of it to pick up Emma & Co. and go snorkelling. How did so many cars fit on such a small island? Mercifully, once we leave Waikiki and head east, we're going against the flow, and Hanauma Bay is almost deserted. The wind and resulting waves churn up the sea making the normally clear water a milky cloud, but we all get our fill of fish. Emma spots a sea turtle, and we drift alongside for a few hypnotic minutes.
Lucy survives her first full day at the beach in grand style. The travel playpen we've brought, with its sun-proof top and sides, works like a dream, and one of Julie's big concerns of the trip is put to rest.
The tradewinds continue to blow for the week we're on Oahu. They push more jellyfish onto the shore and delay the start of the surf competition past our departure date from Hawaii. Thursday, on the way to see Tusa and Rich off, I introduce them to Kua Aina and its marvellous burgers. It's a much better lunch than the swill they'll get on their Air Canada flight home. I lei Tusa and Rich at the airport, and stand aside as Emma and Tusa weep over their pending 10-week separation.
Beach Baby
Emma understandably isn't up to a side-trip to Chinatown, so I give up hope of infiltrating Lai Fong's this trip and steer us over the spectacular H3 interstate to Kailua.Built to connect the military at Kanehoe Bay and Pearl Harbour, this could be the most expensive piece of road I've rolled across. It bores through mountains and curves in space off the cliffs. The cost in dollars and relocated people makes the euphoric views it offers a guilty pleasure, but I'm grateful for the chance to bypass Honolulu traffic. The sweep of the landscape pulls Emma out of the sweet sorrow of parting.
With only half a day before we too leave Oahu, my relax-and-do-whatever attitude finally snaps. I must experience at least one new thing on this trip! At three o'clock I plead and cajole Julie and Emma into climbing an extinct volcano. We pack Lucy into the car and set off for the south east tip of the island.
Makapu'u Point rises at the divide between the lush windward side and the drier south island. The paved climb rises continuously but never too aggressively, and in the late afternoon the wisps of shade from the scrub trees on the slope make it a pleasant outing. The wind really grabs at the stroller once we climb onto the exposed shoulder and Emma and Julie opt to stop at the first lookout while I quick-step the final ascent. The spectacular vistas reveal the two very different climates. Across the ocean Molokai looms on the horizon.
On the descent, a tropical rain storm washes across us. We dry off while watching the boogey boarders risk injury at Makapu'u Beach, then drive back to Bill and Sandie's as dusk settles about us.
Sandie offers to drive us to the airport, despite the 1:00 a.m. departure time. It's a final gesture of kindness in a week of generosity.
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