Honeymoon in Hawaii

After all the work was finally done and we finally had rings on both our fingers, we were off to the beautiful island, Oahu. We had an ocean view room directly on Waikiki beach and the view was amazing!

We had an interesting time getting there though. We were both very sleep deprived and lets just say we will never fly United ever again. They had terrible service and we sat on the runway for 3 hours, which extended our on-the-plane time to 10 hours! Unfortunately the flight did not include a meal but you can imagine that after 10 hours we were both starving and the fact that they ran out of inflight meals to purchase did not help. I have never seen lee so frustrated. He is usually the most easy going guy I know, but he was just so fed-up and tired it was hysterical! I must have laughed the whole plane ride and was in stitches when he would sarcastically asked the air hostess's things like: " Is there a secret to getting this chair to go back?" One of the first things we did was go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. Lee was not too fond of the mask, snorkel and fins at first but after he got the hang out it he was pulling me around all over the place, and we both had a great time. Unfortunately the visibility wasn't great that day so we didn't stay too long, but we managed to spot a Honey Comb Eel, some Parrot Fish, Picasso's, Sergent's and a few other creatures I am not sure about. Of cause we had such a good time that day we were planning on hitting up another snorkeling hot spot, but when we woke-up that morning it was overcast and windy, so we didn't go and thank goodness. We were told by some locals that Shark's Cove was the place to snorkel as there were less tourists, but we should go when the sea is calm as the tides can get pretty rough. At the time we didn't even think about where the bay got its name from, we just wanted to find some turtles as lee has never seen one! When leaving Hawaii we were slightly disappointed that we never made it to Shark's cove until the driver started talking about how it is breeding season for sharks and if you go to Shark's Cove watch out cause there are 63000 shark's breeding there including Hammer heads and Great Whites. I suppose we should have realised where there are turtles there are shark cause they basically fish food. So I am really sad we didn't find any turtles but really happy I didn't swim into any sharks! Although we did learn that locals seem to over exaggerate just a little sometimes... Both lee and I seem to love to find out what the locals are into and not necessarily just do all the touristy stuff and that's how we seemed to find our self at this little Hawaiian restaurant a few miles from our hotel. There was no bus to take so we walked and of cause it rained. We learnt very quickly that in Hawaii the weather can be rather fickle or tropical as the locals call it. The sun will be shinning and all of a sudden you will get this sprinkle of light rain for 10 minutes. It is just heavy enough to get you wet and then the sun comes out again. It's rather annoying when you are lying on the beach trying to get a sun tan but it definitely cools you off. So this is Ono's Hawaiian Food restaurant where authentic Hawaiian food is served by this little family run restaurant. It is so old school that you can only pay with cash, but there is also a queue of people waiting to get a table. After reading the menu and understanding nothing, we started looking around at the other tables and asked the waiter what everything was. We ended up going the safe route and order the Kalau pork and this amazing stew. Lee and I were not adventurous enough to try the Poi cause the reviews are right it just looks like goo wrapped in spinach leaves, and I think the only time that will taste good is with a lot of sugar. So this is what our food came out of the kitchen looking like and this is lee's face...hahaha...and I wish we got a picture of my face cause it probably looked about the same. The pig is actually cooked by just putting it underground in between the lava rocks and the heat from the rocks cooks the meat. This gives the meat a very unique taste. Of cause I was most shocked by the purple potatoes and I am still wondering if they dye them or if they just are purple? The seem to be purple where ever you go on the island, so naturally I would take a pic when ever I would see a purple potato. And I have to say the stew was pretty amazing! We also made sure we found time to do the touristy stuff because seriously who goes to Waikiki and doesn't go para-sailing....not us! Lee called a couple of companies and got us the best deal, which, as I later found out, included a 1000ft line para-sail. So that day the van fetches us from the hotel and we are ready. As soon as we get in the car our drive starts asking us if we are excited and tells us that we are the thrill seekers going for the 1000ft line. And I am sitting there thinking; "wtc I am not a thrill-seeker, I even hate roller coasters!" Then he carries on to say that we must not worry because no one has died yet but FAA regulations only permit a 500ft line, but that should not worry us because they have been doing this for many years. By this time I am stressed out and thinking; "seriously lee could you not have just gonna for a 500 ft line, I mean seriously?" But as I soon learnt Hawaiians just like to over exaggerate sometimes... The para-sailing turned out to be not such a thrilling experience but it was actually quite fun! You sit on the back of the boat while they hook you up and we rode tandem, so it was comforting to have lee next to me. The parachute is already out behind you and they just let the line go and up you go. Once the line was let out a 1000ft it was the most gorgeous view of the ocean and Waikiki. It wasn't scary at all. That is, of cause, after I had checked the area for shark's as I didn't want to be brought back down and land right next to one. Thankfully I could see none in the area and luckily they had seen dolphin's early on that day. So they slowly reel you back in but don't politely land you on the boat, they feel the need to dunk you first. So we were dunked and dragged and thrown around. But all in all it was a fun experience. We also had the opportunity of going up to the north shore and visiting Turtle Bay and then the Polynesian Cultural Center. The north shore has a completely different vibe as it is not commercialised like Waikiki. We had some fun times on the beach up there with melted chocolate everywhere and being rained on continuously, so much so that our towels were soaking and we had no where to dry off for our visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center. But all these things made our experience that much more memorable. So since we were honeymooning we got upgraded to VIP seats at the Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center, which I think meant we were closer to the stage and got food first, and that we were very grateful about. Naturally the potatoes were purple again so I had to take a picture, but other than that the food was great and the entertainment was traditional. We got to see the different cultural dances and the matching outfits as well as learn a few descriptive words in Hawaiian. It seems the Island knows a lot about love and of cause this meant targeting the honeymooners so lee and I had to lay low while they pulled all the lover birds up on stage for a very awkward dance. By the end we enjoyed our food and were off to see the infamous stage performance given at the center.

And I am just saying I was real tricked when the rolls where purple too...?

The performance was very entertaining, it was like the history of the Island being acted out and we loved all the dancing and the narration, but I think both of us enjoyed the performers who handled all the fire acts the best. They were twirling the sticks around and throwing them in the air. It was a very impressive show. And it was even better because we got ice-cream in between. Later on that evening we took the bus ride back to our hotel and had some good laughs at the crazy/clueless people riding on the bus! I am positive half were out of it and the other half had never ridden a busy before. Like the guy who asked us if we knew where the golf course was, I mean do the flowers around our necks and the tan lines not give away that we are tourists, how are we supposed to know where the golf course is? lol

Some time on our travels lee seemed to fall in love with this little lovebird... We were standing outside waiting for our boat the one day and this guy walks past and pops it on his shoulder. Well that was it, this little bird walked up and down his shoulder and whistled a little and he wanted to keep it haha. Of cause I also wanted a turn with the bird so he put it on my shoulder, toke a picture and promptly put it back on his shoulder.

...but I am not stupid. I immediately said; "One for you, one for me. Lovebird for you and a puppy for me?"

Our last morning we had planned to go jet-skiing and honestly I do not think lee has had that much fun in the ocean ever. I was sitting behind him the whole time but I swear his smile was so big I could still see him smiling from ear to ear. Once he got the hang of it we were doing all types of tricks like doughnuts and speeding around the corners. We hit a few waves and water was splashing everywhere, I had to close my eyes but lee was still smiling, eyes closed and throttle open! It was so much fun! It was a great trip and we were sad to leave but were very excited to start our normal lives together!