Posted by After a few too many hours (17) getting to Hawaii from New York we arrived to a beautiful balmy wakiki evening and it was sleep time. The Outrigger Reef Hotel is right on the Beach so looking forward to getting wet in the morning.
Dawn on a beautiful day and the sun is glistening on the bay and the surf albeit one foot is full of hopefuls but or me it’s just a swim o test out the body and it went ok so maybe by the time we reach the North Shore I will be up for it.
After breakfast Beth and I hit the beach whilst Ann and Amy hit the shops and wow what shops there are, they came back and convinced us to join them and off we went.
The wakikkii shopping area is so well laid out very like nossa/ cairns in feel but much bigger and oh so clean and the bargains were everywhere at least half Aussie prices so I did my summers shopping in one hit and helped out the USA economy a bit.
We had a great sushi lunch and then off we went into the traffic which was a real slow crawl for the first 45 mins and then a breeze after that and before you know it there’s the ocean over the hill and we are in Haliewa cruising along pat all the famous beaches and breaks of The North Shore. There was a nice little 2 to 3 ft wave at Chuns along the way but the big wave spots were all flat as.
We went to the supermarket and stocked up on supplies for some well anticipated home cooking or the next 6 days and then unpacked the car on our arrival.
The Turtle Bay Resort and Villas we are staying at is really the only resort on the North Shore and we choose the 3 bedroom villa for it’s space and convenience right on Turtle Bay and as part of the resort we have restaurant options without having to drive.
And it has worked out perfectly with the bay being ideal for sunning, swimming and snorkelling.
Our first night we strolled the resort and checked out the beachfront restaurant Ola and it was good so we will be back, so far so good. A game of scrabble before bed saw Ann walk away as champ with some magical scores.
Our first day was spent being lazy apart from a nice long walk down the beach where we found a big Monk Seal and her cub sunning themselves in the midday sun under the watchful eye of a volunteer which was encouraging as they are an endangered species with only 1000 remaining in the Hawaiian Islands so every cub they find is closely monitored .
It remained overcast all day so i went for a drive to the Surf breaks to see what was happening which was nothing and scored some nice Sunset photos at Sunset beach
We cooked a nice stir fry that night which was great to get some more home cooking.
The next day was just perfect and after a walk out to the end of the beach while beth had a run around the Golf course we spent most of the morning on the beach at Turtle Bay out the front of our Villa, there were beach chairs and crappy umbrellas in the shed so it was well used and plenty of reading and swimming were done.
We headed off to Haleiwa markets for lunch at the famous Banzai Sushi and it was brilliant
Ann and I went for a sunset drink at the Bar on the point and watched a lovely sunset over the bay that night and came back o a lovely Vego meal prepared by Beth.
The next day was raining and the swell had jumped to double overhead so I went out with my camera to check it out and spent a few hours watching The North Shore pump, very frustrating to not be able to get out into it.
Another lovely day dawned and another walk into the forests around the resort along the beach whole Beth went for another 10 km run and we found the remains of a ww2 bunkers and barracks in the jungle. This whole area was used for many forest and jungle scenes in the TV show lost as it is very accessible. we then went for a sunbake and swim at a very flat Wiamea Bay before lunch. in the afternoon we took a drive down the east coat to the mountains and valleys where they filmed Jarrasic park, godzilla and Lost.
We dressed up for Beths birthday day dinner at OLA on the beach which was delightful and then back to our Villa for a bit of chatting and musical selection and dancing in the dark before bedtime.
It was time to head back to wakikii in preparation for our early flight home the next day o after an early morning swim we packed up and cruised the North shore on another perfect day before hitting the discount stores just outside Honolulu for our final bargain shop of the trip.
Next stop The Outrigger Reef and a wander and a swim before a nice massage and nine St The Moana Surfrider Hotel under it’s beautiful Banyan tree beside the beach.
We went for a nice beach walk before bed and that concluded our Hawaiian part of the journey