First day in Hawai'i

Our four days on O‘ahu, our introduction to Hawai‘i, were really interesting. Hawai‘i is a melting pot of ethnicities; it has a somewhat old feel to much of it, with a vaguely tired feel to many of the buildings and infrastructure, particularly the further you go from Honolulu/Waikiki. There is a real sense of everything being relaxed, in the most encompassing interpretation of that term.

We began our time, as most people do, in Honolulu / Waikiki. We arrived at 9:00 am on Monday morning, 8 October 2018 (after leaving Sydney late that afternoon!) so had the better part of the day to explore before being able to check into our hotel.

Honolulu / Waikiki / Diamond Head from Tantalus Lookout.

After picking up the hire car (Jeep Patriot), we headed to Kapi'olani Park at the base of Diamond Head. This was my test run for driving on the wrong side of the road, and by the time we got there I was due for some bird time to re-set my nerves. Kapi'olani Park, which incorporates the zoo in one corner and some other special areas, is essentially a large public park and is known for its mix of birds introduced from all over the world. Sadly, Hawai‘i has lost most of its original endemic birds.

Amongst the more prosaic birds, including Indian Mynas and Spotted Doves (both from Asia), Zebra Doves (Australia), House Sparrows (Europe) etc, were a few that, despite their alien status, I was much more interested in...

Java Sparrows (Introduced from Indonesia)

Yellow-fronted Canary (intoduced from Africa in the 1960s)

Red-crested Cardinal (imported from South America in the 1930s)

We then headed east to Makapu'u Point at the SE extremity of the Island. Everywhere along the way was really busy. Haunama Bay was too full to get into, but we had a quick look around Makapu'u Beach Park, with its black basalt shoreline and got our first feel for the incredibly steep ranges that drop precipitously to the ocean.

Makapu'u Beach with Manana Island and Kaohikaipu Island (bird reserves) in the background.

The basalt headland of Kaohikaipu Island.

Makapu'u Point and Lighthouse.

Most seaside areas in Hawai'i have a native Beach Naupaka (Scaevola taccada) growing profusely,

Wave-eroded basalt at Halona Blowhole (which was not blowing).

On our way back to Waikiki we stopped at Koko Marina Centre to get some cash from an ATM, but also had our first food (Korean BBQ) and then one of Hawaii’s specialties – shave ice – a mound of soft shaved ice flavoured with a multitudinous choice of syrups and extras. We had coconut and pineapple and it was GOOD!

Our first night was at a rather swish hotel at the Ala Moana end of Waikiki, the Prince Waikiki. Not sure what happened – they must have mixed up our booking, but we had a very nice apartment on the 30^th floor with views over the marina and Ala Moana Beach Park (just missing out on views to Diamond Head). The complimentary parking and breakfast were fantastic, but were certainly NOT included in our original booking! We didn’t turn it down!

The view from our 30th floor appartment.

First Hawai'ian sunset.

I got up early the next morning and went for a walk in the adjacent park. In addition to the small number of late-sleeping homeless, and the much larger number of early morning walkers, joggers, swimmers, yogis, and canoeists, there were quite a few feral cats making their homes amongst the rocks of the harbour wall.