Honolulu

29^thSeptember 2019

Arriving at sunrise into Honolulu, the weather looks promising and the entrance into the harbour, and berthing at our pier looks amazingly straight forward. We are barely inside the harbour  before we are pulling in alongside Pier 2, our berth for today. We are close to the city centre and Diamond Head is well within sight.

Coming alongside our berth, just inside the harbour entrance

Coast Guard is always close to the entrance

Entrance to the harbour

There is a rough plan for today and we we have booked a hire car, with a view to seeing a part of the Island none of us have been to previously, Ko Olina, on the Western side of our berth. Most of the attractions we have all seen before are on the Eastern and Northern side, Waikiki, Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay and the North Coast.

The rental car plan is quickly abandoned when the length of the queue of people waiting and the very slow processing time suggest a few hours could be wasted trying to get a car. We decide that getting around by taxi/Uber  will be easier for us. And get a cab to our first destination, West Marine where Mike bought some Steiner Binoculars (with a bit of encouragement from me). I bought the same ones myself from West Marine on a USA visit a few years ago.

From there we took an Uber to Ko Olina, and arrived at a magnificent golfing resort. Mike had booked lunch at Roys Restaurant at the resort and as we had arrived a bit early, we had a chance to have a good look around and have a cup of coffee before lunch.

Statue of Michelle Wie who apparently started her career here

The girls did a bit of shopping in the pro shop, before we headed into the restaurant for lunch.

Our restaurant table overlooked the 18^thgreen, so as well as enjoying a very nice meal, we could look out over the golfers approaching the green. We all felt better about our own golf ability having watched this for an hour or so.

The 18th Hole

It was a very relaxing way to spend a few hours, after which we ordered another Uber to take us back to the ship. Carole and I went off for a walk to a nearby shopping area whilst Mike and Joy headed back on board. The Aloha Tower market turned out to be a real disappointment, as there wasn’t much there other than a few restaurants. We continued our walk to a Walmart a bit further inland, bought a few essentials and then walked back to the ship. 

Aloha Tower Market Place

Ruby Princess Alongside at Pier 2

Departure from port isn’t until 10.30pm,but we were back on board by 5 pm, having had nice day out. 

We met for drinks and dinner and had an early night, as tomorrow we are in Kauai and we had booked a full day tour.