Honolulu, Hawaii

I got up early this morning to watch us slip into port at Honolulu.  I took a few shots from the upper deck as we slowly came in. Cruise Ship Berth 2 will be our home for the next 36 hours.

Entering the harbor

Both us and the Orr's had a reservation for a rental car this morning so we planned to have Cathy & Bryan drive us over to the Alamo Office on Nimitz Way. With the earlier departure we hatched a plan to bypass the masses and get through Immigration as soon as possible.

We headed down to  Deck 5 and joined the throng of people in the same situation.  Excursions, rentals etc.  We queued up the length of the ship and after about one hour and twenty minutes we were processed. Quick and easy once we got to the officer. He was very nice to us.

Next a quick breakfast in the Jammer and then headed off the ship. We walked over to the Orr's rental car location... sort of an Air BnB for cars, which was 15 minutes away by foot. We also grabbed a geocache on the way.

Once in the rental Jeep, we headed over to the Alamo car rental to get our vehicle. With some Air miles points we managed to get a rental for 10 bucks for the day.  Not bad then she offered the usual upgrade... $20 extra for a nicer model. We took it and for $30 bucks drove of in a new Audi Q3. Nice vehicle although not as much power as our BMW in Ireland:-)

Our ride.

 Off we went with our first destination, the Dole Pineapple Plantation, which is on the way to the North Shore. We found a geocache there and also enjoyed a famous Dole Whip treat. Very good!

Lauren's birthday!

Baby pineapple... so cute:-)

Mindanao Gum Trees

Kelly loved the big tourist shop as it had everything you could possibly imagine! After dragging her out of the fabric section... yes that had one, we headed towards the North Shore.

Into to some shops at Haliewa to browse some art work Kelly had wanted to see then we set off northward. More fabric shops as well!

With no real plans past this point we went up towards Waimea Bay and the famous Pipe Line surfing area. We stopped for lunch at one of the many food trucks along the beach area and enjoy a great prawn feast.

Garlic Butter Prawns!

We decided to just keep driving around the island and enjoyed many great views.  The only issue we had was the direction we were traveling did not allow for convenient photo stops. From Kawela Bay we traveled eastward through Kahaluu, Waimanio Beach, through Koko Head District Park and around to Diamond Head and the city.  

View towards Diamond Head and city center from Koko Head Park.

We drove around Diamond Head and then a stop along Waikiki Beach for some items.  Back to the rental car drop off after topping the tank ($16) and we cabbed it back to the ship.

Kelly booked Chops Grill last minute and after hanging by the pool chatting with fellow cruisers, headed for dinner. It was very quiet and peaceful and probably the best dinner I have experienced this trip. Some drama at one of the tables when some passengers started to argue.. lol so much entertainment at times.

A walk through the promenade and we headed to bed.   I blogged a bit but faded fast. Kelly can now say she has been to Hawaii... :-)