HAWAII (oahu & kauai) PICTURES and REVIEW

I am warning everyone this is going to be REALLY long!

We left for our honeymoon on Saturday night (our wedding was Friday 9/24/04). Our flight didn't leave until Sunday morning at 5:45 am, but it left from Newark and that would have been a long drive so early in the morning! We stayed at the Newark Sheraton on Saturday night. I am really glad we made this decision! We drove there and parked our car at Mr. B's long term parking. They charge $10 a day for parking so for us it was $120. it worked out to be cheaper than paying for a limo or taxi ride there and back. Mr. B's also provides a shuttle shervice to and from the airport.

***DAY 1***

At 3:00am on Sunday 9/26 Ray and I woke up. We were so excited to go to Hawaii. Here is a picture of us in the hotel room before we left for the airport.

We used Continental Airlines. Unfortunately we have to stop in Houston on the way there for an hour. I wish we did non-stop but we had to do it this way because the only non-stop flight that day left NY at 1:00pm and that was too late for us.
Sun rising:

The plane ride was so long and boring! I watched "Raising Helen" and played solitaire. I tried to sleep but was too uncomfortable. Finally, at 12:30 Hawaii time (6:30pm NY time) I saw Oahu from the window:

We took a cab from the airport in Honolulu to our hotel which was in Waikiki. It cost $30! We later found out there was an airport shuttle to and from our hotel for $8 a person. So I recommend you work this out in advance.
We stayed at the Imperial of Waikiki . It is actually a timeshare that my BIL gave us as a weding gift. It was 100 yards from Waikiki beach and right next to the Sheraton. Our place had 1 bedroom and 2 bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, and balcony. When we got in our room we changed into our bathing suits and went exploring.
Us in our room like 5 min. after we got there:

Then we went up to the top floor of our hotel.

We walked down to Waikiki beach. My frist impression was "This is HAWAII?" I twas NOT what I expected. I felt like I was in Miami FL with a ll the tall building lining the beach, and the beach very crowded with people.



While walking around Waikiki we saw some interesting trees.


Ray and the Tiki statues he loved


That night we at at the Waikiki Broiler which was across the street from hour hotel. We had Coconut Chicken and Shrimp Scampi over pasta. We ended up sharing both dishes. The place was pretty good and fairly priced. They had a live guitar player/singer and an outdoor area to eat. That night we were soooo tired because of al the travelling we did. We went to sleep pretty early.

Message edited 10/21/2004 1:54:10 PM.

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

***DAY 2***
We went to Waikiki beach for the day. We walked down the beach up to the pink hotel (I forgot the name of it). The day before we noticed a lot of people on rafts and tubes that were available for rent. We saw tubes in the ABC store for $3.99 and since we were going to be there for 5 days we decided to just buy them. When we settled on the beach I layed down for about 5 mintues before I couldn't stand the heat anymore. The sun was so hot! SO Ray and I went in the water with our tubes and stayed there all day riding the waves!
Thats me on the pink tube. Ray had a blue one.









That night we ate in the Sea Brid restaurant. It was in the Outrigger hotel right on Waikiki Beach. There was a 1/2 hour wait around 6:00, so we went outside and saw the sunset.



When the waiter came over to take our order, he said this restaurant is a little different than other restaurants we are used to... at this restaurant you cook your own food! We ordered chicken teriaki and a ribeye steak and shared. The prices there were good. They also had a salad bar included with dinner. Here we are when our raw dinner was served!

Us grilling the food! I am making a weird face because the wind was blowing the hot air from the grill into my face


Ray at the table.

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

First. Congratulations on being married. Second, love your pics. I've been watching all these shows on Hawaii on the Travel Channel and I so want to go now...haha!

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

Wheres the Wedding review? Doesnt that come first?

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

***DAY 3***
We went to Pearl Harbor. We booked a tour through our hotel. For $15 we got a ride to Pearl Harbor and a City tour, and a ride back to the hotel. The city bus is only $2 but I heard it can take 3 hours to get there. It took us about 30 minutes.
We left at 6:30am from our hotel. The earlier you can go to Pearl HArbor the better because it gets really crowded. We got there a little after 7 and had to wait until 8 (if I am remembering correctly) to get in. I am glad we got there early because we were near the front of the line. Right before 8 so many tour busses got there and the line was so long.






There was a museum there also. Here is a picture of Ray with a torpedo.

When our number was called (#1 - 1st group )we went into the theater to watch a short film on Pearl Harbor that included actualy footage from that day. It was a very moving video. Immediately after that we boarded a ferry that took us the the USS Arizona Memorial. Everyone was so quiet
For those of you that don't know the memorial is built over the sunken ship, and you can still see the ship there.







Pearl Harbor is a must-see, but IMO is was a little somber and boring...no offense to anyone. I was there to have fun and Pearl Harbor was not fun.
Outside of Pearl Harbor


From Pearl Harbor we did the city tour of Honolulu.
Cool trees near the state capital


The state capital building



Me outside of the Palace

Don't I look tiny?




Another important building and statue of the king



Punchbowl Cemetary


After the tour we went back to Waikiki BEach with our tubes.



EAL!



When we got back to the hotel at about 4:00 pm I passed out!
Here I am passed out! LOL!

Then we got shrimp cocktail from room service.

Then we went to sleep for the night at 6pm

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

JULZZZZZ BEAUTIFUL PICSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I CANT WAIT TO GO TO HAWAII NOW...

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

***DAY 4***
What a fun day! We went back to Waikiki Beach but this time we decided to rent a surfboard!
Ray has gone surfing before, but at Robert Moses Beach and in Ocean City, MD, but the waved were nothing compared to these. It is hard to see the size of the waves in the pictures though. Anyway, I went surfing first. It was hard for me to paddle fast enough to catch a wave so Ray had to help me by giving me a little push, so most of the pics of me are from behind.
I kept getting slammed with waves trying to paddle out... I was ready to give up.
Me pouting

Here I am surfing on one foot and one knee

Here I am falling off (look to the left near the rock)

Here I am finally standing up



Ray was a lot better than me



Here are more pictures from that day at the beach.













I got very bad bruises surfing, In between my boobs, my hip bones, and knees were all bruised from laying on the surf board. That night we went on the Sunset Dinner Cruise by Atlantis. We got 1 for free by using the Entertainment book.
Here we are before the cruise. Can you see how red my knees were from surfing?


On the way to the cruise we saw a rainbow


The cruise was alright. I wouldn't pay full price for it though. We ended up doing the buffet dinner and getting one free, so it was $60. But if you can't get one free it is not worth the $120 IMO.
Some pictures from the cruise

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

OOps I put a pic there twice

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

***DAY 5***
Our last day in Waikiki.
We went to Hanauma Bay to go snorkeling. It was the first day that rained in Oahu. Right when we got out of the van at Hanauma Bay it started POURING! We had to walk really far in the rain to get to the entrance of Hanauma Bay. Then we had to watch a movie... I don't even remember what it was about...BORING!
We were soaked by the time we got there. The snorkeling wasn't even that good. We saw a lot of cool fish but the coral was so high that it was hard to swim above it. Maybe it was low tide? We didn't stay there for long.
ME all wet wanting to leave

I got a little happier when we got there.












After that we went back the hotel and went to the pool on the roof. It was still cloudy and windy up there. I fell asleep

When I woke up the sun was out and we went shopping




Here I am with the shirt I bought for Gizmo.

That night on the beach



Ray on a fake bike

Another sunset one out of order

And that was our last night in Oahu. The next day we had an early flight to Kauai.

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

I have some pics of the fish at Hanauma bay taken with an underwater camera, but since it was so overcast the lighting wasn't god and the pictures are too dark.

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

Everything looks great! It is so nice that you took so many pics of each other! People always forget that, and end up with all scenery p ics. Makes me miss Hawaii!

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

---

Posted by jmf423

Everything looks great! It is so nice that you took so many pics of each other! People always forget that, and end up with all scenery p ics. Makes me miss Hawaii!

---

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

***DAY 6***
We took a shuttle to the airport that was $8 each. We used Aloha Airlines for our inter-island flight. When we got to Kauai we took another shuttle to the car rental area. We rented a white Sebring convertible from Alamo. We had to pay $25 extra a day because we are under 25 years old But to make matters worse they made us pay an extra $10 a day on top of that because it is a convertible??? Grrrrrrrrr! As we drove to our next hotel I knew immediately that I would like Kauai better than Oahu. It was just so beautiful there. Now this is what I always had imagined Hawaii to look like.
We stayed at the Lawai Beach Resort which was in between Poipu Beach and Spouting Horn on the south side of Kauai.
As we pulled up the hotel...

We had a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom unit. The balcony overlooked the pool and the ocean.




We hung out by the pool for most of the day.




For lunch we went to a little burger place called Poipu's Burgers.

Here is the backyard of the hotel and the car.




That night we went out for a special occasion... our 1 week anniversary!!! We went to the Beach House which was across the street from our hotel, right on the water. This place was very nice and expensive... but it was the best food I had the entire time.
Water on the way there:





While walking up the sidewalk to our hotel look what we saw:

In the hotel

Message edited 10/21/2004 1:54:49 PM.

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

I am leaving off here for tonight. There is a lot more to come... great pics of ALL the sites in Kauai, helicopter tour, and kayak adventure

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

You two are one HOT couple. Great Pictures. I loved Hawaii. I loved looking at your pics brought back great memories.

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

all I can say Julz is WOW!! Your pictures are amazing...I really like you playback with the pictures inserted...It makes me feel like I was there with you!

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

Julz- your pics are absolutely great! I love how you two documented everything! You guys will have these memories for a lifetime.
You're going to need about 10 albums for all these pics! HA!

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

Just amazing! Your pictures are so beautiful, they make me feel like I am right there watching you surf. Sorry you got banged up but you look like you had a wonderful time. I tried to pick which picture I enjoyed most, but they are all so great.

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

Stupid question that only i would think of...did you see any sharks??? I would be too scared to be in the water. You're a braver woman than I! anyway, the pics look great and i'm so happy you had a nice time!

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

---

Posted by cocoa

Stupid question that only i would think of...did you see any sharks??? I would be too scared to be in the water. You're a braver woman than I! anyway, the pics look great and i'm so happy you had a nice time!

---

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

Very Nice Review

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

Great pictures!!

My DH took over 1000 pictures of our HM. I don't even know where to begin.

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

Your pics are great!! I can't wait to hear and see the rest.

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

WOW Julie!! You and Ray are HOT! I don't think I saw the same bikini twice! What great photos and great review...although I just looked at pics!

MISS YOU!

Re: Honeymoon Review - ***In Progress***

***DAY 7***
We went to an activities information session in the hotel lobby at 8 am. We found out about all of the various tours. They gave away prizes at the end and we won 1 for free for the Kayak adventure. At first we could't decide between an ATV tour or the Kayak one, buy since we won we booked the Kayak adventure. Our plans for Sunday was to drive up the east coast of Kauai, stoppin gat all the must-see sites, then drive down the north shore to the NaPali coast to go hiking, then stop and snorkel at beaches on the way back.
The first stop we made was Snorkel Bob's. It was in Koloa on Poipu Beach Rd. We rented snorkel equipment there for $9 each a week. That included a basic mask, snorkel, and fins. This was a great idea so we always had our snorkel gear with us and could go to private beaches and not worry about having to rent the gear each time.
Then we began our journey heading North on 520.
Here we are driving through the tunnel of trees. It looked much cooler in real life than in the picture. The trees were all Eucalyptus Trees. Tree Tunnel information

The first place we drove towards was Wailua Falls. On the way to Wailua Falls we saw another waterfall. There were no signs and it is not on my map so I don't know which falls it was.



Here is Wailua Falls..it is seen in the opening scene of Fantasy Island.
Wailua Falls information




We went back to 56 and headed North. This is a beach we drove by, I think it was Lydgate State Park. That is suppossed to be a good place for snorkeling and we wanted to stop there on the way home but we ran out of time.

The next stop we made was on 580. It was a look out over Wailua River.
Wailua River Information This River was closed to kayakers when we were there because of a shark sighting!!!





Next wasOpaekaa Falls




We continued north on 56. We saw Coconut Grove .

Another one of the river across the street from the falls.

We continue on towards the end of the highway. The drive was long but the scenery was amazing.



Here we are at Manini-holo Dry Cave . This was cool. The sound inside the cave was very weird. You could hear dripping water and everything echoed.




Across the street from the cave was Haena State Park There are bathrooms there...good place for a bathroom break.



.