Aloha! I hope you’re well. Grab a cuppa because I’m continuing on my diary series from our trip to Oahu, Hawaii last month. You can read diary one, two and three here.
DAY EIGHT
I love discovering new hotels so I was excited about changing over to stay at Moana Surfrider, the only problem was that moving hotels took up a good part of the day when we did it. Packing the bags, getting from one hotel to another, and then unpacking too.
Moana Surfrider was a hotel that we’d walked past a few times during our travels in Waikiki, and it was one that I knew I was going to love. The big verandah out the front had rows of rocking chairs, and it just boutique-y, which I love. It’s the place that I would stay at, and recommend anyone who likes nice things stay at too. I hope to get back there again one day.
Our room was huge, with a beautiful window seat that looked over the main street of Waikiki. I loved being able to hear the buskers, and to also sit and watch the world go by.
The hotel is right on the beach, but also right right in the middle of all the good stuff in Waikiki. We spent the day by the beach, in the pool, and just chilling, and then headed out at night to explore. We got Lacey’s hair braided at the International Market Place {a great place for souvenirs}.
DAY NINE
Our ninth day in Oahu was the day that I was really looking forward to. I think with any area I visit, it’s great to get a local tour guide to show everything. I booked a day tour to a whole circle of the island with Private Tours Hawaii. It was honestly such a good investment. I think the tour day deserves it’s own post, but I’ll share some photos from our day with Adam. He took this photo of us too, which I love.
We headed up to the North Shore via the East Coast, stopping off at Leonard’s for the best donuts I’ve ever tasted {I’ve been dreaming of these ever since I ate one}. We then stopped at Diamond Head Lookout to eat them. So good. Put them on your food bucketlist!
We stopped off at Romy’s for some shrimp. I love garlic shrimp, the whole family does. Last visit we stopped at Giovanni’s which was awesome, but Adam suggested we try the local favourite, Romy’s. It didn’t disappoint. The shrimp is super fresh, and farmed on the property… it’s never frozen.
We then stopped off at Pipeline. I may have been slightly entertained by a group of girls getting {safely} dumped on the shore. The lifeguard was laughing with us. Does that make us a bit evil?
I had a list of things that I wanted Adam to show us, but then most of it was totally up to him. I wanted to see his favourite things, from a local’s perspective. One thing on my list was showing the girls turtles. There is a law in Hawaii, that everyone must stay 6 feet away from a turtle. We stopped at Turtle Beach and most people were breaking that law {tsk}. We stayed back and admired them from afar.
Adam told me a secret, that he asked me to keep a secret, but I was never good at secrets. There’s actually a better, quieter place to see turtles and that’s Haliewa Beach Park. We stopped by and huge turtles were happily basking in the sun, including this guy…
We had Shave Ice, and then made our way back home. It was a long tour, around 8 hours, but the kids loved it. We loved it, and we’ve made a new friend that we hope we can convince to come to Australia soon. {C’mon Adam! The waves are better here}.
I’m embarrassed to say that we had such a big day that we went to McDonalds for dinner afterwards. The kids thought it was the best thing ever. I was just glad to have an early dinner and call it a night!
DAY TEN
My family are sleepers, and I am an early bird. Tired of waiting for them to wake each morning, I decided to sneak out and make my way to Bills for breakfast. Because hotcakes are ALWAYS a good idea.
After a huge day traveling the day before, we were keen to chill and swim and have a relaxing day. We rented an umbrella on the beach, and camped out in the shade for most the day.
I stopped swimming for a little while to have a massage {I know, holiday life, right?} at the Moana Lani Spa. It was beautiful, and relaxing, but I particularly loved that the spa overlooked the beach and that guests were able to hangout and chill in the spa room for as long as they pleased. If the ocean wasn’t calling my name I would have been there forever.
We then headed to Duke’s for dinner, which is a super popular place in Waikiki. The food was beautiful, the cocktails awesome, but the it was the pie at the end of the day that made me sinfully happy. We shared it as a family. I’m also now releasing how I might have found 5kg on the trip. Eek.
DAY ELEVEN
We were so keen for another relaxing day, so after lunch {when the cabana rental prices dropped to half price} we hired a cabana and spent the afternoon at the pool and beach, ordering food where we were. It was one of my favourite days, because it was so chilled out and easy.
We then had our afternoon ritual of chilling out on the front verandah, watching the world go by, and then headed across the road to the Sheraton Kiulani for their dinner and cultural show, Te Moana Nui. I highly recommend this, especially if you haven’t had time to get up the coast to the Polynesian Cultural Centre. The dinner was delicious, and the show was awesome. The girls sat with their mouths agape for the whole show. It was really amazing and worth watching.
I have always wanted to stay at the Moana Surfrider! Hubby and I were just talking about it yesterday. It looks as wonderful as I had imagined. Adding that pie and some turtle spotting to my Hawaii bucket list!
Thanks for suggestion, I have popped the private tour company on my reading list and will give them a call when i arrive in Hawaii …on the weekend!
O loved reading all your suggestions.
Ohhh how I love your writing and your stories! I have often thought of travelling to Hawaii and reading your holiday experience has made me think very seriously about going next year! 🙂 xxx
I thought the garlic prawns where going to stick in my head today but then I got to the pancakes!