Honolulu & Pape'ete

Monday 3 June (again)

Our flight is at 2.15 in the morning, so we’re at the airport by midnight.  It’s a 2 hour flight over to Guam, then a short wait before our 7 hour flight up to Honolulu.  The travel isn’t too dreadful, but we’re pretty much skipping a night’s sleep.  To confuse things even more: we cross the date line on our way, so although we fly out at 2.15am on Tuesday, we land in at 6.20pm on Monday.  I can just about grasp the concept, but it has Nick’s brain hurting all night.  We’ve again gone for a fairly cheap last minute deal, but after Palau it feels like high luxury.  Our ‘moderate’ room is huge, with quiet, efficient air-conditioning, a balcony and cooking facilities.  There’s even free tea on tap in the lobby whenever we want it.  We’re crashing out fast, so as soon as we’ve dumped our stuff we head out for some food.  United Airlines don’t believe in vegetarian food, so it’s my first meal all day and I’m more than happy to stuff my face at the California Pizza Company.

Tuesday 4 June

We sleep until 11 today – it’s not surprising really, considering the lack of sleep the night before as well as the massive time difference.  And the sleep does seem to have sorted us out.  We use our cooking facilities to make ourselves brunch and then head out to the beach.  Hawai’i just couldn’t disappoint, even if it tried.  The sun is shining and the beach is long and palm-lined. 

We spend a couple of hours soaking up some rays and having a swim, then go for an ice-cream in lieu of lunch.  We spend the afternoon pounding the pavements – it’s been a while since we’ve seen proper shops.  We head back to the beach as the sun is setting for a few drinks.

Afterwards we find some just about average Mexican food to bloat our bellies.

Wednesday 5 June

Waikiki has got me in a bit of a spin: it’s the last ‘proper’ place we’ll be for a while, so I’m torn between cramming in the internet time to sort out the black holes in our trip, hitting the shops to stock up on essentials and replace our increasingly ratty t-shirts and simply forgetting about all that and hanging out at the beach.

In the end today accidentally turns into a shopping day.  There’s an anonymous huge shopping centre nearby and we take a walk over there to get provisioned up.  Of course everything takes a little longer than we think, so by the time we get back it’s nearly time to find our dinner.  We go to the Yard House – a big bar/restaurant that was a favourite last time we were here.  We have a few drinks at the bar while we’re waiting for a table and then chow down

Janet adds: as Nick put it – it’s been 3 really long years…

Thursday 6 June

We catch up on the relaxing with a few hours on the beach this morning.  To be honest, the time difference has still got us spannered and we’re struggling to get out of bed in the morning, yet quite happily staying up half the night.  We have lunch back at the room and then spend some time at the pool in the afternoon – once again furiously interneting (and washing clothes).  We reward ourselves in the evening with another sunset walk along the beach and a pint of Longboard Lager. 

Friday 7 June

As it’s our second visit to O’ahu, we decide we really should see something other than Waikiki so we’ve arranged to hire a car today.  We pick up our adorable cherry red Fiat 500 and set off on a mini road-trip round the island.  The dual carriageways and strip malls of Honolulu soon give way to red dirt sugarcane plantations and take-away shrimp vans.  Our first stop is for a poke around Hale’iwa on the north shore.  It’s a strange and utterly charming mix of wild-west and surf culture.

After a bit of a wander round we drive along the north shore, home of big wave surfing.  We stop for a look at Banzai Pipeline and Sunset Beach – in winter these beaches are famous for their monster waves and pro surfers.  Today they’re wilder and windier than Waikiki (especially with dark clouds overhead), but somewhat lacking in waves.  Still, the long, soft strips of sand backed by lovely houses and steep green valleys are well worth the trip.

Rounding the northern tip of the island we mosey our way down the windward coast.  There are beaches and small towns aplenty, but we’re mostly here for the ride. 

Things start to get busier again at Kailua and as it’s just gone lunchtime we stop for a bite to eat and a short walk along the beach.

The day is getting away with us so we press on to take in the southern tip of the island.  The day hasn’t cleared and is still windy with brooding skies and choppy seas (although it’s still lovely and warm).

By the time we’ve wound our way back to Waikiki and dropped off the car it’s about 6pm.  We tidy ourselves up and take a walk down the street.  There’s a Pan Pacific festival going on, so the main street has been closed and is lined with food=stalls, performers and revelers – just the sort of thing Nick loves.

Saturday 8 June

We’re leaving Hawai’i today (boo!) to fly down to Tahiti (yay!).  We have a few hours to kill before our flight this afternoon but there’s plenty happening.  There’s a parade down the main street and we see decorated cars and floats, policeman doing tricks on motorbikes and costumed people on horses. 

Down at the beach Roxy are hosting an amateur women’s long-boarding competition.   Er, no, I don’t enter, but we do spend a bit of time soaking up the atmosphere and trying to figure out which of the little blobs on the waves are actually competing.

There’s just enough time to get some lunch before heading back to our hotel to catch the bus up to the airport.

It’s a 5/6 hour flight down to Pape’ete, Tahiti and Hawaiian Air look after us reasonably well (by this time I’ve given up on finding veggie food on planes and just fill up on the crackers).  By the time we land it’s gone 10pm, so it’s too dark to take in our surroundings.   We’re greeted with a blast of warm, humid air and a little Tahitian song and dance performance.  Our British passports get us waved through immigration without even a stamp – it’s like travelling in Europe and we’re wondering if we can stay indefinitely.  We pick up our luggage and haul it across the parking lot and up a steep bank to the Tahiti Airport Motel.  The room is clean, the air-conditioning is quiet and efficient, we have internet (!) and a kettle (!!).

We’ve forgotten to pick up any local currency, so we dump our bags and walk back to the airport.  The money is crazy and huge (although the coins make the most satisfying clink in your pocket). 

We use some to pick up water, Hinano beer and milk before heading back for some sleep.

Sunday 9 June

I wake up early this morning to the familiar and comforting sound of cocks crowing.  A quick peak out the window reveals a beautiful sunrise view of Mo’orea.

It’s a false start though and before I know it I’m snoozing again. Tahiti is just a stop-over for us on our way to Easter Island.  Because of the flight schedule we’ve got 2 days spare here.  We haven’t planned anything major, so we’ve got the time at our leisure.

We get breakfast at the hotel and immediately the French-ness is evident: lovely fresh baguettes, croissants and pain au chocolat.  We decide to go and have a walk around Pape’ete.  As it’s a Sunday the buses aren’t running too regularly, but we’re happy enough walking the 5km into town.  It’s warm, humid and overcast today.  Pape’ete is slightly grimy around the edges, but Nick says he could be France.  It does have a more western feel to it and we don’t particularly stand out as tourists. 

What we hadn’t factored on is that because it is Sunday pretty much everything is shut down.  None of the shops are open and even the tourist information has closed.  Still, there’s a fun, relaxed atmosphere.  Families are picnicking in the park along the waterfront and there’s a mini vanilla festival happening.  We find some lunch and then start the walk back.  We call into a shop for a bottle of water and are stopped on the way out by a member of staff who hands us a giant baguette.  We can’t work out why, but she’s quite insistent, so we mumble our thanks and continue up the street with the baguette under my arm.  I’ve got my stripy top on, so Nick says all I need is some onions round my neck and I would literally be French.  (Although I’m not sounding it: my French lessons seem a long time ago and I’m very rusty.)

Just about halfway back is a look-out point that takes in the airport runway.  Nick is particularly excited about this, so we hang out for a while hoping to see some action.  We do get a close up of a plane landing, though we were hoping for something a little bigger.

We stop to buy some cheese to turn out baguette into a meal for later and then go back to the hotel to make some plans.  We’re coming back to French Polynesia after we’ve been to Easter Island and we haven’t worked out what we’re doing yet.

Monday 10 June

We’ve decided to spend today exploring Tahiti a little bit, so we check out of our hotel and walk back to the airport to pick up a car.  There’s a sealed road that runs all the way around the outside of Tahiti Nui (the big bit) and about halfway round Tahiti Iti (the little bit).  There are no roads that cross the steep mountains in the middle of the island, so pretty much everything is crammed in along the coast.  It almost feels like one continuous town.  It is a beautiful drive though, with mountains on one side and sea on the other.  We stop at a beach for a snorkel.

There are a couple of local ladies sunbathing topless (complete with teenage boys gawking at them from behind a fence) – which is a bit of a relief for me.  Some places are a little conservative and I’m never quite sure when and where it’s appropriate to parade around in a bikini.

Our next stop is for a stroll around the remains of an ancient temple, followed by a walk to some fern-lined caves housing freshwater pools.  We take a few minutes to watch some surfers at a black sand beach

and then head to a roadside café for sandwiches the size of our arms.  For the most part we’re finding Tahiti really expensive, but the sandwiches are dirt cheap and delicious.

We drive down to Teahupoo, another surf beach, on Tahiti Nui and then start the return journey.  We stop for a short walk through lush (but mosquito laden) forest to three towering waterfalls. 

Best of all: we’ve got the whole place to ourselves.  It’s great not to be following tour buses around for a change.

It’s late afternoon now and we make a couple more stops to watch a sunset game of football on the beach and surfers taking on the waves in the last of the sun.

We’re back in Pape’ete in time for dinner.  Although it’s now Monday, it doesn’t seem particularly livelier than it did yesterday.  We grab a bite to eat and then make our way towards the airport.  We were due to be flying out a little after midnight, but a last minute schedule change from LAN has pushed this back to 2am, so we have a few hours to kill.  Tahiti airport’s ‘inner sanctum’, once you pass through security, is rather un-airport like.  It looks more like a swanky bar complete with mood-lighting and comfy seating opening out onto an outdoor smoking area.  We have a few beers, relax and soon enough it’s time to board.