12/21/05

Oahu was our first island, and also Debbie's favorite.  It is a more metropolitan center with Honolulu and Pearl Harbor as its centers of commerce so it is the island that is closest to the mainland in so far as how you actually feel being there.

Kauai was our second island, and my favorite although we had miserable rainy weather on "The Garden Isle" (like duh, it has the wettest spot on earth there short of being in a lake or ocean so what did I expect?).  Kauai was the least developed/commercialized of the islands that we visited.  If/when we go back, there are several tips that are worth mentioning on this island ... first, the north and east sides are the wettest and the southwest side is the driest.  So although we stayed in Kapaa on our honeymoon, I'd probably stay no further north than Lihue (where the airport is) when we go back.

Maui was our third and final island.  Maui is very commercialized and, to put it bluntly, a tourist trap.  Not everything is as high priced as rumored, but when you stop into one of the grocery stores located in the vacationing areas and see a gallon of milk priced at $7.99, you may think of hawking the wedding ring just to be able to eat.  But in all truth, it isn't that bad because we found their local paper advertising milk for $3.49 a gallon on the same island (so you can pretty well see that it's setup to gouge the tourist there).

What we like about Hawaii was that it was very beautiful.  The colors of the water are not describable and the pictures just don't do it any justice.  The combination of the ocean waters and the mountains is breath taking.  What's not to like about Hawaii?  It is expensive because most of the items on the island have to be shipped in and the islands are the most isolated spot on the planet (with the nearest land mass being the mainland U.S. at over 2300 miles away).  Hawaii tends to be confining for our style of vacationing in that we like to just explore (hop in the car and just go somewhere) and on islands that are 30 to 50 miles across you can run out places to just go to in a hurry.  Since Hawaii is so popular, you better do your homework before going there and decide what you want to do.  Time is your most precious thing when you are there (so don't get suckered into a timeshare presentation to save a $100 because it will shoot your entire day).  You need to plan what you want to do and make those reservations well in advance to ensure that you are able to do what you want to do and then just hope that the weather is good and you aren't too tired (or sick) when the time comes to do what you have reservations for.  Debbie and I are much more spontaneous in our travels ... If we're in Albany, NY and decide to go to Heart Island for the day to visit a castle or hop on over to Maine for a lobster roll then we just do it but you don't really have that option in Hawaii and that was the only thing that we were really disappointed in about our honeymoon.  But since it was our first time there, we decided that we tried to see too many islands in the short period of time.  For each island hop that you take, you basically lose a full day (packing, unpacking, getting to the airport and hour and half early for airport security and then add extra time to get/return a rental car).  When you try to get around the islands, be prepared for very poor road signage ... I really think they don't want the tourists to know where they are or where they are going so they try to frustrate you into staying in the main tourist areas and spending your money in those areas.

Hawaiian points of Interest and our takes on them:

     The blue books - by Wizard Publishing.  Very good.  We bought them to use a referrence books on what to do, but our time would've been better spent had we actually read these books cover-to-cover because they are loaded with valuable inside information from local authors.  Our bad.

     Oahu - Beautiful.  We had good weather.  Ocean water is much colder than Florida.

     North Shore Beaches - blink and you miss them.  They are in a relatively short span and when we were there they only had 2-4 ft. waves (but the day after we left they mysteriously became 10-30 ft. waves - now that would've been something to see).

     Parks - They allow camping in their public parks which has turned some nice parks into outdoor homeless centers that look like tent cities (I guess even paradise can't hide their social problems either).

     Kauai - Be prepared to get dirty.  Red dirt stains everything and if you're afraid to get dirty or didn't bring along some disposable/expendable clothes then you're cheating yourself.  Debbie's idea of "roughing it" is going to a place without room service (not really, just our inside joke).  But a backpacker would love this island because you can a hike for several days at a time (hiking the Na Pali coast is an 11 mile hike each way and can't easily be done and enjoyed in a single day).

     Waterfalls - some of the best we've seen, but be prepared to get caught in lines of traffic or hike your a** off to get to some of them.  Some of the waterfalls we saw from the air were over 1000 feet tall and although they were beautiful, I'm sure that if we had been able to get to the base of the waterfalls it would've been breathtaking.

     Driving - be prepared for poor roads with lots of hairpin turns, few guard rails, steep cliffs and beautiful scenery.  Some drives must be seriously planned in advanced (ie "The road to Hana" where we drove 26 miles in the dark and it took an hour and a half of intense and very stressful driving, just because we got a late start that day and tried to see too much).

     Wildlife - "There be whales out there" (at the right time of year).  Dolphins.  Chickens on Kauai that are wild and always remind you that they are there ... especially at 5 a.m.  Not the "Big Game" wildlife that we really love, but they are spectacular in their own way.

     Mountains - The drive up Haleakala is over 20 miles of winding switchbacks with few guard rails.  About 25 degrees cooler on the summit on average (just be prepared).  Occasional snow (6 feet of it in January of 1971 in a single storm, not what you'd expect in the tropics).

     Maui - both tourist trap and remote tourist trap (Hana).  We found ourselves "trapped" in Hana at sunset and went to the only restaurant in town and the reclusive hotel/spa/resort.  Dinner was extremely overpriced and short on options ... so short that Debbie couldn't find a thing to eat on their menu (limited on vegetarian choices, no, not limited ... non-existant).  We were able to get a burger and fries in the lounge for only $19 (tourist trap pricing - we got tagged).

     Luaus - We only went to one because their menus are pretty well set and you either like what they serve (basically the same style of food at each) or you don't.  These dinner shows are pricey but you do get an evenings worth of entertainment out of it as well.  We found one that offered more than just Kalua Pork and Teriyaki steaks so Debbie could actually eat something more than salad and rice.  The was the "Royal Lahaina Luau".  The show actually reminded me of an old vegas lounge act was a bit cheesy at times.  Some of these luaus are over $100/person so you might want to try one of the smaller ones first to see if you like them.

     Plane trips - Don't get me started on this one.  Airplane security is still a joke.  Until we lose the P.C. (Political Correctness) over security it will be nothing more than a service meant to instill confidence in the majority of airline travelers who don't know any better.  We are still denying flying privileges to 5 year olds who have the same name as a terrorists alias.  The T.S.A. performs the same screening on a 90 year old Swedish grandmother with her entire family that they do with 20 year old arab male traveling alone.  The safest thing about flying today is that you are flying with an entire plane full of friends and family that will take unified action against ANY hijacker without hesitation ... beyond screening for firearms and explosives everything else the T.S.A. does delays and inconveniences the traveling public.  I have met very few T.S.A. personnel that even try to be friendly and that sours me every time I take a trip.  Hurray for General Aviation ... for the time being anyway.