The Bottomless Pit's Disneyland and Hawaiian Adventures

[Chellymouse]

It's our last day at DL and we started off with a walk through FantasyLand. We managed to ride Snow White (totally miss this in FL) and Pinnochio. We made our way over to Toon town, took some pics and rode Roger Rabbit!

After Toon Town, we made our way back toward Fantasyland/Tomorrowland and finally got to ride Nemo. After Nemo, we noticed the FP time for space was 7:30-8:30...perfect last ride set up! After securing FP, we decided to take the monorail over to DTD to EOS for lunch! Wrong move! monorail at DL is NOT air conditioned, it's not a comfortable ride in 95+ degree heat. We were dripping messes by the time we arrived at DTD. We found EOS quickly and by the time we arrived, squatch was so overheated he didn't even bother getting any lunch. I of course had my favorite, the holiday sandwich and scarfed it rather quickly! We decided to walk back to the park! Trust me....the walk was MUCH more humane than the monorail. I do have to say, the California DTD is pitiful. It's equivalent to a small strip mall. We arrive back to DL and went left this time! Finally, the dole whip line wasn't a mile long! Dole whip dessert for me and the squatch had one also. After snacks, we managed to grab FP for HM then went back over to fantasyland to ride Peter Pan. We also found the last 60th anniversary photo spot!

Much to my dismay, the line for Peter Pan was still pretty long, so we decided to suck it up and wait. After 40 minutes, we were finally flying through London and Neverland. After Peter, we backtracked to HM to use our FP. We also stopped of a couple of pics!

After HM we realized BTMRR had a pretty short wait so we hopped on the wildest ride in the wilderness! By now it was nearing dinner time and we had a coupon for $15 for a burger and $10 game card (and MNF was on already) so we walked back over to DTD and thankfully didn't have to wait long and soon we had a table. The squatch was very happy to be drinking a beer and gnawing on a burger. I had a chicken fetticcine alfredo which was also quite tasty. After dinner, we went upstairs to watch a bit more of the game and played some video games. Word to the wise $10 doesn't go very far. Cooled off, fed and watered we headed back to the park to finish out the night. I wanted to ride the Matternhorn again, so we sucked it up and got in line. Thankfully, we only waited about 40 minutes. The line would have been half that had both sides been running. After our last run on the Matterhorn, DH was able to snag FP for Star Tours, so we grabbed a popcorn snack and enjoyed tomorrowland after dark. We went over to use our Space FP only to find....yep, down for technical difficulties. Again, we were promised to be able to use our FP as the ride was down, so we took a few pics then went over to ride ST again.

Space was still down so we went over the to the FP shop to check out our pics and to pic up our freebie (had a coupon so we used it!) Finally, space reopened and we got our last ride in!

Poor squatch looked a little constipated....apparently he thought he lost his phone, but thankfully he didn't. After Space, we grabbed our last popcorn snack and my Starbucks DL mugs and staked out a spot for the fireworks. The 60th anniversary fireworks were awesome!

The park was closing so we were making our way out. We had noticed it had become rather muggy, very unusual for SoCal. We walked back to the hotel, cleaned up, packed up and went to bed because 5am was coming early. up next.....muggy was a sign and not a good one! up next, we're off to Aulani!!

 

[Chellymouse]

It's Tues 9/15 at 5am and time to get up and get moving because our van was picking up at 5:50am. We opened the door when bell services arrived and much to my dismay, it's pouring rain! I mean buckets! This is bad because (and no offense to my west coast peeps) Los Angeles folks CANNOT drive in the rain! Our van was 15 minutes late and finally showed up at 6:05am and we loaded quickly, figures, squatch went to the little boys room (he couldn't find the woods I guess) and finally we were on the road to LAX at 6:15am. Now, this should have been a 30-45 minute ride. WRONG-O! We arrived at the airport at 7:35am (our flight boards at 7:50am for 8:30 departure) Thank goodness we have TSA-FP! We may not have made it! We made it to the gate just in time to powder our noses and by the grace, there were only 2 people in line at Starbucks so I was at least able to grab coffee. We boarded the plane and soon we were airborne to Honolulu. I can honestly say, we really enjoyed Hawaiian airlines! Nice plan, roomy seats and good services. The breakfast served was a little gross, so we were pretty hungry when we landed. Landed around 11:30am local time, figured out we were 6 hours behind at home then spent the next 30 minutes trying to get to baggage claim. At last made it, received our leis and you could tell we both needed a snickers at this point! Squatch (after much grumbling) went and grabbed a smart cart and we managed to corral all of luggage and carryons and made it to the rental car bus. We rented a Jeep Wrangler for the trip! Unfortunately, they were out of the big ones so we were stuck with a two door. After a 20 minute game of tetris with the luggage and programming the GPS (which was not successful in getting us out of the parking lot, so we have now named it stupidhead) we are driving on IH1 and en route to Aulani. Once again, another GPS failure (we have now downgraded it to dumb firetruck-minus a few letters) and after driving around in circles for 20 minutes (and stopping at the guard house for directions) made it to Aulani!! We pulled up to the valet and after getting the Jeep unloaded, I couldn't find my wallet. Squatch went to check us in and thankfully I found my wallet. (it was in the wrong bag) After finding out we couldn't get in our villa, we hopped back in the Jeep and found the Target. First thing we notice is the Target café and it had pizza hut pizzas. We were so starved by now so we stopped and ate. Yep, first meal in HI is pizza hut at the target café! After finishing our food, we bought our groceries and the new fast and furious movie and back to Aulani we go. When we arrived back, our villa was ready so we grabbed our luggage and groceries and off to our villa! So what do we do? Laundry. I know, we are pathetic. Laundry was in, bathing suits on and off to the beach. We stopped to pick our wristbands and towels and made our way to the beach! After some time in the water, we headed back up to the pools. We dubbed the waterslide Mount Hockaloogie (in honor of Nemo) we took a ride in the lazy river...I didn't quite notice the waterfall, or the photopass people, squatch did and here are the results!

it was getting late, so we went in to switch laundry, shower and get dressed for dinner at Ama Ama. This was our dress up night. We stopped for a pic on the way to the restaurant

If you're going to eat here, do it at sunset and ask for Oceanside seating!

After dinner, we walked around the resort for a bit, finished laundry and sad to say, were in bed by 9pm! So, our first day in HI was actually pretty pitiful, but we were here, we made it to the beach and had a great dinner on the beach at sunset. up next , we learn the horror that is Oahu traffic and our first full day in HI which was spent at Pearl Harbor!

 

[Chellymouse]

It's our first full day in Hawaii and the plan for today is Pearl Harbor. It's one thing we both really wanted to do! For anyone planning, 60 days from the date you plan to tour Pearl Harbor, go to recreation.gov and purchase the all day passport or tickets for the sections you wish to tour. The bus tours are a waste and they do not pick up from Aulani, and parking is free at Pearl Harbor. We purchased the passport so we could take our time and really enjoy all of the offerings. We had heard about the traffic and decided to get on the road around 7:30. We had selected a 9am time for the Arizona (that's another thing, the Arizona is very limited as it is only accessible by boat and therefore only so many people per hour) We had stopped at the concierge the night before (they have driving direction cards to everywhere) and picked up some of the cards. We took the top off the Jeep, programmed dumb a (you can fill in the rest, this is the name we have settled on for the GPS) and off we went. Of course dumb A takes us some goofy way out of Aulani and after driving around for almost 10 minutes, we made it to the highway. Another tip...the directions from the resort were better than dumb a's direction) OMG!! The traffic heading into "town" (which is toward Honolulu) during rush hour is almost as bad as LA!! Holy traffic batman! What should have been a 20 minute drive was nearly an hour! We arrived at Pearl, put the tops back on the Jeep and went to check in!

We checking and received our passport ticket and went to check in for our Arizona portion of the tour. Each tour has a headset which gives a narrated tour according to your location. We walked around to see the artifacts, used the powder room and then went to the gathering site for the tour. Be on time, late arrivals are not accommodated. We first were seated to watch a movie about that fateful day. Following the movie, we were taken to the dock to board our boat. This portion of the tour is operated by active US Navy seaman and while they were not rude, they were definitely no nonsense. I did get a couple of shots of the Mercy, the new battleship row and USS Missouri on our ride out to the Arizona memorial.

We arrived at the Arizona memorial and it was very intense. Knowing how many men were still in the Arizona and that we were basically standing on top of it was very somber. People are generally very quiet and very respectful. Here is the memorial

the blocks surrounding the Arizona are actually to mark where other ships had sunk. Several of ship were able to be brought to the surface and salvaged. The rusted pieces are the actual Arizona which is visible from the memorial. The oil on the water is actual oil which is still leaking from the Arizona. The park staff on the memorial said that according to legends, the Arizona will stop leaking once the last of the survivors pass away, however, the corps of engineers believes the Arizona will continue to leak for another 75 years. Keep in mind, it has been leaking since 1941. The Arizona leaks approximately 2 quarts of oil per day.

Soon it was time to board our boat back to the dock. We disembarked and then walked around the memorial walkway which lists every single serviceperson whose life was lost that day.

One of the Arizona's anchors was recovered and restored and placed on display at the end of the memorial garden walkway

After we completed our tour of the Arizona, we turned in our headsets, stopped to have our souvenir photo taken and went to the gift shop. There are tons of coupons on the tour guide book so we purchased our picture ($$ goes toward maintaining the memorial), picked out shirts and a few gifts for family and friends. After our shopping was done, we made our way over to the USS Bowfin, which is a retired submarine. The sub was cool, however, if you're claustrophobic, you may want to bypass this experience. Men on the subs back then must have been pretty short. The squatch was having some, navigational issues, if you will! You are also given a headset for a narrated tour on the sub.

After our tour, we stopped in the gift shop and picked up a couple of more items and by then, we were hungry. Unfortunately the food choices were hotdogs and hotdogs. Yuck! But when you're hungry, you're hungry! After my yucky lunch, we boarded a bus over to Ford island to tour the USS Missouri (the Mighty Mo) Go figure! Food trucks, snack bar! So word to the wise, if you're hungry, wait until you get to Mighty Mo! We did receive a stern warning about having our cameras out while on the bus. This is actually still an active military base. Once we arrived (and I grumbled about food) we walked through the flags and saw the statue of the famous kiss.

The sheer size of this ship is insane! There are several tour guides around (which is not an extra charge) or you can walk around yourself. We found a tour starting so we joined the group. The tour guide was actually a retired Navy seaman and was super informative.

We also saw where the Japanese surrendered to the allies, as it took place on the Missouri

We spent over an hour touring the USS Missouri. There was military ceremony taking place on the ship that day, a group of officers were being promoted to chief petty officers, while we were not able to get very close, we did have a good view and could hear portions of the ceremony. Our guide told us it takes an actual act of congress to receive this promotion, so it was a pretty big deal. After our tour, we stopped for some shave ice because it was very hot! After we finished our snack, we boarded the bus to visit the aviation museum. This was cool, but kind of a let down after all of the excitement of the ships.

We boarded the bus again and went back over the main area and it was time to head back. We had spent about 7.5 hours here today and it was well worth it. It was very hot and the hot dog was threatening to come back and bite me so, we left the tops on the Jeep and cranked the AC. We plugged dumb A in and it took us some ridiculous way back to IH1. I will say, we made it back to Ko Olina in less than half an hour. Traffic is much more humane outside of rush hour! We made a quick stop at Target (forgot a few things the day before) and then home to Aulani! We parked, took our stuff to our villa, changed and headed for the beach! Spent a little time at the beach and then headed up to the pools and lazy river. Refreshed, we headed in, cleaned up and made our way to Monkeypod! This is our new favorite restaurant!! WOW!! We had amazing food, drinks and service. The squatch is a beer conniseur and he was very pleased with the selections. The mai tais here are AMAZING!! One is good, 2 is enough and 3 you're crawling across the street! We shared an appetizer and the squatch had the pork sandwich and I had the macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi. WOW!! food amazing, drinks amazing, service amazing! Prices are also very reasonable! In case you're wondering, I did stop at 2 mai tais! We were full and slightly tipsy so we made our way back across the street and called it a night! Up next, our Diamond Head hike, the squatch finds his brewery and a full afternoon at the beach!

 

[SSRmonkey]

It appears that the Squatch is gettin Squatchy. Pulling you under the waterfall??? Bad Squatch! Dad really appreciated the face on SM! Looks like a beautiful sunset and you both clean up nice! Pearl Harbor and the surrounding area was very sobering I'm sure, but I'm sure you were glad you went. No gator bites in Hawaii I assume. . Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Chellymouse]

It appears that the Squatch is gettin Squatchy. Pulling you under the waterfall??? Bad Squatch! Dad really appreciated the face on SM! Looks like a beautiful sunset and you both clean up nice! Pearl Harbor and the surrounding area was very sobering I'm sure, but I'm sure you were glad you went. No gator bites in Hawaii I assume. . Can't wait to hear more!

The squatch was very squatchy! and naughty! I didn't realize it until it was too late! grrr!! As we were the only people in the log...may as well get a good picture! Thanks, we don't have too many opportunities to clean up nice! The sunsets were amazing. I have some truly awesome pics coming up, seriously considering having a couple made into canvas. I think I have enough pixels to make a nice canvas. Pearl Harbor truly was sobering but such an important piece of our history. The pictures truly don't do it justice. The only time we were on this trip that we both were on our best behavior! Nope, no gator bites. They don't even know what grain alcohol is. There is a DVC member cocktail at the Olelo room available only for members during happy hour every evening which was VERY tasty! We drank quite a few mai tais and the Squatch had plenty of beers to try, so he was happy. The mai tais at Monekypod had some type of foam on top which was quite yummy! We also learned what a Monkeypod is. It's actually a very popular shade tree in Hawaii and received its name because the root pod resembles a monkey's tail!

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

Enjoying your TR -- thanks for the effort.

 

[Chellymouse]

It's Thursday and today's agenda was a hike on Diamond Head, a trip to Kona brewing for the squatch and an afternoon on the beach! We were up, fed, packed up, tops off the Jeep and Dumb A programmed and off we went! At least we have now figured out how to get in and out of Ko Olina!
We left a bit later this morning and even leaving Aulani around 7:45am and traffic was less brutal but still pretty miserable. Diamond Head should be around 30-40 minute drive, it was an hour. As we were driving, the sun was shining and it started to rain, without a cloud in the sky, and we had the top off. Thankfully, it only rained for 2 miles. So, some people are against paying $5 to park and park 1-2 miles away if they can actually find parking. I will happily fork over $5. Even though the lot is small and frequently full, spots open up pretty quickly and it's very organized. The cost is $1 per person to hike so we paid our fees, parked, put the tops back on and made our way to the trails. There are trails at the base and once you're off the cement, it's rocky, uneven, lava. Why some ladies were hiking in heels was beyond my comprehension! Definitely a work out and worth the work!

The picture above this text is Waikiki....no thanks! Too crowded and busy for me!


We made it to the top and it was rather warm. If you're planning to hike Diamond, the earlier in the day, the better! Couldn't help but notice the squatch's nasty, sweaty hidden Mickey!

We made our way back down, stopped for a quick drink and freshen up and back to the Jeep. The squatch has loved Kona beer since the first time we had it a few years ago at Epcot. Imagine our surprise when we found Kona in Ohio! We found there was a brewery on Oahu and it was close to Diamond head so we programmed Dumb A and off we went. After we drove around aimlessly in a parking lot (and found a gas station) we found Kona!

happy squatch! He started with a flight of beers he can't get on the Mainland and I had a diet coke. I know, but someone has to be responsible and drive! We started with the homemade pretzel bites with the house beer cheese dip and it was awesome!! I had the BBW pork, chicken and short rib plate which was a ton of food very, very tasty! Squatch had a BBQ chicken sandwich and another flight of beer. So wish the pit had room for dessert, but there was no room in the pit! So, the squatch had 2 beers left to try, not enough for another flight and too much for 2 full ones (I wasn't helping) so our server was kind enough to bring him 2 tasters! So I (and my toasted squatch) made our way back to the Jeep, stopped for gas (note for anyone driving around Oahu, if you find gas, fill up! Gas stations are not so easy to find!) and soon we were back on the road to Aulani. We parked, changed, packed up and hit the beach. If anyone is curious, beach toys, chairs, umbrellas and boogie boards are free to members. There is a nominal charge for paddleboards and kayaks, 10% discount for DVC members. We found a spot for our stuff and went in the water. I wanted to try paddleboarding so I walked up and did a rental. Squatch (being quite full) opted to remain on land and take some pictures!

After my paddleboarding excursion, we decided to hang out on the beach when a very nice CM came over with a beverage menu! Ok! We each had a hang 10 and they were quite tasty! After we finished our beverages, we headed up to the pools. We loved the infinity pool and there is also a coral "hideout" on the back side of the pool!

We were a bit water logged so we dried off and headed in to shower and clean up and start packing up as we had to change villas in the morning. I also called to confirm our activity in the am and found out our time was moved up an hour...oh boy! That's going to be interesting. it was still happy hour so we made our way over to the Olelo room to enjoy our DVC member cocktails. Not quite sure what was in it, but boy was it tasty! It's also easy to identify who's a member during happy hour! We finished our cocktails and walked across the street to, yep, Monkeypod!! We decided to order some of the appetizers we had wanted to try. I had some weird organic cocktail with cucumber vodka which was pretty tasty and the squatch had, what else, another flight of beer. we tried the pumpkin ravioli, chicken wings and corn chowder. All of which were very tasty! We had wanted to try some of the pie, but were too stuffed. We waddled around after our meal and checked out some of the shops over there and then made our way back home to finish packing up and to catch the starlit hui. If you plan to see it and want a good spot, go early! There are local artisans and I made a fish and a flower bracelet while the squatch guarded our mat! The show began and it was very cool!

Mickey and some of his pals come out after the Hawaiian dancers finish and well, it goes downhill very quickly. we returned our mat and headed in to finish up packing up and to get some sleep as we now had to be up much earlier than originally planned. UP next, a room with a view and yep, I'm that crazy...North shore shark adventure!!

 

[Chellymouse]

Enjoying your TR -- thanks for the effort.

Aloha! Thanks for following along and dropping by to say hi!! I learned so much from others when we were planning so this is my way of sharing and giving back! Hope you enjoy! Our North shore adventures are on deck and including surfing, swimming in a waterfall and a shark cage!!

 

[alohamom]

Awesome so far Chellymouse! My son wants to try the shark cage thing when we go over New Years so I cannot wait to hear and see what you have to say about it! My hubby loves his Kona beer too so I was thinking of adding it to our list of possible eating spots. It seem you guys enjoyed it, is it worth seeking out or is it just ho hum with some Kona beer available. I can get him some bottles for the room and it is his beer of choice while in Hawaii but I guess I am asking is it enough of a unique restaurant to make it worth the drive.

 

[Chellymouse]

Awesome so far Chellymouse! My son wants to try the shark cage thing when we go over New Years so I cannot wait to hear and see what you have to say about it! My hubby loves his Kona beer too so I was thinking of adding it to our list of possible eating spots. It seem you guys enjoyed it, is it worth seeking out or is it just ho hum with some Kona beer available. I can get him some bottles for the room and it is his beer of choice while in Hawaii but I guess I am asking is it enough of a unique restaurant to make it worth the drive.

Aloha!! I am getting ready to head to the gym, but the shark cage will be up later tonight. A word of advice, if you will, I have a Nikkon cool pic which is rugged and is also for use under water. Many people on our boat had GoPro and while they were all excited with the video, the #1 complaint was the picture quality. Kona Brewery on Oahu is about 10-15 minutes in town from Diamond Head. There were 10 beers my husband has not previously had and he drank every one of them. Beers are available in flights so you can try them all without getting stupefied. The food was fabulous and delicious, so much so, we wound up eating appetizers at Monkeypod for dinner!

 

[Chellymouse]

It's Friday and we were up at the crack of dawn. We got ready for the day and finished packing up the room and called bell services, who arrived promptly. We went to the desk to check out and check in. The CM said our villa was ready, however, we were a bit behind and had wanted to be on the road by 7:15am and it was already after 7. We decided to stow our luggage and groceries (a choice we will regret later) and went to get on the road. We decided to leave the tops on (which turned out to be a good choice) plugged dumb A in and off we went. After the usual clogging on IH1 we turned onto IH2 to head up north and what a blessing! Traffic was nonexistent! We made great time, figured out where the Dole plantation was located and arrived in Halewia shortly after 8am. We finally found the harbor (no thanks to dumb a) and then had to find parking. It was a good thing we had an early excursion. Parking is in high demand! We arrived, parked and checked in for our tour. I'm actually surprised I managed to get the squatch to agree....guess I should have chosen a better time to bring up a shark cage excursion other than shark week! We actually found the north shore tour bus and even though we had to drive up (again NO ONE picks up from Ko Olina) the tour bus would pick up us later after our cage tour. So, it's not a scuba dive, which is good because I'm not certified. Our boat pulled up and soon we were boarding!

There were 19 people on the boat and we go 3 miles off shore. The tour does not chum either. This is a route frequented by crab fisherman who are prone to dumping old bait and the sharks are used to a free meal when they hear the diesel engines. The sharks most common in this area are Galapagos and the range from little to 10-12 feet. Our guide said in 25 years, they have never seen a great white in these waters, as it is too warm. Occasionally they will see a hammerhead or a tiger or bull shark, but this is rare. Galapagos sharks are not known for attacking people, however, we were cautioned to keep our fingers, toes, hands, feet and anything we want to keep, inside the cage at all times! Here is our cage!

the cage holds about 6 people so we were divided into 3 groups. Unfortunately, it was very, very choppy, which did not make for great conditions. The squatch was actually considering going after realizing the cage didn't drop more then 6-7 feet deep and it was snorkeling so he had decided to do it. What was worse, is we were in the third group. I kept telling the squatch not to sit down, keep moving because quite frankly, I was starting not to feel too hot either. Well, he sat down. It was finally our turn, each group gets about 20 minutes in the cage and thank goodness because my lucky charms were threatening to make a reappearance, as were the squatch's. I made it in the cage, unfortunately, the squatch had turned 50 shades of green and well, he wasn't able to stand up without getting sick so he did not get in the water. I did and it was definitely an experience of a lifetime! I shot these pics with our Nikkon cool pic!

After I got out of the water, we started our trek back to shore. 10 of the 19 people on our boat were on the back of the boat, ummm, feeding the sharks their regurgitated breakfasts. I'm happy we weren't in that group. We returned to shore and we still didn't feel too hot. So, we hopped in the jeep and made our way over to the shops in Halewia to meet our North shore tour guide bus. We had about an hour so we walked the shops and at least tried to get something to drink and a light snack, we were in no way shape or form ready to really eat. Here is our toy Jeep!

Justin arrived to pick us up and took us on our tour. We took a drive up the coast, found several of the famous beaches and where the Banzai pipeline occurs and the food truck park. We chose Waimea falls as our activity for the afternoon as did the other couple in our van. They were from Australia and weren't overly chatty. We entered the park and hiked through the botanical park and up to the falls. Swimming is permitted in the falls as long as you wear a life vest. I highly recommend wearing water shoes, it's pretty rocky until you get into deeper water. The water was pretty chilly, but what an amazing experience!

Had to take a selfie....squatch was having issues getting to the ledge

After our swim, we started making our way back and it had started to rain. We were actually getting hungry and went to the snack bar/lunch stand. We were told to be mindful of the peacock. Found out why....it's free roaming and has a bad habit of eating your food. Thing scared the crap out of me! It also took off with a bite of my salad. Dumb thing also scared this poor, elderly lady nearly out of her chair when it walked up to her table and helped itself to some of her French fries. Not a fan! Stay out of my food!!

After finishing our lunch and keeping that rotten bird at bay it was time for Justin to retrieve us. We did walk through the gift shop on our way out. Justin picked us up and we went to Turtle bay and guess what? Yep, Crush was chillin' on the beach. Ok, so it's not really Crush, it's a she named Puhe and she is 35 years old and weighs 225 pounds.

After we saw the turtle we stopped at Waimea Bay beach, which was gorgeous!

Our tour ended on the most southern beach of the north shore and Justin ran us back to the shops to pick up our Jeep. We freshened up quickly (they have a really nice washroom) and soon we were on our way back to Aulani. We arrived back and went to bell services to retrieve our belongings. remember when I said we may regret our choice not to at least run our stuff to our new villa....well, now we did. Bell services told us 10 minutes. After half an hour, I called downstairs because the wet squatch smell was really starting to permeate the air and finally 15 minutes after that, bell services showed up....without our groceries! The bellman apologizes, calls back downstairs and locates our grocery bin, says it will be right up. During this time, we had decided we were tired and aggravated so we were just going to order room service. 12 calls in the next 30 minutes and we keep getting a voice mail. By now, it had been 45 minutes (and thankfully after a shower) I called downstairs again, to find out where our groceries were located. While I was on hold (for nearly 15 minutes) the same bellman shows up with our groceries. I hung up and put our stuff away. By now, we were really annoyed and had to get dressed and go downstairs in search of food. We really didn't feel like walking across the street and thankfully we did find a quick service open (EVERYTHING closes by 8, even the pools) I decided on the fried mahi mahi and the squatch ordered a pizza. Our food was ready and we went back up to our villa. Surprisingly, the food was very tasty! I ended up on the balcony with my food watching Cinderella as this was the movie on the lawn. After all of the shenanigans, we were tired and it was time for bed. we had another early day tomorrow as we head back up to the North Shore for surfing lessons!! I will leave you with a photo from our "garden view"

 

[alohamom]

Thanks for all the shark pics-very very cool! I know I am not doing that because the boat ride would just do me in, guess I will be sending my hubby with the kids. I see you went to "The Proud Peacock" in Waimea Park-I was just looking at that restaurant the other day because we are planning to go to Waimea Valley as well and I was wondering if we should eat there or head further up to the restaurant that is in the Turtle Bay Resort area (I read about it in another Disers TR) Proud Peacock looks good tho...

 

[SSRmonkey]

Beer, Sharks, hula girls, peacocks, people losing their lunch. This is either The Hangover IV or a really great trip!

 

[Chellymouse]

Thanks for all the shark pics-very very cool! I know I am not doing that because the boat ride would just do me in, guess I will be sending my hubby with the kids. I see you went to "The Proud Peacock" in Waimea Park-I was just looking at that restaurant the other day because we are planning to go to Waimea Valley as well and I was wondering if we should eat there or head further up to the restaurant that is in the Turtle Bay Resort area (I read about it in another Disers TR) Proud Peacock looks good tho...

Proud peacock was ok....actually had better food at the north shore shrimp truck! The shark cage was very cool, very much one of those once in a lifetime experiences....kind of a pricey activity, but worth every penny! The website is north shore shark excursions. Waimea valley was gorgeous and we loved swimming in the waterfall! My next installment will include our surfing lessons on sunset beach on the north shore!

 

[Chellymouse]

Beer, Sharks, hula girls, peacocks, people losing their lunch. This is either The Hangover IV or a really great trip!

That is awesome....the Hangover IV.....no, I have a feeling our upcoming "meet and greet" when we arrive home in 16 days may rate the Hangover IV title! So, far, it's been a really great trip! the next installment will include surf lessons and why squatch's prefer land to water!!

 

[Chellymouse]

Saturday is Surf Day!! What a difference a day makes when it comes to traffic! No one going to town to work = humane traffic! Finally! We were on the road at 7:30am for our 8:30am surf lesson on the north shore so we headed back up to Halewia. We located our beach and surf instructors and found awesome parking all by 8:15am! After quite a bit of research, I picked Sunset Surratt (Uncle Bryan) for our lessons and they did not disappoint! Our instructor was awesome. Now, as we all know, squatches are generally found in the woods and are not particularly fond of water, my squatch is no exception. I had booked us a semi-private (just us and the instructor and I am so happy I did!) Our lesson began on the beach and I picked up pretty quickly. 20 minutes later I had a sand covered, aggravated squatch, ready to give up before ever trying to catch a wave. At last between 2 instructors and me, we had him schooled and paddling out! Finally! I want to surf! Get the sand out and let's go! We paddled out and I went first. Almost made it up, fell off the back of the board, board kicked back and I was sporting a big fat goose egg on my forehead for the next 3 days! Ask me if I cared...nope! It was the squatch's turn and well, this is the farthest he made it!

As you may be able to identify, this is an angry squatch. He promptly rolled off his board and proceeded to spend the next 2 hours and 20 minutes sitting on the beach, watching me (and everyone else) surf. Of course, I had to sit on my board by the photographer while our instructor paddled the squatch in. Proof positive, squatches are not fans of water! And they are quite smelly when wet! At long last (as I'm salivating and wanting to go again) our instructor paddled back out and my second wave, up and riding!

After a while, I really had gotten the hang of it and was able to catch some bigger waves!

Surf stoked!! I would have surfed everyday for the rest of the trip had I had a board and some waves!! So, it was time to head in and (big surprise) I was STARVING!! We packed up our gear, had some waters and met with the photographer (Heath) who was awesome! One thing that sets this school apart from the others is there photographer is included, but you have to purchase your pics. We had 49 pics and it was $30 to buy all of them. The file is sent via email and we had all of our pics by 5pm. As you can see, he does great work! After we had paid for our pics, we made the decision to move the Jeep (and kept our paws crossed we could find parking) and sweet! We found parking near Waimea Bay beach and the FOOD TRUCKS!! SCORE!! I chose the North Shore shrimp truck, in part, because many other DISers have recommended and because fresh seafood is so yummy! I had the butter shrimp which came with 6 jumbo shrimp, rice and greens for $12. It was worth every delicious bite!! Squatch was happy, he found a food truck with burgers. After I was fed, we hit the beach. Waimea bay beach is beautiful and a very popular spot for snorkeling and diving. Next time we go to Aulani, I will buy gear at the local sporting goods store and be sure to pack it! I will also spend more time on the north shore and surfing! This bay is surrounded by break walls so, similar to Aulani, not many waves. Caution: sand is super hot and will burn you feet! wear your shoes! (found this out the hard way) I ran all the way to the water, thought my poor feet were going to catch fire and I won't repeat what the squatch said! We played in the water for awhile and when getting out, the squatch somehow sunk in the sand and beached himself. So I now present to you the beached squatch!

We had been warned about trying to leave the beach late in the day (apparently, that traffic makes rush hour look like what we drove up in the morning) the squatch is now waterlogged, complaining about sand in his fur and quite frankly, rather smelly, so we headed back to the Jeep. We changed into dry clothes (and I should mention, I still do no know how so much sand got in the jeep) and headed back into town. The traffic coming into the beaches at this time was INSANE! almost an hour back up to get to the beach! glad we were here early and finding parking was worse than at the mall on the 11th hour on Christmas Eve!! We stopped back at the shops in Halewia and did a little shopping. We wanted a treat and the line at Matsumoto's shave ice wasn't horrible (this is the original shave ice stand on Oahu) and had a really nice and refreshing treat and enjoyed some live music from a local in the park.

After our treat, we got back on the road and once out of the beaches, made a pit stop at the Dole Plantation. It's definitely a tourist trap.

We walked around for a bit and then.....the pit's snack radar went crazy! Is that......oh yes it is!!

My favorite snack! (next to popcorn of course) the smelly, sandy squatch had hoovered his snack and was trying to steal mine! I don't think so!! I savored every bite! We did some shopping and since we didn't smell the greatest, decided not to take the train ride (this was our good deed for the day) so we got back on the road and headed home to Aulani. We passed a gas station before we got back on the highway so we stopped to fill up. Made it back to Aulani and headed straight to the showers! Wet squatch smell is now neutralized! It was a little after 5 so we decided to head on down to the Olelo room for a DVC cocktail. I do have to say, Keoni is the best bartender there!

I present, the member cocktail! Now we have a dilemma....appetizers here or (take a guess) yep, Monkeypod! Well, Monekypod won so we closed our tab and made our way across the street. We decided to split an entrée because we both wanted dessert. We share the sausage gnocchi and had the banana cream pie! It was so delicious! After we were full, we walked around the shops for a bit and then made our way back to our villa. we were pretty beat so we got ready for bed and it was lights out! Up next, the best shopping on the island, an afternoon on the beach and our first luau!

 

[Chellymouse]

I interrupt this trip report for a PSA. If you are or know this family, please PM me and I will email all of your photos with Red. We all have had, at one time or another, a random family show up. Squatch pointed out, he remembered hearing the photographer wasn't confident this family's pictures had recorded on their card as we were going through pics the other night. so please, if you are this family or if someone here knows this family, either respond below or PM me so I can get these photos to their rightful family.

That is all. this PSA is now concluded and our regularly scheduled trip report will resume. Thank you!

 

[Chellymouse]

It's Sunday and hard to believe the start of our second week already! Earlier in the week, it took an hour to get Pearl harbor. The Aloha Bowl is almost directly across the street, well this morning it took all of 20 minutes! The Aloha stadium swap meet/flea and farmers market is every Wed, Sat and Sun and costs $1 per person to enter! Holy shopping deals!! We picked up tons of stuff for us and as gifts for family and friends. Word to the wise....if you are a coffee drinker, pure 100% Kona coffee is amazing! I bought 7 pounds of coffee (not all of it was mine, some was for our friends watching our house and for family) for under $100. Score!! I picked up Hawaiian seasalt at an incredible price, candles, a new bamboo cutting board and salad utensils and even the squatch had a good time! We spent nearly 4 hours (and 2 trips back to the jeep to drop stuff off) shopping. Even managed a couple of pics of the actual stadium!

After our shopping spree, we headed back to Aulani for some beach time. We put our shopping away, changed and headed down to the beach. we stopped at one of the quick service places by the pools for some lunch, can't go wrong with chicken tenders and finally found the dole whip station. It's kind of hidden! After lunch and a snack, we hit the beach. After playing around in the water for a good while, we sat down to warm up and dry off (the water was kind of cold today) and once again, a nice CM came by and asked if we would like a beverage. Of course we would like a beverage. We had the Hang 10 again (it's quite tasty!) and then made our way back up to the pools and lazy river for awhile. It was getting late in the afternoon and we had a luau to attend so it was upstairs to shower and change. Germaine's will pick up from Aulani on the weekends!! SCORE!! Especially since drinks are included! Our bus arrived and off to Germaine's we went. We watched the ceremony where they take the pig out of the imu (not to be confused with the emu) and then went back to our table. We did the reserved seating and had great seats, plus a great spot in line for food! Here is the imu ceremony

I have now decided I want an imu in my yard.....I have not been able to convince the squatch to dig one for me....yet! The food was very tasty, although fermented poi is disgusting! The pork was delicious! After the meal, the show began and I have to say, I was quite good!

Let me tell you ladies, Magic Mike doesn't have anything on these guys!! They were amazing!

We were fortunate enough to meet the dancers on our way back to the bus!

And or course, we had to be on the bus with a couple of people who had overindulged (hey, I'm being polite) and one group was having a full on temper tantrum (one any 2 year old would have been proud of) over their pictures. 30 minutes later (we were the last bus, obviously) we finally left the parking lot! our driver taught us kind of a naughty song about hanging loose on the way back. thankfully, Aulani is only about 10-15 minutes from the luau so we were the first stop. We stopped in one of the gift shops and did a bit of shopping on our way back to our villa and then it was lights out as we had to be up at 3:30am. up next, our day trip to Hilo Hawaii to see the volcanoes!!

 

[alohamom]

WOW-you really did an awesome job at mastering the surf board! Not only did you get up but you look like a pro in that last shot! My DH and DD also used Uncle Bryan, twice! His company is sooo laid back but so professional at the same time. I really got the feel that he was doing it for the love of the sport and the young guy who went out with my family was so great. Too bad your Squatchy ended up on the beach but hey, that whole North Shore area is so gorgeous, watching from the beach is a pretty good second option! I never thought about getting Kona coffee at the Swap Meet, we usually do two islands and Big Island is always one of them so I get it there but we are staying on Oahu only next trip so I might just pop in to see what they have to offer-thanks!

 

[Chellymouse]

WOW-you really did an awesome job at mastering the surf board! Not only did you get up but you look like a pro in that last shot! My DH and DD also used Uncle Bryan, twice! His company is sooo laid back but so professional at the same time. I really got the feel that he was doing it for the love of the sport and the young guy who went out with my family was so great. Too bad your Squatchy ended up on the beach but hey, that whole North Shore area is so gorgeous, watching from the beach is a pretty good second option! I never thought about getting Kona coffee at the Swap Meet, we usually do two islands and Big Island is always one of them so I get it there but we are staying on Oahu only next trip so I might just pop in to see what they have to offer-thanks!

Thank you! I absolutely LOVED surfing and it will definitely be a repeat activity on the next trip! Squatches definitely are not water creatures!! We loved the swap meet! TONS of deals! The stand where we purchased our coffee was also selling star lamps. we bought so much coffee that she gave us quite a deal on the coffee as well as the star lamps (those were purchased as gifts and both made it home!)