The one thing we knew we would do while in Hawaii is climb Diamond Head, mostly because we’d heard about it and it was in walking distance from where we were staying. So, Saturday morning we left about 10ish to walk the 2.8 miles to the park starting along the canal by our building.
Diamond Head is a crater. You walk into the crater through a shared pedestrian/car tunnel before paying the entrance fee and heading to the top.
You do not come to Diamond Head and expect to be alone and definitely not on a Saturday. It’s a destination here, so we joined the multitudes and paid our $1 entrance fee ($5 per car — amazing!) to start our upwards journey. The path is easy to follow and zig zaggy until the very top where you do some vertical stair climbing. There is also a longish tunnel to walk through near the end (FYI – if you’re claustrophobic) and then a small space to scoot through to get to the observation deck if you veer right and not left at the decision point at the top. This is not indicated on the sign that says you can go either way.
After we left Diamond Head, we started back down the road the way we came to see if a market we had passed on the way to the park was still open. It was not, but we stumbled on a great cactus garden on a community college campus. It reminded us of our times in Tucson.
Okay, back to more typical Hawaii destinations. After a stop for a great, fresh smoothie, we were off to the Iolani Palace to at least get a look at the US’s only royal residence. We saw a number of other cool buildings along the way.
The Iolani Palace was the residence of the royal rulers of Hawaii from 1845 to 1893. It’s located in the capital district along with other government office buildings. We found this to be an attractive area.
When we were in Auckland, the paper had recommended a bar in Waikiki in their travel section, so we had to give it a look. It is called The Study, and it’s located in The Modern Hotel. It is too cute. It is behind a bookcase during the hours when it’s closed. It opens at 6 pm, with the bookcase rotating out far enough for people to walk through. We went early to see it open.
Peckish Travels 