It was a long flying day- started with 3am pick up – to be dropped off at London Heathrow, then flight to Frankfurt, then Anchorage, Alaska and then finally to Honolulu. I was out pretty quick early that evening!
What I did manage to get is some helpful info from one of my roommates who told me that the Honolulu Museum of Art had its 3rd Sunday free entry (entrance normally 20 USD) and that the Corpse Plant in Fosters Botanical Gardens was blooming- a rare event. So I had two things for my to do list the next day.
My first item to be sorted though was getting at US SIM card for my phone, especially to use Google transport to get around Honolulu and the island. I had a choice- 3GB of data for 35 USD or 25 GB for 45 USD; so I took the 25GB option…def should have me covered. I mention this as it makes data really pretty expensive in comparison to the other countries I have been!
I did a load of walking on these days and got some shots of lots of different aspects of Honolulu, some of which are below.
My first stop – as it neared the midday heat was the Museum of Art- to get into the aircon after a good few kilometres. I was pleasantly surprised at the very large diversity of displays- there was art in the traditional sense but also many sculptures, ceramics, as well as traditional body decorations from many cultures. The museum covers Japanese, South East Asia, Philippines, Islamic, and a light art showcase called GLOW, to name a few. The museum halls are built around central courtyards that are of varied themes- which are also nice to visit.
On the 3rd Sunday there are also activities for the kids around art and there were some local musicians for some afternoon tunes.
After the museum I made my way to Fosters Botanical Garden to see if the corpse plant had flowered yet. It had not fully bloomed at that stage. It only blooms for about 2-3 days and then the flower dies off again. This botanical garden has been lucky, in that this is their 19th bloom since 2013. The flower produces the smell of carrion to attract the insects that pollinate it. This was such a big event that the local news and several photographers were there to cover it!
Besides the corpse plant there are also many beautiful orchids, large old trees and cycads. There is one lonely but colourful rainbow eucalyptus too! An interesting tree was the cannonball tree- it has fruits the size of cannonballs hanging all over the tree and stunning flowers!
It was off to Waikiki from the gardens in order to meet up with Alanah and Trav- ex colleague and friend from Whyalla. They were over for a wedding, so I planned my visit to overlap with their dates too. We met up and had dinner at a Japanese place – very filling! We then walked around a packed Waikiki —-aaaargh!! So many horrid tourists!
The next morning, we met up at 7am at the start of the Diamond Head Walking Trail- along with 100s of other tourists. This is the walk up one of the iconic volcanoes that is visible from around Honolulu and Waikiki. It is a relatively steep climb, but not long. The view is of the old crater, a lighthouse and of course the Waikiki and Honolulu skylines.
We have a filling breakfast at a Mexican place and part ways…for another year or so? Was great to catch up and talk through what’s happening.
One reply on “Honolulu/Waikiki”
Both museum and botanical garden looks like very interesting places and definately worth visiting. So nice that you could meet with your friend