June 5th - Diamond Head and Lost Baggage

This morning we are off to climb Diamond Head, the dormant volcanic crater just East of Honolulu that offers fantastic views across the city.

It is a relatively early start as it is a tough climb and we do not want to be doing I in the heat of the day. We leave here at about 8:15 and get there before 9. Baggage objects violently to making the climb, she does not see the point in it and does not want to do it, she eventually gives up objecting when she realises that we will not budge on our resolve to go up there and she has no choice but to go with us, all the same she still whinges for quite a while. As we reach the top a rescue helicopter lands on a heli-pad up there, a woman had collapsed and the rescue services been called, however in the meantime she had come round and started to make her way back down into the crater, we had passed her as we came up, Baggage was very pleased to be able to tell the rescue man that she had seen her on her way down the path, the excitement finally made her forget she was supposed to be complaining about having to do this.

The view from the top is well worth the climb, from one side you can see out over Waikiki and Honolulu, from the other you look back towards Hanauma Bay. It was a beautifully clear day, the vog (Volcanic Fog as it is called in Hawaii) had left the hills and we could see for miles. We all made it right to the top and loads of photos were taken, some of which I am sure I willl be posting with this blog!

The walk down was much easier, though when at the bottom my knees did feel a little like jelly for a while which was not a feeling I had got as a result of the climb. At the bottom we all had a shave ice, again well deserved.

From Diamond Head we returned to the house via Don Quijote as we needed to pick up a birthday present for the Mother-in-Law and then the post office as we needed to get it in the mail.

Back at the house we just chilled for a few hours and got most of the packing done. Baggage is off to a sleep over with the Girl Scouts tonight at the Sea Life Park and we wanted to ensure she enjoyed it.

Ar just before 5:30 we headed out for the Sea Life park, it is about a 30 minute drive. When we got her there we were amongst the first to arrive, though Dianne was already there and Lisa had wanted to catch her early as she had a couple of things to go through with her. Baggage settled right in, playing tag with some of the other girls whilst waiting to get into the park. We hung around for about half an hour after which we decided to head off and leave Baggage to her sleep over, she was very happy to see us go.

Lisa and I headed back to Kailua, we have a table booked at Buzz’, a restaurant by the beach, famous as Bill Clinton chose to dine there whilst in Hawaii. The table is booked for 7:30 and we get there a little early, but not too early such that we are hanging about. The food is very good, we both go for fish, Red Snapper, mine is poached with a ginger dressing and Lisa’s is grilled, both are excellent. The meals come with a salad bar which is also excellent, not your usual selection of bowls of salad but an array of diverse and interesting dishes. Avocado Salad; Water Melon in a vinaigrette; An egg salad; Pinapple in a savoury sauce; and an Onion dish were just a few of the options available.

After dinner we went back to the house, I had wanted to go for a walk on the beach, but Lisa did not see the point as it was dark and we would not see anything!

At around 10pm we get a call from Baggage, there are spiders and cockroaches where she is staying and she is a bit freaked out, at first she wants us to come and get her, we explain that if we do she will miss out on the mornings activities as they start at 06:30 and there is no way I would get up to get her back out there for then. We have a chat with Dianne and agree it is best for Baggage to stay, we know if she comes away she will regret it, we then talk to Baggage again and she is a lot happier, guess she did not really want us to come and get her after all. We do not hear from her again tonight.