Oahu, Hawaii - Adventures with Paddy

Day Four

 

After a 12 hour flight from Sydney to Honolulu and an hour long shuttle bus from Honolulu to Waikiki, I finally arrived in paradise, in much need of a shower and a nap! After checking in to the hostel and carrying my bag up 2 flights of stairs, I stumbled into the empty dorm and had the best shower of my life. When I came out of the shower, I met the first of my dorm mates; Paddy. He is originally from the UK but is currently working as a Ski Instructor in Canada. As he was travelling alone, he was very excited to find another lone traveller and quickly suggested grabbing dinner together.

 

After I spent the afternoon walking down the main strip in Waikiki, finding out what the island has to offer, I went back the hostel to find Paddy so we could grab a bite to eat. We ended up at this little Mexican joint, before heading to a local bar Lulu's. We discussed what we wanted to do while in Hawaii and decided to rent a car together so we could get the most out of the island.

 

Day Five

 

After watching a parade go down the main street in honour of the last Prince of Hawaii we headed off in search of the best car deal. We ended up at Dollar Rent A Car, still not sure if this was the cheapest car rental place but we got a really good deal $45 a day instead of $68 a day... That's before they add taxes, insurance and young drivers fee.



 

As seen below, his is the magnificent beast that drove us around the island. A car that can hold it's head high, as it roars past the Mustangs and Monster Trucks that populate the island. Our very own handy dandy Mazda 2, in red of course.

 

As we had planned this very well and thought through what we were doing... we just jumped in the car and headed to the closest major road. We ended up driving around the south-east side of the island, stopping at scenic look outs and beaches as it caught our fancy. It was a lovely drive and we got to experience both the coastal and jungle aspects of the island. 

 

 

The coast line of Oahu is absolutely stunning, it varies from rock to pristine beaches in the blink of an eye and is constantly surrounded by crystal clear blue ocean.

With the coast on one side of the road, we were shadowed by the mountain ranges on the other side. It became quite cloudy on our drive, raining sporadically, Which caused the mountains to be covered in a mist of cloud similar to what you see on Table Mountain in Cape Town.

It was just so pretty :)

The first wild animals we saw in Hawaii were chickens! Apparently back in the day tribes didn't cage any of their livestock, the animals would roam free and stay close to the people because they were fed. This has lead to lots of semi-domesticated pigs and chickens which just roam the island.

 

Day Six

 

 

We planned on doing a little bit more planning on the second day but instead we did a little more drinking the night before. We decided on heading to Judd's Trail to see a waterfall before heading to Pearl Harbor and finally Keana Point.

 



 

Because I'm a silly kid, most of the photos I took on this day are on my actual camera and I couldn't be bothered uploading them... I promise I will put the photos up on facebook at some point....

That night we ended up going to the local bar Lulu's again to grab a burger and a beer. There happened to be a band doing covers of pop music which was really fun. It was interesting looking at these Polynesian blokes singing songs like Riptide, Rude and Thinking Out Loud. We then walked along the beach and found a pier which had a great vantage point for looking back onto Waikiki.

 

 

Day Seven

 

On the map below I've indicated where the waterfalls we visited are. The blue spot by route 61 is Judd's Trail which we did the day before and the pink spot is Manoa Falls which is the bigger, more famous waterfall. It is about a 3km round walk to see the Manoa Falls on quite wide tracks with a slight incline.

 



The track is surrounded by lush Jurassic Park Jungle which was stunning to walk through. Luckily there were no velociraptors lurking in the bush!





After we walked through the wilderness and saw the waterfall, we headed back into town and returned the rental car. It only cost $20 to fill up a tank of petrol!! After an afternoon on the beach we returned to the hostel to have a few bevies with the other people in our dorm before hitting the town to celebrate Paddy's last night. We ended up going to three bars before crawling back to the Hostel at 4am. Good night!

 Day Eight

 

After a rather big night out the night before we struggled to do anything at all today. We barely made it to Burger King and back to the Hostel... Which in a way was good because it gave me time to write this... I suppose... Paddy left to go back to Canada this evening. I plan on doing all of the big touristy things in my time remaining on Oahu, like going to the Dole Plantation, revisiting Pearl Harbor, going to Wet n Wild, seeing a Luau and much much more...

 



Sydney

 

 

Day One: Catching the Train

 

A lot of people laughed at me or questioned why I would catch a 12 hour train to Sydney when I could just fly up in one hour. There were 2 reasons I chose this mode of transport:

• It was significantly cheaper than a flight (with international luggage)
• I like train travel (but not in a Sheldon Cooper kind of way...)

 

 

The train trip was absolutely brilliant. I loved having the time to relax, enjoy the Australian countryside and read a few books. The majority of customers on the train were pensioners, with a few backpackers, 20 something year olds and families scattered into the mix. The staff on the train were absolutely fantastic, they were kind and patient, even cheekily flirting with some of the old ladies. It would have been one of the more relaxed modes of transport I have ever taken. 

 

I spent my time reading and managed to finish 'Will Grayson, Will Grayson' by John Green. The book was interesting. Not one of the usual books I would enjoy, with only male lead characters, and the predominant themes centred on high school drama. However, I found it thought provoking, challenging and emotionally moving. I would highly recommend it to anyone after a good, quick read.

 

Whenever I needed to rest my eyes, I would find myself looking out the window onto the Australian countryside. What a view!

 

Once we reached Sydney at around 8pm, I decided to walk the 15 minutes to my hostel instead of hoping on another train for only one stop. It was an easy walk through the city, getting used to the twisty, illogical roadmap that is Sydney once again. As much as I love Sydney... Melbourne's town planners beat them by a mile.

 

I stayed at the Base Hostel Sydney for 2 nights. There was nothing special about the Hostel, standard sort of accommodation, clean, staff from lots of different countries and it had a large common room on the ground floor for people to chill and socialise. I stayed in a female only dorm, which was hilarious with a bright pink door and feature wall. my room was never full, with only two other girls staying there on the first night and a snoring granny making an appearance after midnight on the second night.

 

Day Two: Going Walk-about

 

 

I decided to take advantage of the amazing weather in Sydney and went for a walk from the Hostel down George St to Circular Quay before heading to The Rocks, taking a few happy snaps of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, before walking to Darling Harbour, following the line of the Bay. It was a pleasant walk, there was a historic path that was very interesting to follow, documenting early Australian History.



 

Once I had finished up at Darling Harbour, I swung past the Qantas Credit Union Arena to see how long the line for General Admission was before heading back to the Hostel to get ready for the best concert in the History of man kind (Ed Sheeran was amazing and so were his supporting acts).

 

 

Day Three: Northern Beaches

After the best night in my life, I decided to take it easy and go relax at the beach. I walked back down George St to Circular Quay and jumped on the Ferry to Manly. I love catching the ferries in Sydney. Once I reached Manly, I walked down The Corso and sat down at Manly Beach looking like the biggest tourist... Carrying my whole world in a suitcase, taking photo after photo of the best beach in Sydney.

 

On the way back to the Ferry Wharf, I saw the best thing in the entire world. This cat was taking itself for a walk. No joke. It was just casually strolling down the path dragging it's leash across the ground. Amazing.

 

Sadly my time in Sydney was up! I hoped off the ferry at Circular Quay and on to a train to the International Airport to begin my adventure in the land of the free.

Very excited to be going to the USA from 25th March to 24th June!

Watch this space for pictures, locations and activities!