Hawaii Day 5 - On to Oahu!

With such an amazing view from our room, we set an alarm to make sure we caught the sunrise. Even with a 6:30 alarm set, we were both awake by 6. The sunrise was as lovely as we had hoped, though we had our bearings a little off, so it rose in a slightly different direction than we were expecting. Either way, a beautiful way to start the day! We ate our farmer’s market fresh mango, papaya, and star fruit. I was not a fan of the star fruit, but the other two were so good! The papaya was easier to eat, but the mango might have won out on flavor, just barely. I look forward to more mango and papaya in my future!

















We took our time packing our bags and soaking up the views one last time. Eventually we got everything together and checked out of our room. We still had a little time to kill, so we went down the street to a Japanese garden. It was a peaceful walk and a nice end to our time on the big island. With our departure time getting closer, we headed to the airport.



The Hilo airport is nice and small and super easy to get through. We met the Novy clan as we were checking in and got through TSA in a snap. We wandered for a few minutes, but there’s not much to see, so I went to sit at our gate. That part of the airport is “open air” so it was nice and warm. Richard made fun of me for enjoying the warm temps, but I enjoyed it! I had some time to write the previous day’s blog, so that was helpful. As I finished up the post, it was time to board. Flying from Hilo to Honolulu is like Milwaukee to Chicago, you barely get up in the air before it’s time to descend again. 


The elder Novy’s had rented a mini van, so they gave us a ride to our hotel. We weren’t actually sure if where they dropped us was the right spot and turns out we were one block off. Our hotel is tucked basically in an alley, but we found it pretty quickly after they left. Even though check in was at 3, the room wouldn’t be ready for an hour, so we went wandering to see what was around and to get our bearings. 


We stopped at an ABC store, the most abundant convenience store I’ve ever seen, to get some bus passes. We didn’t rent a car on Oahu, so we decided to try the bus system. We had dinner plans with the Novy’s around 5:30, so we thought we might want a little snack beforehand. Our wanderings took us to a cafe where I got a tiny chai latte and Ross a nitro cold brew. After sipping those by the beach for a bit, we went to see if the empanada food truck by our hotel had any potato ones left. Unfortunately, he did not. By then it was about 4 so we went in to see if our room was ready. Luckily it was.


Unlike the last room, this one is just a place to keep our things and lay our head at night. There is no view except other people’s balconies and that’s ok! It will serve its purpose just fine. We unloaded a bit and got ourselves ready to meet up with the Novy’s. We got our bus passes and headed to the stop. The bus was super easy and quick. We made it to our stop in no time. I think the bus was a good move for this island.



We were a little early for our reservation, so we walked around the shops in the area. The last time we were here, our hotel was in this same area, so we had some memory of walking these same shops. Richard and Cindy let us know they got the table early, so we tried to find our way back to Goofy’s. It took a few extra minutes, but we made it!


We had eaten at Goofy’s the last time we were here and if my memory serves me correctly, we sat at the same table too. We ordered a strawberry kale salad and a pesto pasta dish. The salad was excellent and the pasta was just ok. Ross was a little jealous of Richard’s Loco Moco dish, but he resisted taking a taste. 


After dinner we did some more wandering around the shops, but no sales for any of us. We did taste some Hawaiian Cookie Co samples. Those shops are almost as abundant as the ABC stores. The cookies are good, but I don’t think worth the price. I did see some nice jewelry in one shop I might go back for, but other than that, it was either too high end or just trinkets. I am still on the lookout for a Christmas ornament. We have been getting one from all our trips over the years. 


Earlier in the day I thought I felt like a cold was coming on, so by the time we were wandering around after dinner I was starting to feel it. So we called it a night and walked back to our hotel instead of taking the bus. Hopefully some more fresh air would help out. I did a little blogging and hit the hay! Tomorrow we plan on going up to Diamond Head!


Stats for the day:

Steps: 17,479

Birds added to the life list: 3

Number of ABC stores in the Waikiki vicinity: At least 400

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