Saturday – Waikiki, Hawaii

To try and recover from our lost nights sleep, we slept in this morning, not venturing out of the hostel until midday.

We headed down to Kalakaua Avenue, the main street that runs alongside the beach at Waikiki. 

As we wandered along the beachside strip, the number of shops and restaurants to choose from was overwhelming.  One eatery we were impressed with, and will hopefully treat ourselves to a visit before we leave was ‘Cheeseburger in Paradise’.  An American 50s diner, with the coolest decor, and biggest burger menu we had ever seen.

Next we took in the Lonely Planet walking tour of Waikiki, starting with the Moana Surfrider Hotel. 

When first opened in 1901 this hotel was the haunt of Hollywood movie stars, aristocrats and tycoons.  Built in a plantation style, it truly is a landmark on the beach front and a beautiful building to explore.

We then ducked out onto the beachfront to take in the views along the coast to the majestic Diamond Head peak in the distance.

Diamond Head is a cone created by a violent steam explosion, and at 760ft high, the summit is now a popular hike, which we hope to do whilst we are in Waikiki.

As we wandered along the crowded beach, with barely enough room to walk for all the sun loungers and people, we came across the Moorish designed Royal Hawaiian Hotel, often called the Pink Palace.

Built in 1927, it now stands as an Art Deco landmark.

This evening we headed down to central Waikiki beach for sunset, and the ceremonial lighting of the torches.

As the sun dipped below the horizon the orange glow that emanated through the sky was stunning.  It was then that the torch lighting ceremony began, along with the sounding of the conch shell.

It was there at the ‘Hula Mound’ that we enjoyed an authentic music and dance show. 

With dancers performing the traditional and modern hula dances, and musicians and singers adding musical accompaniment.

We then wandered down to a local bookshop to pick up a copy of the ‘Big Island’ guide, as that is where we are flying off to on Monday.  Ben was more impressed however, with the Ferrari store!