Aloha Maui, aloha Honolulu

Day 8, country 1, City 3 

We take an afternoon flight from Maui to Oahu to stay near Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. But first we have some vacationing to do. 

Once again at breakfast we get to watch the sun come from behind the volcano to light up the water. Outrigger canoes and paddleboards glide by on the very still bay waters. So peaceful. 

We take a walk along the beach to a coral-free zone where we can do a little swimming without dodging sharp rocks. On the way out & back we see a number of people fishing. One oddity is that some surf casting guys carry step ladders with them. They wade part way out, set up the ladder, then cast from 12 inches higher up. Is it really that useful? I notice two guys on ladders, then nearby is another man with snorkeling ear and a long stick. I think he's pulling some kind of catch off the ocean floor, right there where the ladder boys are catching absolutely nothing. Stranger than fiction. 

Then back to the turtle pond at the beach in front of our condo. The turtle pond indeed has green sea turtles swimming and lounging, right there! We gawk at the four resting on the rocks, then swim near the underwater turtle that's feeding on algae from the rocks. What a great experience. Showing my total novice abilities, I leave the underwater GoPro camera and even my swim goggles in the condo, so no photos. 

Then 11:00 o'clock checkout time is approaching. Goodbye condo at Maui, we'll miss you!

Local Tip: It's thought to be bad luck to bring any kind of rocks home from Hawaii. A legend referred to as Pele’s Curse says that visitors who take rocks or sand away from Hawaii will suffer bad luck until the native Hawaiian elements are returned. In fact, Haleakala National Park reports they receive about 100 rocks a month in the mail, sent back by those who are remorseful for taking them. So leave the rocks at home in Maui and come back and visit them! :)

I take the trash and recycling down to the dumpster. I hadn't noticed it, but the first flight of stairs is 7 steps, the second flight is 9 steps. I must be counting subconsciously because I miss the last step and fall hard to the bottom. Thank goodness I land on a full bag of kitchen trash! My right knee and hand/arm sustain no damage (a miracle) but my left hand hurts a bit the rest of the day. Gotta stay focused, Dave! (PS I really did leave all the rocks in the condo :-)

We head back over to Fork and Salad Maui for lunch. 15% off for 15 jumping jacks, so I do the exercises again. The guys count out the reps and really hype it up when you do this. Fun. My Buddha bowl is delicious.

We drop by the post office to mail postcards to the grandkids, plus a secret mission that we'll tell you about later.

As we near the airport we notice a produce truck with some pallets of carrots. 25# bags, many of them. The guy loading said they had 50#-60# bags last week. Really monster carrots grow here! I could love it. 

OK only a couple more errands before we leave. We stop to get gas and shave ice, a Hawaiian treat. 

At the airport it turns out that the new computed tomography scanners are really good. They find the large size sunblock and body lotion we bought here, plus a bottle of 50SPF I brought from Charlotte. How did that make it through two checkpoints? I end up retreating out to the check-in area and check my bag -- a hassle but I get to keep all three oversized tubes and we still have time to wait for our flight.

As we fly into Oahu we see the Diamond Head Crater. Beautiful, and an amazing sight to have the extinct volcanic crater so close to town.

Honolulu is such the big city compared to all of Maui. Not to mention the little surfing village is Paia on the way to Hana. I'm sure I'll like it here, too, but the small town nature of Maui is very appealing. 

Our new location in Honolulu is super. 20th floor condo a few blocks from the beach. Nice views, easy access. It's going to be great.  

Here's the nighttime view.