Out and About in Waikiki

 The Ala Wai canal runs beside our hotel and we have a great view of it from our balcony. In a couple of weeks time there will be a Hawaiian culture day and outrigger canoe races will be a big part of the celebrations.  Almost every time we look over the water there are craft of various descriptions being paddled up and down and some are already getting down to the serious stuff of racing practices. We have already scoped out a nice shady spot on the grass to watch the events from.

Hilo Hatties produces and sells everything Hawaiian; big shirts included. This monster holds a place in the Guinness book of records and is touted as the largest shirt in the world.

 It is thirsty work being on vacation and a big drink was considered very appropriate.

Mine is in there somewhere!!! I am not sure how these bike racks work, but folks lock a bike up and leave, others follow and just dump theirs on top; lock them and leave, and so on until you have a big pile of bikes. It looks impossible to get a bike from the bottom of the heap without the top guys unlocking first.

Sunset is a wonderful time of day, especially when you can get out of bed the following day and do it all again. Stay warm folks.

Evening Stroll Along the Beach

The last two hours before sun set are really pleasant as the temperature begins to fall toward the evening 70s. There are lots of big shade trees everywhere so getting out of the direct sun at almost any time of the day is quite easy. This shot is looking west from under the massive banyan tree  outside of the zoo entrance.

The sun is almost at the horizon and darkness will fall soon but many folks will continue on to walk the beach  in the moonlight.

We came across this big fellow as we wandered the tide line. A male Hawaiian Monk Seal, quite rare and an endangered and protected species. We felt quite honoured that he chose "our" beach to haul out and rest. We thought it was quite cute that he used his flipper to rake up the sand under his head to make a comfortable pillow - smart guy.

This shot is looking at the Diamond Head from one of the several small piers along the beach. Later Ed will walk to the top and take the opposite view.

On the Road Again Hawaii 2012

We had a long but uneventful trip to our hotel on Oahu. We were met at the airport as planned and after the once over review of the apartment, we were handed the keys and tumbled almost immediately into bed. Not quite exhausted but pleasantly tired.
Mmmm!!!  no alarm clock required and no driving to work in snow and ice - at least not for several weeks. We woke up the following morning to a beautiful sunrise and anticipated a lazy warm day beside the pool. Above is the view to the east from our bedroom and below is the pool where we will spend a good number of lazy hours reading and just hanging out.

 Chinese New Year is almost upon us but the parades and firecrackers have started already. We  bumped into this "dragon" yesterday - a very energetic fellow indeed. Quite impressive to be truthful - 85 degrees and this guy was jumping around all over the place - must be the ginseng or something.