Frugal Bastard's Hawaii Trip 2007 - The Blog

After finally finishing writing about our trip to Hawaii this year I have collated the posts into another blog so that everything is together in the one place - Frugal Bastard's Hawaii Trip 2007. And I've put it all in chronological order. Just for posterity's sake, you understand.

Frugal Bastard's Hawaii Trip 2007 - 31/5/07

Spent the day at Ala Moana Center buying clothes. Lunch - Yu-Jin had a McDonalds cheeseburger Happy Meal (TM) which I purchased with a travellers cheque. Miky had Japanese food I had tacos from Taco Bell.

Yu-Jin and I went to Office Max so that I could check out some 4GB flash drives. They had the Internet available so I set up some games online for Yu-Jin. Bit surprised to find the cheapest 4GB flash drive was US$89.90. I checked on the Net back home and could pick up something similar for A$54. Very disappointed in the prices available. Caught a couple of buses to return to the hotel.

We had a swim in the very cold hotel pool. After tea we went t-shirt and leather goods shopping. Bought a few shirts, a wallet and a handbag (not all for me). Bit of a late night with Miky packing most items which, quite surprisingly, fitted reasonably well into our luggage.

Frugal Bastard's Hawaii Trip 2007 - 1-2/6/07

Up at 5:40am to have breakfast and to the rest of the packing. Caught a taxi just before 7am and the driver helped himself to the continental breakfast that was on offer.

At the security screening at the airport we were chosen, as a family, for an additional pat-down search. It must be the wife. She has to be jinxed.

Gate 33 was a long walk and after Miky chucked a spaz about water, followed by me purchasing 1L for US$3.65, Yu-Jin and I caught a small shuttle for half of the walk.

At the gate there was more paperwork to fill out. This time it was a questionnaire relating to how much money you spent, where you stayed and how long you stayed for.

Eleven hours on the plane back to Melbourne. Uneventful. Played card games with Yu-Jin and read him a book that we bought. Wasn't interested in watching the movie and got about an hours sleep. We had breakfast before leaving and brought our lunch with us. I asked a stewardess what were Qantas passengers entitle to in the way of onboard services. She said that we were entitled to meals and unlimited drinks. After what happened on our flight over to Hawaii we weren't going to be caught out again and it sure left a bitter taste in our mouths. It made my blood boil seeing as we had missed out on one meal and had to pay for them on the flight across.

We arrived in Melbourne about 10 minutes early. Lots of people couldn't wait to alight the plane but the ground staff were unable to line-up the platform to disembark. Everybody had to sit down while they moved the plane forward. So much for the early landing.

Had quite a bit to declare to Customs - shells, food and plant material. All ok though. Had to fill in an entry form for immigration for Yu-Jin although I was sure that on the plane they said it was one per family. My mistake probably.

There were three hours to kill and we found some half decent and reasonably priced food at the airport! Yu-Jin fell asleep just before boarding time. He'd been awake for 18 hours. The flight to Perth with Virgin Blue was eventful. There were a group of three boisterous, and probably slightly pissed, guys yelling out "Tazza" every minute or so in front of us. Obviously went to the footy recently. We had asked for a seat closer to the middle of the plane to escape screaming babies and were put in row 23 instead of our intended row of 28. Thank goodness for that as there was a screaming, crying kid around row 28. Mind you, we had a drunk behind us who kept headbutting our seats as he fell forward and grabbing the seats every time he wanted to move as he wasn't too steady on his feet.

It was so cold that I couldn't get to sleep and there were no blankets available. Long four hours that. Did kip for about an hour after Miky slept with her legs on me which warmed me up a bit.

Quick ride home in the taxi and I'm glad to see that the new overpass on Leach Highway has been opened.


Honolulu petrol prices on 1st of May 2007

Frugal Bastard's Hawaii Trip 2007 - 30/5/07

Miky spent the day shopping. Yu-Jin and I caught #52 bus up to Pupukea Beach (meaning "white shell") after reading about the great snorkelling there. It was a 1 hr 45 minutes ride from the Ala Moana Center. The beach wasn't that impressive but there were quite a few people there, including many Texans. Few fish to see but a great many sea urchins. I was too scared to put my feet down. At one stage I counted 16 sea urchins on one rock on the side that I could see. Yu-Jin didn't want to snorkel but did a lot of swimming.

Pupukea Beach

Click it or ticket - I love Hawaii's seat belt slogan


After having a shower and getting changed I asked one guy with SCUBA equipment if there was a place to eat nearby. He thought that the nearest place was five miles away in Waimea.

We walked about a minute and came across a grill. Whilst waiting for our burger and fries one guy sitting next to us was feeding the chickens that surrounded us. He even fed them a piece of chicken. Just as we finished our meal we made our way to the bus stop - which was located across the road from a Foodland supermarket.

Two hours later we arrived at the Ala Moana Center. Looked around for a Linkin Park CD and bought a pineapple ice cream. Back to the hotel where I had a short nap. After tea I went to my mate Wayne's house and didn't return until nearly 2:30am. Good to catch up with him - we travelled around Japan and Seoul together in 1996.

Coconut Plaza Hotel balcony view

Frugal Bastard's Hawaii Trip 2007 - 29/5/07

Packing up and washing day. Only trouble was the washer took 33 minutes but the dryer about an hour. Did two loads of washing and whilst waiting for the second drying sequence we checked out and did some shopping in Lahaina.

Downtown Lahaina


After shopping, the temperature was 100F if you believe it, we folded up our clothes and spent 1 1/2 hours driving to Pai'a heading for Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center - some art house that Miky had seen in an art magazine. It certainly was not worth the trouble as they were renovating and there was almost nothing to see. We ate our lunch in the post office car park as there weren't too many places to park in the town of Pai'a.

Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center

Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center building

Totem pole at Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center


Returned to Kahalui and went shopping at Big KMart. What a disappointment. The guy in the electronic department didn't understand English too well and wasn't interested in serving me. I asked about a top 20 album chart and he told me that only Walmart did that. I don't understand how KMart expect to sell anything, especially if a Dolly Parton album is about the latest offering. Hair colouring was cheap though. Miky found some Kelloggs classic style mugs, bowls and plates to buy.

Filled up the car with fuel, damned expensive on Maui, and found the airport easily enough. Checked in and whilst going through carry-on screening Miky got picked on again for her cosmetics. They didn't say anything about the 236mL of sunscreen that was in my bag.

Yu-Jin had to sit in the row behind us so he had no-one to talk to as the passenger next to him was Korean. Only arrived at the gate 15 minutes before boarding time.

Hotel, Aqua Coconut Plaza, in Honolulu is ok with only a king size bed. Kitchen utensils are a little lacking. Two and a half stars is about right.

Frugal Bastard's Hawaii Trip 2007 - 28/5/07

The Makai Inn was right on the sea and so you could hear the waves all night. Rather pleasant.

Dawn at the rear of Makai Inn


Miky was up really early. In fact she was up before sunrise and she was really please about what she saw. The early morning at the beach was worth getting out of bed for. Whilst Yu-Jin had breakfast we did some shopping at Safeway and I booked a luau.

D. T. Fleming Beach


When we finally got going we headed towards the north coast, through Ka'anapali and up to Honolua Bay. From the scenic lookout above, after viewing a sandy beach (D. T. Fleming Beach) from a golf course previously, we spotted Honolua Bay and thought that it would be a good spot to snorkel. There were already a couple of commercial catamarans in the bay with day-trippers. I double-parked in the parking bay so that Miky and Yu-Jin could get changed. Then I found a parking spot and got directions from a local on how to reach the beach.

Overlooking Honolua Bay with catamaran

Honolua Bay - no sand on this side of the beach

Honolua Bay - no sand on the other side either

Interesting bird at Honolua Bay


Yu-Jin wasn't happy about the fact that there was no sand and that we were going snorkelling again. The beach was quite busy and some people even brought SCUBA gear. At one stage Yu-Jin was about 40-50m out and halfway to the boats. I swam out to get him which wasn't a bad idea as his goggles filled up with a bit of water and then he got a mouthful on the way back to shore.

There were lots of sea urchins, parrotfish, wrasse, colourful coral, a 4 ft long thin fish with a strange beak and one large school of silver fish - much like a scene out of Finding Nemo. It was very enjoyable. Even Yu-Jin had a good time. Had our lunch when finished. Miky insisted on having a shower so we drove back to D.T. Fleming Beach, voted best beach in America 2006 (I don't know why, personally), and used the showers.

Drove into Napili region and bought ice creams and looked at a craft fair. Few nice local photos on display and for sale. But you expect that being in Hawaii and surrounded by beauty.

Headed south to Lahaina to watch some surfers and ended up at Launiupoko Wayside Park. Not very many waves but quite a few surfers. Spent an hour there and then it was time to pick up the tickets for the luau, no parking to be found in the vicinity (of course), then quickly home to shower and get changed.

Launiupoko Wayside Park surfers


The luau was hosted at Royal Lahaina Resort which was about six miles down the road. We arrived just before 5pm but had to form part of a long queue. My tickets said we had to check-in by 5pm to obtain our front row seating. I'd paid an extra three dollars for those seats. Paid US$62.99 for the seats and Yu-Jin was free. Saved about US$20/head for the tickets.

Luau queue

Lots of people at the luau


After waiting for about 40 minutes in the line we entered and had our photo taken as a family. We were about to be seated near the sun but three seats were available right in front of the stage. Brilliant. We had to change to the other side of the table when three VIPs came but that was ok.

I thought that the review was going to be a bit cheesy with a big lady on stage singing Hawaiian songs. She was funny, entertaining and could really shake her tush. Anyone who wished to hula was invited on stage. Only two guys did so.

Hula dancers and our hostess


Then the pig was unearthed from the imu and displayed on stage.

Hawaiian oven - imu

Luau pig


Little bit more singing and then we were taken to the buffet centre. Some people, out of the 500 or so in attendance, filled two plates with an enormous amount of food. Later, much of the food was wasted. It is difficult to accept how wasteful the, mainly American, attendees were.

The kahalua pork and turkey were nice, poi was ok, coleslaw, macaroni, hot dogs, chicken nuggets (lots of traditional Hawaiian food here, notice), Hawaiian sweet potato which was purple and cakes were included. You could go for seconds, which I did, but I don't think that too many others did.

The dancing by the men and women was very good and Dwight, good friend of one of the VIPs at our table, was great. Fire dancing was good too. A very good night out which finished at 8:15pm. Nothing on my plate was wasted.

Four ladies dancing - they changed costumes a lot

Hawaiian sunset on Maui

Funny man Dwight in the review

Hubba-hubba or hula-hula?

Fire breathing and fire dancing

Fire dancing extraordinaire


Went back to the Inn so that Miky could change and we dropped her off in town so that she could check out the galleries. I put Yu-Jin to bed and went to pay for the accommodation. Ended up talking to Susie, the proprietor, about travel for the next hour. Went to pick Miky up and do a bit of shopping myself, just prior as I was a bit early.

As it was Memorial Day the shops closed a bit earlier than usual. Closed at 10pm instead of 11. Caught up with her in one of the shops. Bought some knick-knacks before we went out for a drink.

Frugal Bastard's Hawaii Trip 2007 - 27/5/07

Woke up at 8 this morning, rather surprisingly. Had brekkie and then went shopping for lunch and tea. Bought some more seafood as Hilo has some nice stuff on offer. Back to the hotel to cook the food and then checkout.

Pick-up truck

Huge banyan tree

Old Hilo buildings - Hilo isn't well known for modern architecture

Every town has a Palace Theatre


Headed off for a scenic drive along the coast, overlooking the bay, followed by a visit to the Rainbow Falls before heading back to the Japanese garden near our hotel to have lunch. Yu-Jin saw some boys catching fish and wanted to join them. We encouraged him to talk to them and see if he could borrow a net. The boys were friendly and he had great fun with them. He caught six fish and they had crabs and what looked like a baby barracuda.

Rainbow Falls

Another banyan tree

The banyan trees grow strangely

Japanese Garden in Hilo

Kids fishing


Following lunch we headed to the petrol station where I had difficulty using the credit card and then replacing the nozzle when I had finished. Three different octanes are efed from the same hose and nozzle. That's different. We did 256 miles on US8.176 gallons. Petrol was US$3.409/US gallon. If you wanted the Full Service it cost US$0.50/US gallon extra. Bugger that. Short drive to the airport. Miky's carry-on luggage was searched by security, probably because of the food in it.

In the waiting lounge we sat next to a couple who had had their 1pm flight delayed and were "bumped", therefore they couldn't get a flight until 5pm. There was a passenger on their earlier flight who had a 5:30 wedding to attend in Honolulu who was going to miss the wedding. Bummer.

None of us were seated together. Yu-Jin was in row 21, Miky in row 19 and I was in row 10. At least it gives Yu-Jin the opportunity to talk to someone else and make him a little more responsible for himself. Heading to Maui (Kahalui airport) via Honolulu.

Just my luck. I'm sitting up near the front so that I could disembark quickly and our plane was the one ongoing to Maui so I didn't even have to get off. Still had to wait for all disembarking passengers before I could change seats. Bummer.

Miky and I were seated together for the second flight. Taxied out to the runway then the pilot did the pre-flight checks and an electrical fault was detected with the flight computer. Therefore, we had to turn back to the terminal. When we stopped Miky wanted me to get an apple from her carry-on luggage. I wanted to wait until the seat belt sign was switched off and so she chucked a spaz, again. She dropped the bag on my head. This woman has no patience. And as soon as she stood up the seat belt sign went off so she wouldn't have had to wait any longer anyway.

The electrical problem meant that one of the black boxes has to be replaced, facilitating a 20-25 minutes delay. Some people on this flight were due to take a later flight but boarded this earlier one and were contemplating changing planes. They were a little dismayed to hear that the other plane was delayed and we were still due to leave earlier than it. The flight crew announced that you were welcome to leave the plane but had to take your carry-on luggage with you but that the plane would leave without you if you didn't re-board in time. It made me wonder what they would do about the luggage in the hold if this was the case, what with terrorists and the like.

Hawaiian Airlines, known for having the best on-time record, is in disarray. Service is still not as poor as Jetstar though which left a worse aftertaste. We haven't had much luck with Hawaiian Airlines yet but it was a good idea to pre-book all of our inter-island flights. This is supposed to be the low season but the flights have been full, in general. Hotels are busy too. Last night, whilst waiting to return the torches to the front desk, I heard the receptionist say that only one room, an ocean view kitchenette, was available at the price of US$154.

Yesterday arvo I had to ring five hotels in Maui and only three of them had rooms - $135, $165 and $195. Hawaii is busy.

Observations -
Not a lot of people indicate to change lanes.
Nearly everybody drives about 10 mph above the speed limit.
People have no qualms about talking on their mobiles whilst driving.
Helmets on bikes and motorbikes are not compulsory and I've only seen one girl wearing a helmet whilst riding her bike.
Not a lot of rain so far on our trip. A little bit fell on the drive down the mountain last night and a bit whilst driving around today.
Local calls from a pay phone cost 50 cents but inter-island calls cost 25 cents for the first minute and then US$4 for four minutes, if you wish to continue, no part payments of $4 accepted.

Was disappointed to learn, as we were leaving, that we were entitled to a complimentary Aloha Breakfast during our stay at Hilo Seaside Hotel Uncle Billy's. Having a kitchenette we made our own meals. Having someone else make breakfast would have been appreciated.

Quite a few Aussies on the trip to Maui. Uneventful flight. Picked up a silver Dodge Caliber from Dollar Car Rental. This car rental mob provided me with their version of a pre-inspection report on dents, paint nicks, etc which I had to sign. Then I carried out my own inspection and the first thing to note was that somebody had been smoking inside.

I asked for, and was given, directions for Best Western Pioneer Inn in Lahaina. Drove to Lahaina, went down the local strip where walking is almost as fast as driving. Didn't find the Best Western Pioneer Inn and so stopped to look at a map. Miky asked some guy on the street for directions. He pointed it out and it was about one block from where we had turned initially. No parking was available and the lady had told me that there was lots of parking available when I had booked. Went inside, after asking for directions as the hotel part wasn't too obvious, and there was no reservation under my name. It was then that I discovered I had driven to the wrong hotel. We were booked for the Makai Inn. Stupid me. A feeling of horror ran through my body as it had taken about 45 minutes to get here, it was late, and my missus would be very annoyed if that was the case.

It turns out that the Makai Inn was only 10 minutes away. The directions given included, "Half a block past the Cannery Mall." Now, half a block, in my book at least, does not equate to half a mile. Found it ok. The we did some shopping as we were worried about the Memorial Day holiday which was due the next day.

No tv at the inn. No smoking or loud noise allowed either. Could be interesting. I'm so glad that the hotel, after our 45 minutes drive, wasn't located back in Kahalui. That would have been more than a little interesting.

Frugal Bastard's Hawaii Trip 2007 - 26/5/07

Drove into Hilo this morning and wandered around for an hour or so. Had a shave ice, they are advertised everywhere and I thought they must be a local delicacy, which was far too much sugary syrup for our liking, although the boy liked it. The farmers' markets were being held and we had a look at the somewhat poor quality produce for sale. Did a little bit more shopping at SackNSave.

Miky and Yu-Jin had a swim in the hotel pool while I cooked fish for lunch. We watched telly for a while then drove up to Volcanoes National Park together. Showed Miky the steam vents and the crater before heading down Craters Rim Drive. They both slept pretty much all the way.

The sign at the end of the road indicated a 4 mile hike due to take 4-6 hours in the daylight to get to the lava flow. When we arrived at walking marker no. 5 we asked everybody returning if they had seen the lava and how long did it take. Everyone had a different story - 4 1/2 hours, 2 hours there and 2 hours back, go to the 6th marker then walk 45 minutes. Other people said 2 1/2 hours past the 6th marker and hadn't seen anything. We had left the car park at 5pm and stopped at 10 to 7. Then two girls came and said that they had left the lava at 6:05, therefore, it was only 45 minutes away. We decided that I would go on alone and Miky and Yu-Jin would head back.

Impressive lava flow

Miles of lava

Warning Marker No.2


After 20 minutes of very quick walking I decided to turn back. Way in the distance. I had seen something orange but thought that it might be 1-1/2 hours away and wasn't worth the bother. Besides, it was getting quite dark and difficult to see. Time for the torch. Decided to turn back at 7:20. Thought that Miky would be cursing me anyway.

Caught up with them, after asking everyone that I came across if they had seen them, at 8:30. Miky had been really enjoying the serenity and solitude although Yu-Jin was a bit concerned. We arrived at the car park at 9pm. Having the wind at your back certainly made life easier but it seemed that the lava crumbled under your feet so much easier in the dark.

Temperature at sea level was about 73 degrees Fahrenheit after having been about 78 all day long and up at the visitors centre, at 4000 feet above sea level, it had dropped to 55. Arrived home about 10:10pm. My legs acted as though I was on uneven ground still. Had a hot bath to try to counteract the inevitable aches and pains. Dead tired.

Frugal Bastard's Hawaii Trip 2007 - 25/5/07

This morning we needed to go to the supermarket. There were three shopping centres nearby on the map but I asked a delivery guy for directions and he showed me how to get to SackNSave. Drove around town a bit before finding it. The bill for three days groceries came to US$80 and that included US$13 of savings for picking up a makai'i card (type of loyalty card) which offered significant savings.

I tried to pay with travellers cheques and the checkout machine wouldn't input the cheque number. This created a wait for close to 15 minutes for the transaction to take place before receiving my receipt.

We had a large turkey and ham roll for lunch and it was nearly all meat. Can't believe what people will eat in this country. Miky wanted to stay in the hotel so Yu-Jin and I took the car to the volcano.

Weird banyan tree in Hilo


We visited the steam vents (very hot), the Jaggar Museum, a few craters (Yu-Jin almost lost his hat down one and had to crawl under a fence to retrieve it), Thurston Lava Tube and Kilauea Iki before driving another 20-25 miles down the coast to see the lava. From the car park it was about a four mile hike and we didn't have a torch or enough water so didn't attempt it.

Steam vents

Steam vents sign

Kilauea Caldera

The Steaming bluff (Akanikolea) at Kilauea Caldera looks like it's on fire

Earthquake reading from Hilo yesterday

Kilauea Caldera is desolate - the spot where Yu-Jin nearly lost his hat

Thurston Lava Tube - big, cool and wet

Kilauea Iki

Lava flow from in the 1970s - just missed my car

Active lava flow - this bit is dead though

Pahoehoe lava - very much like rope



Surreal lava


It was 8 o'clock before I got back to the visitor centre and I rang Miky to tell her that we would be late. Arrived home at 9pm after stopping at Taco Bell for some tacos, of all things.

As we left Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park we were greeted with a road block. The ranger asked me if I had been visiting the park and told me that they were checking for drink-drivers. Had I been drinking tonight? No. I even mentioned that, "I don't even drink," and the ranger said bewilderedly, "Don't even drink?"

Miky had cooked tuna as part of tea and it was delicious. Can't buy tuna like that back home.