Honeymoon in Hawaii Online Journal
9/8/2002 - 9/21/2002
Jason Victor

Day 4 - 9/12/2002 - Mountain Hike and Dinner Cruise

Weather: Hot!
Location: Oahu, Hawaii

We woke up this morning and embarked on a journey to hike to the majestic peak of Diamond head! This mountain was over 700 feet tall and involved going through tunnels with flashlights! I had to conquer my fears of enclosed, dark spaces and most-of-all, heights! There were numerous times when I had to stop because the drop-off beyond the railing was what looked like instant death! Hilary had to stop because she was exhausted! Between the two of us, it's a miracle we made it up at all!

When we finally reached the summit, we could see a complete 360° view of all the island of Oahu. The trail was originally constructed to replenish ammunitions to an outpost on that spot. We took lots of pictures at the top and I got over my fear of heights enough to enjoy myself!

The way down was much easier! Overall, the 1.4-mile round-trip hike took 1 and a half hours! Not bad for a couple of wooses! :)



After the climb, we got a quick breakfast (mushroom omelet) and headed to the touristy authentic Kodak Hula Show. It was pretty cheesy, but fun, nonetheless. I don't know how those women (and men) moved their hips like that!

After the hula show (and another shaved ice) we hit the road to find Nuani Pali, a terrific view and site of the original path across the island. When we got there, I saw a dreaded sign: "beware of bees." Not being one who is easily scared by bees, I shrugged it off. We walked around an overlook, took more pictures, and started towards the car. I felt a dull pain on my right forearm. I looked down, and sure enough … a bee the size of Mothra had just performed Hara-kiri on my forearm! It hurt like you wouldn't believe!

I still saw the stinger in my arm, and I remembered my first-aid training. I took Hilary's "Giant" card to scrape the stinger free, rather than pinching it. That would have injected more of the toxin into my arm. It still hurts, though.

Anyway! After that whole "cry-baby" incident, we found the "blow-hole" which is a formation of volcanic rock that shoots water up when waves hit it. It was neat!

We then went right on down to Sandy Beach. The waves were pretty big! I would estimate 10-foot waves! And there were surfers out there. I would have loved to catch a wave on a boogie board!

We tried driving from there through a rain forest, but the route was under construction, so we had to head back the way we came.

We got back to the hotel and got ready to head out to our sunset dinner cruise! It was so much fun. We were seated by a gorilla of a man whose name was "Junior." It was the funniest malapropism of the century! The best part was when he was actually doing the hula dances!

We got out to sea and we could see our hotel from the boat! Luckily, Hilary didn't get motion sickness. We met a nice Californian couple named Karen and Bismark. That's right … Bismark!

Exactly as the sun touched the horizon, the guitarist of the boat announced that it was our honeymoon and played a song for us. By the time the song was over, just a sliver of sun was left over the ocean. He congratulated us again and we kissed just as the sun slipped below the ocean. It was so romantic!

As we were pulling back into dock, they had everyone get up in a conga line, and Hilary and I joined in! Then, they taught us a hula dance. We chased that down with a tall glass of "Hoki poky" which was about the touristy-est thing that I've ever done as a grown adult!

Then we drove to the mall, bought some souvenirs, bought some new shorts to replace the ones which zipper broke, and ate some Hagen Daas ice cream. Now I'm writing atop our room's balcony on a caffeine high! Time for bed!


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