July 10, Sunday, Waikiki, at hostel, tried to surf yesterday, took tall surf board back after I couldn't control it in calm water, after a young guy said to try shorter board first, so I did, and I couldn't really control it, but did a little better, when a wave came in it did push me back a body length, bit that wasn't surfing it was the strength of the wave pushing me. Tried for ninty minutes, and gave up after drinking a lot of sea water, and getting my feet and ankles cut up some, only a dozen cuts two bigger ones, rest scratches. After cleaning up, tried to do something I knew I could do, walk a lot. So decided to walk up the diamond head volcano. And I did it. The hostel is at the least commercial
Part of Waikiki Beach, across the street from the Honolulu zoo, and a short block from the beach itself. Took the road after the zoo, and followed the residential street up, and up, and up. Thru an army base, into the national park, and up and up the back side of diamond head away from the sea. Around and up til I was on the opposite side of the volcano from Waikiki Beach, and a couple thousand feet , or so, i think. Went thru a road-pedestrian tunnel under the rim of the crater, into the crater itself. No beach breezes there due to the high crater rim, another thousand(s) of feet all the way around the Crater's floor. Took a break, then started the climb up the Crater's rim. First gentle sidewalk ramps, then rock paths, then steep rocky paths, followed by stairs up steeper sections. A few more ramps more stairs, a narrow, low people tunnel, a long stairway, and we were almost at the summit. Going from the wwl and the WWll military emplacements, gun mounts, pill boxes, observation platforms... we were up and down a few more stairs. From the top, a huge section of that side if the island could be seen, was beautiful, and well worth the climb. Because of the abrupt interruption of the many hotels stretching to the sky, where the zoo began, and behind that the residential areas, it was easy to see where the hostel was, if the surrounding hotels didn't block the view of the three story hostel in between twenty floor luxury hotels, the grand Waikiki, and queen Kai________. Hotels. At the end of the street near where the hostel is a jetty that juts out into the Pacific with a shelter at the jetty's end. This was easy to spot from the top of diamond head and made confirming the hostel's location a sure thing. The comercially dense part of Waikiki begins several blocks further away from the hostel and the zoo across the street--dramatically showing how desirable the neighborhood of the hostel is. in fact the street address of the Polynesian beach club hostel is on Lemon street, which was originally an alley with several hostel's on that 'street', but it is definitely a former alley sandwiched in between the behemoth luxury hotels. So there I stayed, in a prime real estate area, with under $50 a nite lodgings, and pancake breakfasts to boot, and other amenities as free wifi, good wifi, beach toys to borrow, discounts for residents on tours.... I really lucked out! Hotels are sold out, not only because it's summer and tourists galore, but the military is having Rimpac. a communication training exercize with most Pacific rim nations, including china, participating and many officers families staying in the hotels while the men or women military folks are ashore, they go out to sea, all of them, on wednesday, if the families still stay I don't know. after I return from my twelve days of island hopping, and with free storage of my big suitcases at the hostel, while I'm gone to see the other islands, I'll be right back here for two more nites, and three days, before my flights back to DSM.
Part of Waikiki Beach, across the street from the Honolulu zoo, and a short block from the beach itself. Took the road after the zoo, and followed the residential street up, and up, and up. Thru an army base, into the national park, and up and up the back side of diamond head away from the sea. Around and up til I was on the opposite side of the volcano from Waikiki Beach, and a couple thousand feet , or so, i think. Went thru a road-pedestrian tunnel under the rim of the crater, into the crater itself. No beach breezes there due to the high crater rim, another thousand(s) of feet all the way around the Crater's floor. Took a break, then started the climb up the Crater's rim. First gentle sidewalk ramps, then rock paths, then steep rocky paths, followed by stairs up steeper sections. A few more ramps more stairs, a narrow, low people tunnel, a long stairway, and we were almost at the summit. Going from the wwl and the WWll military emplacements, gun mounts, pill boxes, observation platforms... we were up and down a few more stairs. From the top, a huge section of that side if the island could be seen, was beautiful, and well worth the climb. Because of the abrupt interruption of the many hotels stretching to the sky, where the zoo began, and behind that the residential areas, it was easy to see where the hostel was, if the surrounding hotels didn't block the view of the three story hostel in between twenty floor luxury hotels, the grand Waikiki, and queen Kai________. Hotels. At the end of the street near where the hostel is a jetty that juts out into the Pacific with a shelter at the jetty's end. This was easy to spot from the top of diamond head and made confirming the hostel's location a sure thing. The comercially dense part of Waikiki begins several blocks further away from the hostel and the zoo across the street--dramatically showing how desirable the neighborhood of the hostel is. in fact the street address of the Polynesian beach club hostel is on Lemon street, which was originally an alley with several hostel's on that 'street', but it is definitely a former alley sandwiched in between the behemoth luxury hotels. So there I stayed, in a prime real estate area, with under $50 a nite lodgings, and pancake breakfasts to boot, and other amenities as free wifi, good wifi, beach toys to borrow, discounts for residents on tours.... I really lucked out! Hotels are sold out, not only because it's summer and tourists galore, but the military is having Rimpac. a communication training exercize with most Pacific rim nations, including china, participating and many officers families staying in the hotels while the men or women military folks are ashore, they go out to sea, all of them, on wednesday, if the families still stay I don't know. after I return from my twelve days of island hopping, and with free storage of my big suitcases at the hostel, while I'm gone to see the other islands, I'll be right back here for two more nites, and three days, before my flights back to DSM.
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