Travel – USA – Page 10 – Life is a Journey

Day 17 – Last stop Honolulu

Posted on May 24, 2022October 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

I was happy to be up at 5am on our last morning here so I could enjoy what will be our last sunrise over the ocean while here in Hawaii. I sat out on the lanai with my cup of tea to fully enjoy it.

I had yet another pita bread for breakfast, did most of the packing, then went down to have another swim. Kevin was super tired so he went to “try” and sleep some more. While I did enjoy my swim it was a bit windier and choppier than yesterday, and the sun refused to come out and play.

I rinsed off at the shower then lay on a sun lounger until I dried off.

Back in the apartment Kevin was awake (though he didn’t get much more sleep). We showered and finished packing and left just before 11am.

We had an hour long drive back to Honolulu. I must say it was a bit of shock seeing so many houses, tall apartment buildings and so much traffic. We found the Ala Moana Center and got parked. We were on the other side of the shopping center to our last time here so it took us a bit to find the entrance to the shops and get our bearings.

Unfortunately both Kevin and I were having bad pain days. Mine was mainly in my feet & hands but Kevin’s was all over.

We only went into stores we were really interested in, like Bath & Body works. And no, I didn’t buy the flamingo candle holders :-). It was strange seeing all the Summer scents since we’ve only ever visited during Christmas time.

Another favourite to explore is the Hallmark store. They always seem to have such good quality items.

This is a really nice shopping center but there is no seating to be found. Not sure if this is due to the pandemic or it’s always been the case. We probably would have stayed longer if we could have rested up every so often. We did catch a bit of a hula show so that was good.

Again, there didn’t seem to be a lot of cafes/restaurants like we get in Australian shopping centers – unless we just didn’t find them. We ended up, like we did last time we were here, at the food court. I was happy to be able to get the veggie option at Charli’s Philly Steaks. It was delicious as it always is, but rather messy. I also devoured a Strawberry Watermelon Lemonade. It’s not something I would normally choose but I was thirsty and it sound refreshing – which it was. Kevin (who was still in a lot of pain) wanted to get a bubble tea but the line was too long so he ended up with a frozen coke and some cinnamon pretzel bites from Auntie Anne’s.

After enjoying my lunch and giving my feet a fairly short break we head back to Box Lunch so we could facetime with Athena & Dan. Dan had spotted something he was interested in from the photos we had sent earlier. I was able to get a shirt (for his upcoming birthday) and the staff lady who attended to us was able to help Dan with some other queries about merch for one of his fav characters. Luckily she knew what he was talking about as we had no idea not being huge Marvel fans. Sadly they didn’t have anything but they seemed to enjoy their chat and the lady gave us a 25% off vochure (I assume because she enjoyed the interaction she had with Dan). Next time I’ll get everyone to check out the online store and give us a list to pick up.

I got myself some new Sketcher slip on shoes since my Crocs have pretty much had it and I haven’t been able to find a replacement for them at Crocs. The Sketchers don’t perhaps look as good but it’s like wearing slippers :-).

As we were heading back to the car I spotted Tommy Bahamas, which we had totally forgotten about. And we were able to get Kevin 2 of the boxer shorts he was wanting. Hopefully the other store in town will have some more in his size as they don’t sell them in Australia.

Finally we got back to the car, both so tired and sore, BUT we still had to visit WholeFoods before heading to our next apartment. We passed this awesome piece of street art on the way.

I put on my new Sketchers, which made a big difference, and we set out to get our groceries for our last 4 days in Hawaii. The store was really busy (to us anyway) but I still had fun checking out all the goodies that they sell. Like in Kauai we had to line up down the aisles but the line to check out, though it looked long, went fairly quickly. And it allowed me to find a VEGAN ice cream sandwich !! We always buy dinner at WholeFoods but we were just too sore to do that this time.

Kevin was excited to use one of these trolley escalators again.

We then had about a 15min drive to our airbnb at the Waikiki Banyon. The instructions we had were great and we were able to leave our car in the loading zone while unpacking and taking our luggage to the room – which is AWESOME.

As you can this airbnb is lovely. It’s clean and modern and well thought out. The only thing we miss is a bath – but that’s because a bath is awesome on a pain day.

We have a really nice view over to Diamond Head and we can even see the ocean. If you look straight down you can see the rooftop pool.

Once I’d filmed a room tour and all our luggage was up, I got a big glass of ice cold water and put my feet up. They were so sore !!! As were my hands and back !! Ahh, fun times with fibro !!

Kevin had to move the car so that the guy we rented from could come and pick it up later. The rental worked so good. We will definitely use this service again.

We obviously didn’t do anything more today except veg on the couch. We watched some YouTube on the nice big TV and later heated up a fridge dinner. I had lo mein and Kevin had Chicken of some variety. We both really enjoyed our meals – that tasted and looked home made.

Day 16 – A day off in paradise

Posted on May 23, 2022October 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

It’s going to be a nice short blog post for you today since it was (I believe) our first “day off”. We had no plans but to relax and enjoy a day in paradise. I know we had pool days at Aulani but we still had things to do on those days. Today = no plans.

I was pleased to be up before the sun today which mean I got to enjoy the swift sunrise that there was – thanks to lots of clouds. I sat on the lanai with my cup of tea. What a way to start the day !!

I enjoyed another pita bread for breakfast, spent time working on a blog post and “trying” to read – but the view kept on distracting me. Kevin had trouble sleeping last night so he went back to bed to try and get some more sleep – he was somewhat successful.

I spent some more time admiring this sweet little red crested cardinal – which I just learned are an invasive species. But they are so cute !!!

Today I made a salad for my lunch and a pita bread for Kevin – since he liked the look of mine.

After lunch Kevin took the drone out on a test flight.

We headed down to the beach around 2pm. You are spared lots of photos since the GoPro was mucking up so all I have to share from this experience is the few photos I took on the beach with my phone. The swim was awesome. The water was so nice and warm (for the ocean) and so clear. It was low tide which did mean not a lot sandy area before the rocks started, which would have been fine if I was wearing my water shoes. After our swim I ducked up to the resort outdoor shower and rinsed off before going back to the beach, where we sat in the beach chairs we’d bought down with us. I had planned on reading, but like this morning, it didn’t happen.

This honestly has to be THE perfect set up (for me at least). From our accomodation we walk across a nice grass lawn, down a short little path and then (at least at high tide) you could almost fall into the water. No big trudge down or up the beach. Then the nice fresh water shower close by. There is NO EXCUSE not to go the beach or have a swim here. And we are definitely going to fit in another one before we leave in the morning, because this location is just magical. Despite the rocky start we had with this airbnb, we have fallen in love with what it has offered us.

Back in our apartment I sat outside to try and (unsuccessfully) read, while Kevin flew the drone again. As you can see it is such a magical location. Hopefully they renovate the building to reflect the specialness of this place, which I know might be hard to do with such an old building. Pats At Punaluu was built in 1975. There also used to be a restaurant on/near the site where Elvis Presley once performed !!

I lay out on the lanai for some time (again unable to read). It was just so nice watching the palm trees in the breeze and listening to the waves breaking on the shore. Kevin join me for a little while and then we went inside for the weekly facetime chat with the kids (and Dan joined us this week which was nice).

We then cooked some dinner – hash browns (which took FOREVER – if anyone knows the secret to cooking these please let me know) – and cooked pineapple, and watched YouTube before heading to bed around 9pm. Thankfully I did manage to get a bit of reading done before falling asleep.

Day 15 – Fun at Kualoa Ranch

Posted on May 22, 2022October 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Even though I woke up after 6am and after the sunrise, I was still able to enjoy some of it from the lanai. Then I went back inside to sit in front of the fan and write up a blog post.

The water was potentially going to be off in our apartment between 8am and 5pm so we made sure to shower before 8am. Kevin had some pots of yoghurt for breakfast which he really enjoyed and I had pita bread with vegan mayo, cheese and red cabbage & butter lettuce – it was so good. Of course, I am still using my Aulani cup even though this place actually has reasonably sized mugs. I also packed a second pita bread for my lunch.

Around 9.30am we headed off on the short (about 12min) drive to Kualoa Ranch. We visited here back in 2017 and loved it so much we wanted to come back. However, we hadn’t counted on the fact that we’ve now seen the Na Pali Coast and Waimea Canyon, so while it is still beautiful here, it’s not as impressive as it was the last time.

We got checked in for our first tour of the day – Ocean Voyages. We did this last time and I really enjoyed the short trip out on the water. Of course, it had started sprinkling when we arrived but we were hopeful to avoid the rain.

Our guide holding an
upside down jelly fish

Finally it was time to board the bus for the short ride over to our first boat trip – across the old Hawaiian fish pond (the wall of which is 800 years old).

Though we did manage to avoid the rain, there was no escaping the grey skies or the clouds on the mountains – though that did add its own magical beauty. It was still a nice little trip out and on the way back we spotted a couple of turtles.

While Kevin went to buy his lunch I found us a table outside (the same one we sat at last time) and made friends with one of the local zebra doves.

Kevin got some teriyaki chicken which he said was really good, but too big of a serve for him to eat. I enjoyed my packed lunch. Not sure what vegan options there would have been but I was glad I didn’t have to have a hot lunch as I thought it was too hot for that. Kevin tried to be nice by getting me some hot chips (fries).

I had a few, as did he, and we fed a few to local birds.

And you have a photo with the ranch sign.

At 12.30pm we headed over for our next tour on the ATV Raptors. This was new to us since last time we did the Movie Tour.

We got given our helmets and gators (since it was dusty) and then headed out. Kevin enjoyed driving and I was happy taking vidoes and photos. It was a lot of fun.

There were a few photo stops and stories/info given to us but I was really glad we’d done the movie tour first – definitely do that tour if you want to see more the movie making side of the ranch.

We did get to go to back of the ranch on this tour which was cool. But I did find I got dust in my eyes (even wearing my sunglasses) which wasn’t the most fun.

Now I knew I was a bit dusty but it wasn’t until I took my helmet and glasses off that I discovered just how dirty I was !!! And Kevin let me walk around like this.! I would have used the washing up area if I’d known – though there are no towels post pandemic so it may not have worked out well. No wonder I could feel dirt in my eyes.

Before leaving the ranch we picked up a nice little treat to enjoy on the way home. But instead we ended up having these while facetiming the puppies (and Christy) in the car. My frozen mango was just perfect on this hot (and dusty) afternoon. We went home via Foodland – which is past our accommodation – so Kevin could get some more yoghurts. Then it was time for a nice shower and to wash my hair for the second time today !! Ah, that feels so much better.

By now it had started to rain and it was nice listening to it along with the waves crashing onto the beach.

Later Kevin made us some Kite Hill pasta (which is vegan) with a vodka pasta sauce. It was so good !!! Afterwards I enjoyed the second half of the vegan carrot cake I got from Down to Earth. Kevin wasn’t keen so I got to have his piece. I loved it !!!

Day 14 – Saying goodbye to Aulani

Posted on May 21, 2022October 10, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Today we sadly have to say goodbye to Aulani, but luckily not quite yet. This morning I did the usual write up of the blog, then did most of the packing before indulging in a nice cool bath (I was hot) with a cup of tea. Before we knew it, it was 9.30am and time to finish up the packing and get our stuff to the car.

We then headed to the Makahiki restaurant for breakfast. We got checked in, saw Moana off in the distance.

We then got to meet the main mouse himself. Still can’t believe we’re in time for actual character interactions. He was impressed to find Kevin dressed in a similar style shirt to he was and he loved my ears.

We then had a little wait before being taken to meet Chef Goofy – who we actually got to hug,

before being taken to our table, which was outside by the koi pond. Such a beautiful and peaceful place. There was a wandering musician singing and playing the ukelele. Breakfast is three courses, one is a pastry basket, one is fresh fruit, and then you make a choice of your main meal.

While we waited we got to see the fish feeding. Funnily enough I was watching them while waiting to see Mickey and they had all come over to me super fast hoping for breakfast :-). It was cute seeing them lift up a little out of the water to wait for the food. There was also a lot of little baby fish/tadpoles in the pond.

We also had a visit from Pluto while we waited for our food.

Kevin had ordered the french toast and I ordered tofu rancheros. Mine wasn’t that great – it was pretty tasteless. Kevin’s toast was nice but super sweet. We weren’t too worried though as we really enjoyed the whole experience.

After breakfast we had a last visit to the shops to pick up some things (mainly board games) that the kids wanted.

A few last photos and it was time to say goodbye Aulani for this trip. We will be back :-).

Shortly after we left I started to feel really yucky – fibro pain, upset tummy and the beginnings of a headache. Kevin was also have a pain day. What a pair we are !!!

I was still on the hunt for some new tea towels (I’d gotten some from costco on our trip to Maui a few years back) so we decided to stop in at TJ Max. I enjoyed a wander around looking at so many things I would have wanted to buy back before I became a minimalist. As it was I left with just two things – one of which was a set of 4 tea towels. The tea towels here aren’t linen like most of the ones you find in Australia and they are much more absorbent. Loved that they had a section for pride dog toys.

Beside moving accommodations, the main goal for today was to visit the Outlet Malls. Not a great thing to be doing when you’re not feeling well. But luckily this is a pretty small mall and we really only wanted to check out a handful of stores – Tommy Bahamas (where we got Kevin two shirts), Kipling, Sketchers and Crocs. I came away empty handed.

Next stop was Down to Earth where I had fun looking around, being envious of all the things we can’t get in Australia, and making a few purchases. We bought lunch from here and sat outside at their table to eat. I had a yummy rice paper roll and Kevin enjoyed some mushroom soup. We were both starting to feel a little better at this stage but still not the best.

From here it was a 50min drive to our accommodation right on the opposite side of the island to Aulani. It’s a nice drive though, through the mountain and then along the coast, right beside the water for much of it.

We drove right past where we were staying so we could get groceries for our stay. Instead of getting frozen meals this time we got some stuff to put meals together ourselves. We then drove back to accomodation.

Now I did know that it was an older building but nowhere did the airbnb listing mention there was renovations going on. But that’s okay, it’s good they updating the building – it definitely needs it. We found the lockbox with our key and made our way up the lift to the second floor where our apartment was. There was a lot of building material around which we didn’t understand.

The apartment itself is really nice but it’s a lot warmer than the one on Kauai (again no air con, just fans, but no through breeze here). The doubts really began when we had just sat down and a loud rotary hammer drill started. It was about 4pm so luckily it didn’t go on for too long before they knocked off for the day. Then we realized we were basically on top of the end of the pool that people hang out in. I actually got out my laptop to look for somewhere else to stay, but there aren’t many options. Since we’ll be out most of tomorrow and the next day is Saturday we’ll just make the best of things. It was just a lot with both of us not feeling great and having come from Aulani.

I did try to sit outside for a bit, but it was very warm and people were in the pool (you can see the chairs where they sit). So I moved back inside and sat in front of the fan with Kevin.

Just after 6pm we went out for a walk out to the front. The place definitely looks a lot better from this side. It will be nice to spend some on the beach on Saturday and hopefully I’ll get to enjoy a few sunrises.

As usual we watched a bit of YouTube before I made som Veggie Fajitas for dinner.