Travel Agent Berridale

It was our first grand adventure: a trip back to Canada with our three little boys. We chose to stop in Honolulu both ways in order to recuperate. It proved to be a wise decision as Honolulu is approximately 9 hours from Sydney and 6 hours from Vancouver and was an ideal stop along our journey to refresh.

Upon arrival into Honolulu, we were met with grey clouds, threatening rain, high humidity, heat and a relaxing sensation that we were now on “island time”. What a wonderful way to start your trip: an easy-going pace and friendly smiles from the welcoming locals.

Waikiki has on offer a multitude of hotels ranging in price and we decided that we would stay a couple of blocks away from Waikiki beach in order to save money. We found that, as everything was so close, we only had a ten minute walk to the beach, the grocery store, the Zoo and many more sights. We opted for an apartment style room in order to cook our own meals and found the cost of food (both bought from a grocery store and restaurants) very comparable to the cost here in Australia. There is a great selection of restaurants in the Waikiki area and include gourmet Asian and European foods, fast food outlets and the American style diner - so there is a spot for every budget.

As we were travelling with younger boys, we found that we were restricted to where we could travel mostly as we had a large pram with us. There is an extensive (and cheap) public transport system in Honolulu but not all of the buses are equipped to take prams so we decided to take it easy and remain in central Waikiki. One of the most iconic beaches in the world is Waikiki beach and of course, we checked it out. As we were travelling in low season for Hawaii (their summer), it wasn't overly crowded. We found a lovely spot, where it was protected by a breaker wall, and introduced Joshua & Noah to swimming (if you count carrying them in and out nonstop swimming!).

Honolulu has a multitude of shops to meander through, including the famous "International Marketplace". This spot, and many others, offer a variety of tourist items such as T-shirts, hats, the lovely (and many times, loud!) Hawaiian shirt and more...A great place to pick up the little bits for all the friends back home.

We then explored the Honolulu Zoo, located right in Waikiki, and had a fabulous time! The boys really took to the monkeys swinging around everywhere but I really think it was actually the ice cream that was the winner that day.

Over the four days that we spent in Waikiki (two in each direction), we walked stacks of kilometres, ate some wonderfully fresh fruit, took some splendid photos and had a grand old time. One thing that I will note is that Honolulu seems to be geared for families with older children - probably from about age 8 and up. There are so many things to see and do around the island of Oahu (not just in Honolulu), but many of them, such as Pearl Harbour, are probably beyond the younger aged children. Also, it is very difficult to get around with a pram and hiring a car entails tenacity to ensure you have the car seats and that you put them in correctly.

Overall, we found Honolulu a very relaxing spot for us and a great way to break up the flying time. It wasn't as expensive as we had anticipated and we would stop again without hesitation. Only this next time, we would have a much longer duration in Hawaii and take the opportunity to explore Oahu and probably a couple of the other islands, such as Hawaii and Maui and experience things such as the largest ranch in the US (on Hawaii),the lava rivers and volcanic activity or witness the massive surf on the North Shore of Oahu.

Beautiful scenery, warm and friendly locals, great weather, plenty of activities to experience and sights to see: that pretty much sums up Hawaii.