Bobbie and Ed first took us to Scoma’s, the Fish Restaurant run by Al Scoma at the end of Fisherman’s Warf in 1987. We returned in 1997 with Bobbie (sadly Ed had died), Matt and his kids, Maddie aged 6 and Chris, Steve’s cousin. Both Steve and Chris bought San Fran T-shirts on the quay and Steve still has his – now relegated to gardening and DYI. And we returned in 2019 for a delicious lunch before our flight back to Munich. This was just as well, as our flight was three hours delayed.

That concludes our trip to Hawaii. We hope you have enjoyed following our journey as much as we have – thank you for your interest!

“So where do y’all wanna go to today?” hollered the street car driver, “ in 1, 2, 3:  I wanna y’all to shout it out!” That put everyone in a good mood as we travelled down the Embarcadero, the street car bells clanging at every opportunity. A cute 2-3 year old boy in his pram flirted with all the passengers around him. Tourists and locals struck up relaxed conversations. It was a fun ride returning to Pier 39 to see if the see lions were in a better mood than the day before.

After some shopping (Levis are 30-40% cheaper here so Steve splashed out), we took a bus to the Pacific Ocean, riding up and down the somewhat bumpy hills of the city past the Presidio and Pacific Heights. We ended up at a place called Sutro Heights and had dinner in the Cliff House, built in 1863 and taken over in 1881 by Adolph Sutro, an engineer from Aachen, who also bought 1,000 acres of surrounding land. He established the Land’s End Scenic Railroad. After Cliff House was burned down in 1894, Sutro transformed the whole place by building the outdoor Sutro baths, three restaurants and an amphitheatre to accommodate 25,000 visitors. After several changes in ownership and economic ups and downs, Cliff House was refurbished in 2004. The views of the Pacific Ocean are spectacular – would love to be there on a stormy day to see the raging sea! 

1^stJune was a day of travelling, flying over Oahu, Molokai with a transfer via Maui, brought us back to a relatively cold San Francisco.

We spent Sunday walking around Union Square, which we had not visited on previous occasions, Fisherman’s Wharf, where we were entertained by some of the sea lions (most of them were asleep), Pier 45 harbouring a WWII submarine and warship.
We enjoyed dinner on Fisherman’s Wharf with a lovely clear view of the city.

San Francisco is still a quirky place with its charming cable cars, old-fashioned street cars and colourful buildings but it has, for us, lost some of its sheen.

The non-CGI scenes of the film “Avatar” were filmed at Kauai’s Keahua Arboretum, a nature preserve in the Wailua State Park just up the road from our hotel. The Wai’aleàle mountain represents the navel of Kauai, its peak, Kawaikini, is the highest point on the island and renowned for being the wettest place on earth ( I think there are a few of those). The whole area was cultivated by the ancient Hawaiians.

The best way to explore the Wailua River, the Fern Grotto, a small Hawaiian village and the Wailua waterfall is by kayak or paddleboard. On the way up by car you can view the Opaeka‘a waterfalls and the plunge pool at its base.

After starting the day with yoga, we embarked on a short trip out today as we also wanted to laze on the beach and tank up some Hawaiian sun. May there always be a shell in your pocket and sand between your toes!

It was spectacular. The Waimea Canyon, not the size of the Grand Canyon, but in all other ways, is more than impressive. The colours are more intensive, more varied in highlights and tones of greens, reds, ambers and browns. The views are breathtakingly beautiful and you can stand for hours watching the sunlight play on the sheer ravines, the curve of the mountains and the sparkling waterfall.

We stopped at every lookout on the way up before embarking on our 10 km hike down the Awa’awapuhi Trail to the Napali Coast . This coast is inaccessible by car: you either take a boat, hire a helicopter or hoof it.  We hoofed it 5 km down, losing 500 metres in altitude, over tangled tree roots and rocks, but on a well-marked and wide path to the lookout. At one point we almost turned back due to clouds approaching from the sea (we did not want a repeat of Tropic Thunder), but decided to continue. We were so fortunate that the clouds broke as we arrived and we enjoyed the most stunning views of the Canyon and the Napali Coast, before trekking back up the same path we had descended on.

Happy to say we completed the hike in the estimated 3 hours – 1.5 hours each way! On the way down, Steve used the golden hour for more photos of the Canyon:

Captain James Cook landed on Kauai inadvertently when his ships, the Discovery and Resolution, were blown towards the islands and canoes full of natives paddled out to greet them. The Hawaiians spoke Tahitian, which the sailors understood. Food was exchanged for metal. Cook sought a safe harbor and was directed to Waimea. 

The film “South Pacific” was filmed on Kauai in 1958, even though – strictly speaking, Hawaii is not located there. A chilled day today. We walked along the golden beach for 2 km, interspersed with lava rock formations and rockpools smattered with different types of small crabs. The beach shelves so dramatically that the waves crash thunderously onto the shore and carve the landscape and fallen trees into art forms. Fishermen stand out on the rock ledges hoping for a catch.

It did not thunder but, boy, did it rain! Glad our walking boots are waterproof, even if we were not! We got drenched walking back down the Okolehao Trail. Our short “jungle” walk took us through Jurassic Park undergrowth (Laue fern, wild orchids) and trees, which provided shelter from the sun but not from the torrential downpour!

We toured the North shore, taking in Kiluea Lighthouse and the host of diverse birds nesting on the rocks, over the quaint one-lane Hanalei bridge and on to Hanalei beach  – and that was the end of the road. Due to bad flooding last year, the last stretch of the main road towards Kee Beach, where the road ends anyway, was closed.

The whole island is verdant, but up here it looks manicured: the leaves look polished, the flowers shine, the water glistens.

Kauai is known for its large chicken and rooster population, locally known as moa and they certainly get around! Even on the top of the Nounou mountain a cheeky rooster was more than interested in our sandwiches. The Nounou mountain is otherwise known as the “Sleeping Giant” for which there are several explanations: my favourite is that the giant ate too much at a party, lay down to sleep and never woke up. From here the vista inland and towards the coast is outstanding. It is only 375 m. in altitude to hike, some parts are rocky and you need hands to scramble up and down. You can also see the “snoring giant” (my name for this mountain).

Kauai is the oldest, northern-most island of Hawaii. We enjoyed a pleasant 20-minute flight from Honolulu to Lihue, Kauai. Kauai is famed for film sets such as the Jurassic Park films, and is also known as paradise (it’s expensive, too, in paradise).

We are – like the film title above – spending six days and seven nights here! Photos taken whilst flying over from Oahu to Kauai:

A chilled day on Sunday relaxing on the beach, eating Ahi (seared tuna fish) on tacos and guacamole, followed by coffee cheesecake (our first this trip!).

Culinary-wise we have enjoyed garlic and chilli shrimps, mahi mahi (white fish served as fish and chips) and Steve has savoured many a true American burger. Veggie dishes are not that prolific, but those on offer have been excellent.

The best part of Honolulu and Waikiki is the view from Diamond Head Crater! Honolulu is called West Los Angeles, which sums it up nicely. We visited the historical areas, all in close proximity to each other, in 30 minutes: Washington Place, originally the home of Queen Liliuokalani (the last queen of Hawaii) which became the governor’s house; the State Capitol; St. Andrew’s church, the first Anglican Church founded in Hawaii in 1858 by King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma (the building was shipped in pieces from England); Iolani Palace, a building with all modern conveniences such as electric lights, flush toilets even before the White House installed them.

Waikiki is full of plush shops, hotels and not much else, apart from being crowded.

Le’Ahi was the original name of this extinct volcano given by ancient Hawaiians as it resembled the Ahi, tuna fish. British sailors who saw glittering stones embedded at the top of the crater assumed these were diamonds, hence the name changed to Diamond Head Crater.

The Diamond Head trail itself was originally built in 1908 by the US Army, and used for many decades as part of the Fort Rugur military base. The trail takes about 45 minutes to walk; do not be perturbed by the 82 steps on the last stretch of this walk! The views are worth it.

We proceeded along the S.E. coast – the ocean really is the colour depicted in the photos.