I was on the hunt for a new little point and shoot camera so I don't need to take my DSLR, which is heavy and bulky, everywhere we go. There is a duty free shopping complex in downtown Waikiki so we headed for that. Unfortunately we discovered that they were focused mainly on Fashion, and not a single electronics or camera store was in the complex.
After some more wondering around the city we wound our way back down to the beach around 4:00pm to explore a bit more. We wondered along the beach heading west from main Waikiki and ventured out onto a jetty for a view back along Waikiki beach. Still quite overcast today but the view back along the beach with with the Diamond Head volcano crater looming over it all certainly is an enjoyable and different view than our every day view in Sydney.
As the water is so crystal clear we were able to spot some Old Wife fish in the water when we were on the jetty. This is a good sign for our snorkelling and possibly even scuba diving to come later in the week.
Further along the beach we found a great classic Hawaiian spot which will be great for some sunset photos later in the week. There were also some great beachside places where you can hire snorkel gear, ocean canoes and stand up paddling surfboards which is something I'm keen to try.
We eventually found ourselves at the massive Hilton beach side complex of buildings which includes a man made lagoon. We ventured into the grounds of the complex which involves a labyrinth of footpaths, walking bridges and ponds. There were many fish in the ponds, including of course Koi. More surprising was a pond dedicated to penguins and turtles. Sadly these poor animals were imprisoned in an artificial environment with a single pond and some rock burrows as their lifelong experience in this world. These poor little things live their entire lives in this small little artificial world and it was quite sad to see.
There were also some other ponds with various ducks, pink flamingoes and even a couple of Heron all seemingly imprisoned in their little worlds. Shame on you Hilton corporation.
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| Sharon about to enjoy her drink. |
We enjoyed a few more beachside beers and sangria as the sun set once again into the ocean and coloured the sky quite an amazing shade of orange, pink and blue.
As we left, venturing through the main and quite stunning foyer area, we noticed a lady sitting on one of the couches, ignoring the beauty of the old building and the jazz ambience provided by the musician playing a grand piano a mere five metres from her. Instead she chose to absorb herself in a meaningless game on her iPad. What the fuck is wrong with some people? I wanted to slap some sense into this stupid bitch.
We stopped in one of the ever-present ABC stores and bought ourselves a bottle of red wine and I picked up a few t-shirts and replaced the cap I seemed to have lost somewhere in the previous two hours and we ventured home to make ourselves some fresh vegan tacos for dinner.
