O'ahu - Hawaii

Flying over the dateline doesn't hurt and experiencing a day twice is something different. So, we flew from Sydney on the morning of 2/2 and landed in Honolulu on the morning of 2/2 as well.

With the New Year's Eve behind us and the room not yet ready, we took a nap by the rooftop pool of our hotel.

In the afternoon, we started exploring Waikiki - 'we like it here'! By chance, we stopped by the legendary Barefoot Bar 'Duke's'. With Hawaiian live music, we felt very comfortable in this corner of the world. Editor's note: There is also beer in Hawaii! But the Mai Tais are also sensational...

The next day, we picked up our rental car. Thanks to the tips from a travel blog, we rented the cheapest category, which is practically never available, and got upgraded. With the Honda Accord, it happened a few times that the windshield wipers turned on instead of the turn signal. Three months of driving on the left side of the road really leaves an impact...

In the following days, we explored the island and enjoyed being outdoors again. We hiked up and down the Koko Head Railway Trail with over a thousand steps, which resulted in muscle soreness for two days. We also hiked up to the Diamond Head summit, which offers an incredibly beautiful view of the Waikiki coast. On another day, we drove to the legendary surf beaches on the northwest coast. Surfworld championships and numerous surfing events are held here. The size of the waves is impressive, and we were able to admire some talents riding the waves.

Of course, a visit to the historic Pearl Harbor is also on the itinerary. So, we spent half a day taking a tour of the 'USS Bowfish' submarine and the 'USS Missouri' battleship. The end of World War II was sealed on this battleship.

Since we are back in Waikiki at the end of our trip, we held back a bit on shopping.

Now we're heading to the neighboring island of Kauai.