Palace & Palms
There’s a great little coffee shop in Haleiwa that we’ve discovered and they do great chocolate milkshakes too – a little on the large side but great none the less! Our day started with a quick trip there and a morning coffee to kick start the day. We had decided to visit the Iolani Palace, on the recommendation of the Gallaghers, and because they’d visited last time they were here, we spent the morning apart today.
Heading to down town Honolulu, it was a far cry from the slow pace and country feel of the North Shore. It had all the hustle and bustle of any big city but just with a much higher quota of palm trees! We posed for some photos outside the statue of King Kamehameha (as all good tourists should) before entering the majestic gates of the Royal Iolani Palace, with its big columns and grand entrance. The Palace was used as a government office building for years after the monarchy was overthrown and it fell into disrepair, losing its regal roots. The Hawaiian historical society has spent years and lots of cash restoring it to its former glory and filling it with as much of its original furniture that they could recover from peoples’ garage sales and homes. There was a huge auction of all the furniture and palace contents when the Queen finally left and it was scattered far and wide. They’ve done an amazing job of recovering it all and some pieces were even found in Australia!
The biggest novelty for us was that we got to wear little surgical slippers over our shoes to protect the floor! They looked very fetching and were great for skidding around on the highly polished surfaces (when no-one was looking of course!) We opted to do the audio tour and had to hold a little speaker to our ears, typing in a code that corresponded with the room we were in. I got all my numbers mixed up and was hearing about the “Throne Room” when I was actually in the “Water Closet”. I thought it was a quaint little joke, calling the toilet the throne room but then Sam yelled out “mum, you’re in the wrong room!” Oops! I can never read the map properly!
We learnt so much about the Hawaiian Royals and how the USA eventually annexed Hawaii, making it a territory and then their 50th state. Queen Lili’uokalani was accused of conspiracy and was actually imprisoned in the bedroom of her own palace! She was pretty handy with a needle and thread though and during her months of imprisonment she put her skills to work and hand-made an incredibly intricate and beautiful quilt, complete with embroidered turtles, butterflies, waves and palm trees. It was amazing to actually see the quilt and where she’d sewn it! It is incredible that the Hawaiian culture and language has been so well preserved despite the upheaval that has happened over the years.
After our Hawaiian history lesson we met up with the Gallaghers for lunch at the home of generous helpings, that is, the Cheesecake Factory. The menu reads like a novel, with so many choices, it could take us days to make a decision. Luckily our overzealous waiter, Joe, was on-hand to give us some good suggestions. The soft-drinks we ordered came in glasses that must have held a litre at least! Weight training was necessary in order to lift them off the table. They were also “refillable” (of course!) so Joe was keeping a keen eye on the diminishing levels of our drinks. At one stage, mine was only half empty and he whisked it off the table. I protested politely saying that I still had half a drink left and he looked at me with a look that said “don’t get your knickers in a knot, and said: “I’m only going to refill it!” Such a country of excess – especially where food is concerned!
We then had a lovely wander down to Waikiki Beach and fell in love with the atmosphere and the whole feel of the place. It feels like you’ve just stepped into a Gidget movie! You can’t help but have a Beach Boys soundtrack going on in your head when you look at the classic view of Hawaii along Waikiki Beach – the one in every movie and tv show set in this tropical wonderland- with outrigger canoes lining the beach, rows and rows of surfboards for hire, banana chair-reclining guests of the high rise hotels sprawling onto the sand, palm trees lining the sidewalk and the stunning mountain in the background! It brings back flooding memories of the Brady Bunch in Hawaii and of Danno doing all his booking. Wow! This is HAWAII! We loved it! The surf was still fairly tiny but at least there were a few hopefuls out there trying to catch something. We walked the entire length of the beach and watched the sun sink low into the sky before returning along the “Kammy-Hammy-Ha Highway” (as Gloria the GPS calls it!) to our home at Camp Homelani. What a great day.
