Blue Mountains Escape

Last weekend we escaped to the stunning Blue Mountains.

When we left home it was a sunny, beautiful day; when we arrived it was bitterly cold, an icy wind was blowing and the sun had escaped far far from sight. Upon opening the car door in Katoomba to breathe in that fresh mountain air my boyfriend, in his overly optimistic t-shirt and board shorts, soon realized he was severely under dressed! Swearing under our foggy breathes, we hurriedly put more clothes on then went in search of food.

Sitting inside the Station Bar Pizza Place at the top of Katoomba's main street warming our bones with a cheese and Vegemite pizza, sleet began to fall outside. It was SNOWING! This place was freezing! And did I pack gloves, beanies, warm socks, ski jackets, etc? Of course not! After our pizza we went and raided the shops for any warm clothing we could find: alpaca socks, possum fur beanies, gloves, thermal underwear, etc etc. The shop assistants all looked at us with pity like they had seen naive tourists like us many times before. Note to self: we're in the mountains for Christ sake, why didn't we pack warm clothes!!?? 

The first thing on our to-do list was to of course see the famous rock triplets, the Three Sisters. They're situated down at Echo Point which is basically at the very bottom of Katoomba's main street. The refurbished look-out offers a breath taking view of the sisters and beyond and nothing prepares you to see them in real life. They may just be three rocks precariously situated on the side of a cliff but there's something about them that is just awe-inspiring. We ended up braving the near vertical steps to walk down onto the first sister - I've never gripped onto a handrail so hard in my life!

Check in for our bed and breakfast in Leura which I had booked through Living Social was at 3pm. We had never stayed in a B&B before and it was definitely an experience unlike anything you'd get at a hotel. The house reminded me of a witch house, something that the girls from Practical Magic would live in. Concrete cherubs posed in every corner of the garden and at the door we were greeted by a woman in her 50's who kindly asked us to remove our shoes before we came in (this was to give the B&B a more homely feel we were told).

The hallway before us had shelf upon shelf stuffed full of books on every health, well being and religion book you could imagine. Classical music blared from a stereo near the stairs and a pungent lemon myrtle oil was burning filling the house with a rather sterile smell. We were shown our room which was painted a pale blue and decorated with lace curtains, floral bed spread, plastic flowers, inspirational quotes in frames, and of course, cherubs. It definitely was, er, different!

The next day we hit the road to visit Jenolan Caves where to our surprise and delight we encountered snow, lots of snow! There were families pulled over everywhere with kids excitedly building wonky snowmen. It really was amazing, especially for my boyfriend who had never laid eyes on the powdery stuff!

At the caves we booked in to do a tour through the Lucas Cave which houses the Cathedral Cave and the famous Broken Column. Our guide told us a fascinating story along the way of how tours used to be conducted through the cave back in the 1800's. Participants only had a candle for light and there were no concrete paths or stairways to make it an easy stroll. In one very steep part of the cave the only way down was to slide down on a hessian bag, hanging onto a rope with their candle in their mouths! The wear marks were still there. They then had their lunch on Picnic Rock then were allowed to take a souvenir - this meant snapping off any stalactite or mite they could get their hands on. Or they could write their name on the roof with the flame of their candle which are still there all these years later. How times have changed!

Returning from the caves we strolled through Leura which has lots of nice little shops and cafes. It's a bit more expensive than Katoomba so be ready with your wallet. We had afternoon tea at Cafe Madeleine where I had this delicious flourless chocolate cake.

When we entered the cafe the fattest cockatoo I have ever seen was perched on one of the chairs outside. We soon found out why... A waitress with stale cake in her hands went outside and down the alleyway beside the cafe where she spread the cake crumbs across the window ledge. Cockatoo after cockatoo then flew down and scoffed down the cake like it was Christmas! Now there's some well fed birds...

Sadly our time in the mountains had come to an end and it was time to come home. There are just so many things to do here that one weekend wasn't enough! Driving out of the mountains at Kurrajong we stopped at a lookout on the mountain's edge. Here we could peer out and see the famous Sydney skyline far distance in the distance. Until next time Blue Mountains!

A holiday in Hawaii

Hawaii: A magical land of sand, sunshine, skyscrapers and souvenirs; green sea turtles, Japanese tourists and volcanoes; high end stores, craters and coconut palms. We jetted off to the Aloha state for a family holiday and I've put our experience together for you ABC style. Enjoy! :)

A - ABC Stores
I can't start off this list without putting the infamous ABC Stores at the beginning. Proudly boasted by Hawaiians as their fourth industry after tourism, military and pineapples; these stores are EVERYWHERE in Waikiki. No, they have nothing to do with Blinky Bill, Shaun the Sheep or any other ABC character, ABC Stores are Hawaii's one stop convenience shop situated once, even twice, on every block. Souvenirs, clothing, hair accessories, bath, body, make up, medicine, food, alcohol, linen, they've got it all!

B - Birdman

Mum and Dad with their new friends

You can't visit Hawaii without seeing the Birdman. He's situated at the very end of the International Marketplace facing Kuhio Avenue. Beautiful tropical birds of all colours, sizes and breeds preening their feathers on various perches hung around an indoor rainforest feature. Look out for the king of them all - a giant dark blue macaw with a beak like a raptor's talon. For 5 photos the cost is $12 or $1 per photo.

C - Circle Island Tour

Hanauma Bay

Escaping the crowds of Waikiki on our first full day we jumped aboard a coach to see the various sights around Hawaii’s main island, O'ahu. It’s a great tour to get a feel for the island and to see different scenery for, depending on how long you stay, most of your time will most likely be spent in Waikiki. Our first stop was at Hanauma Bay, a beautiful sheltered bay full of coral reefs, white sand and coconut trees. You look down upon it from a high cliff and the snorkelers below look like little ants floating in the water (be warned this is a popular spot!). We pass the small bay where the famous love scene from From Here to Eternity was filmed and stop at the nearby Halona Blow Hole. We then veer north and pass Rabbit Island, named appropriately for it's past use to breed the island's food supply. The Mokulua Islands lie shady out in the distance and another island we pass is home to the Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station. We stop at a Japanese temple where you begin to see that Hawaii’s ties with Japan run very deep. Past Chinaman’s Hat island, named so because it looks like a Chinaman's Hat (never thought you'd guess), and then we stop at Kualoa Ranch for some lunch. On the North side of the island we visit Sunset Beach where many surf comps are held in the winter and stop to see some Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles who’ve beached themselves. We see the famous Pipeline then head inland to visit a pineapple plantation. Our bus driver is part Hawaiian, part Korean and is a real comedian. He never stops talking the entire trip, cracking jokes, telling stories, teaching us Hawaiian, quizzing our knowledge and telling us interesting history of the island. Arriving back in Waikiki at 6pm we're totally exhausted but glad to have seen the island we’ll call home for a week.

D - Diamond Head

Hawaii’s most famous landmark. Diamond Head is a crater formed by a volcano eruption thousands of years ago and one of the best things you should do is walk to its very summit – 3000 people a day do. It’s a tough walk but totally worth it for the views of Honolulu from it’s peak. You’ll also see remnants from World War II as Diamond Head was the perfect lookout to detect approaching vessels. Wear good walking shoes and bring a dollar note for the entrance fee.

E - Embassy Suites

Our pineapple lounge

Situated on the revamped Lewers St one block away from the beach, the Embassy Suites was our Hawaiian hotel of choice. I loved how they felt the need to make everything as tropical as possible, picture this: palm tree curtains, palm tree carpet, pineapple sofa, palm leaves bathroom wallpaper, pineapple lamps, hibiscus bed runners and ukelele hallway carpet. They never let you forget you were in paradise!

F - Food

Oh my the food! Food glorious food! You would never go hungry in America! I wonder what Americans think when they come to Australia where it seems the more you pay for a meal the smaller it gets. Eating lunch at The Cheesecake Factory I stupidly thought I’d just order a sandwich as I wasn’t feeling that hungry. Big mistake! My Navaho sandwich arrived on my plate looking like a Giant Clam. For two nights in a row we got takeaway Korean BBQ which was not only delicious but so cheap. And here’s the catch, ONE serving cost us $9.99 and this said one serving fed both my Mum, Dad and ME for dinner! Coffee sizes start at Tall - Small and Medium don’t exist. Entrees are as big as main meals and the waiters think you’ll be hungry if you don’t order a main meal – don’t listen to them! I wasn’t too keen on American food, hot dogs, chilli dogs, toasted spam and rubber cheese sandwiches, creamy weird tasting butter. I bought a croissant sandwich from the ABC Store across the road from our hotel and had to pick SEVEN slices of ham off of it before I deemed it reasonable enough to eat. You get your money’s worth in food that’s for sure, but it’s a tad too excessive for what you really need. 

G - Golf Courses
If you love golf, you'll love Hawaii. There are plenty of golf courses to keep any avid golfer satisfied whilst on holidays. O'ahu has the most with 40 public and private courses to choose from. You can tell I'm not a golfer can't you...moving on!   

H - Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa

A little fish with a big name

It's a bit of a mouthful but this extremely long word is actually the name of Hawaii's state fish. The Humu-humu-nuku-nuku-ah-pu-ah-ah is a cute little bright yellow, black and blue fish. You'll see him in a few places around Hawaii; in the aquarium, swimming around the coral reefs, on beach towels and postcards.  



I - International Marketplace
A world full of wonders. Or more like a world full of the same wonders. Stall upon stall of souvenirs, jewellery, key rings, wooden carvings, hair flowers, clothing, signs, etc are here. But don't expect to find variety as each stall is just about exactly the same as the other which also makes it very easy to get lost! Don't be scared to barter and try and find the best quality souvenirs you can for if you see a carved decorative surfboard you like chances are you'll find another one the same and possibly better quality. Through the food court and onto Dukes Lane you'll find a more narrow, cramped and much more intense version of the marketplace. Here the sellers are more forceful and if you happen to even glance for a second at an item you'll be jumped on straight away. Don't worry about being too nice when they decide to personally show you every necklace they have for sale.

J - Japan

One thing I definitely wasn’t expecting were the masses of Japanese tourists in Hawaii. Many signs are written in English as well as Japanese and the street magazines and tourist brochures all have Japanese versions. Geographically it does make sense, hence why many Japanese also live in Hawaii too. An interesting fact: at the time of World War II, 40% of the population were Japanese.

K - Kalakaua Avenue

Kalakaua by night

Ah, the main shopping hub of Waikiki! Home to Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo and all the other brands most of us can’t afford. Sephora is here for dirt cheap makeup compared to what you’d pay in Oz, Macy’s - the David Jones of America, and the shining star of them all - Victoria’s Secret :). I was a tad disappointed with the shopping though, you either had high-end stores or surf shops. There was nothing in between apart from Bebe and Forever 21 which sold cheapish current fashions. Kalakaua Avenue may be busy in the day but night time is when it truly comes alive. There are people EVERYWHERE. Buskers are on the street, palm trees are lit up with fairy lights, crowds of people are out wondering, shops are open til 11pm - this city doesn't go to bed until least 3am.

L - Language
The Hawaiian language is so delightful and cheery, you just can't help but say some of the words over and over again once you know how to pronounce them. Most people know the standard Aloha (hello, goodbye) and Mahalo (thank you). Their word "wikiwiki" means quickly and - yes - is where Wikipedia got it's name. If a W is between two vowels it turns into a V sound, hence Hawaii should technically be pronounced Hah-vy-ii. Kapiolani, Kaaawa, Kamehameha highway and of course the humuhumu fish are all fun to say. The Hawaiian language only has 12 letters which makes it extra easy.

M - Movies
Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates, Blue Crush, Battleship, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tears of the Sun and Tropic Thunder are just some of the many movies that have been filmed here. Not forgetting the TV show Lost and the new addition, Hawaii Five-0 either. When you see the beautiful, unique scenery of the islands you understand why Hollywood loves this place just as much as tourists.

N - Natural Environment

Overlooking Diamond Head crater

Hawaii is made of eight main islands and 128 islands all together. Native Hawaiians migrated there thousands of years ago from Tahiti and how they managed to row their canoes all that way beats me! Hawaii is very mountainous thanks to much volcano activity over thousands of years. The volcano Kīlauea on the Big Island is one of the world's most active volcanoes and has been continuously erupting since 1983. Roads are currently closed on the island's south side due to lava flow which flows right into the ocean, now that would be amazing to see! If we had more time we definitely would have flown to the Big Island to see this amazing spectacle. 

O - O'ahu
O'ahu is the most populated island of Hawaii where capital city, Honolulu, Pearl Harbour and the famous Pipeline are situated. The Big Island, Maui and Kaua'i are the next most populated islands with Kaho'olawe the only main island uninhabited due to it's barren landscape. Lana'i, Moloka'i and Ni'ihau also have small populations. On O'ahu the suburbs of Honolulu creep right up onto the sides of the steep mountain range behind the city. And you'll find the further away from Honolulu you get the less lavish the houses become away from the riches of the city.

P - Pearl Harbour

The USS Arizona memorial

The definite highlight of our trip. Standing there on Ford Island where row upon row of airplanes were lined up wingtip to wingtip making it a piece of cake for the invading Japanese to demolish all of Hawaii's fleet (how ironic that they were parked like this because of fear of sabotage by Japanese residents) was an unbelievable experience. Bullet holes are still in the window panes of the hangers. The sunken USS Arizona is still leaking oil 70 years after it was hit by a Japanese missile. It's an under water tomb with an eery 500 people still trapped under her decks. From the beginning of the USA's involvement in WWII, the USS Missouri - the last ever battleship made - takes you to the very end where the papers were signed on her deck to officially end WWII. All of our tour guides were very knowledgeable and really emersed us in the experience. We learnt many things, one that the Japanese didn't want to come, they were told they had to by the powers that be. And when their planes flew as low as the coconut trees, kids playing out in their yards on that sunny sunday morning thought the pilots were waving at them. They waved back but the pilots were instead trying to shoo them out of the way. Only three American planes made it into the air to attack with one pilot still in his pyjamas. The Japanese didn't only attack Pearl Harbour, they attacked the other military bases on O'ahu first then headed to the most important port of them all. They also had six submarines waiting outside the harbour in case any of the battleships moored on Ford Island tried to escape. There was so much information to sink in and for some one who gets bored easily with military history, I found everything was just so fascinating. Pearl Harbour was the worst day in US military history. It was a sobering experience to be there where it all happened and it is hard to imagine the terror Hawaiians would have felt that day. 

Q - Quarter
American money was a bit intimidating at first. The notes were fine but it was the coins that did our head in for the first few days. There were quarters and dimes and all weird sizes and I ended up with a pocket full of change because I didn't want to have to stand there studying my coins when I went to buy something! 

R - Rats
Apparently thanks to Europeans bringing rats with them to the island, diseases carried by the rodents wiped out the 400,000 native Hawaiian population to just 40,000.

S -Submarine

Inside the sub at 100ft

The Atlantis Submarine is a purpose-made tourist sub which takes you on a colour-spectrum-quashing dive down to the artificial reefs off Waikiki. About 1km off the shore 100ft under the ocean you see purposely sunken ships and airplanes where fish and coral are busy constructing new cities under the sea. Because it's deep it's a little hard to see clearly and there are no bright colours this far down except for blue. It was fascinating to see how colour breaks down under the ocean; red is the first colour to disappear with no sunlight and my Mum's red t-shirt was soon transformed to dark brown. 

T - Tipping
Being first timers in the land of America we were a little anxious about tipping and what was required of us. But it turned out to be less stressful than we released and is not something you should lose any sleep over. The only time you need to tip is for service e.g. your waiter, your bell boy, your valet, your tour bus driver or your activities planner. At restaurants it was about an 18% tip on your bill or they would calculate the tip based on a per person basis. The tip was either added automatically to the bill or you added it manually yourself on the bill on an allocated line. Other places such as the hotel valet had signs to say how much to tip the bell boys and it's up to you if you want to keep to the minimum or go an extra bit further. 

U - Umbrella
- Not necessary at all! The weather in Hawaii was beautiful one day, perfect the next. It never rained and was a sunny 28 degrees the whole nine days we were there. It wasn't humid either, just a nice, dry heat. Even though the temperature was lovely and bearable, the Hawaiians still loved to crank up their air conditioning. On our Circle Island Tour I froze the entire way and I'm not kidding - it felt like we were touring Antarctica! And walking past the high end stores like Ralph Lauren the air con blasted out of the doorway at you as you were walking on the pavement. Make sure you pack a jumper or cardigan!

V - Vehicles

A Hawaiian number plate

Americans love their pick up trucks! They were everywhere and so were Dodge brand cars - something we're not used to seeing in Australia. The variety of cars and models made our cars pale in comparison in Australia. Oh and my favourite - they have rainbow number plates! Aloha :)


W - Waikiki

The Moana Surfrider

Waikiki is the main suburb/tourist hub of Honolulu. It's a Hawaiian word which means spouting water (wai = water, kiki = spouting). And for good reason - before the 1920's Waikiki was mostly marshland with many swamps, rivers and springs. After a heightened level of overseas tourists started visiting the area the decision was made to drain the water into a canal and the first construction began on the now famous tourist mecca of today's Waikiki. The first hotel was built in 1901 and is still there to this day - the Moana Surfrider - and it's the most beautiful of them all. Waikiki Beach is beautiful but once you learn that all of the sand has to be imported from California and Australia because of said past marshland history you look at it in a different light...

X - X-ray
Make sure that if you buy alcohol whilst on holiday don't pack it in your carry-on luggage! The x-ray will pick it up and you'll either have to throw it away or check in the carry-on bag that its in. My brother's newly purchased skull-shaped bottle of vodka from an ABC Store narrowly missed joining the water bottle graveyard at security screening (or finding it's way into the hands of a new Hawaiian security-working owner). All alcohol you buy outside of duty-free must go under the plane!

Y - Yellow Hibiscus
The state flower of Hawaii is the melemele (yellow) hibiscus. No, not the red hibiscus or the yellow hybrid with a red centre, just a plain yellow hibiscus. Hibiscus are native to Hawaii and you'll see many in a whole range of colours around the streets of Waikiki.

Z - Zoo
There is a zoo in Hawaii called the Honolulu Zoo, but we didn't go there. The tropical birds of Birdman and seeing Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles beached on the North side of the island were enough to satisfy our animal needs!