The ABC (stores) of Oahu

On paper the trip didn’t make much sense. A four day vacation to Hawaii which required the kids to miss school just a week before their week long fall break. But the Aussies were going to be in Hawaii and Hawaii is closer than Australia, so we went to Hawaii. 

While the Aussies were staying near Kailua, we opted to stay in downtown Waikiki using points to make the four day jaunt a little less expensive. And before we even got to the airport, Martin started to worry about the choice of location… while on the long-term parking shuttle, we were informed by a few dads on their way mountain biking in Moab with their kids (definitely Martin’s ideal vacation) that Waikiki is the Disneyland of Hawaii. And let’s just say they weren’t wrong. 

It had been 30 years since I was last in Oahu (and we stayed at a house on the North Shore) and almost 10 years since we had been to Hawaii at all (the last trip was at a cottage on the North Shore of Kauai). And let’s just say it was a different kind of Hawaii, due to both the city feeling of Waikiki as well as the commoditization of experiences that has since taken over the islands. We had to make reservations for everything which we failed to do (including Hanauma Bay and Diamond Head parking) and prices had definitely increased exponentially (every event seemed to be at least $100 per person or more) 

But it was totally worth it for what we wanted and needed. We enjoyed the beach, we laid by the pool, we hiked and we got to spend time with our good friends.  Oskar surfed, Alva became an Aussie hugging koala and we learned a few new fun facts about the kids like Alva doesn’t like the rain in the rainforest (but was okay once she found a large leaf to cover her head) and neither kid likes coconut water. 

Martin introduced the kids to virgin pina coladas and I reintroduced the $20, two treats a day rule  (the kids took all weekend checking out every ABC Store we passed which was every block and sometimes two to a block, deciding what to buy and both picked out things they really loved). 

After all of my years of wanting to do a beach resort in Hawaii, I learned that Waikiki is not my idea of Hawaii. But Hawaii is my idea of a great vacation. 

Side note: we did one super touristy thing which was the Polynesian Cultural Center which I had remembered from my first trip 30 years ago. For more than a day at Disneyland, we got to see a man husk and milk a coconut, climb a coconut tree, watch a fire dance show and get fake tattoos. Let’s hope prices don’t increase at the same rate so Oskar and Alva can take their kids in the future if they want.