Hiking up Diamond Head and sunbathing in Hanauma Bay

Two craters: one with a hike and all green, the other one filled by the beautiful blue of the ocean.

The sign at the bottom of Diamond Head park says it takes about an hour and a half to hike up to the peak... that must include so many stops though, it only took me about 25 minutes to get to the top. Admittedly, it is very steep in some parts and untrained people need to catch their breath. Also, the path is at times so narrow that it is difficult passing people coming the opposite direction. The views up top are just stunning. On one side it is the beach and skyline of Waikiki and Honolulu and on the other side Koko head that looks like a whale in the water.

Behind that whale is Hanauma bay. A beautiful beach and snorkeling ground. Further out the sea is a bit rough, but in the bay, the water is very calm and if one is lucky, a turtle swims by (I wasn't lucky...).

The Prince Golf Club

Sounded like a good deal: USD 120 for a round of golf at a highly advertised club including pick up and drop off at the hotel and a USD 20 voucher for lunch included. Yes, a good deal for overpriced island golf..., but the course is nothing spectacular. Very short (only 5300 yards for the ladies on the 18 of the 27 holes I played) and although the layout is nice, after a while, every hole looks a bit like the last one.

So, I played from the men's tees (6214 yards) and on the 18th hole (a 457 yards par 5), with wind from behind, I almost drove the green with my second shot... just 10 yards short. There was a lot of wind, to the degree that my ball moved several times on the green as I was lining up for my putting and against the wind, one really needed solid contact and good roll to get close to the hole. Breaking a hundred today was a good result considering that a lot of putts would not sink or be affected by the wind.

Waikiki fireworks

Oahu: Day 1 in Waikiki

Some people say, Waikiki should be left out when going to Hawaii. Not sure this does it justice. I agree, it is not a "beautiful" place. But it is part of Oahu, and the vibe, the shopping the lights and the happening make it a cool place to be for a little while. Kind of like Las Vegas. You get what you came for if you go there. Being in warm climate again, I put on the "itsy bitsy teeny weeny honolulu beach bikini" and spent my day the beach in front of the hotel watching the surfers. 

In the evening, I enjoyed what Waikiki offers: a stroll along Kalakaua Ave and went for dinner at a Japanese Steak house. 

(Both fotos are taken from my room's balcony on the 39th floor)

Crossing the dateline means paying for a hotel twice

Although I loved both Australia and New Zealand very much, I was really looking forward to leaving winter in the southern hemisphere and start wearing t-shirst and shorts again. And, I was happy that the ash cloud coming from Chile did not affect my itinerary today.

A nine hour flight and Air New Zealand (love their service and their food) over the ocean, just water and more water... and I landed in Honolulu "yesterday". Doing the math on this: I have, with eastbound travel, so far lost 12 hours. Today, I was given back 24 hours, which leaves me with another 12 to lose by the time I get to Zurich. Doing the accounting on expenses: I am paying for the night of the 15th of June twice...

Muriwai Golf Club one more time

As it has been raining a lot, a lot of the park land courses are quite wet and therefore the recommendation in the pro shop, where I got my grip changed was to go to Muriwai, which should be in the best condition of all courses. No problem with that. Great course. Loved it  and looked forward to the chance to improve on my score with that short game practice. But, the wind to today was even more fierce and made for very difficult conditions. My 97 today included 38 putts. Highlight of the day was a little lob shot over a bunker on to the 2nd green. I was very pleased with myself and Richard was impressed that I pulled off a shot I had only learned yesterday.

After the round we went to the range, so I could have some "iSwing" videos taken of me to send of to Ian for analysis. Ahh... I don't like them, it does not look like I have cut down on my overswing by very much (a sad little inch at most). And ever since Bangkok, I have tried more wrist hinge, but it just does not seem to get into my swing yet... Still losing all that power. Will focus on the positive though. My short game is not bad for a bogey golfer!

With all the traffic, it was dark already by the time I got back to the hotel. Too late for the Auckland museum, but not too late to go up on the Skytower (the highest in the southern hemisphere) and enjoy the 360 views of the city at night.

Practice day...

Feeling a bit better, but still with limited energy, I went to pick up Richard for chipping and putting practice. The weather today was a bit of everything, we even got a drizzle again. We hit a lot of color coded balls. From the fringe onto the green, over bunkers, out of bunkers, out of ugly lies etc. With a fun game, which I have one :) Putting however is another story, yes, that is not the one I am going to win, but, my stroke is already better and I am hoping the alignment of my putter grip (which I got done at the golfing shop) is going to do me some good to.


On the way home, I stopped to take a picture of the sheep... according to some factfinding on the internet, there are about 50 million (13 times more than people) in New Zealand. Wonderful!

I am taking a sick day

My Thai dinner last night was apparently not such a good idea. It has revisited me all night, leaving me sick and too weak to even get up to breakfast. So, this is my day were I just eat bananas - actually I had just one banana!, drink coke from the hotel bar and hope that my energy is coming back soon for tomorrow.

Muriwai Golf Club: a links course with black sand!

Ahh, the drive alone to Muriwai beach taking some winding back roads through the country side is breathtaking. Ric takes me to the scenic view point (with the golf course in the back ground) before we head of for a rather late tee time (as my car was not ready before noon for pick-up and we only made it here by 2pm).

There are strong winds down here and on the course they come into play a lot. Facing the wind does not allow for any side-spin, as your ball will just go half the distance with a really pronounced hook or slice (so happened to me on the 5th hole par five, where my second shot with a 5 iron just sliced to the right into the heather. But, with a really sweet 6 iron shot, I still made the green in regulation, missed my 12 footer by about a foot to the right and shot par). With a course rating of 74.7 and a slope of 126, this is a challenging course for a first timer. But, Ric (two time club champion here) showed me around the course so well, that I finished with a 95 (and 6 missed birdie putts...grr... off to putting practice tomorrow).

We got up to hole 16 until the sunlight really was nowhere to be seen anymore and we played the last 2 holes practically blind. Just feeling the shots and guessing where they would be.