a real explore of waikiki

(tt)   Our first day.
Breakfast as the rain drizzled down. But no-one cares as the rain is warm and dry and evaporates in seconds.
This is the dining nook by the Sunrise Pool

Screamingly dear, we will probably break fast elsewhere as of tomorrow.
The pool was virtually deserted and the rain came down. It continued to do so all day, on and off, so if the photos have blobs on them ..that's rain.

We walked all the way to Diamond Head and on the way saw many delights.
I am ever convinced that we should paint/mosaic our office buildings..though leaping whales might be a bit de trop

 The Shrieking Finger is joined by her sisters in a moving dance drama entitled "All gestures lead to pretty flower"

We are on Kalakaua which is sort of the Rodeo Drive of Lulu. Below is Tiffanys

 Phrases from the native language are embedded in the stone sidewalk

 When put together they mean "Tourists are Trash and we love them when they have Gone"

 Even the Hard Rock Cafe is mellow on the outside

Here's a bit of madness. The first animatronic teddy collection in the world

Teddy Elvises

 This is Times Square

 Hollywood

Libearty

 There's a dinosaur section ..... teddies interacting with T Rexes and Raptors. Sheldon pointed out the sense in introducing scary creatures to kids via the cuddlies

They didn't tell us two were real

 The inspiration for the original toy was Teddy Roosevelt, who refused to shoot a bear cub in the wild

 This is one of 600 black Steffe bears made to commemorate the sinking of the Titanic

 And here is the bear version of the voyage..iceberg at the front and "Nearer My God to Thee" on the soundtrack!

Munch would have laughed

 Da Vinci wouldn't

This mark last years Pacific Leaders conference

 Here is someone a lot of Aussies can't bear.

Continue along the ritzy  Louis Vwee

 We veered into a shopping arcade

Sheldon checks out the sugar poisoneries

And by accident we stumbled on the Royal Hawaiian Hotel....the Pink Hotel of the Pacific

 It was opened in 1927 to cash in on the tourist explosion via steamships to the Pacific

A multi million dollar refit took place in 2008

It really is glorious

A regular was Duke, the surfer

The Pacific Ocean through the elegant archways

 The hotel has a private beach

Continuing on down the main drag we enter a tourist trap where we fill our faces with splendiferous Hawaiian made ice cream

This is the oldest of the grand hotels on Lulu. The Moana. 1901.

This is an almost deserted shopping precinct that houses a collection of uniforms from the King of Hawaii's home guard. I thought it might have been a former royal residence but it looks like a bit of Disneyland.

 No-one buying chocolate malteds in this faux fifities malt shop. But the movie "Mame" was playing silently on a tiny screen. Ah the ignomany.

The worn stones of Variety Club  honorees. Most are illegible.

 Why would anyone want to touch this?

Now we have arrived on Waikiki beach

 The inescapable Duke

Sheldon was last here in the mid eighties for a trade show. He said this circular building was typical of the style of the time before the big name chain stores moved in.

Now dwarfed the Pink Hotel is still the best.

 This aspect has been expertly captured by Teech who recommended we keep walking away from the tattoed and burger scoffing polloi.

Here is the classy one by Alison

 The closed War Memorial Pool

 Reminiscent of the Grail, the Big W,  in the sixties movie, "It's a Mad etc. World"

 There is a legend of a Hawaiian maiden who was caught in a banyan tree and strangled by the roots. They were spirits of the ancient wicked lusty gods. She wouldn't give out so they done her in. Sheldon has loved this tale from early childhood and could not resist re-enacting the legend while I sat and waited  on the lawn for two hours.

By now we are well away from tourists and have reached a hotel/apartment conclave

For the Japanese?

 This little enclave of wierd 1930's bungalows has been cunningly spared by slapping historic markers everywhere

 1937, labelled historic and for sale.

 This is a world of pool boys and hired gardeners. Nellie Forbush in her wheel chair could live here.

 Diamond Head peak at the top

 There were a couple of public gardens open til dusk which allowed us to look at the ocean front.

 A rain storm forced us under this gazebo for a breather

 We are now a quarter of the way up Diamond Head. An abandoned Christmas shrub and its once grand bird

 Amelia Earhart was in the news this morning in that they intend to try and find her downed plane. This is a plaque celebrating her 1935 flight from California.

 Among this lushness is the exclusive Kahala Hilton which Lamond and Sheldon sneaked into to laze by the pool when they were here last together almost 30 years ago.

 On the way back down to the bus and to the chemist for sun block. Little reddies both.