Aloha! As I write this, I’m on a balcony on the 16th floor of the Queen Kapiolani hotel in Waikiki. It wasn’t the original plan for my trip, but things have a way of working out.
I arrived in Honolulu on 8/31 pretty much exactly when expected. I learned something new- that an airline can “un-delay” a flight. Thursday I got a notice that my Friday morning flight was pushed back an hour. Friday morning, the flight was moved back to its original time about an hour before takeoff. Thankfully I was at the airport early, but this ensures I’ll be cautious in similar instances in the future.
After arriving in Hawaii, my dad and I caught an Uber ride to our “Vacation Rental By Owner” property. We were a little disappointed to see how far the venue was from the action, but we weren’t too discouraged… until the VRBO owner didn’t answer our calls. We waited at the property for a half hour, and to our surprise, a group of young people showed up and went into the property we were supposed to be renting.
My dad finally got in touch with the owner, who admitted that he sold the property. The owner offered to put us up in an apartment at a different address, far up in the hills. With no car, we were going to have serious trouble getting around.
We finally asked the owner for a refund and moved on. After a quick web search, I chose an alternative- the Queen Kopialani in Waikiki. Though currently undergoing renovations, the hotel still makes a very nice place to stay, one block off the beach and right in the middle of one of Oahu’s busiest areas.
The first night, the two of us solved the pirate room at Solve the Room Hawaii, thus fulfilling the 41st state of my 2018 goal. This gave us total flexibility for the remainder of the trip.
The second day, we explored Waikiki more and took a ride up to Manoa Falls, a very neat waterfall / hiking trail just outside of Honolulu. We got to see many of the locations used in recent films and television like Jurassic Park and Lost, as well as to dive into a pool at the bottom of a waterfall.
After the expedition, we spent most of the remainder of the day searching for Geocaches around Waikiki. It was a reasonably full day, and I hope we can keep the pace up for the remainder of the trip.
I’m not sure I’m going to solve any more escape rooms here, but I am very curious about this Scaventour event located in Waikiki, an outdoor escape room challenge that gives us a good opportunity to explore the area. Regardless, the trip can already be considered a success!
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