Ala Moana Centre! Shopping Heaven!

We had 2-day tickets for the trolleys that criss-cross Honolulu. After we finally found the starting point, we hopped on our Green Line trolley and headed for Diamond Head. Lots of pretty scenery along the way, then we arrived at the centre of the crater. It's all very barren and dry because of the heat. People got off the trolley to climb to the top, approximately 90 mins or more if you're slow. We were warned that you don't attempt the climb without a good supply of water only - no sugary drinks because the heat will cause you to pass out. They have approximately three ambulance calls per day for this reason and while we were waiting to leave Diamond head, a fire truck and an ambulance arrived, sirens blaring.

Waiting for the trolley

The tunnel into the crater

Ala Moana Centre

Arriving back in town we switched to the Pink Line Trolley which dropped us at the end of the line - Ala Moana Centre. We had lunch in a very crowded food hall, finding a table quickly as another group got up. By the time we got back to the table with the food, a NZ couple from Auckland were seated beside us. Lunch was good and then we headed up to Macy's to find some pants for Graham; a little bit of a tricky exercise but eventually we were successful.

It was hard to walk past all the hundreds of other shops but it wasn't the time for shopping. We spotted an item in the public area - very pretty hula dancers doing a beautiful, graceful dance. Graham was pretty exhausted already, so we headed back to the trolley queue only to find that we were able to jump the queue and get a Red Line trolley (double decker!) back home.

In the end we had a quiet afternoon and then headed with Rick and Barb into the local markets to get a couple of things and then to an Italian restaurant very close by. Dinner was pizza - very good - served by a young man with a very heavy accent we were having trouble figuring out. Rick asked him where he had come from and we found out he was Russian. He was very talkative and excitable. Then we were off home and Graham was soon in bed. All quiet now, except for activity down in the street below.