Aulani Day 5 – Quick Thoughts/Recap

Day 5, our last full day at Aulani, tomorrow night we head back to the main land. I actually managed to sleep in till around sun rise and headed out to roam the resort around 7am. Here is a look toward the lobby from Rainbow Reef.

Even though it was Saturday morning there were a lot of workers at the expansion area working to finish it up. It is officially slated to open in mid October but it sure looks like parts will be ready well before then.

The mail pool was not open yet (opens at 8am).

Here is a brief video walking from the pool up to the stream area on the Ewa Tower side of the Valley.

We hit the road by 8am and headed down H1 to Honolulu. Skirted by Waikiki and took the road around Diamond Head. We stopped at most of the scenic overlooks. Here is one near Diamond Head.

A closer look at the surfers.

There were also several canoes passing by.

Looking down the coast in the direction we were heading.

Looking back toward Diamond Head.

A large number of people hiking up Koko Crater, we decided not to.

Continuing along Kalanianaole Highway to another overlook.

Next stop, Blowhole, which I could not time correctly with the cell phone.. I have some with the SLR for a later posting.

Here is a video clip:

A small cove with one family swimming only. So they had their own “private beach” just bus and car loads of tourists up above taking their picture.

Continuing up the road, Rabbit Island.

We took H3 back toward Pearl City then H1 out toward Ko Olina. Stopped for lunch in Kapolei then continued on past Ko Olina to see what is up 93. We went almost to where the road dead ends and did not see much. Here is one picture of the mountains along the road. I will post some of the ocean and other sites in the full update later.

We then returned to Aulani.

A look into the Waikolohe Valley from the lobby.

A look from the 16th floor

From ground level.

Looking up at the lobby.

I walked around the grounds a bit then headed to the room to relax and pack. Also did a quick shopping run before dinner. Grabbed some food out by the pool and then found a spot to watch the sunset down by the lagoon. Here are a series of pictures of the sunset, thought these cell phone shots turned out ok.

I visited the Circle of Alae Ula for the nightly Mo’Olelo Fire Pit Storytelling.

Here are two video clips from the storytelling session:

After the story telling I spent some time in the lobby area then called it a night and headed for the room to back up pictures and write this blog posting.

Here is a pan of the Valley from the lobby:

The Olelo Room is below the lobby and features live entertainment, here is a clip of a duo and hula dancer performing:

Some quick thoughts and observations:

• This morning we drove south/east around the island passing by Waikiki and around Diamond Head. I always enjoy this side of the island, the scenic overlooks and stops are a great way to spend a morning. We went early to try and avoid the traffic downtown and it worked fairly well. We had no real delays.
• After driving around and circling back via H3 we headed north/west past Ko Olina to see what was that way. We drove most the way up the coast toward where the road dead ends and then turned around. There were really no real scenic points. There were several beaches and a couple of towns. The area seemed mostly locals and not very inviting for tourists.
• Once back at Aulani enjoyed the afternoon relaxing around the resort, taking some pictures, and packing up, tomorrow we head for home.
• Pedometer Notes: 3.2 miles, 8,686 steps, 5,160 moderate pace, 46 minutes at a moderate pace