Mr. Munro suggested it. “We should climb Diamond Head,” he said. “We’ll go as soon as we wake up.”
“Sounds good,” I agreed. “We need some exercise after eating all that food on the ship.” Right about now my inner self should have been shouting, “No! No! Bad idea.” Sadly, my inner self appeared to have had one margarita too many and was on holiday.
We started out, walking along the canal, heading toward Diamond Head. It’s the big hilly volcano thing in the photo below. About halfway there my inner self decided catching a bus would have been a good idea.
“It’s not much farther,” Mr. Munro said.
He lied but finally, finally we arrived at the park. We purchased our tickets.
“Where do we go?” I looked around and frowned. I looked up and up and up. “Surely not up there?”
“Nah,” Mr. Munro said. “This way.”
He lied again. It was all the way up there. We had to go past people with sharp elbows, people who dawdled and the cheerful people who had already climbed to the top and were coming back down. They were disgustingly cheerful because they knew how much I suffered…
We passed puffing, red-faced people. We climbed 99 stairs, walked through a tunnel and squeezed under an obstacle and up a hole. We huffed and we puffed. Or rather I did. Mr Munro never huffs or puffs because he’s fitter than me. Finally, finally we stood on the top to look down on Waikiki.
“I need a beer,” I said. “A big beer.”
This is me recovering my puff at the top of Diamond Head.
And this is me at the bottom. No beer but Mr. Munro bought me a shaved ice instead.
Oh Shelley, what a fantastic thing to have done! Those pictures are wonderful, and you look very pleased with yourself.
You’re a braver woman than I!
by Christine d'Abo September 18th, 2007 at 4:56 amOkay, wasn’t there a tram or something you could have taken up? (So not into the whole “no pain, no gain” philosophy here).
Shaved Ice? Instead of beer? Nope, not a valid substitute.
Glad to see you made it back down in one piece though.
by Lisa Andel September 18th, 2007 at 5:38 amLovely pics! Makes me want to be at the beach right now instead of cooked up in my office.
by Tempest Knight September 18th, 2007 at 6:28 amOh, I’m jealous! I wanna be there, too! Not hiking, but drinking on the beach.
by Lillian Feisty September 18th, 2007 at 8:56 amI love the beach at Waikiki and spent ages people watching as well as swimming and sunning. The water is so warm and such a pretty color. The surfers always amuse me. They look like seals bobbing in the water while they wait for a big wave.
Yeah, two weeks wasn’t long enough, although on the good side, spring has started to arrive down here in NZ. It won’t be long before we can go to the beach down here
by Shelley Munro September 18th, 2007 at 12:31 pmWow good on you for climbing that monstrosity . I would have been fagged right out on the beach, the shaved ice melted all over me. I wouldn’t have the energy for anything else. Beautiful stunning pictures too, I envy you. ;)
by Amy Ruttan September 18th, 2007 at 3:03 pmBut the view from that mountain is gorgeous.
Next time your hubby feels frisky, send him to Scotland to climb some Munros, that should cure him.
by Gabriele September 18th, 2007 at 3:38 pmHah! He’d probably gallop up them like he does every other hill or mountain he makes me climb. You’d think I would have learned by now!
by Shelley Munro September 18th, 2007 at 3:44 pmYou don’t simply gallop up Ben Nevis. It’s a barren wasteland of slippery stones and treacherous slopes. The very air is cold with impending snow. Not with the newest model of Nike jogging shoes can you simply run up that accursed mountain.
by Gabriele September 18th, 2007 at 6:14 pmThe view from the top looks worth the horrible climb to me. Thanks for taking me up there - now where can I find a shaved ice…?
by julia September 18th, 2007 at 7:52 pmWell done on reaching the top! When I was 18 I climbed Mt Snowdon in Wales. My feet just about dropped off and I have NEVER gone climbing since!
by Christina Phillips September 18th, 2007 at 8:32 pmLisa - I don’t know why but my Spam catcher has suddenly decided it doesn’t want to speak to you. It keeps chucking your comments in spam and I keep getting them out
No - no tram. Believe me, I looked in vain. And the beer thing - I had one later. The shaved ice was just to hold me over. Funny I hardly every drink beer at home but there’s nothing nicer than a cold beer on a hot, steamy day to quench the thirst.
Christina - hubby is always dragging me up hills and mountains. I usually protest a lot and enjoy it once I get to the top. He dragged me up Mt Zermatt in Switzerland but did give me beer at the top of that climb. We often laugh about it because it was really expensive beer at the small cafe but it tasted SO good.
Gabriele - I’ve driven past Ben Nevis a couple of times and remember the cold very well! From memory there’s quite often mist as well or at least there was when we were there.
by Shelley September 18th, 2007 at 10:49 pm