By Wednesday the storm warnings had become grim, with talks of hurricane force winds and colossal surf that would flood Waikiki. But on the ground there was little evidence of this:
That’s Waikiki viewed from atop Diamond Head crater. I climbed it myself on Wednesday morning while KLS rested in the shade in the crater and probably sweated off a pound or two!
Later in the day the weather took a distinct turn. Stores started closing early and the tide was very high, almost coming up to street level. It was dramatic and large crowds had collected to gawk at what we assumed was hurricane-related weather.
On Thursday most everything was either closed or closing early. We walked around and saw shopowners preparing for the worst with plastic and sandbags and in some cases boarding up entire storefronts. All public parks were closed, buses weren’t running and the warnings had adopted a darker aspect since by now the hurricane had started devastating eastern Hawaii with incredible rain and flooding.
And yet the skies in Waikiki were still (mostly) clear and we spent a lot of time at the beach in between stocking up on food and water under the assumption the storm would hit and we’d be staying in Hawaii longer than our scheduled departure date. By the end of the day there was a glimmer of hope: the storm had weakened slightly and had slowed.
Friday was interesting. It was our last full day in Hawaii and virtually everything was closed. The very few shops or restaurants open had massive lines mostly full of tourists that had just arrived or failed to heed the warnings. We stayed in our room eating food we’d stockpiled while packing, and then joined what seemed like every other tourist in Waikiki for an amazingly fun time at the beautiful beach.
I also wrote loads of postcards that day, although since mail pickup was suspended and due to the flooding warnings I hadn’t been mailing them (and didn’t until the airport).
But the strange reality of Friday was that Waikiki was essentially closed for business but the storm had gone! Between Thursday night and Friday morning – during the exact time we had been told the full force would hit us – the storm basically weakened and faded away! By mid morning it became clear Oahu had dodged a bullet and even the rains still buffeting The Big Island and Maui weren’t going to reach Oahu! The sun even returned while we were at the beach, and it was a beautiful day.
Yesterday we got up early, enjoyed our last incredible hotel buffet, went to the airport and traveled home (3 flights, 18 hours!) with no interruptions at all. To quote the headline of the Honolulu newspaper:
Hawaii was fantastic. It was relaxing and fun and beautiful and as unique as we had remembered. Staying literally on the beach at a luxury hotel was an incredible experience and we took advantage of it and visited the beach every day. We saw every bit of Waikiki, drove around the island and visited the north shore. We climbed diamond head, saw a magic show, ate amazing food including at two very realistic Japanese-style food courts and even saw tropical fish swimming in the surf! It was a wonderful trip and a great way to end the summer 🙂