My Australian wife and I had never been to Hawaii (other than landing at the airport for connecting flights), and after hearing from multiple friends, decided it was time to change that. We arrived in Hawaii the last week of October for a two week stay, which unfortunately meant I didn’t get to go out on Halloween (😒).
Before I get to the Dee part of this blog, some travelogue on Hawaii. We spent four days in Honolulu, then eleven days on Kauai, the farthest west of the six main islands that compose the state of Hawaii, about 125 miles northwest of Oahu (where Honolulu is located). The flight time between islands is about twenty minutes.
The first four days we stayed at the south end of Waikiki Beach, across the street from the beach. We did some touristy things–our favorite was probably the hike to the top of Diamondhead–but understand if you go there it is very touristy (stores, bars, restaurants, that type of thing). We like to boogie board, but the waves were disappointing, and there are rocky reefs in the shallow waters that abuse/cut your feet if you contact the reefs. Also, the beaches themselves tended to be very soft sand, so if you like walking on beaches–as we do–it was like walking in quicksand.
Thus, the water part of being in Waikiki was disappointing.
The eleven days in Kauai were a lot less touristy. Kauai has about one-tenth the population of Honolulu, and we were almost at the end of the road. Famous football coach Lou Holtz once said “Fayetteville (Arkansas) is not the end of the earth, but you can see it from there.” We weren’t at the end of the earth, but you could see it from there. Except for parts of Alaska, we were about as far west in the United States as you can go–we were the blue dot in the picture. Kauai is fairly laid back. Lots of hills, cars, green stuff, and chickens.
The resort we stayed at–recommended by close friends–was nice and comfortable. They advertise no phones, no TVs, and no air conditioning; the tradewinds constantly blowing meant that even without A/C, the temperatures were comfortable. The beach was about a hundred yards away, but the same issues as Waikiki; very soft sand and rocky reefs, which meant you couldn’t walk, swim, or boogie board comfortably near our resort. Again, just disappointing, as playing in the ocean and walking along beaches are two activities my wife and I like to do (nor could we find any public tennis courts–we had our rackets, but no place to play).
OTOH, along the beaches near our resort we did see Hawaiian monk seals sleeping on the beach (they do that, and there are signs to let them sleep) and sea turtles swimming near the shore, and that was fun to see. I also found coconuts along the beach, and took one back to our apartment, but was sadly lacking a machete to crack it open.
Our rental car–an upgrade when we picked it up–was a convertible. My wife and I aren’t exactly convertible enthusiasts–we are not sun worshippers–but it was a nice change of pace from what we normally drive. It was nice, but there were some issues. First, pop-up rain storms are frequent on Kauai; a nearby former volcano is said to be the wettest spot on earth. We would be driving along with the top down and then have to pull to the side of the road to put up the top because a rain shower would magically appear. If you like rainbows, Kauai is a good place to see them.
The other issue with a convertible is where do you put your stuff? We each travel with a suitcase and a carrying bag for our boogie boards–our boogie boards should get frequent flyer miles–and it was like playing Tetris to fit things in the car, mostly in the back seat, because the removable roof takes up space that would normally be part of the trunk . Even without the luggage, carrying just the boogie boards and beach chairs was an issue. I finally figured out the best way to load or unload the car was with the top down to get them into the back seats. By the end of our stay, the back seat was caked with sand.
We spent a fair amount of the time in the convertible cruising with the top down (or up). We toured a coffee plantation–they said it was the largest in the US–did a couple of hikes, and found a couple of beaches suitable for boogie boarding. We had a nice time, but when asked if we would go back, our answer would probably be no (or if we did, it would be to go to the big island, Hawaii). First, it was about 12 hours flying to get there from our home in the Midwest (it’s about 24 hours to get to Australia). Second, the beaches are nice, but we’ve been to better beaches elsewhere (we lived in Sydney for four years, and there are lots of nice beaches there). Just my opinion, and I hope the vast Hawaiian readership of my posts aren’t offended.
And now to the main event….
After seeing a blog post and pictures of Heidi Phox wearing her bikini in Hawaii I knew, if possible, I wanted to do the same. I packed my two swimsuits, my smallest wig, a pair of shorts, minimal makeup (foundation and powder) and a few other items, and hoped to get Dee some beach time.
About a week into our stay, I got up around 6:30 to dress and get out. I put the convertible top down for the fifteen minute drive to a nearby beach–so of course it started raining about five minutes later.
I brought three outfits, plus the shorts:
**A one-piece black and white swimsuit from En Femme (Hannah McKnight modeled it, and I wanted it);
**My Princess Highway bikini and wrap, bought in February in Australia;
**A blue dress from Akira, bought recently for $10 from the discount racks.
I spent about two hours at the beach. This one had firm sand for walking and no reefs to worry about (my wife and I came to this beach multiple times to either walk or boogie board). There were other people at the beach, but I managed to take my pictures, walk the beach in my bikini (big grins), change outfits, and even went for a swim in the one piece. I couldn’t do much about my tennis tan, other than to hope for more bikini time to darken it up.
After this first time, I had two more times out, both early mornings at the beach near our resort. Each of these times I was only out for about an hour, with only a handful of other people.
I should mention I had my toes painted gold in late September, and although the polish took a beating, no one mentioned anything about them, and I was in bare feet a lot, mostly in guy mode.
My GG friends Renee, Michelle, and Karen enjoyed the swinsuit photos. My Facebook friends got the scenery photos (funny, not the swimsuit ones). Hope you enjoy both.
P.S. My wife and I are headed for Australia just after New Year’s. It will be summer there, and I will be taking my summer clothes and my swimsuits. We have a place there near a beach on Port Philip Bay, and there are other beaches I can visit. My task the next six weeks or so is to get my body bikini ready so I can enjoy more Dee bikini time.
3 Responses
Glad you “suffered” through😘😉.
Enjoyed the narrative.
Dee,
Two words: Water Shoes. Very important because not only can coral cut your feet but sea urchins can ruin your day (week) if you step on them.
Lots of good boogie boarding beaches on Maui. I prefer Kihei because it is more laid back and less crowded than the tourist resorts. Plus it has some of the best beach for boarding.
I start my bikini tan lines as soon as I can in the spring with 20 minutes a side /day for several weeks. It sets a great base for beautifully tan legs, and of course I get them waxed. And if you want your nail polish to survive the beach – get gel nails.
I envy your ability to go around in sleeveless tops. I just have too much upper body hair to pull off that look.
Yes Renee, I did suffer through. It’s SO hard being Dee. 😀
Cali, I wore water shoes after the first time out, and that helped. My wife didn’t have any and she got a cut on her foot. We did find spots on Kauai, but even one we visited twice had a few random rocks in the water, which I always seemed to manage to find to stub my toes.
As to tan lines, I’d like the color but not the sun exposure. I get an extra two months or so of summer, and I’m out all the time, so skin cancer is a risk. I just don’t lie out in the sun to get sun, although I will likely will try to get more come January. Last year I did a walk on the beach in the black and white one piece, and ended up with sunburn on my upper thighs (I was definitely a “red ass”).
I have learned to love sleeveless tops. My hair is blonder, I shave and Nair parts, and get my back waxed every so often (I will get a back wax before I leave for Australia). Definitely cooler (and cuter) for the summer.