As we rose on our last day of this grand journey it was time to take a breath and contemplate everything we have done over the last 5 and a half weeks. Before we could do this as a family it was ladies day at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. This meant dad and I got squat and all the females got treated like queens. It started with Penny's birthday gift from Stacey and Sue which was a Spa Lomi Lomi massage treatment for 1hr. From there she had a pedicure. Stacey, Sue...

Today was the day Santa's present was delivered. The girls had surfing lessons on Waikiki beach. While we waited for the instructor we watched the locals paddle in and out to catch the waves on the outer reef. Kawika arrived and the girls were stoked to have lessons from a local. After a bit of beach work they hit the water and headed for the waves. They played in the inside reef breaks, which were about 1-2ft. It wasn't long and they were both standing and ridin...

After collecting the hire car we hit the road and circled the island. We headed east from Honolulu and crossed the volcano, actually went through it. There is a tunnel near the top, as you exit you see steep cliffs and the east coast. The tour guide we listened to said the volcano is dormant but experts say that it could erupt at any time, I am not convinced though. As we dropped down to the coast we turned north and followed the coast. They have had some strong ...

We woke and looked out the window and found a view of the beach. Partial but still a nice way to wake up looking out over Waikiki bay with surfers and boats floating around. We headed out to Pearl Harbor Naval Base and the visitor centre. After a short video about 7th December 1941 and the events that led up to that date we jumped aboard a boat to go to the Memorial of the USS Arizona. This was an amazing experience, something I still remember from 30 plus years ...

Today we farewelled the mainland of the USA, but first a stroll along the coast was called for. After getting our way to Venice Beach we walked our way back along the foreshore path like so many have done before us. We started looking around Venice Beach, watching the paddle board tennis games being played. Emily asked why don't they just play tennis. I said "I guess because this is Venice Beach and that's what they do". A bit further up we found Muscle Beach, th...