Diamond Head Crater & Friends

We woke up at 8:00am. Alas, with children, we made it out the door at 9:30am on our way to climb Diamond Head Crater.

“No problem!” we said, “The bus will be quick!”

Unlike China, it seems that the buses do not run as often in Honolulu. We waited for 15 minutes before a bus came to take us down to the Ala Moana Center. Once there, we waited another twenty minutes before the next bus came.

Two hours after we stepped out our door, during the peak heat of the day, we made it to Diamond Head State Monument. Thank goodness we lathered on the sunscreen before we left the house.

Diamond Head’s is essentially a crater formed during a volcanic eruption a while back. It’s renowned silhouette is as synonymous with Waikiki as the Eiffel Tower is to Paris.

Originally named Lē`ahi meaning “forehead of the ahi tuna”…because the crater looks like the forehead of an ahi tuna.

The name Diamond Head comes form the late 1700s when explorers mistook crystals for diamonds.

In more recent history, the crater and its summit were used as a fire control center to direct artillery for several military batteries. With the advent of radar, it was no longer used an an observation point.

Now, hundreds of tourists and locals alike make the 0.8 mile one way climb (just 560 feet from the crater floor). The trail is a series of switchbacks that lead eventually to many steps and then a tunnel. (No big spider, though. )

A view of O`ahu from along the trail.

Schäfer walked all the way to the top.

Hubs insisted on carrying Sianna and our day bag.

Sianna was awake, but we kept the Ergo hood on to keep her scalp out of the sun. The girl will not wear a hat.

We enjoyed the view along the way.

Not even stairs slowed Schäfer down.

After this staircase, we walked through a tunnel, then climbed up some spiral stairs which lead to climbing out the observation post windows to a platform overlooking Honolulu and the southern coast of O`ahu.

The view from the top was great!

Schäfer was so proud to make it to the top. His cheeks are rosy from the exercise. Thanks to sunscreen both kids stayed sunburn free.

Schäfer chose to wear his blue shirt this morning because “it’s the same color as Thomas”.

Sianna was happy to be at the top.

Our family at the top!

Schäfer’s favorite part was seeing a lighthouse.

Schäfer and I with Waikiki in the background.

Hubs and Sianna enjoy the view.

Diamond Head Crater

Our walk back down was uneventful. Schäfer enjoyed seeing this map and pointing out what we saw along the way.

At the bottom, we stopped for a snack picnic.

Schäfer couldn’t wait to take his shoes off and climb a tree.

This was his first time to climb a tree.

Unfortunately, right after this photo he fell out of the tree. He was fine, but a little surprised.

Meanwhile, Sianna shook this box of goldfish like it was a musical instrument

Of course, we put Schäfer right back in the tree.

Hubs said he was going to carry both the kids back to the bus stop.

He absolutely insisted on carrying the kids and the day bag. Sometimes, he’s such a Yak. Eventually, he let me carry Sianna.

We made it back to the house at 3:30, got the kids fed and down for a nap.

At 6pm our new friend Lance picked us up to take us to a special dinner at Like Like (pronounced ‘leekay leekay’) Drive Inn. The food was incredible! We loved the “food dive” atmosphere. This was definitely a restaurant full of locals – no tourist here!

We were joined by Lance’s wife, Natalie, and his daughters Megan and Noel. It was so fun to learn about Hawaii from a local family.

Like Like Drive Inn serves breakfast all day. Schäfer was so happy with their massive pancakes.

Hubs was surprised with how flavorful this sizzling teriyaki steak was! Sure beats the water buffalo we eat in JiuJiang!

Late that evening, long after Schäfer should have been in bed, our old friends stopped by. They are just in town for a few more days so we were thankful for our short time together. I got to hold sweet baby C. Unfortunately, Sianna was already sleep so we were not able to get a photo together. Schäfer thinks Baby C is Sianna’s best friend.