Waikiki Beach

Goodbye Hawaii, hello Waikiki.  A lovely send off from the Kona Airport.


What a pleasant surprise.  Here I was thinking Wasaga Beach and it was way more like South Beach in Miami.  An absolutely beautiful beach that was very busy.  There were just as many people walking the streets as there were on the beach.  The high end stores like Saks, Versace, Coach, etc were just bustling with people.

Our other pleasant surprise was our hotel.  I booked the Moana Surfrider Westin Hotel using my little blue air miles card (all those points from the LCBO paid off).  This is one of the original hotels on the beach and is just full of charm and history.  Lovely rooms, lovely restaurants and right on the beach.

After checking in we decided to head out for a walk, people everywhere, dressed to the nines with their arms full of shopping bags.  Not what I expected at all.

Something to do with all those wine corks I have collected over the years!!!

Next stop the beach, lots of people, big waves, but beautiful water.  Until I saw the following sign.  Every month around 8 days after the full moon the jelly fish come floating into the beach.  They actually have a website with all the dates on for people planning holidays.  That was it for me no way was I going in.

Well after our walk along the beach and watching all these crazy people having so much fun in the water I finally ventured my feet in.  Everytime I saw a leaf I was backing up.  It was like the jelly fish were just waiting for me.  Jim is laughing and jumping in and out.  Then this white thing goes floating up to us, I squeak and then we burst into laughter, it was a used condom, the most dangerous thing in the water.  LOL

We rented a couple of beach chairs and plunked ourselves down for the afternoon of people watching and a fantastic sunset.  There must have been a 100 people on the beach witht their cameras ready for the perfect shot.

Finished the night off with a lovely dinner in the hotel restaurant, sitting on their porch, early to bed and up at 5:30 for our trip to Palm Springs.  We loved Waikiki Beach, would go back for a weekend for sure, but a week just might be a little long for us old folks :)

A walk to Dana Harbour - a little jewel on the coast

Dana Point and Capistrano Beach run into each other.  It is 5000 Steps to the Dana Point Harbour.  Not only does it have the best fish and chips in the area, you can also go whale watching and take a boat to Catalina Island.  The history of Dana Point and it's huge harbour is quite interesting.  Click here to find out how it was named.  Richard Henry Dana Jr named it the "only romantic spot on the coast".  And it is beautiful.

Paddle boarders, boats and surfers all share the harbour.  I always thought that paddleboarders were yoga type relaxing exercises, not in Dana Harbour, they were racing through the harbour.

You think that the rain is dangerous to these houses on the cliffs, but the drought of the last 4 years has done just as much damage as the foliage which holds the cliff together is drying up which then means the cliff has nothing to hold it together.

This coast had the best surfs in the world until the 1960's when the harbour was built.  It also was known for the most dangerous waves along the California coast.  

Our timeshare is one of those white buildings on the coast.  You have to close the door to hear the TV as the waves are so loud.

I've been reading up about sunset pictures and it said to make sure to have a focal point in the sunset and/or a silhouette.  I was hoping for a sailboat but this was all I could find.  Not sure if the following works :)  LOL

Another pretty beautiful night.

Jim and I keep talking about how great it would be to buy another house in the south and this is definitely the state we would love to live in.  The people are wonderful, there is the oceans, the mountains, the desert, wine country, everything you could ask for as you escape another Ontario winter :).  It is also close to Hawaii :)  btw we did 15000 steps in less than 3 hours, amazing what you can do when you aren't hitting a little white ball around.  Another thing California has in abundance, golf courses.

The Crossings Golf Course in Carlsbad California - a wee gem

Is there any better way than to start your day off with a walk and if that walk is along the ocean with the waves crashing you have just reached paradise.  LOL  well maybe not, it was a little chilly and there were cars and trains going by, but I still couldn't keep my eyes off the waves.  And then I started looking for sea glass.  Found a few lovely pieces which I will add to my collection at the cottage.

Back to the condo to do a little work and then we were off for a drive down the coast to Carlsbad - the City by the Sea.  This town is about 1/2 way between us (Capistrano) and San Diego right on the coast with a population of over 100,000.  All of these little towns remind me of the resort towns in England, lots of walking paths, waves crashing and the old with the new.  Little old houses beside brand new resorts.

We checked out a few timeshares for future use and then came upon this little gem of a golf course, called The Crossings.   If you are scared of heights or roller coasters - beware.  I have never been on so many high tee boxes, the views were amazing.  This course is definitely not for walkers, even if you could manage the elevation changes without oxygen, you would need to catch a bus to get you from hole to hole.  I am amazed at how zippy the carts were with all the miles we put on them.

 The course does a wonderful job of maintaining the natural environment.  This also made it challenging if you couldn't hit the fairways.  Winds were blowing in all directions as well.  And we saw our first rattlesnake sign.  This was just after Jim crawled into the bushes to retrieve a ball.  He was so excited to come out with 3, until he saw the sign.

We only played 12 holes as we caught up to the field and it was getting a wee bit chilly up on those hills.  I was happy with my 51 on the front 9, not happy with my 2 lost balls on the 10th hole.  LOL. 

If we come back next year, we will definitely plan on playing all 18.  

A 35 minute drive home just in time for a glass of wine as we watched the sun settle over the Pacific.