Halloween, Hawaii and holiday celebrations - the Hawaii section part 3 COMPLETED - Page 36 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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It's time to move on and move forward.
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Tuesday 12 November – part five: so much still to see, but we’re leaving…
We then headed out for a final wander around the resort. We headed down to the beach, and explored the side of it we hadn’t really been to before. Amazing how we were still finding new parts to this resort on this our eighth day here. I guess it just goes to show how much there is to explore here.
The other side of the infinity pool…
We made our way back to the lounge…
… and found a very well hidden menehune statue in here – kudos to Mark for finding this one.
We made our way back to the lobby, although I stopped to use the restrooms on the way, and boy, these were beautiful!
We found another very sneaky menehune statue by the shop…
When we got to the lobby, I claimed a seating area, while Mark reclaimed the luggage from bell services. We put away everything that wasn’t going to be travelling in hand luggage, and fortunately it all still fitted, which is always a bonus. Even better, we weren’t close to the weight limit on anything – this has to be a first for us!
That done, we got a few final shots in the lobby…
A Cast Member kindly took a final shot of the two of us together at Aulani.
… then we took the luggage outside, and Mark went to get the car, while I looked after the luggage. When he arrived back, bell services did ask if we wanted any help, but we had a pretty good idea how everything fitted, and figured we’d do fine on our own, which we did.
With that, there was nothing more we could to put it off… it was now time to leave Aulani. We’d both really enjoyed our time here, I think more than we expected – and I had very high expectations, after everyone kept saying to me how wonderful it is here. Well, good grief, it is – it’s absolutely amazing and I really hope we can get back here.
I got some shots of the Ko Olina estate as we left… oh to live here!
Then we were off on the road back to Honolulu. I got some photos of the city sprawling in all directions. It really is an amazing place – you just can’t believe so many live here in such a small island.
We were very lucky with the traffic, and didn’t encounter a single problem on the way to the airport, although the same couldn’t be said for those going the other way.
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I wonder if you hadn't done so many excursions that took you away from the resort if 8 days would've felt like too much? I was amazed at the fact that you were still discovering things, but then thought about the days you flew to other islands, or just explored Oahu. You really made the most of your time in Hawaii!
Sorry the trip is ending, although heading back for more Florida fun is better than heading straight home. Don't you still have time in Florida? Now that I've said that, I'm second guessing it - this trip began so long ago! But I'm sure you'll get back to Hawaii - your love of it comes through loud and clear.
I know you were sad to leave, but you had a great first visit. Next time in Hawaii will you return to Aulani? I think if I ever considered HI as a destination I might do only a day trip to Oahu and stay on a less congested island for a while. Aulani looks beautiful, but there are many beautiful resorts in the islands!
Those little menehune are so cute. It's like looking for hidden mickeys!
Leaving is so hard, and even more so when leaving such a beautiful place. I still think you did the right thing in planning with having day trips to the other islands. That way you got a good sampling of all Hawaii has to offer. If you should never make it back, you saw a LOT. But if you do make it back - which we all know you will - then you know exactlly what and where to spend more time. Successful trip, I think!
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