O’ahu, Hawaii
- nic-t7
- Dec 20, 2017
- 4 min read
“A man's life is interesting primarily when he has failed — I well know. For it is a sign that he tried to surpass himself.” Georges Clemenceau
I booked a two-day stop-over in Hawaii to ease the jetlag from flying Sydney to Los Angeles in one flight as well as because of cheap flight opportunities. Landed at Honolulu International Airport on O’ahu on a Sunday to find the temperature in the mid-20s but Honolulu quiet and empty.
Spent quite a few hours at a coffee shop with a couple of long coffees just thinking while I adjusted myself to the time-zone – I left quite a lot when I flew out, it’s a big journey and I haven’t been completely convinced about it. It involved a large measure of giving up some things that mean a lot to me and I’m hoping I’m on the right trip – only time will tell.
Downtown Honolulu is nestled between the sea and some beautiful mountains which were crested with clouds or fog almost the whole time I was there.
With public transport not practical for exploring the island and not being a ‘tour’ sort of person, I decided to book a motorcycle to explore with for the next day, then I travelled to the AirBnB where the host was friendly and included me in dinner, after which I fell asleep watching Scrubs.
I picked up the motorbike the next morning, a little Honda ‘Rebel’. The larger bikes I wanted (like the Honda Shadow and Harley Iron 883) were too expensive for the sort of riding I expected to do. Turned out to be a wise choice.
Hawaii is one of the “no helmets required” states in the United States and while I intend to ride without a helmet on a good clear stretch in the south of the USA (such as Texas where the roads are good), the roads aren’t great in Hawaii and there is too much traffic for my liking. So I geared up (ATGATT except for boots) and rode out.
Without any more planning than ‘ride round the island’, I headed counter-clockwise and left the city. Found the coast road where I stopped at some beautiful lookouts and rode next to and through some beautiful mountains.
Found a great little cove of a beach and recorded a couple of short training videos I am making for a project, then rode on.
I’d always thought of Hawaii as not very populated - however as I rode on, I found most of the coast populated which produced a feeling of riding continually through suburbia (at suburban speeds, on straight suburban roads) rather than curvy and empty mountain and seaside roads I had envisioned. Being a spontaneous ride (as much of this whole trip has been in some senses), I hadn’t researched finding local knowledge of good riding roads or good non-touristy spots, not that I could see many opportunities for good riding roads on the map.
Perhaps the other Hawaiian islands are different but O'ahu roads seem to be only highways/motorways, busy single-lane roads, or streets that only trace between housing. While the scenery was nice, the riding didn’t have a pinch on Australia’s fast long sparsely populated roads and a larger motorcycle would have been a waste. Even so, the scenery was picture-perfect in many spots.
More riding, suburbian style but beautiful.
The little Honda ‘Rebel’ was a zippy bike but it sure made me appreciate my Suzi Intruder which is long and lean, whereas the ‘Rebel’ is shorter and squatter leaving my knees further up than I’d like and I positioned myself onto the pillion seat a few times to stretch out my knees while I rode.
It also made me realise the quality of build on my Suzi Intruder – everything feels quality on ‘Suzi’ but the Honda ‘Rebel’ felt cheaply made with every interaction. Good enough to be reliable, but without any of the pleasure that comes from interacting with quality workmanship. This is important to me because one of the bikes I’m considering buying is a Honda ‘Shadow’ and if the build quality is anything like the little ‘Rebel’, then that would be a deal-breaker.
On the way back to Honolulu, I travelled on a six-lane highway – with another six lanes going the other direction which were all full and slow with peak-hour traffic. Despite only having 1.5 million population, Hawaii is one of the 13-most-densely-populated states of the United States and it showed. The traffic was intense (look onto the other side of the road in the distance).
Made room for a bus to merge into my lane and was tickled when the back number of the bus changed to ‘Mahalo’ (Hawaiian for ‘Thank you’) and a ‘hang loose’ hand symbol which is genuinely used here.
Sleep, then an Uber to the airport the next day. Honolulu airport is messy in its layout and I saw lots of confused and frustrated people. I’d allowed plenty of time so I wouldn’t have to feel any that frustration and it paid off with a few hiccups during check-in.
We were delayed as the cabin crew tried to chase a bird out of the airplane, then we took off. Hawaiian Airlines is one of the few airlines that still includes a hot genuine meal as part of the ticket and they give you a free pour of Hawaiian rum punch before you land, so that’s nice. Captain is entitled to a double I assume.
Next stop, landing in Los Angeles tonight then travelling to Las Vegas tomorrow.
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