ABOUT US: We have two teenage sons (14 and 15) and love to travel. As our Aussie $$ has been strong over the last few years we have enjoyed several overseas holidays, but also like to keep an eye on the budget. We found the POA an economical way to see 4 islands in one week, provide plenty of night time entertainment, and of course, enjoy many food options for growing boys.

GETTING THERE: Air Australia now fly direct from Brisbane to Honolulu 3 times a week, so we left Brisbane at 6.00pm on Wednesday afternoon to arrive at 7.15am on Wednesday morning. This is just over 9 hours of flying, but we gain a day on the way. We caught the Thrifty shuttle from the airport, and collected a Ford Mustang convertible for 4 days - great fun for $68 per day including all taxes etc. We also returned the car to the airport on Saturday afternoon and caught the free shuttle to the pier.

OAHU: We were pleased that we allowed a few days before the cruise to explore Oahu, as the time difference meant that we missed a nights sleep on the way, but by Saturday we were ready to roll. We enjoyed surfing at Waikiki, hiked Diamond Head, spent half a day at the Arizona memorial, shopped at Ala Moana, drove to North shore beaches, watched some excellent surfing, and visited the eastern beaches for a swim/snorkel. We found the Honolulu traffic heavy at peak hour, but easy to drive in with the help of a GPS. We paid $15 a day to park in an elevator parking lot next to our hotel. Unless you want to drive around the island like we did, I would recommend just using the local bus system around Honolulu. It was $2 to go to most places around town. Read more