Let’s go camping, he said. It’ll be fun, he said. And so we packed our two person tent (which has definitely seen better days), sleeping bags and roll mats into our luggage to accompany us to Hawaii.
The last time I camped in a tent was in Costa Rica over a year ago. Truth be told, I’m not much cut out for camping, I kinda like my home comforts too much. Nostalgic thoughts of the BaseCamp sprung to mind. All the advantages of glamping without having to actually camp. Safe and secure, with a proper bed and a proper pillow.
Still, the nights were forecast to be mild and rain-free. I told myself this would be an opportunity to experience a different aspect of Hawaii, to embrace the outdoors with sundowner drinks and romantic early morning walks.
It seems we weren’t alone in this thought. In fact camping must be quite popular at this time of year, as the beachfront campsites Darren tried to book online were full. Unperturbed, he widened the net, considered some other locations and eventually scooped up some prime beachfront spots.
Camping Attempt #1 – Waimanalo Beach
Ocean views, tick. Prime beachfront spot, umm… questionable. As long as we looked out to sea and not behind us, we were good. There were a few other normal paying campers. But over there on the boundary of the campsite, we had company.
I’m not going to judge or diss them, homelessness is a serious issue across this and many other nations. And if you’re going to be living permanently under canvas, there’s certainly worse places to be hanging out. I’m not missing the irony that they had the same awesome views as us.
At least our neighbors kept themselves to themselves, and we relaxed at our picnic table to enjoy the evening. Once we retired, it wasn’t the most peaceful of nights but the roar of the waves helped to drown out at least some of the noise.
L-R spicy sriracha ahi; soy salmon; smoked marlin
We didn’t expect it to last the night.
We had another weekend trip away coming up, so a chance for Darren to redeem himself. In the meantime, Valentines Day was fast approaching. As we headed down to Three Tables Beach after work, we realized we’d been beaten to it. There, right on our spot was a little love nest being set up, complete with champagne flutes, red roses, string lights and a cutesy L-O-V-E sign.
Oh Darren, you shouldn’t have. Oh, you didn’t.
The finishing touches were made, as they erected a white lacy tent (who even knew such a thing existed?) and brought out the champagne on ice, ready to greet the happy couple. It was obviously a surprise for the lady, who was suitably and very graciously blown away, in an Instagram kind of way.
In stark contrast…
Hamiltons’ Camping Attempt #2 – Lualualei Beach
There were no other legit campers at this spot, just us and the fringe homeless. Who were right next to us this time. Our allocated parking spot was already taken. By a Chrysler that had seen better days, its windscreen and back windows smashed in, its tyres relieved of air. Obviously it had been there a while and wasn’t going anywhere any time soon, we just didn’t want our tiny rental Kia to come to the same end.
After a few drone shots at sunset, we retired to spend the evening in the car rather than sit out at the picnic table in the dark. There were plenty of comings and goings outside, it seems we had hit upon the local hot spot to exchange cash for illegal substances. As for the state of the public toilets… let’s just not go there.
Relocating from the car to the tent was a hurried affair. I didn’t sleep particularly well, on alert listening out for a car window being smashed and hoping we weren’t going to get mugged in the night. I’m pleased to report that both us and the Kia survived the night. Sorry no early morning photos though, as we just got the hell out of there pretty quickly.
I’m done with camping thanks very much. An experience I think even Darren didn’t want to repeat. In fact to truly redeem himself, he had to wine and dine me in Waikiki. Where we stayed in a safe and secure hotel room, with a proper bed and a proper pillow.
