Next up, four days in Waikiki. We arrived mid-afternoon, greeted by the extraordinary view from our hotel room.

The highlights:

01. Dinner at Mud Hen Water – modern Hawaiian using locally sourced ingredients. Everything was delicious from the cured kahala with fresh ricotta, and breadfruit in fermented black bean and orange sauce to the long rice croquettes and beet poke. The stand-out? The clams and lemongrass sausage in a broth that was out of this world.

02. Tour of the south coast of O’ahu –  although there was some unexpected rain (hence the photos don’t have blue skies and aquamarine waters), we thoroughly enjoyed a full day on the south coast.

We started with POG mimosas, malasadas and a view; then went swimming in Obama’s backyard (well, not quite but because there are no private beaches in Hawaii, his house adjoins the beach) (pic below – can’t see it in the pic but there were security cameras everywhere); lunched on the best coconut shrimp I’ve ever eaten at the unassuming Ono Shrimp Shack; and enjoyed a spectacular coastal drive.

03. We sampled our fair share of Mai Tais on this trip but those at the Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai Beach Bar were the winners.

04. The Hawaiian love for Spam is well known – didn’t quite expect there to be a Spam festival, but nevertheless we found ourselves at Spam Jam. I steered clear of the Spam (Spam ice cream, anyone?) but felt like I’d ticked off a bucket list item after drinking from a pineapple.

05. The person who took us on our tour of the south coast gave me the tip on La Mariana Sailing Club, described as a ‘…watering hole that is is like stepping into a Hawai‘i that no longer exists’. It’s a Tiki bar, tucked away in what seems to be an industrial area, half an hour from Waikiki (it was all locals when we visited – the waitress told us that the tourists who come are usually hardcore Magnum PI fans, because it was used as a set in that series).

If you want the kitsch ‘culture‘ of Tiki, this is the place – light fittings made of shells, murky aquariums, puffer fish lamps, discarded buoys, lots of cane and bamboo furniture and the watchful eyes of tiki totems. We ate and drank well – Mai Tais and Zombies (basically a mai tai topped with more rum and apricot brandy), and shrimp BLTs – and rolled home!

06. Our last evening was spent at the restaurant House Without a Key, enjoying a sunset dinner and music from a ukulele band. A perfect end to a sensational holiday.