I’m taking a little break from my A-Z Challenge.

I still have R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z to do… And I have some cool ideas for those posts!

But I’m far too excited about our recent trip to Hawaii so that’s what I’m going to cover first.

Earlier this week James and I wrapped up a 10-day trip to the island of Oahu.

One thing we did during our vacation was hike Diamond Head, the volcano that makes up the iconic background setting of Waikiki Beach.

We first took a city bus to the base of the hike, which is really more of an incline walk.

The walk itself was nice. Lots of families with young children were able to do it so it’s not impossible with little ones.

The bus dropped us off just around the corner from the driveway entrance, which took about 15 minutes to walk through to finally get to the park entrance.

James’ Kiwi-ness paid off in helping us gain entrance because we were without cash — it costs $1 per person or $5 for a car.

The kindness of the people working at the park was incredible. A woman working the food/drink truck gave us two free bottles of water because it was too dangerous to be walking up without hydration.

It was so hot out! Well over 30 degrees celsius (close to 90 degrees fahrenheit).

Lesson learned: Bring CASH to Diamond Head!

As for views, you won’t see many until you reach the top but MAN is it worth it!!

After climbing some rather intense stairs, you ascend to the summit where you’ll find a stunning lookout over Waikiki Beach and the Diamond Head lighthouse.

The color of the water is breathtaking. See for yourself…

Overall: It’s a great thing to do if you’re wanting to stay active and if you’ve got a couple hours to see Honolulu from a beautiful birds-eye perspective.

It took us about an hour and a half round-trip. We took some time relaxing and appreciating the scenery once we reached the top.

We both highly recommend Diamond Head!