The article describes a trip to Oahu in Hawaii, highlighting both its nostalgic charm and natural beauty. The author recounts experiences from Turtle Bay Resort, including turtle sightings, hiking, and traditional Hawaiian meals like kalua pork cooked in an underground oven. Reflecting on how the island feels like stepping into a postcard, the piece contrasts the North Shore’s serene environment with Waikiki’s bustling tourist scene, emphasizing Oahu's unique blend of history and contemporary attractions.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
If this was a movie, I would step from the plane to the tarmac, a warm island breeze tousling my hair as a beautiful Hawaiian girl gently drapes a fragrant lei around my neck.
asserted
girl → step → neck
In real life, landing at Honolulu International Airport isn’t quite so romantic.
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landing → land → Airport
I still descend directly onto the tarmac, but the shock of humidity and blistering sun – after 10 or so sub-zero hours in one of the fleet’s older planes – makes my head spin.
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head → descend → planes
Perhaps the airline knows I’ll forget the discomfort of the journey the minute that first mouthful of shaved ice hits my lips?
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mouthful → know → lips
There lies the magic of Oahu.
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magic → lie → Oahu
When you’re in the Aloha State, you’re in an aloha state of mind.
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you → ’re → mind
From historic Haleiwa to the Pink Palace of the Pacific, the curtain of nostalgia draped over Oahu makes every return trip feel like the first time.
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trip → drape → time
On the most recent trip, my sizeable baby bump scored us a sizeable upgrade at the Hertz counter.
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bump → score → counter
In fact, the Mercedes-Benz was so tricked out that neither my husband nor I could figure out how to work the audio or the air-conditioning.
uncertain
husband → trick → audio
So we kick off our Hawaiian adventure driving with the windows down and listening to local radio tuned to ’60s surf rock.
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we → kick → rock
We headed straight for the North Shore, for a few nights at Turtle Bay Resort to help us slip into the holiday rhythm.
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us → head → rhythm
On a bird-watching tour, our excitable host regaled us with tales of Hawaiian legend, intermittently shouting “Ruddy Turnstone!” whenever he spotted the threatened species nearby.
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he → watch → species
A mid-morning walk to buy fried bananas from the Kuilima Farm Stand across the road quickly became ritual.
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walk → buy → road
One afternoon at the resort’s private beach, which we somehow had all to ourselves, we swam with sea turtles as they crashed into the shore and enthusiastically paddled back out to do it over and over again.
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they → have → it
We ate kalua pork cooked in an imu (underground oven), hiked the Kahuku Coastline Trail and watched a sunset wedding ceremony from our ocean-view balcony.
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We → eat → balcony
That trope about feeling like you’re in a postcard?
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you → feel → postcard
I think it started here.
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it → think → ?
But going to Oahu just to experience the mecca for surfing, golfing and Ruddy Turnstone-spotting is only half the fun.
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going → go → surfing
You really need to experience the North Shore’s raw, rugged beauty together with the pulsating gaucherie of the Waikiki strip to appreciate it all.
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You → need → it
Ii’s a combination that just works, just like the island’s beloved Spam musubi – a grab-and-go snack featuring a slice of fried Spam atop a layer of rice, wrapped in nori.
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that → ’ → nori
The fact that Oahu is Hawaii’s most-visited island is painfully evident every time I try navigating the footpath of Waikiki’s main street, Kalakaua Avenue.
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I → visit → street
Gracefully ageing mid-rise hotel towers line one side.
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towers → age → side
Glorious golden sand stretches out on the other, gentle waves lapping the shore at intervals for which novice surfers on longboards are eternally grateful.
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surfers → stretch → longboards
But as a favoured destination for corporate conferences, college competitions and family reunions, it has a Gold Coast-like energy that many cannot stomach.
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many → favour → that
As a repeat visitor, I navigate this neighbourhood via the backstreets.
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I → navigate → backstreets
That’s where things get really good.
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things → ’ → ?
Because, yes, a drink beneath The Moana Surfrider’s banyan tree canopy will deliver a fabulous photo moment, but pulling up a table at Cuckoo Coconuts to sip a Blue Hawaiian from a plastic cup and hear the band play Steely Dan?
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band → deliver → Dan
Every trip to Oahu, I am transported back, back, back.
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I → transport → Oahu
To when 20-year-old me bumped into surfing legend Kelly Slater in the lobby of Turtle Bay, or when 26-year-old me convinced my then-boyfriend to spend the last night of our trip dining on the Tex-Mex delicacies of Chili’s baby-back ribs and mozzarella cheese sticks (where I learned that some happy memories really do just belong where you left them ... back in 2004).
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you → bump → 2004
On my next visit, with two kids in tow, I’ll introduce them to The Cheesecake Factory, order the same Chinese Chicken Salad (no mandarin, noodles on the side) from the lunch specials menu – its own magnificent time capsule – and my husband and I will regale them with tales of how we once saw the world’s then No.1 surfer waiting outside for a table, or had a lovely Midwestern couple shout us a round of drinks when they found out we were Aussies, or how we brought our eldest there when he was still in my belly.
Travelling to discover something new is one of life’s greatest pleasures.
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Travelling → introduce → pleasures
But returning to a place that feels like home, that reminds you of every other time you’ve been and that invites you to slip back into the familiar, is equally magic.
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that → return → familiar
The Aporia
