Believe Lavarock7 about coffee. He owns a coffee plantation:)

I was momentarily seduced by sub-1k return fares syd-Honolulu.
Then I googled it a bit and Honolulu looks just like Bondi beach.
So, market it to me a bit....what's there that will justify a trip?
I'm interested in seeing pearl harbour.

Uiii and where? I am a big coffee fan and very interested visting a friendly coffee farm during my Big Island visit.
Thanks
W

Easy to fulfill. On your own or in tour. Once in Kailua-Kona or Waikoloa, grab a
101 things to do magazine (everywhere, outside stores,lobby, etc) find the farm that most appeals to you. Most Coffee farms world wide are small/family run.
Theres the museum/on Napo'opo'o Road, or family Farms like Mountain Thunder, Rooster, and others open to the public normal business hours- (early). You will want to head into south Kona Coffee Country, about 20 minutes from Ali'i Drive water front of the small Harbour town thats Kailua-Kona. A nice "day" is coffee hunting for your fav. from Holualoa Town south to Honaunau (City of Refuge National Park) makes a nice end to the day and as a National Park, if you've been to Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor or Volcanoes National PArk you'll have entry from your pass. enjoy.

From an Urban POV Bondi may have parallel to Waikiki/Honolulu on Oahu.
Thats as far as the line can be drawn, as each Island in Hawaii is as varied as
coasts of AU. Culturally pretty different. Waikiki is separated from the rest of the island naturally by a canal, the locals find it amusing-keeps all the tourism on one side of the canal?
Depends on how much time you have. Pearl Harbor can be planned and done in
a day from Honolulu. enjoy. The Islands flavours are worth the trips for the adventurous at heart. Winter trips try staying leeward/dry- Kona, Molokai, Lanai.

Bondi is nice. So is Pearl Harbor.

You ask us to market it to you: What do you want out of a holiday?

Venturing up to NorthShore may be fun. A lot of big waves this time of year. Heck, they could even have the Pipe Masters Competition going on while you're down there. Definitely grab some breakfast and fried rice at Ted's Bakery. If you do go, get there early though.

Thank you and ipster for your input.

I like (surprise, surprise) adventure. I seek entirely different stuff to my humdrum office life in Sydney.
My best memories are of dirt roads, horse-drawn carts, no electricity, sleeping under the stars in the desert....

I'll probably skip Honolulu.

A price war on US-AUS fares is predicted for 2016. Circa 1k-return to mainland USA.

For the same coin, I'd probably rather do NY + California + Southern USA + Disneyland.

So I recently wrapped up my holiday and had a great time. There were some acitivities that I couldn't do such as the Pearl Harbour tour because of the anniversary and snorkeling but overall I had a great time. Food was great, weather was nice (except the on and off rain where I had to fiddle around with my wipers every few minutes! :p :o) and locals were way friendly than the ones you meet back in the mainland.

Looking forward to returning soon.

Thanks everybody for all your suggestions and contributions ^

Glad to hear you enjoyed!

It's been nearly a year since you started this thread. Nice to hear you finally made your trip!
How about all your other wanted to do's?
Did you have Mac nut pancakes? Try poke and shave ice?
Make it to North Shore to see any big surf at Waimea or Pipeline?
Go to the Swap Meet? What hotel did you end up at?
Last, I hope you met some of the local wahini that you had asked about.

I'm crushed! :( PS What souvenirs did you settle on?

Sorry for the late reply as I've been trying to catch up on sleep from all that flying!
Unfortunately, I couldn't do them all. For the Pearl Harbor museum, I forgot that it was the anniversary during that time and it would've been a mess to go. I was thinking of Lanikai Beach and visiting North Shore but driving would be too much and there were days I just didn't feel like driving.
Didn't get to try any Mac nut pancakes but did try the Guava chiffon pancakes at Cinnamon's Ala Moana. Heavenly! Yes, I got to try poke at Ono Seafood and it was cheap but yummy. Probably, the cheapest meal I had during my stay. And yes with the shaved ice. I had it at Uncle Clay's House of Pure Aloha. Even had a chance to meet one of the owners! ^
Yes, I did go to the swap meet. I purchased mostly tshirts and bags. Good deals. And I ended up staying at the Outrigger Waikiki. Great location, fantastic staff and descent rooms. Probably will be my choice of hotel whenever I'm in Honolulu.
Met a couple of nice ones but being the shy person that I am, only said hi to them, thats about it. There was this nice one I met at one of the ABC stores near my hotel. I got her name but wish I asked her out though. :td:

Anyways, happy holidays.

Mostly food with some shirts, keychains, bags and some fridge magnets for my mum. Mostly did my food shopping at Walmart with some at the ABC stores. For the shirts,bags, etc. went shopping at the swap meet.