Hawaii Part 3

This next post brings us to Day 4 and venturing to the actual NORTH SHORE.  The waves were not as big as I thought they would be but they were sufficient.  I would love to venture back there in the Winter when the surf competitions are happening and there are so many real big waves. 

On our drive we came across a state park.  This was a place that the locals utilized for a stay-cation.

A very large LAVA Rock on the beach

All the smaller lava rocks and worked their way into the ocean.

On the beach, a little boy (about 6 or 7) was learning to surf.  His instructor was his aunt.  She would swim out with her surfboard and drag him out floating on his surfboard.  She floated through the waves and let four or five pass by and then just when the right one came would tell him to stand up and he would "surf" all the way into shore.  It was the cutest thing to watch his mom and siblings get excited when he hit the shore.

Our next stop was at another public beach.  The beach views were obstructed by trees very similar to this one.  Once you walked through the trails and the overhangs, you came upon this wide expansion of sand and amazing waves.  

But first I saw my dream vacation home.  Hidden by a bunch of trees and walks directly out to the beach.  Better get my investments beefed up so I can afford it in 25 years.

The beach had a steep drop to the ocean and I couldn't figure it out until I saw the guys being pulled out into the ocean by the outgoing waves and thrown back up on the beach when they came back in. The drop was the current of the ocean pulling the sand and rocks back into the sea.  The two guys were having a blast but are braver than I am.









Footprints in the deep sand.

Our last stop of the day was at a point close to the Polynesian Center.   The legend was that the island was attacked by a lizard and the warrior cut it into five pieces and threw it into the ocean.  The five pieces are the rock formations off shore.

One more blog will be posted with a few more pictures of our last day.  Stay tuned for Part 4!

Hawaii Part 2

Day two continued as we kept driving north around the east side of the island. We made a trip to the 'CRATER'. This is the inside of one of the inactive volcanoes. Frankly, it freaked me out a little bit. I think I have watched Dante's Peak too much. All that lava and boiling lakes and screaming people. But this was peaceful so I had to go with it.

We drove through the tunnel and inside the crater and then realized it was going to be a 30 minute wait for even a parking space so we turned around and stopped to look at the view outside the crater. I think it was a better choice. It was beautiful. The rain clouds were moving in. The phenomenon of "sun rain" happens daily in Hawaii. Just all of a sudden it will rain for a little bit and then stops. Hardly any clouds in the sky, just sun and rain.

So then we ventured down the side of the mountain -- again dealing with lots of traffic and came upon this lagoon area where people were putting their big fishing boats in or just fishing off the shore. To the right of this picture out of the shot, there is a spillway of sorts. It really is just a mountain run off that comes in to the ocean. Fishermen seemed to be focused on that spot.

Looking back up toward the mountains from the beach.

After this stop, we kept going around the east toward the North Shore. We came upon another cliff area that had a phenomenon called a "blow hole". This is where the lava rock have left an open space and when the wave comes crashing in, it spouts water really high. Today we didn't see it happen very much because they waves were not huge. The locals said that the North Shore in the Summer is very tame and today there were waves but not as high as the tourists like to see them.

This is standing on the observation point with the waves crashing underneath. And then to the right are the CRAZY people on this little beach area that are riding this incredible breakers in and out of this lagoon. Didn't even look fun to me. It was like a water park wave pool on steroids. But it was beautiful.

We haven't at this point dealt with a lot of wind. It has been very pleasant - PERFECT - weather. At this high vantage point, it was very windy. Curtis almost lost his hat a couple times.

At this point, we decided to head back to Waikiki. Crabby driver Rhonda had decided she had had enough driving and wanted to sit on the beach. We headed back to the hotel, parked the car and donned our beach gear. We rented an umbrella because I had been in the sun too much already for the day and sat for a couple hours on the beach watching the surf and the sand.

So the end of Day Two and most of Day Three is a blur for me. After spending the sun set on the beach, we decided to venture in the market and restaurant area of Waikiki. I wanted to make a point of eating fish while I was here because it doesn't get any fresher than in Hawaii. So far, I had been pretty successful - fish tacos with Ahi, etc. But we get to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. Curtis is crushing on the bartender and I am drinking these......

Don't remember much after two of these. Had some nachos - at least that is what I saw on video that Curtis took - but needless to say in bed with hang over next day -- spent some time at the pool in the late afternoon. Lesson learned -- no tequila at Jimmy Buffett's.

Stay tuned for Part 3.

Hawaii Part 1

Curtis and got back from Hawaii a couple of weeks ago. Because of our move to central Iowa I have been too busy to sit down and put my thoughts on the blog. So here goes.

I have never had a desire to go to the islands until Curtis had to teach a class there. So I thought I would tag along. What did we do for the week we were there?

After our LONG flight there we arrived in the middle of some killer traffic and at night. It was difficult to see what was going on and really any spectacular views in the dark so we just went to the room, checked out the hotel and went to bed. Time difference was 5 hours. I knew it was going to take a bit of getting used to.

This is what I woke up to the next morning. The Waikiki Embassy suites was an amazing place to stay. It was 1/2 block from the beach, had a shopping mall in the hotel, a YARDHOUSE restaurant with 40-11 types of beers (Curtis was in heaven), a FREE breakfast every morning - not just a continental here's your donut breakfast - omelets made for you, scrambled eggs, bacon, french toast, amazing fruit (FRESH PINEAPPLE), miso soup (?) - and a free manager's reception at night with FREE cocktails and snacks. We will stay here again WHEN we go back to the ISLAND.

Our first day there Curtis had to head out of the hotel pretty early to teach his class. We were not able to stay at the location where he was teaching. It was only a couple blocks away. So after that superb breakfast I headed out on my own. First stop -- THE BEACH of course!

This was the view off an asphalt sea wall/pier thing that was the first thing I saw. The views are breathtaking. I haven't seen nature this spectacular since my drive through the mountains of Tennessee in the Fall. It was amazing!

I am beginning a walk down this sidewalk toward what looks like a "public" beach. This is looking back toward the concert pier with the hills and hotels in the background. I then realize that this whole beach is a public beach. I could "cop a squat" where I wanted to and no one was going to chase me away.

The beach of course is littered with hotels and shops and restaurants and bars. I see an outdoor restaurant

with this really cool statute. And some of you know I fancy myself a photographer so I am shooting pictures of this statute. And then I realize that the eyes are blinking on this bird. I have never seen a bird like this before. Of course social media helped me out. I posted a picture asking someone to tell me what it was. It turns out it is some sort of bird in the Heron family. He or she was just sitting there in the morning checking out the passers by. When I walked back by the restaurant about an hour later - he or she was gone.

As I continued down this concrete path not too very far from my bird experience, I came across what I thought was the largest hotel swimming pool I had ever seen. Then I realize that the water is not chlorinated and there was a sand sweeper on a tractor. Walking a little farther along I see this "restored" lagoon. It wasn't very deep but apparently during HIGH tide, the water comes in from the ocean and this lagoon is on the public beach and people can swim, and paddle surf, etc.

I sat for about 2 hours on lava rock watching surfers. New surfers getting one or two lessons and then they test their new knowledge in some pretty heavy surf. I play this to not only watch the surfers but to hear those waves. That sound never gets old for me.

The rest of the day was spent exploring Waikiki. The malls, the shops, the beach and the amazing weather. The weather people here have a boring job. Each day it is 82 degrees and sunny. Every day all year round....82 degrees and sunny. I think I could get used to no snow with those temps.

On day two we decided to take a drive. We wanted to head toward the north shore and just see how far we could go. Honolulu traffic is TERRIBLE to say the least. They don't have a rush hour -- they have a rush ALL DAY. They are really land locked and can't make the freeway any more lanes than they already have so that makes driving interesting. So with Curtis navigating and me swearing at drivers, we set out.

The first place we came upon was this overlook of the ocean. As we are driving all I can see to our left are peaks and hills of old lava rock that have now turned into a lush hillside of green. To our right is the ocean. So we pull off and decide to trek down to the beach. Where we stop seems to be a spot for surfers to put in to the water. This is looking down quite a few feet to the ocean.

A bit of perspective about how high up it is - this lighthouse is right there in the distance and that is the top of the light house.

We sat on the beach for about 45 minutes watching the surfers. The waves here were much higher than on Waikiki. We were not even near the North Shore yet.

I need not only SUNSCREEN but a hat as well. The sun is mighty mighty there. And this red headed German had to be careful and not stay in it too long, even with sunscreen slathered every where.

Stay tuned for the next part of the HAWAII adventure. I will post PART TWO next.

Mahalo!