December
11, Tuesday
Films: From Here to Eternity (famous romantic scene at Halona Beach), Pearl Harbour, Soul Surfer, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates
Anyway, back to the tour. We started off going north east from Waikiki, past Diamond Head. Impossible to take photos through the bus windows due to the reflections, but I’m impressed with my new camera.
So far, So good.
Stop near Diamond Head
We stopped at the Halona Point
You can really see that it's lava rocks
We then headed up the Northwestern coast of Oahu
Waimanalo Beach
Search & Rescue were practicing beside the beach
Kailua Beach
Up to the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout (where it rained and it was extremely windy). It was so cloudy in the valley below that we could hardly see anything. Site of a great battle where Kamehameha won and became King of all the Hawaiian Islands in 17__?
Nu’uanu Pali Lookout
Just as we were getting back onto the minibus, the rain let up, the wind died down and we got a bit of a view into the valley and coast below.
We stopped for lunch at “Coral Kingdom” (nothing to write home about) but there was a eally interesting looking flower in the gardens
and the nearby mountain peaks were very jagged
We stopped at the “Macadamia Nut Farm” where we could sample Kona coffee and lots of different flavoured Macadamia nuts. I tasted many kinds but liked the non-roasted fresh ones the best. I bought a bag of salted ones, no additional flavour added.
Who says you need a traditional Xmas tree to hang the decorations?
No idea what these berries were. (John & Renée.... Any idea?)
On to where we saw “Chinese Hat” Island (shaped like a coolie hat)
and “Turtle” island.
Kualoa Beach, there's a bad storm looking back at the route we just came from.
Then we drove all the way up to the northern tip of the island and back down towards the famous surfing beaches.
Sunset Beach
WOW. I love the 30x zoom on my new camera ! This guy was just a dot on the waves without the zoom.
We didn’t even stop at Banzai Pipeline Beach, where there was supposed to be races this week, but the waves were almost non-existent, so no surfing competitions today. The good part was that traffic wasn’t as bad as Roy had expected.
Pineapple fields
Dole Plantation Store
Beautiful gardens at the front
and at the back. The "yellow hibiscus" is that State Flower of Hawaii.
Went on an excursion today, called “Circle Island Tour of
Oahu”. Pick up in front of the hotel was
at 8:15 and I was the last person to be picked up. We were only 12 people on the mini bus. Our driver and guide for the day, Roy, was a
really funny guy and nick-named us “The dirty dozen”. He made references to movies and TV series
which were filmed on Oahu all day long.
TV series: Hawaii
Five O (original and new series), Magnum PI, Jake and the Fat Man, Gilligan’s
Island (Yes: The Minnow sailed out of Waikiki Marina)Films: From Here to Eternity (famous romantic scene at Halona Beach), Pearl Harbour, Soul Surfer, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates
Anyway, back to the tour. We started off going north east from Waikiki, past Diamond Head. Impossible to take photos through the bus windows due to the reflections, but I’m impressed with my new camera.
So far, So good.
Stop near Diamond Head
We stopped at the Halona Point
You can really see that it's lava rocks
We then headed up the Northwestern coast of Oahu
Waimanalo Beach
Search & Rescue were practicing beside the beach
Kailua Beach
Up to the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout (where it rained and it was extremely windy). It was so cloudy in the valley below that we could hardly see anything. Site of a great battle where Kamehameha won and became King of all the Hawaiian Islands in 17__?
Nu’uanu Pali Lookout
Just as we were getting back onto the minibus, the rain let up, the wind died down and we got a bit of a view into the valley and coast below.
We stopped for lunch at “Coral Kingdom” (nothing to write home about) but there was a eally interesting looking flower in the gardens
and the nearby mountain peaks were very jagged
We stopped at the “Macadamia Nut Farm” where we could sample Kona coffee and lots of different flavoured Macadamia nuts. I tasted many kinds but liked the non-roasted fresh ones the best. I bought a bag of salted ones, no additional flavour added.
Who says you need a traditional Xmas tree to hang the decorations?
No idea what these berries were. (John & Renée.... Any idea?)
On to where we saw “Chinese Hat” Island (shaped like a coolie hat)
and “Turtle” island.
Kualoa Beach, there's a bad storm looking back at the route we just came from.
Then we drove all the way up to the northern tip of the island and back down towards the famous surfing beaches.
Sunset Beach
WOW. I love the 30x zoom on my new camera ! This guy was just a dot on the waves without the zoom.
We didn’t even stop at Banzai Pipeline Beach, where there was supposed to be races this week, but the waves were almost non-existent, so no surfing competitions today. The good part was that traffic wasn’t as bad as Roy had expected.
We turned back south and inland on Highway 99 and made
our last stop at the Dole Plantation. No
tour however, just a stop at their shop to sample some pineapple soft ice
cream. YUM !
Dole Plantation Store
Beautiful gardens at the front
and at the back. The "yellow hibiscus" is that State Flower of Hawaii.
It took less than one hour to get back to the city and I
got dropped off in front of my hotel at 5 pm.
That was a long day but I had a lot of fun with my fellow passengers and
with Roy (who was trying to find me a husband !) Thanks, but NO THANKS Roy.
Interesting facts about Hawaii: There are only 12 letters in their
alphabet: HKLMNPW and AEIOU. Can you believe it? Only 12 letters for an entire language. Amazing!
Oh, by the way…. The price of gas on Oahu is $3.95 per
gallon.
With
the publication of this blog posting, I have finally caught up on my travels!
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