Last day on Oahu; part 1

You know it's going to be a great day in Hawaii when you wake up and this is your view!

And the beautiful island awaits you!
These two parrots were down in the lobby of the hotel. I said hello and we had a little chat.

As part of our room package, we had an hour of free snorkel rental, so in the morning we ate breakfast, then headed out to the cove to snorkel.

It was a nice little snorkeling cove, although it was so shallow that it was hard not to step on coral if you had to adjust your mask.

The little snorkel shack where we rented the gear.

The beautiful fountain in front of Turtle Bay

Turtle Bay Resort

This was our little rental car on the island. It proved to be interesting to load with all of our luggage, but it was fun to run around in. I never noticed the license plate until I took this picture. About that time I felt like a "pyg" for dining on all the wonderful Hawaiian dinners we enjoyed while on the islands.

We enjoyed cruizin' with the top down.

Some of the fairway condos on the golf coarse at Turtle Bay

We saw quite a few of these on Maui, but this was the only one I spotted on Oahu (roadside fruit stand). Oh how I was wishing I hadn't eaten so much guava at breakfast or we could have stopped for more!

I'm not sure of the history of this building, but it was apparently a rest home at one time.

Sunset beach

Evidence that we're on the North Shore of Hawaii!

I'm not sure what the name of this little cove was, but it looked like a great snorkel spot. If you look closely there are some snorkelers in there. Oh how we wished we owned some masks so we could stop and check it out.

Another beautiful beach...

Waimea bay cliff divers

The beautiful vast Pacific Ocean

We're heading into a neat little surfer town called "Haleiwa". I like the bridge!

The local elementary school. I wonder if they teach surfing classes?

More than one way to carry your boards

Continuing along the highway, we saw a lot of this. Can anyone guess what it is??

Why, it's pineapple!!

We didn't stop and tour Dole as we had our sights set on going back to Pearl Harbor and touring the submarine and the Battleship U.S.S. Missouri.

We got back to Pearl Harbor and decided to take in the U.S.S. Bowfin submarine first. The headphones we're wearing contained a narrative tour.

Fold up sink.

Correspondence room

There were a lot of gauges and instruments used to run the sub

One of the main engine rooms

Salt water depth gauge

A memo put out by the captain of the ship

The mess hall

Narrow bunks

Long hallways

I decided that there's no way that one could be on this ship and not be claustrophobic. These little doors were small to crawl through, but they would provide water tightness if you were attacked by the enemy.

Another engine

Torpedo room. See the torpedo loaded in the left side? They would use a build up of air pressure to launch them.

The torpedo's.

The U.S.S. Missouri

Mike and I on the Bowfin.

A very large periscope

Yet another

Total # of ships that the Bowfin sank during the war

The Bowfin's anchor

Inside the museum...

Do you recognize this man? Would it help you if I told you that he was one of our presidents? Would it help you if I told you he was rescued at sea by the crew of the U.S.S. Finback after his plane was shot down?

Would it help if I told you it was none other than George Bush Sr.?? He's in the picture below with the other rescued aviators.

A letter George Bush wrote later on in his presidency.

A note regarding the Bowfin.

The crew of the Bowfin.

I love these plumeria trees

After spending time at Pearl Harbor we decided to forego the tour of the U.S.S. Missouri and head over to Hickam Air Force Base to watch the Thunderbirds in the airshow. Next up: the airshow...

Day 8 on Oahu; part 2; Drive to the North shore

Did you know??? Today marks the 68th anniversary (to the date) of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I have more pictures of Pearl Harbor coming up in a couple posts, so hang tight!

The drive up to the North Shore was beautiful. Oahu is much more populated with more traffic than Maui. We preferred Maui to Oahu for this reason, but the beauty is much the same.

Another beautiful beach along Oahu's East coast
Evidence of volcanic activity

Manana Island

The endless Pacific Ocean

Some Hawaiians live on the beach

We finally reached our destination! Turtle Bay Resort!

Can you find the waterslide? It's a kiddie pool!

The larger pool. We went for a dip, but it was a little cool as a rain shower had just passed by.

Surfers in front of the hotel

The last beautiful sunset we'd see in Hawaii

Enjoying the last night on the beach

Sun sinking into the ocean

Next up: Drive back down West side of island; pineapple fields; Dole

Day 8 on Oahu; part 1: Pearl Harbor and hike to Diamondhead

On day 8 we flew from Maui to Oahu and went straight to Pearl Harbor. The sailors were there for a retirement ceremony.

U.S.S. Bowfin submarine
Some of the torpedo's that were used during WW2

There are very few Pearl Harbor survivors left.

The few that are living are in their 90's

Such as these two men. We bought a Pearl Harbor coffee table book. The author was there and he signed it as well as the two survivors who were there. One of these gentlemen was one who helped pull bodies from the water after the bombings.

A favorite flower of mine...the bird of paradise

Heading out to the U.S.S. Arizona memorial. There are several ships that lie on the ocean floor in this harbor. The U.S.S. Arizona is the ship that had the most men on board so it has the largest monument.

You are taken out to the memorial by boat after viewing a short film on the events of the day that the bombing occurred. It's very moving and it is a shrine of sorts. Over 500 men lost their lives this day. Parts of the ship remain above water. This was one of the main hulls.

One of the smokestacks.

self explanatory

The wall with each soldier's name

Looking back through the memorial

And through it all, Old Glory still waves

It reminded me of what it would be like to view the Titanic's resting spot. Oil still seeps from the engines 60 some years later.

More parts of the ship

And to think of all who are buried here.

The U.S.S. Missouri. This ship is similar to the U.S.S. Arizona, so it gives you a perspective in size of what's buried beneath you. Although we would've liked to tour this boat, we simply ran out of time (we had 2 days on Oahu). The U.S.S. Missouri is where the Japanese finally surrendered.

More remnants of the U.S.S. Arizona

A diagram of where the memorial is in relationship to the actual ship

Another part of the ship

The airshow was on at a nearby Air force base, so I caught a picture of the planes flying overhead

U.S.S. Arizona memorial

Mike and I on the boat headed to the memorial (self portrait).:)

Rain clouds moved in as we were finishing up our tour

So, we headed over to Waikiki beach where it was sunny and had some lunch here.

Then it was off to Diamond Head State Monument. Years ago, the military created some tunnels through the remnants of this old volcano. They had bunkers and places to attack if needed after the events at Pearl Harbor. Now it's just a long hot hike through the Hawaii sun to the top. It's worth it though as the view is amazing!

A good bit of the trail is over volcanic rock

Toward the top is a spiral staircase

View looking to the North. The small mountain you see in the distance is another dormant volcano that can be hiked.

Finally made it to the top! Mike and I with downtown Honolulu and Waikiki beach in the background.

I love this lighthouse. Sitting on the edge of the mountain protecting boats from the reefs.

This gives you an idea of how steep it really was. Once you reach the top of these stairs there's a walk through a tunnel and a little squeeze through some cement to get to the top.

Reward for all the hard work! Hawaiian shaved ice. I had been wanting to try one since I first saw one. It was yum!!!

Coming up: Drive up to the North Shore

Day 7-Zipline/Last Day on Maui

On our last day on Maui, we headed up to the Baldwin Ranch (Piiholo Ranch) and enjoyed the 5 zipline tour.

Mike all geared up and ready to go
Let's go!!

First up...crossing the swinging suspension bridge

Here's where I might mention that I'm terrified of heights. The first zipline was a short one and not as tall as the others. After I did the first zip I was o.k. with the height thing and was good to go. I guess all my years of downhill skiing and riding ski lifts helped too.

We had to climb two at a time up to the 2nd platform all the while carrying your zipline trolley.

Here we go on zip #2

The views were amazing. You could look down and see waterfalls in the deep gulch below you.

I took this picture from platform #3. You can see the guide attaching my trolley to the line.

At the top of the last zip with the Maui coastline in the distance

Oh yeah, and did I mention that I found my future house in Maui??

Picture from the last platform

You can see the orange balls on the lines in this picture a little better. This last zipline is almost 1/4 mile long. It's also the tallest zipline on Maui. They were required to install the orange balls to the line in the center as a precaution for the helicopter tours that take place on the island. Yes, we were high in the sky on this one!!

After the zipline tour, we headed back down to Ho'okipa Beach again. We could watch the surfers all day.

We had hoped to hike to Swinging Bridges on this day (remember that hike that I was trying to find? I looked it up in a hiking book and found it!), but it was raining on that part of the island, so we decided to save that for another trip.

Oh the things you see in Kihei! This is the park with a humpback whale.

A little peek at our condo. It was a 1bd./1 ba. remodelled condo right on the beach in Kihei. Very nice!

Living/dining area. We never did use the indoor table...just the one on the patio. We were overlooking the pool as well, which we never did use. Who wants a pool when you have an ocean teeming with fish to swim in!

Later that evening we headed over to La Perouse Bay to see if we could spot any dolphins. We never did see any. I think they frequent this part of the island in the early morning hours.

We drove over to Big Beach.

Beautiful Big Beach

We watched the beautiful sunset from our condo on the last night.

Then we headed next door to a wonderful restaurant called "Sorentos on the Beach" for dinner. Thank you Vil and Tami for the wonderful gift certificate! We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner the last night on the island with a beach side table.

Next up: Oahu/Pearl Harbor/Diamondhead

Day 6-Snorkelling and dinner cruise

On Day 6 we didn't have much of a morning agenda this morning, so we grabbed our snorkel gear and headed out to snorkel. Mike spotted a turtle right off the reef in front of our hotel. After the waves kicked up a little, we decided to head down the beach to Ulua be Beach. Ulua Beach proved to be a great snorkeling area. This was where we spotted the manta ray and many other fish and eels.

Later that evening, we took a sunset cruise out of Lahaina. We didn't buy the pictures this time. I had the lady behind me snap this quick picture of us.

An old time Hawaiian boat. They actually use this one in some rowing competitions.
Looking back at Lahaina Harbor

Beautiful Maui

Looking toward Kaanapali

The sun is starting to set

Going down

Mike and I were on the upper deck. Music and food was provided.

Cheesecake for dessert

*Sigh*...another beautiful day in Maui

Our waitress was a very good Hula dancer. When dessert was served the music played and she kicked off her shoes and did the hula for us. I didn't think to videotape it until it was 1/2 way over, but this gives you a glimpse of it. It's very grainy as it was dark and my camera doesn't do well with video in low light setting.

Next up: Day 7-Zip line at Piiholo Ranch/La Perouse Bay and last evening on Maui

Day 5; part 2-Oheo Gulch/road back to Kahalui

Continuing down the road, this was the type of blind curves we encountered. Most of the road was narrow, one way road.

Old style Hawaiian house at Oheo Gulch/Seven Sacred Pools
Beautiful view from Oheo Gulch

the landscape is very tropical

Where else can you swim in a pool/waterfall with the ocean crashing on the other side of you?

We swam in the lower pool. Mike even dove off the lower rock ledge. He couldn't reach the bottom, so no telling how deep these pools were. This was where we were glad we invested in the Teva water shoes. We had a little traction in the lava rock.

A cool dip in the water was refreshing

These pools dropped off sharply as well. They were deep!

Interesting tropical tree

We stopped at this little church for one reason and one reason alone. We'd read in a tour book of a famous aviator who was buried here.

We wandered through the cemetary and it didn't take long to find it. Charles Lindbergh's grave. The bottom inscription says "If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea" C.L.

I believe it's probably the largest grave there.

Continuing on we stopped at this great little beach. It was so serene. No one there but just the coconut palms, the surf and us!

Going up the side of the cliff wall. These roads made me a little nervous, but you honked your horn to make sure no one was coming the other way. Thankfully we had the shadows on our side.

When you did encounter a vehicle such as this, you had to find a pull-out to let them by

That winding line in the distance is our road!

Sea Arch and Lava tubes

At this point I was hoping Mike was concentrating on the road and not the scenery!

Evidence of a volcanic eruption many years ago. This was the direction that the lava flowed into the sea.

Beautiful view of Molokini at sunset

Next up: Day 6: Sunset dinner cruise

Day 5-the road to Hana; part 1

Before I forget, I wanted to show you the fun little car we ran around in on Maui. Nothing like a convertible on warm days!

On Day 5 we drove to Hana. We actually drove around the whole Southern part of the island. In Maui, sugarcane is the primary crop. They burn it to harvest the sugar and we were there while they were burning, so this was a common sight.
Almost looks like a house fire, but there are sugarcane fields dotted on the hillsides, so more burning sugar.

How do you describe the drive to Hana? Like one tour book mentioned "it's not in the destination, it's just the process of getting there". It's only about 30 miles from Kahalui, but it takes about 3-4 hours depending on how often you stop. The roads are VERY curvy and almost every bridge is a shared bridge, meaning you yield to the first car to approach the bridge. Parts of the road are one lane too, so it's wise to only go about 20 m.p.h. at best. The terrain is very jungle like (vines, tropical plants, more guava and eucalyptus plants).

Probably the longest stretch of straight road we drove on!

One of the many, many waterfalls along the route

Getting there...

A look back at where we came from

Another waterfall

We stopped and hiked about a mile into this one. We had the falls to ourselves so we took a dip. It was sooo cold!!!

Trying to smile while freezing!

Along the road we stopped for a Kahlua pork taco at a little roadside stand that we'd heard was good. The taco was fantastic.

What's in Hana? Not much. A school, a little grocery store, a nice resort (for those who like to golf) and this beach. It's called "Black Sand Beach". The sand is primarily black (some red), due to the lava that flowed in this part of the island. Mike decided to go down and investigate.

Black sand beach

Looking across the water gives you a clear view of the Big Island of Hawaii. On some clear days you can see the volcanoes.

Continuing past Hana, we stopped at this little roadside market

It would've been fun to swing on those vines.

This Hawaiian man was making baskets, bowls and hats out of palm fronds. I almost bought one but I was concerned how I would get it home in one piece in my already full suitcase.

Next up: Second half of the drive around the Southern part of Maui