A week on Oahu

I am up before dawn so I can watch the sun rise....okay..not so spectacular today but the hot tub was 102! Oatmeal on the lanai with dried fruit and a cup of tea. We walk out to the point where they locals are fishing and I decide this is where I am coming for sunrise tomorrow. We head down the other way as far as we can go making note of all the places for sale. I checked them out later and they ranged from $699 to $10 million. I Guess we are not buying a vacation home.

We spend the morning wandering the beaches south of us and watching the local wildlife.

On on off chance we stop at the Polynesian Cultural Centre to see if they have openings for their new Island Luau even though the internet shows them booked for the week. We learn there are lots of spaces because you can't book them online. Yippee. That's what we are doing Monday. We make our way back home for a fruit salad. Non nom.

The afternoon is spent heading further north. We stopped at various beaches and the location of the Kuhuku Sugar Mill which closed in 1971 and was torn down in 2004. All that Remains are big parts of the machines that are set up as monuments that are quickly rusting like all metal in this area.

We made one more stop to explore the Turtle Bay Resort. Quite the upscale location, but public access to the beach. We watched the surfers, scoped out the lay of the resort and found where the first radar location was for the US. They tracked the incoming flight of the Japanese for Pearl Harbour, but did not recognize them until too late. The was no protocol to get the information where it needed to go.

The hot tub was 100 tonight so it was much more comfortable to watch the stars pop out.

Sunday September 29

Another early morning. Sunrise a little more impressive, but still not....well not amazing. So back to the hot tub and watch the morning blossom. We packed up today to drive around the North shore and walk to Kaena point. We passed the pipeline and many other beaches with bigger waves. The further we went the quieter the beaches were.

The paved road ended and we parked. The walk in from this side is not as wonderful as the walk in from the Honolulu side. That one follows the edge of the ocean. This side has wide areas and lots of off road tracks. They can actually drive with a big truck or 4 wheel drive to the Bird sanctuary fence. Being a Sunday there were more people at the point than the last time we were here and there were people in the water where the monk seals were playing last time...so no seals. We enjoyed the big action where the waves from Alaska meet the waves from New Zealand. Impressive. When walking back we avoided the main track following the ones closest to the ocean. A more challenging walk, but prettier and nice ocean breezes. We passed an old support for the railroad that originally ran around the point. We come to a little bay and I was saddened when Roger pointed out what he thought was a dead seal. As we by passed it, it decided to stretch and roll over. It was amusing to see Roger react.

It is very rugged and beautiful along here. There are pockets of local families who have driven in to fish for the day. In the bigger parks there are many huge tents where people gather on the weekends to enjoy the beach and the friendship. We stopped at the first quiet beach to cool off before we finished our drive back. One more stop for fresh pineapple, mango and dragon fruit. She also forced fresh fried bananas on us and they were good. I actually wanted coconut water, but I am happy with what we got. Time to head home, clean up, supper, play backgammon, and hot tub while we watch the sun set.

Monday September 30 here on the north shore is beautiful again. It appears we get rain each night and sometimes a sprinkle drifts by, but it is more refreshing than anything. I suppose I must confess I spent most of the morning lolling about and reading my book in the hot tub and a couple of games of Backgammon and Ticket to Ride. I have a lucky streak a mile wide.

We headed over the PCC! The Polynesian Cultural Center for the opening and enjoyed a canoe ride through the site. Our guide was an entertaining young man. 18 years old, engaged to a Taiwanese woman, 23. He speaks 5 languages, well six, but one is a dialect. He plans on moving to the mainland when his fiancé graduates and continue his studies there. 70 percent of the staff at the PCC are Latter Day Saints and students of Brigham Young University. There are some non LDS as well.

We find there have been additions since we were last here. They have more interactive events and we find the time passes quickly and there is still more to see. The Samoan Island Luau is cancelled and they upgraded us to the other luau. We stopped and chatted with Kap, the Samoan Chief and expressed our disappointment and thanked him for his entertainment.

The luau is entertaining and we are seated with a couple from San Fran, a couple from Utah and two guys from Ecuador. When it came time to say grace they asked us to hold hands around the table. No way were the guys from Ecuador going to hold hands until I smiled at them and laughed. They laughed then and held hands. It was a luau...the food was good and very basic, but...good.

We had seats for the show Ha, the Breath of Life. We saw it last time, but I think I was more impressed this time. The choreography was amazing and the energy carried throughout the show. They do one segment with fire where men wearing grass skirts sit in the fire, catch their skirts on fire...I can't describe it to do it justice, but in the end they five of then jump in a sitting position and put the whole fire out.

When we leave we find the rain has started. We put on our green 2010 Vancouver Olympic plastic capes and walk home. I felt like the jolly green giant.

Hot tub, rain stops, the stars start to appear.

Tuesday October 1 is our day to rent bikes. We pick them up from a place on the Turtle Bay Resort site. $25 for the day, but it took some time to get the seats adjusted and get used to the very wide handles. We head west along trails. We are where a lot of Lost was filmed and there was a geocache hidden in the banyan tree that featured in the tv show. We see one group out on a horseback ride and a lady walking her dog, some turtles, but the beach is ours.

We stop briefly to get another seat for my bike and that makes riding much easier. We are grateful we saved the East ride for later as the trails are much sandier and we are sweating. When we appear to have run out of manageable trails we just locked the bikes up and set out on foot. Walking in the dry sand is a really good work out, but we make it to Macaroni Point where the estate of. G. Marconi lays in disrepair. We find a geocache here and work out a way back to the bikes avoiding some of the deeper sand.

After turning the bikes in we have depleted our water and stop at the beach bar for a drink....wow, a wonderful drink with a rum float on top, but now Roger needs to eat so we have a salad and a Kalua Pork sandwich. Nom, Nom. The cove here is supposed to be good snorkelling. We realize it is way to murky once we get in, but the water feels so good. Just as I comment to Roger about the poor snorkelling a huge turtle swims just inches beneath me. He was huge and scared me for a moment.

Okay, so I found a mistake in my planning. I broke off planning flights when Papa fell and then finished them forgetting that we cross the international dateline. Ooooopppps, the good thing is we will have to stay in Waikiki over night on the way home since we have to wait an extra day for our flight to Vancouver. Darn!

Wednesday October 2. Sun, hot tub, read, backgammon, ticket to ride, beach, last episodes of Breaking Bad, hot tub, read, steak, wine, hot tub. Repeat as needed.

Thursday October 3, after our oatmeal and backgammon on the lanai, we decided to check out Shark's Cove. When we arrived there were some people in the water and we chatted to a local. We had picked the best spot to enter and while the waves were active it was not a high swell day. That being said the current was strong, the water murky, and I did not feel comfortable here. We came back in and opted for the tidal pools. They were clear, the current manageable and we were able to enjoy the turtles and fish. The waves in the cove came up and there was now no one in the cove, I'm glad we came out. Another local said the waves were calmer yesterday and lots of fish, today not so nice.

After lunch we headed up to Waimea Valley. It has had some improvements and some areas are in disrepair, but it is a lovely place for a walk and we enjoy poking around. The place is busier than last time and the swimming is open up under the waterfall. That being said they have a huge sign warning of the bacteria that come from the farm life and can be contracted through the fresh water.

Tonight we continue to watch Pearl Harbour. The first part is pretty slow, setting up the romance part of the movie, but we finally get through it.