LAX

Just arrived in LAX.  I hear bits of the Blade Runner soundtrack.  Am I dreaming?

At HON

Lanakai Beach

Waterfall

Dharma ptoject generator

Honolulu

Ki'i

Quite a drop.

Yep. Hawaii.

Kuoloa Ranch

Cocco head

Lighthouse

Lush tropical Hawaiian rainforest

Luna and Misty at the beach

Diamond Head

Picture taken from Tantulus Peak.

Manoa valley

Peaking through the jungle canopy.

Morimoto's

We got into town and Matt & lilly treated us to dinner at Morrimoto's.  Yes, the famed Iron Chef!  Wonderful meal folloed by a few hours at the yearly Aloha Festival!

Manoa Falls

A muddy hike, but worth the effort!

Hawaii time

It is now 1 AM Hawaii time.  We are getting ready to head to the airport.  We should arrive around 4 PM.  Gonna be a fun day of travel!

Island Dentistry for Children

Wow!
It has been way over a year since our trip to Oahu. Matt & Lilly have moved since then and now have started their own dentistry practice in Hawaii: Island Dentistry for Children

Home

We have arrived home after 14 hours of travel. Although it is sad to be leaving the island, it is nice to be home. This is the last real-time entry to this blog.
Over the next few weeks, I will be back-posting, adding lots of pictures, correcting spelling (as most of my posts are created very late at night). Be sure to stop by. I also plan to add more Oahu travel tips and links. If you are headed to Oahu or one of the other islands check out some of the links and suggestions. If you have any questions, post a comment & email address and I will try to get you an answer.
Aloha!!

Going to Carolina...

We dropped the car off at the rental place... good thing they dont call sand damage, cause the car was full of it after so many trips to beaches. In about an hour, we will be boarding our 7 hour flight to Houston, followed by an hour lay-over, a 5 hour flight to PTI, finally a 45 min drive home.

Goodbye Laci and Mochi!

Ryan said that he would miss the puppies and wanted his picture taken with them before leaving. Both hounds consented.

China Town Leis

We left Waikiki and drove to China Town to get some leis. Evidently, they are less expensive there. Christa and Ryan both got a lei. I stayed in the car and caught some brief shut-eye while they were shopping. I did notice that all the street signs in that area of Honolulu are translated into Chineses.

Waikiki Beach

We finally made it to Waikiki Beach. Unfortunately, we had already seen Lanakai and Kailua beaches... next to them, Waikiki looked much like the city pool, except more crowded and with really stony sand. I suppose it is better than the Jersey Shore... but not by much. There was a pretty cool statue at the beach upon which people had placed lei. We left for China Town after only fifteen minutets at Waikiki.

Dole Pineapple Plantation

On the way back from viewing the turtles, we drove through the central valley of Oahu and stopped at the Dole Plantation. Besides having an over-priced giftshop with about 1000 different pineapple products, there is a huge hedge maze. Ryan was able to finish the maze in 22 minutes... not a bad time for what they claim is the worlds biggest maze. While he was making his way through the labarinth, I checked out a field of pinapples and the Koi pond. The pond did not seem to have any connection to the theme of the plantation, but did have an impressive number of Koi.

Turtles...

We decided to head north on the King Komehameha Highway to one of the beaches frequented by the endangered Green Sea Turtles. When we first got to the beach, there were no turtles at all. Later in the day, the turtles arrived, but did not climb out onto the beach. We saw about 20 of them in the water. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to get a good picture. Click on the small image to see the photo full size: you can barely make out the head of one of the turtles in this photo. Hopefully the next time we visit, a few will be beached.

Packing

Christa and I are up late packing our luggage to go home tommorow ... er ... tonight as it is now past midnight. We still have not decided as to what we will be doing. Possibly Turtles, waterfalls, and Polinesian Cultural Center.

Night-Walk on the Beach

Christa and I just got back from a night-walk on the beach. Saw the moon through the clouds... night fisherman... and something that looked like a dead bird. Sorry, no light, no pictures.

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay

We just got back from the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve where we snorkeled over the reef! It was a blast! Neither Ryan, Christa, or myself had ever gone snorkling and we absolutely enjoyed it. The reef had hundreds of crazy fish in it and was extreemly beautiful. The bay is in a collapsed crator, so when entering it, you start from the peak and get this marvelous look down at the bay... enjoy.

Diamond Head

Diamond Head!!! Do not skip this on your trip to Oahu. About a 45 min hike through an extinct volcanic crator to the edge of the crator where an abandoned army gun emplacement is built. From the top of Diamond Head, you can get some of the most fantastic views of the island. To the North is Waikiki, on the west is the ocean and a veiw of one of the other main Hawaiian islands. To the east is a vast desert area with homes and mountains. Excellent view. It is hot though. Take at least 2 bottles of water per person. Wear sunscreen and a hat at minimum. Carry an umbrella if you are already sunburnt. Prepare for climbing about 200+ steps. (Will be posting more pictures of this soon. Come back later.)

Critters II

On the way back from Kailua Beach, Christa was able to get a great shot of this lizard... It was really swell of her as she hates getting close to small snake-like reptilian beasts. Hopefully I will be able to get some shots of the birds soon.

Kailua Beach

Realtime blog. Just got back from Kailua Beach again. We ended up swimming at this beach about 4 times during our stay on Oahu. Who can blame us. Compare the views of this beach to that of Waikiki and you will know why. And at sunrise... well, the beach is simply insane. We are about to go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve. Ryan is busy playing Halo 2 on XBOX Live. I am packing the car so we can head out. After the bay, we may be headed to see some Endangered Green Sea Turtles or climb to the top of Diamond Head.

Pali Lookout

PaliLookout is great! It was the best thing we saw all day. This overlook provides incredible views of the mountains. The trail heads down the original road for at least a half mile. Ryan, Matt and Lilly paused to pose for a picture along the trail. We hiked it near sunset, and as we were headed back up the trail, the sun was casting it's last rays right accross the mountain. A must see!!!

Check out the sunset pics below...

Burning II, Backposting, Oahu Tips

I have not posted in a while... been burnt, but I already spoke about that. Now I am feeling a bit better and will do some back-posting to catch you all up on our adventures.
First for some travel tips to the Hawaiian islands:
Sunblock - Wear it when you go out... anywhere.
Sunburns - Avoid them at all costs.
Umbrellas - Use them once you get sunburns, a lot of the natives do, and people won't give you a second glance if you are carrying one around... even in the presence of Zero rain.
Hats - Bring or get a broad brimmed hat. Wear it often. Avoid sunburn on the top of your head. Not fun.

More creatures of the deep...

Waikiki Aquarium

After grabbing a bite to eat, we headed to the local aquarium. Tickets were very reasonable, and the exhibits are mostly indoors - which was great as we still have lobster red skin. Although it is not large, the aquarium has an excellent collection of reef creatures. Christa took a ton of pictures. If you like fish at all, go see this aquarium.

One of my favorite exhibits was the Jellies.



Ryan, however, preferred the octopus, while Christa preferred the tropical reef fish.

Hard Rock Cafe

After the Swap Meet, we were tired and decided to grab a bite at Hard Rock Cafe. This was fun, and we got some t-shirts and souvineers.

Swap Meet at Aloha Stadium

Matt & Lilly took us to the Swap Meet at Aloha Stadium. Essentially, the Swap Meet is like a thousand tents with vendors selling goods. You can get just about anything there and tons of authentic Hawaiian clothing and non-authentic goods. The Swap Meet was fun and we picked up a bunch of stuff, including a hat for myself.

Sunburn - Wikipedia

All you ever wanted to know about sunburns...

King Kamehameha I

Across the street from the Royal Palace is a statue of the first king of Hawaii: King Kamehameha I. A very facinating figure, Komehema united the separate kingdoms that ruled each island into one. He is celebrated in many ways accross the islands, including a holiday, a statue, and a highway on the eastern side of the island.

Iolani Palace

The Iolani Palace was not all that great. Matt & Lilly told us that it was not worth visiting, but we did not listen. Even if you are a history or cultural fan, skip this attraction. The books rate it highly, but are wrong. Take Matt & Lilly's advice and skip the trip to this over-hyped tour. But do enjoy the pics of the palace... it is quite a nice looking building.