In September 2016, Carl and I spent a wonderful week on the island of Oahu. This was Carl's first trip to Hawaii and my second. When I was in my early twenties, I backpacked on the island of Maui. Since we fly standby (our son Philip works for American Airlines), we didn't want to put money down to reserve a place to stay, in case we never got there. The night before our trip, we were relieved to hear back from a property owner in Oahu, who didn't care if we were flying standby. She said, "I'll keep the place reserved for you, and will have a meal ready for you, and the porch light on." We found this place online through "HomeAway". We made it out on the last flight out of Los Angelos, getting into Honolulu at midnight. We were so relieved and happy to get on that flight and excited that we were on our way to our dream vacation. It is so cheap to fly standby, that all the suspense of actually getting on a flight is worth it!
The drive to our little beach house was about 45 minutes, but on a well lit highway which looped around the island. When we arrived, past midnight, the porch light was on, as well as the kitchen and bedroom lights.
Here's what we walked in to find. The owner, Billie, had the place so cutely decorated. We sure slept good, with the sound of the surf coming through the open windows.
When we woke up surprisingly early the next day, we saw the ocean from our kitchen window.
Here is the beach house, named "Salty Kisses".
A banana tree grew by the front door.
Beautiful beaches were just minutes away. Before church on Sunday, we enjoyed reading scriptures at this spot.
During the week, we visited a few other beaches. At this one, called "turtle beach", we stopped to admire this green sea turtle, named J.P.
15-20 years old, this turtle is a sub-adult, gender unknown.
The beaches in Haleiwa, a bit further up on the north shore of the island, are the surfing capital of the world. I spoke with one old timer who moved to the island in his twenties and participated in many surfing competitions.
This is the famous pipeline. The waves were very tame when we were there, but during surfing competition in December, the waves reach gigantic heights of a three story building.
Billie, the owner of the beach cottage, told us the best beach on the island is Kailua Beach, in Kailua Beach Park. With its white sands, clear waters, and mild surf, it was the perfect place to spend a few hours.
One of the highlights of our week was visiting Pearl Harbor. We were surprised by the small size of the harbor, where such a horrifying attack occurred on Dec. 7, 1941. There was a feeling of sadness and solemnity in the air, especially when we stood above the remains of the battleship Arizona, a tomb for the 1,177 who died onboard that ship when it was torpedoed. Oil drops from the wreckage continually float up to the surface and are called "tears."
After spending the morning at Pearl Harbor, we drove the the nearby Honolulu area, where we hiked up to the top of Diamond Head.
The views from the top of Diamond Head were spectacular, making the somewhat strenuous hike worthwhile. We didn't have time to visit the touristy Waikiki Beach area, but the view of it was spectacular.
These are other spectacular views, as seen from our hike to the top of Diamond Head.
The day we spent at the Polynesian Cultural Center, in nearby Laie (just 10 minutes from the beach house), was the highlight of our week.
We got off to a rough start when Carl couldn't do a shaka sign. Being a born and raised Texan, all he could manage was a "hook em' horns". (He didn't do it on purpose!)
Our tour guide, Mani, who was from Tonga, gave our group traditional kukui nut leis, before we toured each of the Polynesian villages.
The canoe pageant was a festival of color and dancing.
Visiting the different Islands, such as the Islands of Tonga, Tahiti, Samoa, New Zealand, Fiji, and Hawaii, was informative and very entertaining.
In the Samoan village, we learned the many uses of coconut.
In the New Zealand village, we ran into Juliet, who recently married a young man, Brandt Luifau, who is from our town in Texas, and whose family goes to our church. A native New Zealander, this talented young lady shares her culture through native dances.
At the end of the day, we relaxed at a really great Luau, complete with Polynesian entertainment and roast pig.
After the Luau, we walked over to the Pacific Theater, were we enjoyed the spectacular evening show "Ha, Breath of Life".
We couldn't get enough of this island paradise. As we visited two scenic parks, we learned that many movies and T.V. shows have been filmed over here.
When we hiked up to the water fall at Waimea Valley, we saw cables being set up, big trucks and various movie making equipment. Production was about to start.
Waimea Valley has many cultural and archaeological sites, as well as
beautiful botanical gardens.
Waimea Falls is in the heart of the Valley, and hikers may swim at the Falls. There are warning signs about a potentially deadly amoeba in fresh water pools in Hawaii, so we were content to watch the swimmers.
The views from our car, as we drove around the island were spectacular! As we looked one way, there were lush green mountains, and looking the other way, we could see the shimmering ocean.
Attending an evening session at the nearby Hawaii Temple was a wonderful experience. Many of the patrons and workers were Polynesian.
At the Hawaii Temple Visitors Center, we had the pleasure to visiting with one of the former sister missionaries, whom we served with in the N.Y. Rochester Mission. The former Sister Hess is now married, with a little girl, and is now known as Mandie Funaki. Mandie's husband was finishing up his last semester at BYU-Hawaii.
On our very last day, we snuck in one more tour -- Kualoa Nature Reserve, which was on the way to the airport in Honolulu. Kualoa is a working cattle ranch and diversified farm with some of the most spectacular scenery on the island.
The 4,000 acres is the popular site of many Hollywood films such as Jurassic World, Godzilla, Skull Island, Jurassic Park (and more)
and TV programs.
Godzilla's footprint!
This is part of the set for "Skull Island", a movie released March 2017
The United States had a big military presence on this island, on the Kualoa nature reserve, after Pearl Harbour. This is the entrance of a military bunker.
Our guide is showing us a photo of the airstrip that was on Kualoa Ranch
during WW II.
We felt we were on a lavish movie set, just driving around this
nature reserve/ranch.
Kualoa' s famous Jurassic Valley, where Hollywood blockbusters have been filmed since the 1950's.
Many Chinese workers immigrated in the 1700's to this island to work in the sugar cane fields. The cone shaped rock formation in the ocean in the middle of this picture is called Mokolii, commonly known as "Chinaman's Hat". This is part of Kualoa Regional Park.
Since Kuoloa is a working cattle ranch, we had to try some of their grass fed beef. It was delicious!
And last, but not least, are the interesting animals and birds no matter where you go. There are also lots of chickens, roosters, and pigs.
We are amazed at how well our trip went, especially since we did zero planning, other than knowing we wanted to go to Oahu because of the Polynesian Cultural Center and Pearl Harbor. The night before we left, we almost decided not to go. But then when we got the call from Billie (the beach house owner) late that night that we had a place to stay, and when it looked like we'd get a place on a flight by going through Los Angelos, instead of the direct flight out of Dallas, we said, "We're going!" So six hours before our scheduled early morning flight out of Houston, we were literally throwing clothes in our suitcases! Getting into Honolulu at midnight and driving for an hour to the north shore, where we were staying, wasn't even a problem, with a well lit highway. Thanks to the owner of the beach house (who lived next door and personally met us) we knew where to go and what to see. We looked over some of the tour books on the coffee table, called the Polynesian Center for tickets, and we were set to go. Each day had a new destination with beautiful sites to see. It couldn't have gone any better if we had meticulously planned it! I'd say we really lucked out!
Of course, not everything is perfect. We missed seeing whales (whale season hadn't started yet), and the plane that was supposed to be taking us home, got grounded overnight in Honolulu, waiting for a missing part for the air conditioning system. The part had to be flown in from Los Angelos the next day. We thought we'd be at the airport all night. It didn't look like there'd be any room for us on the last flight out of Honolulu that night. But they called our names at the very last minute before closing the doors -- and we got on!
the airplane that was supposed to have taken us home -- grounded overnight for a mechanical failure.
P.S.: just a little something from the guest book at the beach house
