Day 5 - Around the Resort and The Pali Lookout

January 16 - Saturday on Oahu

We slowed it down a little today now that we have accomplished most of our goals on Oahu. Below are a few photos taken around the Ko Olina Resort.

This blog software is freaky. One slip of the hand and bad stuff happens like my panorama shot got out of order and it won't let me move it back down in the blog. It kills me to have to post this goofyness but I am days behind on posting and I don't want to erase and start all over. Please ignore the panoramic shot below until you get the the right spot in the blog for it and then come back and look at it. Sorry.

The mandatory flower photo.

I kept telling Sigrid that the flower goes behind her ear, but she just stuck it in her ear.

At the Pali Lookout.

A panoramic shot of what you see from the Pali Lookout (go back and look at it now).

This shot of the cliffs is at the location of the great battle, fought in 1795, between King Kamehameha I and the army of the King of Maui. Kamehameha had superior numbers and weapons and drove the Maui army up the Nu'uanu Valley from Waikiki Beach to these cliffs. Over 400 were killed in the battle with many being forced to jump off the cliff to their deaths. With this victory, Kamehameha had control of all the islands and Hawaii was unified for the first time.

The information board below will need to be clicked on and them zoom in to read the text. I hope it is readable from the blog. It was on my computer.

Sigrid had a final thought she wanted to share from a wonderful book she bought from the author who had a table set up at the Lookout.

"Lana kakou i ka hau'oli o ha'i"

On the off chance that you don't speak Hawaiian, this means "We rise by uplifting others."

Day 4 - Part 4 of 3 - Shrimp Trucks

Still January 14, 2010 on Oahu - I know that Part 4 of 3 is cheating, but I decided not to include the shrimp truck adventure with all the beauty of the Waimea Valley. I promise no Part 5.

Shrimp trucks are very popular on the North Shore and around the Polynesian Cultural Center. We must have seen a dozen or more. Giovanni's was the one we stopped at because it was written up in one of the travel blogs and was highly recommended........particularly the garlic shrimp. We were not disappointed. The shrimp were large and very tasty. The plate is $13 and we thought it was a great value. My only complaint was that the sauce was horribly sticky and you had to eat with your fingers. The napkins were less than useless. When you tried to wipe your fingers, you were left with little bits of torn napkin sticking to your fingers. I used diet Pepsi to get some of the sauce and napkin bits off, but I was still afraid to touch anything and spread the contamination. The restrooms were about 200 yards away across the parking lot. We all went there to wash up. It was a truly ugly experience that I will not describe. The last photo shows true entrepreneurship in action.

Giovanni wants every customer to sign his truck.

I don't know if Giovanni also owns this booth, but if he did, it would be a brilliant stroke of capitalism. Sell your customers impossibly sticky shrimp and don't provide them with any way to clean their fingers except to buy "Wet Wipes" at your other booth.

Day 4 - Part 3 of 3 - Waimea Valley & Waterfall

After Haleiwa we travelled down the road to the Waimea Valley. At the head of the valley is a nice little waterfall. The valley holds a stream and the botanical gardens. It is a 3/4 mile uphill walk to the waterfall. The good news is that it was all downhill getting back to the car. Peacocks roam the gardens.The monkey pod trees are incredible with their sinuous branches and leaves illuminated by the sun above. They almost seem to glow green. The photos don't do them justice.

This Lilly Pad is almost big enough for me to croak on.

These look like giant cotton balls. I could guess at the name of the tree, but I would be wrong. I did not check the name tag on this tree.

I do know that this is a Powder Puff.

And that this is a Cannonball Tree.

Just a note about all the flower photos. All of them are taken as we walk by. I do not use a tripod so focus is a challenge. Many times, the flowers are waving in the breeze so I have to be patient and wait for a lull in the wind. Not all of the photos turnout well, but it is fun trying.

This one looks a little evil.

Wild roosters roam all over the islands and you can hear them crowing all day as you drive.

Waimea Falls

There is so much wildlife on the islands.

Yes, they allow swimming.

Day 4 - Part 2 of 3 - Historic Haleiwa Town

January 15, 2010 - After discovering the wedding chapel, it was time to get out and explore more of the island of Oahu. We again headed to the north shore to watch waves and see what else there was to experience.The waves were only about 6 footers so we were a little disappointed. The forecast for Sunday is 30 feet, but we will have to miss the big ones. We were going to go to Sunset Beach until we learned that there was an international surfing contest and the parking along the beach would be impossible. On the way, we got curious about the little town of Haleiwa. We had seen the signs promoting the city along the road. It turns out that Haleiwa is a former Dole Pineapple Plantation town that has gone hippie/surfer. It has a nice collection of art galleries and surf board shops.

No surfing town would be complete without a fine collection of VW Microbusses.

There really isn't much to see in town. For some reason, there were loads of Japanese tourists walking around town.

Here is our Alamo rental. We like having a convertible for touring the island. As for the Chrysler Sebring, it is two notices below a VW Microbus on the quality scale.

More waves near Haleiwa

Day 4 - Part 1 of 3 - Ko Olina Wedding Chapel

January 15, 2010 - Sigrid and Edel walk every morning and have discovered lots of interesting places at the resort. This morning's find was a beautiful little wedding chapel overlooking the beach. The interior is done in all white and is spectacular. According to the Marriott staff, they average 7 weddings a day in the chapel. Those are Las Vegas style numbers, but the chapel is way too classy to be compared to Las Vegas. Edel was really impressed. She said that if she ever needed a place like this again, this would be it.