Oahu Day 5

Monday, our last full day in Hawaii, feeling sated on tourist 'must sees', we drove NE along the shore, stopping at 'Pipeline', one of the famous surfing beaches and several state parks, before heading for a loop hike on a trail outside of the town of Hou'uma.  Although listed as 'easy', once we'd started Leonard checked online and read the change in elevation was 900+' over a 2.5M trail.  Some hikers commented the trail could be muddy, but since there had been little rain in the islands since we arrived almost 4 weeks ago, we didn't expect mud to be a major problem.  I was surprised to find more mud on some parts of the trail than expected.  We took our time enjoying the changing  terrain and listening to the birds.

Hauula Valley looking at the Koo Range  

Hauula Trail Path - the tall pine trees (rows of knobs on the trunks) are Cook pines which were used as masts in the past 

Ferns at Hauula Creek crossing 

This mossy patch caught my eye - it looked like a critter 

Mushrooms, ferns and mosses

We stopped at Sunset Beach on the way back to watch the surfers.  The surf had dropped over the weekend, but had slowly increased during the day, building to occasional 4-6' breakers.  The drop off at the beach looked steep, causing the waves to crash when they came ashore.  It was fun to watch the better surfers 'catch a wave' and work at riding it to the max.

A paddle boarder surfing 

We picked up an order of garlic shrimp from one of the trucks in Haleiwa to augment last night's leftovers.  By the time we got back, the road out front of our place had received a fresh coat of blacktop, and we no longer had to dodge construction vehicles.  After getting a notice from AirB&andB in the morning that we'd have limited access from 8:30 - 4 Monday, Leonard  moved the car up the street in the morning to avoid having issues getting out.

A peacock at Waiema Valley

Tuesday was departure day, and wary of the traffic we allowed plenty of time to top off the fuel, find the rental return place, catch a shuttle to the terminal and clear TSA.  After having TSA issues when we left Kauai we didn't want to be in a rush.  I had picked up some special salt rubs made on the island I had put in my carry on bag, and was tagged for further screenings by a rather surly agent who very carefully did either a drug or explosive test on every package.  Then at a 2nd check I was asked if I had sand in my bag (not legal to remove from the islands) who let me go when I said if I did, it wasn't intentional!  I didn't bring the still 'not ripe' chocolate sapote I'd picked up on the Big Island knowing we needed to go through an agricultural screening since we were heading to the mainland.  The Hawaiians get insulted if you say you're traveling back to the states since they are a state.

It's interesting that packages shipped via USPS do not undergo inspection other than the normal question 'is it liquid, hazardous or flammable.'  Flat rate Priority Mail is a real bargain from Hawaii as it costs the same as if it were shipped to the next state, and weight doesn't change the rate, and is less expensive than paying for another piece of luggage.

After we'd cleared, I asked one of the agricultural inspectors what was banned (basically everything but pineapples).  I didn't tell him he'd missed our lunch carrots, peppers, jicama and papaya which we  planned to consume before we arrived stateside. Given how slowly the TSA line went (one of the slowest we've seen) we were glad we allowed plenty of time. 

Returning from Honolulu to Burlington is long trip.  We checked out of our place before 9 am on Tuesday and arrived home at 11 am on Wednesday, through 6 time zones, and 11 hours of flight time.  We'll require a few days to readjust to EST.  Our flights, although long, were uneventful.  Most flights were full and arrived on schedule.

The weather during our trip was a pleasant surprise.  We expected to have some rain most days, especially in Hilo - the 'wet side' of the Big Island, as well the possibility of showers elsewhere.  We didn't - other than a few night time showers, the days were beautiful and dry with the trade winds blowing to keep things comfortable.  The exception was the morning we departed Kauai when we had light rain, and a few intermittent showers Tuesday morning when we left Oahu, neither of which was enough to be a problem.

Keeping track of the town names was more of a problem.  When Cook arrived in the islands, there was no written language, so an alphabet was designed to cover the sound of the  language - soft and flowing, containing 5 vowels and only 7 consonants, H,K,L,M,N.P and W.  Consequently a lot town names start with the same letter, followed by a string of vowels and glottal stops, which to our ageing eyes, tended to look too similar to keep straight at a glance.  The gps lady helped keep us on track!

Oahu Day 4

Sunday we started the day with a hike out Ka'ena Point not far from from where we're staying.  Although much of the point has a 4WD track, permission (and a key) is required  to drive beyond the gate at the end of the paved road. We parked and hiked the 2.5M - not a great challenge since it there was minimal elevation involved other than the ruts in the track. 

The 4WD track with some deep holes

The 4WD access is reserved for fishermen, and being a Sunday, we saw quite a few vehicles bump over the rough track to a number of spurs along the beach.  The 4WD track ended at a fenced area, a wildlife sanctuary at the end of the point.  The sanctuary was established in 1983 to preserve a dune ecosystem and to protect an active nesting area and wildlife habitat.  The fence, installed in 2011, was built to keep rats, mongooses, an domestic pets (as well as vehicles) from entering and disturbing the nesting area and delicate plant life,.  A number of trails were roped to protect nesting areas, meandering through the sanctuary and along the shore.

A group of sisal plants

We think this is a Laysan chick although it could be a black-footed albatross chick - it was so well camouflaged as a rock, we almost  missed  it!

 Laysan Albatrosses on a nest which is a scrape in the sand with a single egg

We saw a number of Laysan Albatross sitting on nests and flying nearby.  A brave monk seal swam into one of the tide pools, somewhat apprehensive of the  people ignoring the signs not to approach them.  Many of the larger tide pools had a variety of fry darting about.  With so much to see, our 'short' morning hike lasted much longer than planned - it was a great place to observe nature, and we were in no hurry to leave in spite of the lack of shade.  Instead of following the rutted 4WD  track back, we walked along the shore on the somewhat less rutted auxiliary tracks.  It was well after lunch time by the time we returned to the car.

Ilima or Little Bell 

Salmon Pea blossom 

Laysan  albatross making a pass over us

 Panorama of Kaena Pt paths and west side shore (Click here and zoom to full size)

It was interesting to watch the various vehicles negotiate some of the more difficult terrain.  A number of rocks bore witness to the fact that not all had had enough ground clearance.  Several of vehicles were jacked up with oversized tires, and were having fun negotiating some of the steeper (and rockier) inclines. 

After a very late lunch we drove to several beaches looking for one with some shade having spent more than enough time in the sun - the trade winds had dissipated for the weekend, making it feel hotter.  Finding more people than shade, and with parking at a premium, we decided to skip the beach.  The traffic heading S was a long line of bumper to bumper cars so our return was at a snail's pace.

Harbor  and Marina at Hale'iwa

Polynesian out-rigger canoe on the beach

I'd been wanting to check out Hale'iwa, the somewhat bigger and more interesting town N of us. Thanks to some local folks, the town hadn't turned into a strip mall, and had retained some of it's historical nature, so we stopped to explore the town on the way back.  Along with various art galleries, the town had a number of interesting restaurants, shaved ice shops (a Hawai'ian thing) and bikini places, a decent grocery store, some nice parks and a well protected marina.  We skipped the shaved ice, galleries and bikini shops, choosing to look at the harbor, marina, and grocery store.  It had been a long day, and with no food in the 'fridge we stopped at an Thai place in town to pick up some tasty take out for dinner.

Oahu Day 3

Saturday, trying to get an earlier start in hopes of beating the weekend crowd of shoppers and tourists, we made a quick stop at Costco to top off on fuel before heading into Honolulu.  We suspect almost everyone in the islands has a Costco membership given the approximately $.40/ gal savings and the lines at the pumps.  We'd planned on walking around the historic part of town, but had difficulties finding parking, and decided to head for Diamond Head instead.

After turning down the use of a handicapped spot (must be those gray hairs and wrinkles as we did intend to hike to the top, thus hardly qualifying as 'handicapped',) we had a short wait for a parking spot at the Diamond Head lot.  The various travel brochures listed the hike to the top as difficult, but after looking at the park info, it appeared the trail was a combination of paved, somewhat uneven areas, a tunnel and lots of stairs, .8M with 560' of elevation, not all that bad.  We joined the parade - the hike appeared to be on every tourist's to-do list.

Last flight of steps to the top of Diamond Head

Panorama to the E from the tip of Diamond Head (Click Here and Zoom to full vertical-Note the parking lot in the center and housing developments up the hill sides)

The hike wasn't difficult other than avoiding getting trampled.  As we got to the top of the last set of stairs, we encountered a group around an older gentleman sitting on the top step looking very pale.  I heard someone comment that 911 had been called as we passed.  We continued to the top and enjoyed the views, and went into the fire control station that ended at the top of a spiral stair case (an alternative route up we didn't take), before heading back down.

Looking down at Diamond Head Lighthouse

Panorama looking toward Waikiki and Honolulu  (Click Here and Zoom to full vertical)

As we went through the tunnel section, 2 fire and rescue guys came running up, obviously to treat what now was 2 elderly folks who had made it to the top but were having problems.  Next we heard the 'whump whump' of a helicopter landing on one of the few possible flat spots near the top of the crater rim.  By the time we reached the parking lot, the helicopter had made 1 trip and was returning for the second patient.  At the bottom it appeared all of the fire and rescue crew as well a the fire department had turned out for the 'event' with 3 fire trucks and 2 ambulances.  A rather novel way to get a helicopter ride, and I  wonder if the patient (or Medicare in this case) picked up part of the tab.  The 'copter made a 3rd trip up to retrieve an  unused stokes.  I wondered if the 2 rescue guys got a ride down - they had made remarkably good time getting to the patients.  It looked like the people at the top had been told to keep clear of the rescue area, as no one appeared to be coming down the stairs during the rescue operation.

Helicopter landing on Diamond Head for a rescue

Next we asked the nice gps lady to take us to Koko Park, further out on the point.  She did, but the fee collector at the parking lot had never heard of the botanical park or nature trails reported to be in the park!  It was a nice place to eat lunch.  After a very short walk, we continued along the point, stopping at the Makapu'u overlook to watch several hang gliders riding the thermals and enjoy the views along the NW coast.  We stopped at a few of the many beaches along the way before eventually picking up the H3, one of the interstate highways that have made the list as most beautiful (along with I89 in VT and I87 in upstate NY) - it was scenic.

One of several hang gliders riding the wind current up

Panorama along the N side of Oahu looking at Waimanalo Bay -  the islands are sea bird sanctuaries   (Click Here and Zoom to full vertical)

View from the lookout on 'H3'   (Click Here and Zoom to full vertical)

Although the traffic wasn't 6 packed lanes heading out of town, there was still plenty of traffic as we headed home.  I've come to the conclusion that playing tourist is work - we were both ready to call it a day by the time we got home.

Oahu Day 2

Friday we drove into to Honoulu to tour the Lyon Arboretum, part of the University of Hawaii, which had numerous trails as well as a wide variety of plants spread up a hillside.  Eventually we made it up to the end of the trail to Aihualama Falls, a bare trickle of water (it's been dry), but an interesting hike.  Along with the chance to stretch our legs, we enjoyed listening (and trying to see) to the birds singing in the trees. We would have spent more time, but needed to move our car since they were setting up for a plant and flower sale Saturday and requested we move our car by 2 pm.

 

Panorama view from Inspiration Pt

Wild Poinsettia Tree

Aihualama Falls

 
Here are a number of birds we saw while hiking in the Arboretum.

White Rumped Shama or the Shama Thrush - the bird we've often heard singing when we're hiking

Red-Whiskered BulBul

Pacific Golden-Plover

Common Waxbill

With the Manoa Falls trail just down the road, we joined numerous others on the relatively short, 0.8 M hike. When we arrived at the falls, the small pool under the falls (a slightly bigger trickle than Aihualama Falls) was filled with people cooling off after the hike up.  Given the leptospirosis ( a bacteria) warnings when swimming in fresh water, we weren't anxious to join them.  As falls go, it was a bust, but we enjoyed the hike.

Ficus arch on the way to Manoa Falls

Crowd at pool under Manoa Falls

We debated whether to find something else to do and wait until after the evening traffic jam, or head back in hopes of beating the worst of it.  Traffic seems to be a major problem on the island and we found ourselves in 6 lanes of traffic heading out of town again.  The trip into town in the morning was the first time we hadn't encountered heavy traffic. We ended the day with a short drive to a park on Ka'ena Point and back through Hale'iwa, an interesting little town near our place.

Oahu Day 1

We hadn't realized we'd need to pass through the Honolulu traffic gauntlet to get almost anywhere on the island since most roads lead into the hub, like spokes on a wheel, and traffic is a major problem.  Thursday morning we waited until 9:30 before heading into town to visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial.  We arrived along with hordes of like minded tourists, and it seemed like we'd spent almost as long looking for a parking place as we had to get there. While there was no entry fee into the park, tickets were required to access the major displays, were sold from different booths, with a limited number of free tickets per day to visit the Arizona Memorial (incuded in the big package).

Deck of the Bowfin

Having been on battleships in various ports over the years, Leonard was interested in the SS 287 Bowfin, a submarine that had a long, successful career after launching 12/7/42.  She did 9 patrols between 8/43 to 9/45, sinking 16 vessels. She also  served in the Korean War after being recommissioned in '51, and spent 10 years as a training vessel before being decommissioned 12/1/71, days short of her 30th year in service. The Bowfin is 1 of 15 WWII submarines that did not end up as scrap.  Senator  Inouye was influential in acquiring and bringing the Bowfin back to Honolulu where she now serves as part of the WWII Memorial Museum.

Aft toredo room

We picked up an audio guide and arrived on board in time to catch part of a guided tour for a class of 7th graders.  We missed the start, but the docent was obviously a retired submariner who enjoyed sharing his knowledge, so listening to him engage the students was an interesting supplement to the audio guide.

Trim  gauges

Looking up into conning tower

Once through the sub, we looked for a theater for a video, and learned the main theater required a ticket that was part of the total package tour ticket, not included in the Bowfin, so we went to the submarine museum (included in our tickets).  It was interesting to learn more about the evolution of submarines which was far older and more extensive than we realized.

Cut away of the Bowfin model in the museum

While it was an inspiring historical site, I was disappointed by the commercial aspect - perhaps if we bought the 'whole package' and spent the day on site it would have been different.  We've had some inspiring and educational Ranger led tour/talks at National Parks on our travels and would have found that more engaging than an audio guide, which, although well done, felt less personal.

To Oahu, Oahu Roads, and our AirBnB

Traveling on Hawaiian Airlines feels more like a bus ride than a flight.  The seats are hard, don't recline and tightly packed.  However, they do a magnificent job of keeping on schedule, and unloading and loading passengers with little fuss.  We were served juice on all our flights, even the short ones. Our flight arrived in O'ahu on time, and our bags were on the carousel, so we had no complaints.

This time our Jeep was a upgrade from the one in Kaua'i which had been a tired, no frills, soft top Jeep with hand crank windows.  This Sahara version seemed bigger, had a hard top with more options (and more likely to guzzle fuel - we've been getting 20-22mpg including the 4WD trips).  Our 4 pm departure dumped us into the middle of the Honolulu rush hour - 6 lanes of creeping traffic on the 'H1'.  What a wake up to reality since we'd encountered relatively little traffic congestion on either the Big Island or Kauai..

A few comments about the highways on Oahu. The morning TV news had updates every 10 minutes regarding Honolulu traffic, but we hadn't paid much attention. We should have as the traffic affected our daily plans on Oahu

H1 is a 28 mile long interstate highway that runs east and west through Honolulu on the south coast of Oahu.  H2 is is 8 miles long running from H1 at Pearl City west of Honolulu up the central valley to the Army's Schofield  Barracks at Wahiawa.  H3 is 16 miles running from H1 from the Pearl Harbor Area to East side of Oahu with a tunnel through the mountains  H201 is a 5 mile bypass of H1 before reaching Honolulu. During rush hours, traffic is stop and go where these highway merge.

We use a map app on the cell phone for directions which is a great help until the nice lady throws in an erroneous direction telling you to make an immediate 'U turn', overriding the previous (correct) instruction to continue for 8M!  I have to question why the app opted to use a female voice since men notoriously tend to ignore instructions from a woman.  It was a relief to finally arrive at our last 'home' of the trip on the north shore after another long day.

Our place in O'ahu was a disappointment after the others which had been 'above and beyond all expectations'.  The online photos depicted a nice kitchen/eating arrangement and bathroom, but the rest of the unit didn't live up to its potential - 2 sliding doors, but only 1 with a screen and curtain.  The bedroom, a rather dark, cramped space, had ventilation via a cutout at the top of one wall that joined a small, unused space with a couple of windows.  What the photos hadn't shown was the almost empty the kitchen cupboards and drawers - 1 7" well scratched Teflon skillet, ditto a 2 qt sauce pan and a pasta pot, minimal dishes and cutlery, and a rice paddle and a spatula for utensils. Our complaint about having only 1 mug did supply  4 more in  the  morning, and perhaps I should have complained about the condition and lack of kitchenware, but solved the problem by buying an inexpensive non-stick pan at the store. Perhaps most people on vacation eat out. We should have done more research before booking, although all the reviews were 4-5 stars.

Kauai Day 4

Tuesday we opted for a light day.  We headed out in time to stop at a couple of bakeries to sample their malasadas (small Portuguese donuts) before exploring part of the S shore of the island.  After walking through Koloa, a small town, we went to Po Ipu Beach Park.  This part of the island tends to be sunnier, and has become one the premiere resort areas, so we shouldn't have been surprised to find a boring beach full of people.

We moved on to the Spouting Horn Beach, an interesting natural phenomenon, where a blow hole in the rocks make a geyser when the surf hits shore.  Originally there were 2 blow holes, Kukui'ula Seaplume which shot up 200', dwarfing Spouting Horn. Alas, a sugar company manager (it was king in these parts) ordered a worker to drop blasting powder into the hole to widen it to prevent the salt spray from stunting 10 acres of the company's multiple thousands of acres of sugar cane.  The enlarged opening was subdued it to sloshing waves.  That particular beach is off limits, cordoned off by a fence to prevent accidents should the waves wash over the rocks sweeping you into one of the holes.

Spouting Horn blow hole- there is also a air vent which makes a moaning sound

Next stop was Wailua Falls, an impressive, split falls, that plunge into a 33' deep pool  and didn't require a long drive from the main highway.   There is some controversy about how high the falls are.  Officially they are listed at 80', but the guide book folks actually measured them and were amazed to get 173' twice!  They do look tall.  In the not too distant past, the state fenced the lookout area to discourage folks from climbing down for a swim in the pool via a somewhat steep and slippery slope, but I suspect it hasn't deterred everyone!

Wailua Falls

We stopped at Lydgate Park for lunch and a walk.  It was a beautiful park, where the Wailua River enters the ocean.  The park has ancient Hawaiian sacred ruins and was another place of refuge.  Back in  the 1920's, after a trip to Italy, a local Hawaiian couple reproduced a rather novel 'swimming pool' for their family.  With $18,000, a crane, and lots of large lava rocks, 2 ponds were created on  the beach, allowing fresh sea water and fish into the ponds while protecting swimmers from the force of the waves.

Walking the beach at Lydgate Park 

Kaua'i has a huge feral chicken population thanks to a hurricane in 1992 which caused widespread damage, forcing many barnyard birds to survive in the wild.  Everywhere we went, hens, chicks and roosters wandered in towns, and along roadsides and beaches, pecking for food. They were everywhere!   This also meant more than the normal number of roosters vying for supremacy and a harem of chickens, and trying to out vocalize the next guy in the morning, frequently beginning with  few early (0100) morning calls to see  anyone answered.  What I heard wasn't  the standard 'cock a doodle doooo' , but more like 'go to the junk yard'.  I suspect if we'd hiked to the top of the highest peak, we'd have heard a rooster crow!

Our stay on Kaua'i had been busy, with lots of interesting sights added to our memories.  Our weather luck held.  The days were dry, with only the briefest of sprinkles requiring a swipe of the wipers.  There was measurable precipitation Monday night, but the clouds had dispersed by morning.

A better picture of the Red Footed Booby rookery

Great  Frigatebird

Wednesday morning, before departing for Oahu, we returned to the Kilaueu Point Lighthouse.  Although it was raining lightly (the first time it did more than sprinkle), the trade winds weren't howling which made it easier to get better photos.   We watched as a couple of great frigatebirds soared at eye level.  What a treat, usually when we've seen them, they're far above us.  This was the first day with rain persisting beyond day break, but the skies were clearing over the Pacific.
 



     

Kauai Day 3

Tuesday when we researched what to see, we discovered Kaua'i has an impressive, if diminutive, canyon rivaling the Grand Canyon.  The guide book gave it rave reviews, and we decided to check it out.  Kaua'i, the oldest of the Hawaiian islands is about 51,000,000 years old, compared to Hawaii- the Big Island - which began around 400,000 years ago and is still growing.  Given the difference in age, nature has had lots of time for wind, rain and waves to alter an island that may have looked much different back at the beginning than now, and it does!  Other than cliffs along the the coast, much of Hawaii appears 'gentle' in comparison to Kaua'i which is points and angles, a bit like comparing  a grand parent with a new born.

Pan on the way up. Click here to view at full zoom and note the farm at the river level

Waimea Canyon, a state park, more than fulfilled the guidebook hype.  It was beautiful and impressive, and well worth the trip.  We spent the day marveling at the views, exploring and hiking.  The road to the top of the canyon is about 18 M, with overlooks and numerous trails, some with serious changes in elevation (what goes down, must come up).  At the Pu'u Hinahina Lookout we took the trail down to the top of the Waipo'o Falls, rated as moderate.

Farther up showing the various layers.  Click here for full zoom

Originally 3 rivers fed the island's center on Mt. Wai'ale'ale, all running down the gentle sloping shield volcano, emptying into  the ocean at different places.  When a fault caused the collapse of part of the volcano's flank, the rivers combined as they ran into the fault, carving a canyon in the splintered and fractured lava flows.  Thus a magnificent canyon was born, with each layer representing a different eruption and lava flow.  The canyon is 10 M long, 1 M wide and 3,600 feet deep.

Waipo'o Falls - Our hike stopped at the upper left corner.
The white blobs are people on the trail  Click for full zoom

If we'd followed the guide book directions (we had a 4WD) we could have saved 0.8M and 240' in elevation (each way!).  Instead we began the hike at the Lookout and did 1140' elevation and 2.3M each way.  Actually given that we climbed into and out of several stream beds, I think we did more than 1140' change in elevation.

The last portion we did was loose dusty red clay

Thankfully the trail was dry - it would have been treacherous otherwise as the trail had a decent layer of fine red dust a rocky and somewhat rough trail that would have made it very slippery.  Most of the trail was along the edge of the forest providing shade, but the last bit was on the ridge, leading down to the top of the falls.  Multiple helicopters flew in the canyon during our hike, but they didn't have the benefit of exercise.  It would have been an interesting way to see the sights, although in reading the guidebook, not all tours are equal which you might not realize until you fund yourself in the back seat with a more restricted view.  We had the ability to stop and linger (or catch our breath) along the way.

From the lookout - the red trail in center left is end of the canyon falls trail (Zoom to see)

Not liking drop offs, Leonard hiked the last bit alone - (I don't get the bit about looking down an 800' falls from the top).  On the hike out we saw a family of goats (not mountain) chomping through the grass on the hillside. 

A goat family

A natural rock loop

Back at the car, we headed for the Pu'u o Kila Lookout at the end of the road and found ourselves in a thin layer of clouds thanks to the heating of the sun.  The clouds did blow past and give us  a glimpse down to the ocean and back through part of the canyon.  True to form, Kawaikini the highest point on the island was still in the clouds.  At 5243' it seems to catch every cloud around and receives  472" of rain a year, earning the honors as the wettest place on earth, only making rare appearances.

ocean view from Puuokila lookout

Another shot of the falls later in the day. Lynnea stopped on upper flat portion of the trail
Leonard continued down until it got steeper and he could see the top of the falls.

By the time we got back to the museum, it was closed for the day, so we started for home, stopping to catch the late afternoon light  in the canyon several times.  It was a rewarding, if long and somewhat tiring day.  The clouds had blown past the time we reached Kapa'a, and we thought we might have gotten a glimpse of Kawaikini.

Maybe Kawaikini,  the highest mountain on Kauai