The last three days it rained. It rained like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It was like someone was dumping a very large bucket on us. For a while there it looked like Oahu was going to wash away. Not much happened on those days but Clint and I played in the rain.
Wet husband beside a statue.
wet me beside a statue
what the statue was
After that we got on the plane and came home.
One night we went to Germaine’s Luau. That was a really good time. we were picked up in a big tour bus that had a driver and a host. Our host Reno was the best part of the night.The food was really good. I particularly liked the pit roasted pork. We all tried poi, I liked it but no one else at the table seemed to be a big fan.Clint took some video of the different dances they showed us:
We were lucky enough to be in town for the annual Honolulu Day Parade. Unfortunately we were at almost the very end of the parade so we most of the groups were winding down by the time they got to us. Here’s the highlights:
Yesterday we took the circle island tour. It’s a good way to see all the tourist stops in one shot.
The first stop was at Hanauma Bay. Rumoured home to amazing snorkeling which I’ll totally have to check out next time. It’s also where some of Blue Hawaii was filmed, for all you Elvis fans.
There were a bunch of birds around the park where I took the pic from.
Cattle Egret
Chicken! There are feral chickens all over this island.
The next stop was at Halona Blow Hole
After the Blow Hole we stopped at the Byodo-In Buddhist Temple.
Clint in front of the temple
Giant Buddha inside the temple
There were some swans floating around the temple's pond. Oooh serene.
Following the temple we headed to Kualoa Ranch for a quick tour and lunch. The people who weren’t from Alberta seemed to think it was neat. The Alberta people seemed to think it was a ranch. They drove us up the mountainside a ways though so we got to see some neat views.
The front island is called Chinaman's Hat and the back one is Turtle Island.
One stop I was really looking forward to was the north shore. Home to some of the worlds biggest and best surfing waves. Here’s what we saw.
Flat water.
After the north shore we stopped at the Dole pineapple plant. It was very pineapple themed. They also had a coy pond and a vending machine with fish food. YAY!
There were some hopeful looking birds hanging around the fish food machine. Yes, I am still a sucker.
The fish were hungry.
We got rained out of the last stop which was supposed to be Pali Lookout so we headed back to the hotel.
We all went to Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Co. for supper. The first “run Forrest” comment gets fired as a friend. Here’s a pic of Clint’s neat drink:
Science is fun!
Today was kinda random. We started with breakfast. I had spam and eggs in honour of Monty Python.
spam spam spam spam
After some aimless wandering and planning for tomorrow (also sort of aimless) we went for lunch. I finally got a picture of one of the lizards that scurry around here. This one was too busy sunbathing to flee.
He looked really warm and comfy. He's about the length of my hand.
Then we took a bus to Hilo Hatty’s. The store sponsors the bus so it’s a free round trip to the store and back to the hotel. They called the busses trolleys but they run on gas. They sort of look like trolleys though.
They're totally open; no windows except for the front and back.
By the time we got back to the hotel it was time for happy hour. From where we were sitting we could see the equipment they’re using to widen the beach.
Because this is me; wild things I saw:
A small brown bird. Anyone know what kind?
A small red bird. I think it's a Northern Cardinal.
A mongoose
Our last tour was of the USS Missouri. She’s the ship that help the official Japanese Surrender ceremony. She also served in Korea and Desert Storm.
The USS Missouri
The spot where the Japanese surrendered
Big ass guns
Because really, who wouldn't take a pic of something named for R2-D2?
It sorta looks like him if you try hard.
One of the drone aircraft used in the Gulf War. This one's hanging in the ice cream shop.
