Adventures with KG!: Hawaii Day 6

DAY 6

We took an 8-hour O'ahu Island bus tour. This was a relaxing event that took us in a counter-clockwise circle of the entire island. Our driver, Garfield, was a born & raised on O'ahu with many stories to tell us and over a dozen stop-offs along the way!

As we left Waikiki we drove through two very expensive neighborhoods of Kahala and Hawaii Kai. Garfield's father is a residential contractor, and he was involved in building a lot of these homes, including Leonardo Dicaprio's! Many of Hawaii's most expensive homes sit in this neighborhood including the #1, which is valued at $61 million and owned by Michael Dell (of computer fame)!

Sorry, no pics of these homes. Most are set far back from the road, behind gated entryways and lots of shrubs. Not to mention I was on a moving bus...

But we did have plenty of stop-offs at beautiful shore lookouts along the way.

Hanauma Bay

(You may recall this from my snorkeling adventure on Day 2.)

Halona Blowhole

It was a bit windy

Also windy at the Pali Lookout of Punchbowl Crater

Love those clouds rolling over the mountains

We also stopped at Byodo-in Temple, which is an exact replica from Kyoto, Japan.

(Tarynn and I thought we were back in Japan!)

Also inside this temple is a mausoleum with Tarynn's grandparents' remains, since they were Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. It was quite an experience to go in the "private" area and pay our respects to her relatives!

Tarynn rings the sacred bell, which is 5 feet tall and weighs 3 tons.

Pond overpopulated with koi fish

Some cool islands just off the eastern coast.

Front and center is Mokolii Island, but fondly nicknamed Chinamen's Hat.

To the back left is Rabbit Island, even though many believe it looks like a floating sea turtle.

(The island got it's name because they used to raise hares on it.)

We stopped at Kualoa Ranch for lunch and a tram ride of the grounds. Kualoa is considered one of the most beautiful and sacred places on O'ahu. It is 4,000 acres and pictures don't do it justice.

However, I am sure you have all seen it before since Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates, Lost, and Hawaii 5-0 were filmed there (among many others)!

My "Loco Moco" lunch...

White rice, topped with a burger patty, gravy, and a fried egg!

(Why do we not eat these in the mainland?! It combines many of my favorite things!)

Next, we took a short break at a macadamia nut outlet shop, where the highlight was sampling 12 different types of macadamia nuts (like roasted sea salt, chocolate covered, onion & garlic, etc.) and Kona coffee.

I didn't buy anything, but served as a delicious dessert stop!

Sunset Beach on the north shore.

The sand is deep and the waves are gentle! Oh yeah, I heard the sunsets are pretty spectacular, too!

Last stop was the Dole Plantation, where we learned all sorts of amazing things about pineapples. For instance, it take 18 months for a plant to grow one pineapple. And a plant will only ever produce 3 pineapples!! So, all of the fields are on a five year rotation here. After 5 years, there have been three pineapples harvested, and they must destroy the field and start all over again!

Also, James Dole was the founder, but he did not want to use the family name. So his business was called Hawaiian Pineapple Company until his death in 1958. Then someone decided to change it to the family name!