North Shore Day

Today was our North Shore Day.
We started off with a stop at the Dole Plantation en route, then ate at Cholos Mexican.
Afterwards we camped out at Waimea Bay Beach, where there is a famous Big Rock to jump off.

A few hours , and many jumps later, we forged onward, and hit some fruit stands on the side of the road, got some fresh coconut, and pineapple, as well as some "young" iced coconut.

We stopped by Waimea Falls, but apparently it was the dry season, so nothing to really see there.

Came across the Shrimp Shack and macked there for dinner.

Tomorrow we are going to see if we can catch the family of turtles in our lagoon before we head off to the airport for a long flight back.

The video is from the little rock across from the Big Rock, that we swam to to see some fish underwater and get a different view of the Big Rock.

Hanauma Bay

Today we went to Waikiki and Hanauma Bay.
In the evening we went back to Waikiki for dinner.

Tomorrow we head up to the North Shore.

Ukulele'ing, Kayaking, Turtle'ing

I took a Ukulele lesson today, then we went out to do some kayaking.
After some sun-tanning and some lunch we went snorkeling again, and I can across this guy.
Very cool, he was just chillin, paying no mind to us.

Chill Day at Resort

Today Joanna and I went snorkeling in the local lagoon.
We heard buzz that some sea turtles were sighted, but apparently they come only in the early morning. This video is just of us playing around in the lagoon.

The camera was tethered to my wrist, when Joanna signalled that she wanted it underwater.... (TWSS)..., Hence the Cloverfield effect for a few seconds.

The pictures are our attempts at posing like a Japanese Superhero Icon from the late 60's. Our kids know who that might be.

Sha!

Aloha from Paradise Cove

We spent the evening at the Paradise Cove, doing arts and crafts, drinking, and Joanna took up Spear throwing again.

She regrets having given it up over the past years, but after that first throw. ... Y'know it all comes back to you, like riding a bike.

Mahalo

Snorkel Day

Today we went snorkeling for 4 hours.
First we went searching for Dolphin Schools, we found three sets, and had to take our time to get near them. Then we went to a 3000 year old Coral Reef and swam with all sorts of fish.
We also swam with turtles at a point where they go to get cleaned by fish. (Apparently the basis for the Turtle scenes in Finding Nemo.)
Joanna even got her hands on a Pencil Urchin.
Lots of swimming, and fun.

Lava Baby ...yeah

This morning Joanna and I got up around 3:30 (9:30 AM EST) and watched the sunrise, drank lots of coffee, and went exploring.

Here I am standing on some Lava Rocks on the shoreline next to our resort.
The surf would crash onto the rocks, and in all these little pockets of rocks we found crabs, and colorful fish moving and swimming around, until the next wave, which would move them to another location. We also found hermit crabs and other shellfish scurrying around.

Home for the Week

After a LONG day of flying and an $80 cab ride, we checked into Ihilani, and got our stroll on while the sun began to set.

This picture was taken by the second of four Lagoons, the first one being near our resort.
If you look at the Marriott website you can almost see the same shot (higher angle) from the stock shot of the resort.

I also got a $$ shot of Diamondhead that I have posted on my Flickr page.

Fossil Creek Skatepark

This park was totally different than the Boulder Skatepark, no bowls, just lots of steps, rails, grinding and railsliding. Once again I was fortunate that this park was less than 2 minutes from my hotel, and I had it all to myself in the early a.m.

Here is the website