Hawaii Day 3

Day 3 - Sunday - May 16, 2004

We were up before the 6 AM alarm and out of the hotel room by 6:40 and on our way to breakfast at the Wiamaia Restaurant on the other corner from the Hilton. We both had the Pancake Special and it was heavy.

We returned to our room, picked up our bags and were out to meet the Thrifty Rent A Car van by 7:20. They took us to their facility at Waikiki Center where we got a small Nissan Sentra - just perfect for what we wanted to do.

Gennie studied the maps, while I drove down ten floors of their garage. Once we got to the street, we got on H1, their interstate highway that took us from one end of the city of Honolulu to the other, going by the airport, Pearl Harbor and then headed north on H2. Our route was the Kamehameha Highway around the island.

Our first stop was the Dole Pineapple Plantation facility where we arrived just at 9 AM. There we looked at their shop, saw pineapples growing by the side of the road and took some pictures.

We left the interstate to go straight west on Waialua Beach Road that took us almost to the end of the northern part of the island, past a facility where we saw skydivers and parachutists and a little later a glider port.

We had to double back as this was a single access road to then follow the beach road up the North Shore to Hale’Iwa and then back on the highway past the great surfing area of the Banzai Pipeline and Waimea Bay.

There were some waves but very small and no surfers. Their famous 30 foot waves of this North Shore are prevalent only during the winter months.

As we drove further around the north end, we saw the Turtle Bay Resort with their beautifully manicured verdant golf course and thought of Eduardo.

At 11:30 we stopped at Kahuku where we had been told there were great shrimp at Giovanni’s Shrimp Wagon. This was a not a hole in the wall café as there was no building, just two old Airstream trailers covered in graffiti that served 12 shrimp cooked in butter and big chunks of garlic with two scoops of rice on a paper plate.

We ordered a Diet Pepsi and sat under an awning, watching people devour their lunch. All these shrimp were in the shell so we had to take their shells of, lick our fingers, eat some rice and start the procedure over again.

Just a few miles around the point was the small town of La’ie, the center of the Mormon Church in Oahu. There was a huge Mormon Temple, Brigham Young University, Hawaii campus, and the Polynesian Cultural Center.

The Culture Center was closed as it is Sunday, but people have told us that it is a wonderful representation of many South Sea cultures staffed by the young people of BYU.

As we headed south, following the shoreline, we stopped frequently to take pictures and see the fabulous overlooks. This side of the coast is mostly lava rock, as opposed to the white sandy beaches of the South Shore.

Throughout this area we passed many limos going north - these are tour groups using this means of transportation. Many are Japanese tourists, of which there are many in Hawaii.

At Kane’ohe we stopped at Baskins-Robbins and then drove following Highway 72. At Makapuu Point we saw a sea turtle swimming below us and an impressive Coast Guard Lighthouse.

What is interesting is the number of military facilities on the island of Oahu. Every branch of the military has at least one base and most have multiples. There is a great strategic reason for their visible presence.

As we turned the corner at the southern end of the island, we got on Diamond Head Road and entered the state park. We were able to drive into the cauldron itself through a tunnel but once there we were told we had to leave the car there and do the two hour hike.

We chose not to do that as we were getting close to 3 PM and we wanted to get the car back to Thrifty by 4:30. We drove around Diamond Head and as we were on an overlook, we finally saw a large group of surfers trying to catch the small waves that were present.

We began to look for a gas station but had some difficulty. There was a lot of traffic in Waikiki so we had to wait at lights, take different roads/streets and finally found one for $2.22. I filled the tank ($18.90) as we had driven just under 150 miles in 9 hours.

The speed limit throughout most of the day was under 50 MPH. We returned the vehicle - we drove up ten stories to leave our car - and then got a shuttle back to the hotel by Thrifty.

Once back at the hotel - it was close to 90 degrees - we went out onto our balcony and got a few rays and read a little bit. We saw our first sunset at 6:30 (Hawaii is not on daylight savings time) and then went to Outback for dinner at 7:30.

Just thought that I'd let you know that I used to live on the windward side of the island in a town called Ka'a'awa. You drove right by my house on your way to Kaneohe. If you plan on going to Hawaii again, let me know and I can probably put you in touch with some locals!

Day 9: Mediterranean Navigation

Kasbah Cuties

Ramadan Sweets

Trash pickup in the Kasbah

Furniture Maker

Wedding Dresses

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Day 09 - Monday, March 10, 2025 – Day at Sea, Plan D

Our night was quite rough, so the Captain stayed relatively close to the safety of the shore making it possible to see lights of the shoreline cities during the night.

After breakfast,...

Continue Reading Day 9